At the hospital my trays simply arrived, with vegan foods on them. Nothing imaginative but certainly vegan. They knew what the word meant. For breakfast I had wheat toast, oatmeal with brown sugar, juice, fruit, and peanut butter. For lunch and dinner somebody from the kitchen came in with a menu and asked what I wanted from it. We chose together from the limited selection and they were open to simple meals from common ingredients that were not on the menu.

At the rehab center I discussed my preferences with the cook and dietician for a long time. They were familiar with vegetarians but not vegans. I gave them a list of simple meals that should be familiar that are naturally vegan – spaghetti with marinara sauce, steamed vegetables over brown rice, lentil soup, that sort of thing. I listed many things that they might not know contain animal products so that they would avoid them, like mayonnaise. Several times during my visits somebody from the kitchen would come in to clarify or ask questions, to be sure they were not only offering me vegan food but also vegan food that I actually like.

I can’t generalize about the whole world of institutional cooking from two institutions but I do suspect there are a lot of similarities, particularly in this country. One conclusion I drew is that one cannot expect institutional cooks to be up on the latest cooking techniques or new foods, for example. Nor can you expect that these cooks will love to cook and be happy to experiment, as great chefs do. Many of them are just going to want to get the job done as easily as possible.

I saw these institutional stays as more than a matter of not starving. I saw them as an opportunity to spread the vegan word, both to the cooks and to other patients who happened to see what was on my plate. To that end I developed these guidelines for my interactions with the kitchen:

* The old standby: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Tell them “vegan” simply means no animal products. You might want to add that vegans are different from each other but they agree on this one thing: no animal products. It’s actually less complicated than the many versions of “vegetarian”.

* Offer examples of vegan dishes that are familiar and easy to make. I went ahead and came up with this list ahead of time to give myself time to think it through. Don’t suggest the use of tofu or processed products that they may not have on hand, unless they ask about it.

* Be as open as you can be. If there are a few fruits or vegetables that you really hate, do say so. Otherwise, be open to eating what is easy for them to get and to prepare. Let them know that you are perfectly happy with a baked potato with steamed vegetables or a peanut-butter sandwich. Make your motto “I’m easy”.

* Appreciate what they bring you. In many cases the meals I was served were a bit overcooked or bland or lacking in color (one of my dishes was rice with cauliflower). Remember that you are not moving in; you are here for a relatively short time. Appreciate what they give you to give them confidence to keep trying for your approval.

* Suggest changes with a smile (and mean it). You might want to ask for extra salt (I did) and it might become necessary, if you see a trend, to ask that your veggies be cooked lightly; that you have good teeth and you know that others are not so lucky, but that you enjoy chewing.

* If you have the good fortune to speak to somebody who is really interested in what you eat, you can get into simple ways to “veganize” standard dishes. You’d be surprised how many people would not think that you could make chili vegan.

With a little forethought and a whole lot of positive thinking and acting, you can make your mealtimes a pleasure, even as you glance at what is on other patients’ trays (and rejoice in your good fortune).

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).

Vegan Soapbox: First, how do you pronounce your last name?

Brian: Grew-pay

VS: How/ why did you go vegan?

Brian: “In February of 2007 I found an Even if you like meat… brochure (produced by Vegan Outreach) at Sacramento State in the lounge of the music department. I still distinctly remember the moment when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I sat down and read it and decided to give up meat on the spot. I did not know a single vegetarian or vegan at the time. A few months later, on my sister’s birthday (Aug 6th), I went fully vegan.”

“It was Jack Norris, president and co-founder of Vegan Outreach who was out leafleting that day so credit should be given to him for changing my life.”

“As for the why: I had never thought about what I ate or that animals were even involved. To me food was simply food. In a container, on a plate, from the store, in a restaurant. For whatever reason I was just ready for the message at that moment in time. I liked cats but was by no means gaga over animals.  However, I saw what modern animal ag does to animals and realized I could do something about it by changing my diet.  I felt empowered, just, and right.  2007 will forever remain one of the most important years of my life.”

 VS: What’s your favorite vegan food for lunch or dinner? What’s your favorite restaurant?

Brian: “I love breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes, tofu scramble with veggies and Daiya vegan cheese.  I love burritos.  I seem to grow more fond of chocolate every year.”
 
“Gracias Madre is my go to place in San Francisco for amazing vegan Mexican.  Wayward Café in Seattle is amazing comfort food (kind of like Denny’s).  Fellini in Berkeley has vegan eggs benedict to die for.  And Cinnaholic in Berkeley has amazing rolls.  Can’t forget Souley Vegan in Oakland for some serious comfort food.”

VS: How did you get involved with Vegan Outreach?

Brian: “In the summer of 2007 I decided to email Vegan Outreach to tell them how they had so greatly impacted my life.  Jack Norris, who was living in Sacramento at the time as well, invited me to leaflet the Warped Tour in Marysville.  It was an awesome experience and I started volunteering locally during the Fall semester.  In October, Vegan Outreach hired me to leaflet locally until I could move to Boston in April of 2008 to be the New England Outreach Coordinator.  I held this position for 7 months and until I was offered the position of Northern California Outreach Coordinator which I have had since late 2008.” 

VS: What do you like best about working with/for VO?

Brian: “I love connecting with young people.  I feel as though I’ve put in the time and effort and know how to respond to any question/situation at any given time.  I also love working with our dedicated volunteers and showing new people the ropes of leafleting.  I have ‘trained’ many a successful leafleter and it’s always a lot of fun to watch others succeed.” 

VS: What do you do to relax and prevent burn out?

Brian: “I play bass and synthesizer in a local rock band called Tremor Low (www.tremorlow.com).  I like to ride my bike and cook for friends as well.  I love feeding activists so much that a friend of mine nicknamed me ‘Papa Brian’.” 
 
“I make sure to give myself the time that I need to relax; every second of every day cannot be devoted to helping animals.  As activists, we need to accept this and be present in every moment, whether we’re working for animals or doing something fun for ourselves.  It is truly the way to living a fulfilled life.”

VS: Any final words of wisdom?

Brian: “Actions speak louder than words!  Get out there and make a difference for farmed animals as best you can. Please please please read the essays here: http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/index.html  

“Matt Ball and Jack Norris have been at this for well over 20 years and have immense insight and wisdom.”

Thanks go out to Brian for his excellent interview!

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/

Tofurkey!

Kill-A-Man-Jaro!

PETA Pita!

Dethrone the Dairy Queen!

(Can’t see the videos? Go to YouTube here >>)

The billboard features a puppy and a piglet, and asks the question, “Why love one but eat the other?”. It then suggests: “Choose vegetarian” and directs observers to the CCVN website and to Mercy For Animals.

The billboard is in a prime location just north of the city, on highway 101, one of the busiest highways in the country.

CCVN’s  billboard will remain up until July 10, reaching thousands of drivers every day.

One of the claims he makes is that in regards to human health, “In limited quantities, meat is just fine” and I agree with him there. I might catch some slack from other vegans, but I know the truth is that small amounts of animal protein (unless they’ve been contaiminated) are unlikely to harm your health. The problem is, most people don’t have the strong will that it takes to consume meat (or other animal proteins like cheese) in small amounts. Most people overdo it and eat too many animal products, whether they intend to or not.

If you’re not vegan, this is a good place to start. Reduce the amount of animal products you eat so that they contribute less than 10% of your total diet. Make the other 90% full of plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. Combine that with plenty of water and exercise and you’ve got a great recipe for good health.

If, at a later date, you feel ready to take the next step and eliminate animal cruelty from your diet, then switch out the animal products and replace them with legumes.

Back to Bittman’s article. Here’s the essential point of the piece:

Right now, primal urge and modern availability form a deadly combo.

We’re crack addicts with a steady supply. Beyond instinct and availability, there’s a third factor: marketing. When you add “It’s what’s for dinner” to the equation, you have a powerful combination: biology, economics and propaganda all pushing us in the same direction.

Those who were born in mid-to-late 20th century America take this for granted; I grew up eating meat seven days a week, usually for lunch and dinner, sometimes for breakfast, too. But the phenomenon is global: there’s more than twice as much meat available per person than there was in 1950.

This last fact – that many people are consuming far more meat than ever in history – not only risks human health by significantly increasing the amount of fat and protein and decreasing the amount of fiber that people consume, but when coupled with the rising human population means a significant increase in the amount of damage to the environment and the amount of animal suffering required to produce this much meat. This, this is something we need to fix now!

So, no matter where you stand on the issues – whether you want to abolish all animal exploitation or you simply want to avoid mass environmental damage and you think “meat animals” deserve better than factory farms – we need to fix this now! We need to encourage people to eat fewer animals. We need to make eating vegan alternatives easier. We need to encourage people to be respectful of animals and the environment. We need to change the laws that allow animal cruelty. We need to enforce the existing laws and the new laws. We need to get active and make a difference. And it has to be done now!

Nine years later – in the summer of 2009 – after successfully providing refuge to thousands of birds, the sanctuary relocated to Springfield, Vermont, where it expanded to a whopping 100 acres, making the addition of larger animal residents a natural next step. As the expansion continued and a full-time staff person was brought on board, the sanctuary welcomed rescued cows and horses – animals who joined the brave birds infinding refuge; a peaceful place where they could live the rest of their liveswith dignity.

Now, the transition is complete. The Eastern Shore Sanctuary has changed its name to VINE Sanctuary – Veganism is the Next Evolution – a name that speaks to the heart of the organization’s mission: to embrace and promote a compassionate, cruelty-free lifestyle as a necessary next step for the preservation of the planet and all its inhabitants.

According to sanctuary co-president Miriam Jones, “With VINE, it is our hope that we can advocate a vegan lifestyle as adelicious, cruelty-free alternative that is an absolutely necessary step inorder to preserve the planet and act compassionately toward all itsinhabitants, both human and non-human.”

In addition to rescuing and rehabilitating farmed animals from egregiously abusive and neglectful situations, VINE has just launched the first web episode that is part of their new series, “Cooking WithReal Vegans,” geared toward the average busy person who doesn’t necessarily have a flair for kitchen gadgets. VINE also has long-range plans for the future that include a broad-based and inter-species approach to sanctuary work, as well as establishing a retreat center for animal rights activists and our allies from other movements.

“University of Utah marketing professors Himanshu Mishra and Arul Mishra studied consumer behavior and attitudes, and found [...] if you are advertising new products or products geared toward improving lifestyle, those should be advertised in the time period shortly after payday. If you are advertising products intended more to maintain or prevent worsening of their lifestyle, target the period just before payday. They provide a simple example: whitening toothpaste would be an improvement-oriented product, while a cavity-prevention message would be geared to prevention.”

For vegan advocates, this could be useful information. Although we’re not technically selling a product, we’re promoting a lifestyle. And much of what marketing is for products is the same as it is for lifestyles: ideas.

I think it’s very possible that people are more likely to be persuaded to go veg by using different kinds of explanations at different times of the month. For example, they’re probably more interested in hearing about celebrity vegans and indulgent vegan foods at the begining of the payday cycle whereas they’re more likely to be interested in a budget and/or health-presevation rationale for veganism towards the end of the payday cycle.

The article reminds us that “Not everyone is on the same pay cycle, and it seems that more affluent consumers who don’t live from paycheck to paycheck would be less influenced by payday issues.” But when dealing with college students, who are typically living “paycheck-to-paycheck,” I bet activists could organize a vegan education campaign on a college campus based on the payday cycle of the university and on the timing of financial aid dispersements. That campaign, if well organized, could result in tremendous long-term benefits for animals, the planet, and human health.

So I laid out a survey to try to get some measure of the efficacy of this website. One simple question, “How has reading Vegan Soapbox changed you?”

The answers included increases or decreases in animal product consumption, vegan cookbook purchases, donations, and advocacy. The answers were randomly arranged in the poll so that no answer would emerge as the winner simply for being the first choice on the list. Some measures were taken to ensure people only responded to the poll once. But respondents were allowed to select multiple answers to the question.

How has reading Vegan Soapbox changed you?

No respondents said that they “eat more meat, cheese, eggs.” None said they “stopped volunteering for animals,” nor did any say they “stopped donating to animal organizations.” Three claimed they “eat less meat” while six said they “eat fewer animal products.” Another six “donate more money to animal organizations.” Eight respondents said that they “eat a vegan diet” and eight also “bought more vegan cookbooks.” Ten said they “have not changed.” The answer that received the most votes (15) was: I do more animal advocacy.

One fill-in-the-blank answer was offered in the poll. Some responses include:

• “I’ve become more aware of my choices”
• “Nice to read articles supporting my vegan life style”
• “I have become more informed, which subsequently helps me in AR conversations.”
• “i went raw vegan!”
• “None of these apply, been vegan for over 8 years but good info is here.”
• “It has help the knowledge I can share”
• and more. (Some “other” answers were cut off mid-sentence by the polling program.)

Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll.

Clearly, there is some selection bias wherein some people were more motivated to complete the poll than others. The exact nature of this selection bias is difficult to determine. But from other sources we know that the vast majority of readers come from North America, mostly the US. We also know that regular readers of Vegan Soapbox account for only about 15% of the website traffic. Other visitors come once or twice for a recipe or news story but they do not read regularly every day or every week. Given the nature of the website and the comments, it’s reasonable to assume many regular readers are already vegan or vegetarian. Lastly, most visitors come to the website on Mondays, therefore since the poll was up Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, it’s likely that most regular readers who will respond to the poll have already responded.

Discounting the selection bias, which may or may not significantly influence the poll results, it appears that this website has a positive effect. What’s more, it appears to have zero negative effects. That is astonishing.

Honestly, I did not expect these results at all. My expectation was that there would be some respondents who claimed to eat more meat as a result of reading Vegan Soapbox but I expected the majority answer to be “I eat a vegan diet.”

My conclusions:

1. Online vegan education through blogging is worthwhile because it tends to encourage people to do things that benefit animals such as eating fewer animal products or doing more animal advocacy.
2. Because online vegan education has few barriers to entry and is generally low-cost, it makes sense to include vegan blogs as part of a larger animal advocacy campaign.
3. Here  at Vegan Soapbox we use methods such as “shock” videos or “welfarist” appeals. The results of this poll indicate that none are counterproductive.