Say we have developed what we think is the most powerful pro-veg argument ever, and present it to 10 people. Incredibly,
5 of them stop eating animals; the others decide to "eat better" – following the mainstream suggestions of their doctor and friends by giving up red meat.
We might think, "50% conversion rate? That must be the way to go!"
This is how I used to think. But after years, I finally learned to ask: How does this argument actually affect animals?
Every year,
the average American eats:
23 birds
0.3 pig
0.1 cow
It currently takes about 193 birds (chickens + turkeys) to provide the same number of meals as one steer, and 56 to equal one pig.
So before our presentation, the 10 people consumed a combined 234 land animals every year. After our presentation, they eat
296 land animals per year. This is because, even though our argument has convinced fully
half of them to stop eating animals entirely, the others replaced their red meat intake with birds in order to eat more healthfully. (And that is if the five replace the fractional cow and pig with birds; if they replace the red meat even partially with fishes, the numbers are much, much worse.)
Of course, we all know people who have
gone veg for health reasons; as vegetarian advocates, we are obviously in a position to hear from and remember them. The error is thinking these 'health' vegetarians are a representative sample of society, rather than what they actually represent: a
self-selected sub-sample.
History, however, shows that eating fewer large animals and more small animals for health reasons isn't a made-up, worst-case scenario – it has been the driving force for the suffering and slaughter of billions and billions of birds. Just look at the graph
here – the slaughter of chickens has skyrocketed over the decades!
This is one of the reasons why Vegan Outreach doesn't use any argument that could, in
any way, support the general move toward giving up only red meat: every person who decides to "eat better" more than counters the good done by a new vegetarian.
In other words: Vegan Outreach doesn't repeat anti-meat arguments. We promote
pro-animal arguments. Obviously, it feels good to say, "Vegans have lower rates of
disease X," but
the point isn't to feel good about ourselves. We're not out to justify or glorify our choices – our goal is to
keep as many animals from suffering as possible.
Of course, advocates
can claim eating birds is bad for everyone's health, the environment, etc. Putting aside the veracity of those
health and
environmental claims,
this simply isn't the way the world works; people don't just accept what a vegan advocate says as gospel truth. Rather, they combine what they hear from all sources, paying more attention to what their doctor and friends say. On top of this, people generally give
much more weight to advice that leads toward what they want to do – e.g., continuing to eat the familiar and convenient foods their friends and family eat.
More importantly, we simply don't make decisions based on what is "perfect" for our health, the environment, etc. We don't exercise the optimal amount, we don't sleep enough, we don't
floss every day, we don't give up our car, etc.
With few exceptions, we follow our habits / peers. For most people (i.e.,
not a self-selected vegetarian sub-sample), if we change anything, we do something somewhat "better" – e.g.,
eating chickens instead of cows.
In other words, no matter what
vegans claim is true or what
we want, people will react from where
they are, what
they're used to, and what
they want. So no matter how strong we think our arguments are, or how noble our intentions, or how passionate our desires, when we advocate without considering human nature, history, and the numbers,
we cause more animals to suffer and die.
If we want to help animals, we need to
advocate for the animals.
-Matt
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Had a great conversation with Amanda (above). She told me that the booklet made her really sad and is now on her way towards going vegetarian, despite the fact that she hates vegetables. One vegan exclaimed, "HELLLL YEAH!" and gave me a huge, jumping high-five. Another responded "Fashoooo!" when I made the statement about helping animals. I gave another student a Guide after she told me the Even If booklet was sad. Danielle, who plans on becoming a veterinarian, told me that the booklet almost brought tears to her eyes in biology class. Spoke with Lane, a progressive-looking long-haired dude that recently watched Vegucated, and now his whole family is veg!
