For the Animals. For the Earth. For your Health.
In vegan outreach, I often encounter people proudly proclaiming: "It's easy to be vegan!" I even find myself saying this often-heard phrase at times. But is it easy to be vegan? And, perhaps more importantly, should we be telling people that it's easy to be vegan?
This is a question I get asked all the time and one of the main things that comes up as a "criticism" of veganism. Yeah, but if veganism is so great, why are you trying to copy all OUR foods? Or how about: Yeah, but if veganism is so sustainable, what about all these new … Continue reading Should we be promoting meat substitutes?
As often in my research, the answer is sometimes, maybe. In particular, health is likely to be more important as a barrier. Health can, however, still be a key motivator for many people. In particular, in my research and elsewhere, health motives have been found to be popular for meat eaters and those who have … Continue reading Is health an effective vegan motivator?
At its core, animal advocacy is based on the recognition that billions of land animals and trillions of sea animals are killed each year for human consumption, while countless more are tortured for medical "research," and more are used and abused as commodities. This is the common purpose that unites us. But, animal advocates are … Continue reading Is criticism helping the animal movement?
Within the animal protection movement -- and many other social justice movements -- there is a current obsession with numbers: helping the most animals, reaching the most people... But does any of this mean a campaign is actual effective? Quite simply: no. Some within the movement have openly rejected animal sanctuaries as useful in helping … Continue reading Why our understanding of impact needs a makeover
There are a variety of sometimes contradictory stigmas around veganism and vegans. Vegans, like vegetarians, are often assumed to be women. Researchers actually found that it wasn't being vegan that made people view men as more feminine, it was their decision to be vegan. [1] In other words, rejecting meat - especially bloody, red meat, … Continue reading Vegan stigma: what is it and what can we do about it
This blog post includes data from research into seven UK-based reduction and vegan campaigns, drawing on the largest sample of meat reducers, pescatarians, vegetarians, and vegans in any research project to date (n=1,587). Research was conducted for my PhD in Social Policy at the University of Kent, using a mixed-methods, longitudinal approach. In short: it … Continue reading Do meat reducers eat more chicken and fish?
I am blown away by the incredible response I have received to my report on Meat Reduction & Vegan Promotion, which is now being shared around the world! I have dozens of talks and presentations scheduled locally and internationally and please get in touch if you are interested in scheduling a presentation for your organization … Continue reading Updates to Report
Just what is meat? To many people, meat is the flesh of land animals -- specifically cows, pigs, chickens, goats, turkeys, lambs, and maybe a few others like duck or pheasant. To some, meat is "red" and comes from cows, maybe pigs. This assumption allows cow meat to have other names, such as steak or … Continue reading Fish is (not) a vegetarian food
This blog post includes data from research into seven UK-based reduction and vegan campaigns, drawing on the largest sample of meat reducers, pescatarians, vegetarians, and vegans in any research project to date (n=1,587). Research was conducted for my PhD in Social Policy at the University of Kent, using a mixed-methods, longitudinal approach. As I have … Continue reading Why vegan campaigns need to stop reaching for the low-hanging fruit
