Many vegans are afraid to speak up. They worry that doing so will threaten the friendship. But if you keep it civil and focus on the animal cruelty then the discussion doesn’t have to put friendships in jeopardy. Remember that all relationships involve some conflict. The problem isn’t the disagreement. The problem is the resolution. If there isn’t any resolution (where both parties feel respected and heard; where apologies are given and accepted; where there’s mutual agreement to move forward rather than linger in past hurt) that’s where the problems lie. But if you converse with respect and care, you won’t jeopardize the friendship. If you just make sure to try to understand their perspective then these conversations will be more productive. To do that, ask questions and try to remember how you thought before you went vegan.

Another technique for creating positive change in others is to acknowledge that any reduction in animal product consumption is a win for animals, the planet, and human health. Of course we want people to go all the way and go vegan. But we shouldn’t let our long-term goals cloud our interpretation of short-term successes. Many people are more receptive to learning about animal cruelty and adopting vegan eating if they don’t feel like it has to be “all or nothing.”

Lastly, choose your battles. You may not want to take every single opportunity to advocate for farmed animals. So sometimes you may want to limit the discussions to a one-on-one basis rather than with a group of nonvegans; this way the playing field is more even and you can have more of an impact. Or you may want to have the discussions in private email rather than publically on Facebook. Sometimes you’ll want to just sit back and let others do all the talking so you can better understand their perspectives and so they feel respected. Moreover, you don’t want to interfere with any actual progress they’re making on behalf of companion animal cruelty. You do want to support them in that!

Now, with the above said, here are some ideas for how to respond. When a nonvegan makes a commitment to help end cruelty to companion animals, you can take that opportunity to say…

• “Aww that makes me so sick when people are cruel to animals. Did you know that the same kind of suffering happens everyday on factory farms?” Then you can show them the short film, Farm to Fridge and ask them what they think.
• “Bravo to you for standing up for companion animals! Now are you ready to take the next step and stand up for farmed animals too?” You can follow up by asking them to boycott factory farmed meat or go vegetarian a few days a week. Give them a goal that feels realistic to them. Don’t ask them to change everything all at once if that’s going to feel too overwhelming to them. Instead, give them a target within their reach.
• “All kinds of animal cruelty are wrong. I’m really glad that we have some laws that protect pets. Did you know that farmed animals like pigs and chickens don’t have any significant legal protections?” You can follow up by offering information about how to join an organization like MFA, HSUS, or ALDF so they can participate in legal campaigns to increase protections for all animals.
• “It’s our moral obligation to prevent needless animal cruelty. That’s why I support what you’re doing to raise awareness about animal cruelty. That’s also why I’m vegan.” Here you can offer a veg starter guide or offer to loan them a vegan cookbook. This would be a good place to tell your story about how you made your transition to veg*nism.

Got other ideas for good responses? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Let’s take a look at the data…

A 2010 random Gallup poll of 1029 adults found that American men are more tolerant of animal abuse and exploitation than women, in general. Take a look:

“The sharpest differences between men and women on these issues are not found on abortion or other reproductive matters, but on three issues that involve the ethical treatment of animals. Majorities of men, but less than half of women, consider the use of animal fur for clothing, and medical testing on animals to be morally acceptable. Also, there is a 24-point gap between men and women in their belief that cloning animals is acceptable.”

(emphasis added, source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/137357/four-moral-issues-sharply-divide-americans.aspx )

If that’s the case then it seems that women might be more likely to be veg*n than men. But take a look at this study done by Harris Interactive of 1010 American adults:

“Seventeen percent of Americans stated they ‘don’t eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry at many of my meals (but less than half the time),’ and 16 percent don’t eat these foods at more than half of their meals (but not all the time). Thus, one-third (33 percent) of the country is eating vegetarian meals a significant amount of the time. That’s in addition to vegetarians!
[...]
Approximately 5 percent of the country say that they never eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry, which makes them vegetarian. Approximately half of these vegetarians are also vegan; that is, they also don’t eat dairy or eggs. Note that we had respondents select ‘I never eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry’ or ‘I never eat meat, fish, seafood, poultry, dairy, or eggs.’ Because we use the word ‘never’ and give the definition rather than having respondents self-define, our numbers may be lower than other polls. We also did not ask about honey, which would most likely give a lower figure for the number of vegans.
[...]
There is a misconception that more women than men are vegetarian, but it appears that the split may be pretty even. A larger difference shows up when looking at who is eating vegetarian meals one day per week or at many meals.”

(emphasis added, study link is here: http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2011issue4/vj2011issue4poll.php )

So, it’s about even. There are likely equal numbers of male vegans as there are female vegans with no significant gender difference. And that seems to be true from my personal experience. I know lots of vegetarians and vegans and the gender split is about equal.

Vegans… read on…

However, from the standpoint of veg activism we might want to focus more on one gender than the other. The data from the Harris study suggests that nonvegetarian women eat more vegetarian meals than nonvegetarian men OR that nonvegetarian women think they eat more vegetarian meals than nonvegetarian men, and so these women may be a good audience for a vegan message.

Does that mean vegan adocates ought to spend more time encouraging women to go veg because they represent the “lower-hanging fruit” and will increase our total numbers of veg*ns more quickly? Or does that mean advocates should work harder at convincing men to choose plant-based diets because they face the most obstacles and need our support more?

There’s a group called the Humane Research Council that collects data about animal issues and makes suggestions for activists so that we can be most effective. Their website is here: http://www.humaneresearch.org/ A study done by the Council in 2007 (3200 adults) to determine the most effective strategies to reduce farmed animal suffering and death found that “Females are the majority of all key meat reduction segments“. That study is online at http://www.humanespot.org/system/files/HRC_Veg_Study_2007.pdf (You will need a HRC account in order to access the data yourself).

But that’s not the end of the story. HRC actually suggests tailoring the veg message depending on the audience. They do not suggest reaching out only to women, rather they suggest that some reasons for veg*nism (animal welfare, health, or the environment) are more compelling to certain segments of the population than other reasons. So we’re really back to square one: It’s best to take an individualized approach to animal advocacy depending on the specific situation.

Part 1, A House Divided, explains the debate a bit. Here is a quote from that piece:

Anyone who follows animal welfare and rights issues will spot an all-too-familiar trend. Today we have “new welfarists,” advocates who generally work within the confines of current systems of animal production to improve the lives of farm animals. New welfarists will spend considerable resources working to force industrial farms to eliminate gestation crates, enlarge cage size, install cameras, or allow more free range time. The driving principle behind these efforts is largely utilitarian, and there’s no denying that, pragmatically speaking, these efforts have improved the lives of billions of farm animals.

Standing in stark opposition to the new welfarists are the abolitionists. Abolitionists, many of whom follow the ideas of the philosopher Gary Francione, advocate the immediate end to all animal exploitation. Their approach is a moral-rights based one, their arguments are remarkably persuasive, and they have no tolerance for the incremental, issue-based tactics practiced by the new welfarists. In fact, they see such tactics as counterproductive. Many animal advocates have gone vegan and built activists platforms on the basis of an abolitionist ideology.

In Part 2 he says explains how the two parts go together to create meaninful social change:

Principle is pure. It articulates an ideal (one that we’ll inevitably fail to fully achieve). As an abstract model, as an idea, principle shines. It’s an uncorrupted paragon. Process, by contrast, is messy. It stumbles on the obstacles of tradition, grates against the conventions of humanity, tangles and spars with the powers that be. Its flaws are conspicuous, marked by what critics often dismiss as moral compromise and capitulation.

Different as they are, principle and process are equally necessary in the quest to achieve meaningful change.

Part 3 is an example of part 2. Here McWilliams explores “The Slavery Analogy”:

It would be easy to look at the abolitionist movement alone—followed by the Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, and Thirteenth Amendment—and portray the abolition of slavery as an example of principle trumping process, immediate change eschewing gradualism, and ideals triumphing over pragmatism.The truth is something more complex. And it has something to do with the fact that the dialect of change—a dynamic blend of principle and process—fueled a process that, after decades and decades of tolerating what many abhorred, eventually reached the purity of principle. Had the Garrisons of the world not had their Madisons, and vice-versa, both process and principle would have floundered, allowing slavery to spread into the American West .

Part 4 seems to wrap it up by saying:

with so many omnivores deeply skeptical about any sort of animal rights message–especially, in this country, when one leaves the coasts–the call for personal abolition of all animal exploitation is more vulnerable to the boos and hisses of public opinion than that of welfare reforms.

[...] the call for immediate abolition of animal exploitation heightens our vulnerability to being ridiculed in a public sphere that knows no nuance. A welfare improvement on a factory farm, by contrast, not only avoids bogus charges of hypocrisy, but it reminds omnivores what they too often forget–an animal suffers. Who’s to say the next step won’t be veganism?

And finally, a reflection:

“I see no reason why we cannot pursue abolition while, at the same time, helping the currently exploited animals who will in no way–at least in the here and now–benefit from an exclusive abolitionist approach.”

To read the entire series, follow these links:

• http://eatingplantsdotorg.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/a-house-divided-abolitionists-vs-new-welfarists/
• http://eatingplantsdotorg.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/a-house-divided-part-ii-abolitionists-vs-new-welfarists/
• http://eatingplantsdotorg.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/a-house-divided-part-iii-the-slavery-analogy/
• http://eatingplantsdotorg.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/the-slavery-analogy-part-ii-gary-franciones-jan-4-blog-entry/
• http://eatingplantsdotorg.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/a-house-divided-part-iv-the-politics-of-public-perception/
• http://eatingplantsdotorg.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/a-house-divided-distilled/

For a roughly similar perspective that I wrote a while back, check out:

• Part 1: http://www.vegansoapbox.com/property-status-and-liberation/
• Part 2: http://www.vegansoapbox.com/criticism-is-not-enough/
• Part 3: http://www.vegansoapbox.com/why-we-must-do-more/

People who felt the least supported when they went vegan were more likely to stay vegan than people who felt more supported.

Take a look at “Do vegans thrive in adversity?”:

“In 2011 pledgers were asked at the end of the pledge about how difficult various challenges had been including “other’s attitudes” rated from 1 (very easy) to 5 (very difficult). Those who found other’s attitudes more difficult were more likely to stay vegan. Out of 49 pledgers, 13 gave a rating of 4 or 5 on the difficulty of other’s attitudes and all but one of these (92%) chose to stay vegan.”

“Why might those who found friends and family least supportive be the most likely to stay vegan? One obvious reason might be a third variable. Those who were most passionate about being vegan were most likely to stay vegan and also to have disagrements with others. Another reason might be that those who had trouble with lack of support or others’ attitudes became more committed to being vegan to better integrate with a new social community.”

Of course, the sample size is small. And there’s the issue of self-reporting. But this is interesting nonetheless.

Link to survey discussion here: http://theveganoption.org/2011/12/04/vegan-pledge-statistics-adversity/

Crossposted at Selling Compassion >>

The message should not be lost in big words, confusing symbols, or disorganized ideas. Animal advocates have a responsibility to make their messages clear.

With that in mind, I copied and pasted text from a handful of vegan fliers into a readability tool. The tool determines the amount of education required to understand the literature. The readability tool calculates the “Flesch Reading Ease.”

A score of 90–100 means the literature can be easily understood by an average 11-year old student, a score between 60–70 can be comprehended by 13- to 15-year old students, and a score of 30 or under means the literature best understood only by college graduates.

Since most of the literature is to be handed out to high school and college students, not college graduates, it makes sense to craft a pamphlet that is easily understood by 13-15 year olds, that is, a pamphlet that has a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60 or higher.

The results of my little experiment? Poor. I won’t name names, but here’s an idea:

• An “abolitionist” flier scored a Flesch Reading Ease of 27.46.
• Another “abolitionist” pamphlet scored 36.36.
• A “what’s wrong with dairy” flier received a score of 39.48.
• An animal emancipation style flier scored a respectable 45.79.
• In contrast, a vegan education booklet scored 61.12.
• And a “vegetarian starter kit” returned a result of 64.23.

In comparison, Reader’s Digest magazine is about 65, Time magazine scores about 52, and the Harvard Law Review has a general readability score in the low 30s. This one page “abolitionist” flier was more difficult to read and understand than the Harvard Law Review. (source)

Readability is not the “sole criterion” for determining the worth of a leaflet, but it’s a necessary fundamental factor. If a leaflet scores low in readability nothing else about it matters because the leaflet is more likely to be misunderstood and disregarded than a leaflet that is easier to understand.

Why do poorly written leaflets exist? I think this happens because many of the people who write these hand-outs are smart, educated people who are very capable of understanding complex language. Many have studied philosophy or law and are very comfortable writing in an academic style. Although there may be another explanation, I believe they are more concerned with expressing their own ideas and theories than they are concerned with actual, tangible results for animals.

Regardless of anyone’s intentions, we can all learn from this. We should make sure our fliers can be easily understood by most people. By making our message difficult to understand we’re not only failing the animals we’re also excluding a number of people who might very well have become vegan or vegetarian had they received a more readable pamphlet or had they stumbled across a more readable website.

Practically speaking if my message were crafted with college graduate readability, I could only hope to reach less than 20% of my city’s population. Statistics from the 2000 Census show that only 18.2% of Las Vegans have a Bachelor’s degree. So, in order to read my community, I must use a leaflet with a higher readability score.

To improve your writing’s readability here are some tips:

• Use short sentences and small common words.
• Repeat important ideas using different words and phrases.
• Make lists and prioritize key concepts.
• Add appropriate images when possible.
• Ask other people to read your work and help you edit it.

We owe it to the animals to ensure that everyone understands us. If we are not understood, we may as well be mooing, clucking, or oinking.

—

Post Script:

• This article has been crossposted at Selling Compassion.
• This post was originally published May 5, 2009. Minor edits have taken place since then.
• Update January 2012: HRC took this idea and ran with it. They did a comprehensive study of outreach literature. The report is online here: http://www.humanespot.org/system/files/Veg_Literature_Readability.pdf (you will need to log in to the website in order to veiw).

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Ever heard that? It’s true.

Generally speaking.

But not always.

The Sidney Morning Herald discussed vegetarianism with Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals.

Here’s a section from the article:

It’s amazing how many conversations about meat end up as fights.

”Occasionally at [my] readings somebody will stand up and say, ‘Who do you  think you are?’ etc, and get quite worked up. And I’ll say, ‘Obviously we agree  this is an important subject.’ If I had said, ‘We should all think about changing the paper towels we use,’ people might disagree with me, they might think I am an idiot for raising the subject but nobody is going to get worked  up.

”With [the question of eating meat], even if you give it as generous and humble approach as you can, it’s almost impossible not to avoid heated feelings.  It speaks to a shared awareness that something really big is going on.

I bolded an important point above. Although it’s often true that a very effective approach to use for vegan education is to temper the tone by striving to be accepting and nonaccusatory – as difficult a task as that may sometimes be, even Foer admits that finding the right tone was the most difficult part of writing his book - it’s also true that any serious animal advocate will encounter some significant resistance. The old addage, adapted from an Abraham Lincoln quote, is true:

“You can please some of the people all the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you cannot please all of the people all of the time.”

There are activists out there who claim this or that method is best and works “all the time.” Or they claim that whatever method they dislike is ”counterproductive.” Be skeptical! And be persistent. Because it’s better to speak up and say it the wrong way than to stay silent. Silence is acceptance. And there’s nothing acceptable about animal exploitation.

Whatever the animal movement is doing is working. Change is on the horizon.

For example, in September 2010 (a year ago) I did a survey of Vegan Soapbox readers to determine how effective this website was, if it was effective at all.

I was surprised to find that:

• Some survey respondents claimed they “eat less meat” or that they “eat fewer animal products.”
• A larger group said they “donate more money to animal organizations.”
• Many claimed that they “bought more vegan cookbooks.”
• The answer that received the most votes was: “I do more animal advocacy.”

At last month’s Vida Vegan Con there was a panel about vegan activism as it relates to blogging. Of course I was excited about this panel! And as usual, I took notes, which are below saved especially just for you…

Vida Vegan Con 2011 – Activism Panel
Moderator: Jasmin Singer – Our Hen House
Speakers:

• Leigh-Chantelle Koch – Viva La Vegan
  blog, cookbook, podcasts, videos, mentor
  also runs a nonprofit group that puts on a enviro fest
  “everyone has the skills and talents to promote veganism”
• Chelsea  Lincoln - The Mill Room
  began as “serious activist” by organizing protests/demos
  was part of a successful campaign that included both “angry” activism and civil dialog
  currently blogging and volunteering with animal rescue, likes hands-on
  “activism is not just one thing” find your own niche
• Isa Chandra Moskowitz – The Post Punk Kitchen
  fundraising – bake sales that also encourage veganism
  “4 courses 4 causes”
  chose to live currently in Omaha because they need more vegans and more vegan food
  interested in local activism
• Ryan Patey
  editor and founder of TOFU magazine
  started by doing a couple vegan cookbooks
  aim is to provide any vegan with a soapbox
• Sunny Subramanian
  peta2 - youth, music, provides lots of liturature etc
  veganizing cafeterias
  fun to write wiith a young voice for a young audience
  “it’s amazing to work for such a powerful organization”

Merging environmental issues and animal issues?
Leigh-Chantelle: didn’t use “v” word, didn’t market  as enviro festival, invited veg food carts

How to “fix” vegan movement?
Ryan: try not to step on each other’s toes, try to find ways to work with other people from other issues

How to incorporate more activism into foodie blogs?
Chelsea: be true to who you are, daily life is blogable

Does fostering activism in kids/young people stick? and what can people do?
Sunny: tshirts and totes that encourage veganism, online petitions, replacing home products with vegan options, encouraging parents to eat veg, kids will stick with it if they have a community

How to make local events bigger?
Isa: media attention, taking part in campaigns that are already national/international, staying part of activism community

Does your previous experience come in handy in activism?
Leigh-Chantelle: music background has helped feel comfortable to speaking and interact with media
Ryan: music scene made it easier to travel for activism
Sunny: journalism background has helped

For anyone who has never considered themselves an activist, how to get involved?
Chelsea: ignore the word activist and just follow your heart to do the things you feel need to get done in order to make change

How do you avoid burnout?
Sunny: step back and take a little vacation when things feel overwhelming
Ryan: go outside and experience nature
Jasmin: find community and safe spaces
Isa: stuff like this conference
Leigh-Chantelle: community and football

Questions from audience:

• Inspired by Chelsea’s post about being ourselves and finding our ownbeauty – how does it relate to activism?
  response: it helps you spread your message because people can feel your comfort with yourself, everyone can help themselves become better activists by accepting themselves
• How do you find that fine line between wanting to be approachable vs diluting the message; how to be honest without alientating people or seeming strident?
  response: ask someone to read post before publishing, leave room to change and modify. you’re not speaking for everyone, you’re speaking for yourself. You can unpublish if you need to. Let the food do the talking
• How do we change vegan food into activism?
  response: write letters to the editor about food, bake once a week for office and give recipes, organizing holiday event and invite nonvegans
  restaurant outreach
• How to not be divisive?
  response: it’s your blog and say what you want to say, just accept that vegans fight. Ask questions, engage the conversation. “the world of infightinng is the world of wasting time”
• How do you market events to attract the “inactivists”?
  response: bake sales, meetups with activism component, build community and trust
• How to get media attention?
  response: professional press release, find the vegans in the media, use CNN ireport, link your event to something else newsworthy
  maintain media connections, celebrity, use your own story
  ourhenhouse guide for getting media attention
• How to fuse our identities? (vegan feminist, for example)
  response: consider people as people, complex beings

To read notes from other panels at Vida Vegan Con, the conference for vegan bloggers, please go here: http://www.vegansoapbox.com/topics/vvc2011/

UPDATE: The video from the Vida Vegan Con panel on activism. Here it is:

Kim Sheridan of HealthForce Nutritionals:

• Eighty percent of books that people buy do not get read. Film, however, gets watched.

There are three broad steps to making a film:

1. Pre-production:

- determine what to produce

- create the script (consider using Keltex.com software if writing it yourself)

2. Production:

- footage! Produce it yourself or obtain from others. Use any kind of camera, even the small point-and-shoot kind.

- music: produce it yourself or find royalty-free stock music. Garage band on the Mac is a good program for producing it yourself.

- still photos: stock photos or use images from animal organizations that permit this use (most do).

3. Post-production:

- editing: can use small programs like imovie.

It isn’t necessary to have expensive equipment or salaried workers. You can do it yourself.

Airing the film:

• Youtube of course
• Public access channels
• Film festivals – check withoutabox.com
• Contests

Confidence is important. Meet deadlines for submission.

The Message: follow your heart and your film will be better for it.

Nathan Runkle of Mercy for Animals

Shannon Keith of Uncaged Films

Films get through to people.

Animal Entertainment Terrorism Act -

Sometimes the illegal approach works.

Generally, about film:

• Script – useful to have one, including for a documentary.
• Distribution of film: festivals
• use of public relations team really valuable
• Use good equipment

Nathan Runkle of Mercy for Animals

Been involved in all kinds of films.

Video is powerful.

Lights, camera, action:

• Use top equipment from the start. You never know when your film may be picked up and the base footage should be of good quality.
• Lighting kits are available and are especially useful. Without one you may have nothing but useless footage.
• Camera: get a decent one and learn how to use it. Need to be able to work in all kinds of lighting and sound situations.
• 10-second rule: film at least ten seconds of everything you film.
• Music: try royaltyfreemusic.com

Making a viral video:

Don’t try for a feature-length film.

Success on facebook or youtube:

Try for

• funny
• amazing
• helpful

evoke emotions, keep short – of the top ten videos on youtube none are over five minutes, most are between two and five minutes.

Make it easy to share – include a facebook share link.

Give the story to the Associated Press when appropriate.

Described MFA’s Farm to Fridge cross-country tour and the new pay-per-view technique.

Vegan Soapbox: How long have you been involved in the animal rights movement? How/why did you go vegan?

Michael A. Weber: I have been vegan and somewhat involved with animal rights since high school. I was primarily working on human and environmental rights until 2009, when I shifted my main focus to animals raised for food, who die and suffer in larger numbers than any other beings (human or nonhuman) on the planet.

At age 14, in my French class, we learned how to say the names of farmed animals, the sounds and call they make, and their cuts of meat in French. For instance, the French say that pigs go “groin groin”, not “oink”. It just hit me then that the meat I was eating came from animals. Of course, I already knew that, but making it so blatant was a life-changing moment for me. I became a vegetarian more or less overnight and never looked back. Going vegan was the logical next step a few years later at age 17. 

Vegan Soapbox: What’s your favorite vegan meal(s)? Favorite hair gel/ soap/deodorant/ clothing brand/ or other vegan nonfood item? Favorite AR book/film/album?

Michael: I have WAY too many favorite meals, haha. I make a lot of seitan and a lot of things with kale and broccoli. So a favorite would probably be some pan-fried seitan cutlets topped with some variation of a creamy cashew/tofu sauce, a side of steamed broccoli, a side of sautéed kale, and if I’m feeling like being healthy, a dessert of a banana/soymilk shake. If I’m not feeling as health-conscious…maybe a slice of carrot cake.

I really like the shoes by Vegetarian Shoes, which are vegan, sweatshop-free, and stylish. I don’t use a wide range of other products – mostly Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap, and Dessert Essence deodorant, which is the only vegan deodorant I have found to really do the trick. My favorite AR book is Melanie Joy’s Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. 

Vegan Soapbox: How long have you been with FARM? What did you like most (and what did you like least) about organizing the Animal Rights Conference?

Michael: I have been with FARM since February 2009, and I am now the Program Director, which involves overseeing our grassroots campaigns, educational programs, and helping craft our strategy and vision. My favorite part about organizing the conference is that I get paid to talk and email with the best leaders of our movement. If I had to say something I dislike about it, it’s probably that I’m so busy onsite that I don’t get to meet nearly as many of the great attendees and I speakers as I would like to. 

Vegan Soapbox: What’s the most effective thing someone can do for animals… in 15 minutes?… in an hour or two?… in a day or week?… in a couple weeks, months, or years?

Michael: I believe that conversations (two-way, not one-way) are the most effective tool we have to reach people one-by-one. Because of this, I’d say the most effective thing someone could do with 15 minutes is refine their response to the most common question they receive. For example, if I notice that I always get asked about where all the animals would go if the world went vegan, and if I notice that my standard response turns people off by seeming high-and-mighty, then it’s probably time to refine my response. In 15 minutes, I can come up with a firm but compassionate response that doesn’t deny my hopes for a vegan world, but doesn’t also doesn’t waste time focusing on a scenario decades or centuries away when there are animals dying now that our choices can help.  

In a couple hours or a full day, I recommend an event that has the potential to reach lots of people and to intimately engage those willing to stick around. The most effective event in my opinion that achieves this is Pay Per View, which involves offering passersby $1 to watch four minutes of animal farming and slaughter footage. We give a leaflet to people who turn us down, and at each event up to several hundred people watch the video and have conversations with us. More at www.farmusa.org/PPV 

With months or more, an activist should map out their strengths (and weaknesses) and decide how they can best utilize those strengths to help the largest number of animals. This might be on their own, with a local group, or on the national/international scale. 

Vegan Soapbox: What do you see in the future regarding our movement? Are large successes likely, do you think? What do you think are the biggest obstacles we will have to overcome?

Michael: The biggest obstacle we face is that most people won’t go vegan until institutions stop making animal products so widespread, convenient, and desirable, but most institutions won’t do this until most people want it. Our movement is finding successes, and I only see more in the future, at working simultaneously to reach individuals with our message, and making their transition easier with the availability of vegan products, information, support, etc. 

Vegan Soapbox: What’s been your biggest personal challenge to being an effective animal activist/advocate?

Michael: Besides wanting to do way more than I have time for all the time? I struggle with giving people the message they need even when it’s not the message I want to offer. For example, I want everyone to know about the hoax of humane meat, and some people are ready for that message. But others should probably receive information more based on factory farming, health, etc. It’s difficult to strike a balance between being honest/uncompromising but also effective and relatable. 

Vegan Soapbox: Any other advice/ words of wisdom that you’d like to share?

Michael: My answers have been too long already. I think I’m done

Thanks go out to Michael who was kind enough to offer his time and insight for this interview. And thanks go out to you too for reading this interview and being a part of Vegan Soapbox. Thanks.

I just returned from the Vida Vegan Blog Conference where I learned tons, met lots of new friends, and fell in love with Portland. I will share my conference notes and thoughts soon, just like I did with the AR Conference.

But today I’m heading out to do my favorite kind of activism: leafleting.

Today is the first day of school at my local university, UNLV. The first week is always the busiest time full of new and returning students. The freshmen are easy to spot with their wide-eyed optimism and curiosity. And that is why leafleting at college campuses is not only more effective but also more gratifying than leafleting elsewhere – ostensibly, college students want to learn.

At Vida Vegan Con Colleen Patrick-Goudreau gave a talk that touched on this concept of wanting to learn:

“I always say that I’m not asking people to live according to MY values; I’m urging them to live according to their own.”

“And I actually believe that people WANT this information; in fact, I think they’re quite desperate to make a change to feel better physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I know this because I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of witnessing thousands of people transition to being vegan; that is, feeling empowered enough to make choices that reflect their own values of compassion and wellness.”

And while I agree with Colleen that most people want this information it’s also true that college students are one of the groups most receptive to receiving this information. So, to reduce waste I focus most of my leafleting towards college students.

I strive to make my animal advocacy as effective as possible by saving as many animals as possible. That’s why I’ve read Change of Heart and that’s why I keep a blog called Selling Compassion that’s all about using psychology, sociology, and marketing data to improve animal activism. Change of Heart author Nick Cooney recently said:

From my experience, I think the two most effective things that we as individuals can do are:

1) Putting printed literature and resources for veg eating in front of people, through passing out Vegan Outreach leaflets and/or leaving stacks of leaflets or Vegetarian Starter Kits all around our towns

2) Getting people to view factory farming/animal cruelty videos and veg resource info either online or in person. We do this mainly through paid facebook ads, which are really really inexpensive and produce an incredible amount of change in people’s eating habits.

If anyone here wants to help us get veg starter kits in the hands of people who want them – and this only takes a few minutes a day – check out http://www.take5save5.com We use MFA’s starter kits.

So today I’ll head out with a stack of pamphlets from Vegan Outreach and I’ll hand them out to college students, teachers, and others who are on the college campus. I’ll say things like “Free information about saving animals?” or “No judgments just info,” or “Easy ways to prevent violence.” I’ll probably hand out about 500 or more in a couple hours. And hopefully I’ll inspire a few people to make a change and think about the “face on their plate.”

And then after I’ve spent a few hours doing some face-to-face vegan activism (and getting a little vitamin D while I’m at it) I’ll do a bit more blogging and put together a post about Vida Vegan Con. Stay tuned…

UPDATE: To read notes from the talks given at Vida Vegan Con, please go here: http://www.vegansoapbox.com/topics/vvc2011/