Catskill Animal Sanctuary Launches Culinary Program - April 24

Saugerties, NY:  On Saturday, April 24, 2010, from 2 to 5 pm, Catskill Animal Sanctuary will launch its newest program, Compassionate Cuisine, at an Open House featuring 250 happy animals and a feast made without animal products. The Open House is free of charge; donations in support of CAS's year-long $1.5 million matching campaign are greatly appreciated.
Having saved nearly 2,000 farm animals since its founding in 2001, Catskill Animal Sanctuary hopes to save far more lives with the launch of Compassionate Cuisine, a series of on and off-site cooking programs headed by their newest staff member, chef Kevin Archer.

The program will include a wide range of ongoing courses and weekend workshops, a "how-to" blog, vegan food available for take-out, and a "Chef for Hire" component for those within a two-hour radius of Catskill Animal Sanctuary.
Archer, a graduate of both Colorado's School of Natural Cookery and California's Living Light Culinary Arts Institute, arrived at CAS last week, the top candidate among thirty-one applicants from around the country. "He's exactly who we need to generate excitement for our new program," founder/director Kathy Stevens says. "He's warm, he's engaging, and his food is to die for!"  Archer and Stevens are shaping a program that the Sanctuary hopes will attract both committed vegans and the veg-curious from around the country.
CAS may be the only sanctuary in the world to offer such a program. "I've always felt that this was the missing piece, and that having loving farm animals and vegan cooking programs at one site would be pretty powerful stuff," Stevens says. Archer adds "People will change their diets if you show them how to make meals without animal products that are every bit as tasty as what they're used to eating. I'm honored to be part of such a kind and visionary place."

Saturday's Open House will include an extensive menu of organic finger foods, cooking class sign-ups for CAS supporters, as well as "up-close-and-personal" meetings with many of the Sanctuary's animals and tours of the 80-acre grounds.

Located in upstate New York, Catskill Animal Sanctuary is an 80-acre haven for twelve species of farm animals and a center for raising public awareness of agribusiness and its implications for people, animals, and the planet. Since 2001, CAS has rescued nearly 2,000 desperately needy animals, and has worked with law enforcement to bring animal abusers to justice. Director Kathy Stevens, author of Where the Blind Horse Sings: Love and Healing at an Animal Sanctuary, is currently completing her second book about the work of CAS. For further information, go to www.casanctuary.org.