Factory Farming Pictures
For some reason a recent post popped into my head this morning,
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=17594.0, and it made me wonder if the approach many groups use in outreach may not be very effective. Yes. pictures of cruelty may convince people that factory farms are bad, and may even convince some young people to go veg for a while...here's the but(don't get mad).
How effective is it in the long term?
My daughter has seen all the materials, the movie Fast Food Nation, loves animals, and meat is not available or accepted in my house, but on the phone admitted to eating a lot of meat at her Dad's without the slightest guilt.
Do the pics just gross people out and turn them off to veg people, or away from meat for a bit?
It's like in junior high when the cop shows up and gives the drug assembly. Drugs are bad and see all the gross things that can happen to you. And the black vs healthy lung to stop smoking. People still use don't they?
I think unemotionally presenting peoples' self interest would be more effective, such as health and the environment.
What do you think?
(constructive thoughts I'm sure will not be in short supply ;D)
well, i think a lot of people just aren't into animal rights. they don't really care, and don't think it's important. i talk about the health benefits most, because that's what directly affects people, knowing that this will make them live better and longer
I personally don't think they're effective in the longterm. Images fade. And people watch the movies once, see the images once and a year later it's a distant memory. Heck, a few weeks later it's a distant memory.
Plus, those photos and movies ALL pertain to factory farming. Which means a person can make the argument that small, local, organic farms aren't cruel. And, in fact, the animals there DO live happily, just like in an animal sancturary. Only thing is - they're killed when it's time.
So, I really don't think images or movies like that make a big difference. Sure, they may convince a few animal lovers. But, for every animal lover there are 10 others who won't be convinced by images.
I think images are a good supplement to show how bad factory farming is, but I've found health to be the bigger motivator for people. Personal, selfish reasons for choosing a diet, such as one's health, are far likelier to yield longterm effectiveness. This is just my experience, of course. I've known people to watch Earthlings in the afternoon, and have steak for dinner that same evening. But, talk to them about their OWN health in a way that they can understand, and all of a sudden, they re-think what is going into their bodies. Everyone wants to live a long, healthy life. It's just a matter of presenting them with nutritional information they will understand.
I think veggie recipes and most of all a taste of veggie food is the most effective.
I think it turns them off the meat eaters to vegetarianism (about the pictures).
I agree, it's much more effective to guide people in a less aggressive fashion. Expanding their horizons with recipes and food, and answering questions thoughtfully when they ask is a much better way, I think. I think people see unfiltered images of factory farms - the violence, the filth, etc - and their brains kind of shut it out. They aren't ready to make the switch just like that, and they can't justify eating meat if they take the images in fully, so their brain just closes it out. You have to open them up and make them seek it out themselves or it just won't work.
Or worse, they'll switch for two days, and you'll have an even bigger pest on your hands: the obnoxious "ex-veg" who smiles knowingly and says "Oh yeah. I was a vegetarian for a while too, but <<insert excuse they now believe even more>>" Those people are impossible, not just to try to bring back to reason, but even just to be veg around. This is because they can't just admit they didn't have what it takes, or that they didn't educate themselves properly or develop a support network first, so they have to spend every opportunity telling you why you're killing yourself or deluding yourself. ::)
I think veggie recipes and most of all a taste of veggie food is the most effective.
I think it turns them off the meat eaters to vegetarianism (about the pictures).
I'm with you on this - subvert from within, ha ha. A really healthy, tasty, home-cooked veggie meal will open people up to the possibility that hang on, maybe veg*ns don't just eat tofu, leaves and berries. I know it's making my family more open to choosing the veg option at restaurants. Baby steps...
There are some people that don't think all the reasons to go vegan are important enough to justify (what they see as) a big lifestyle change. These people are pretty much lost causes when it comes to going vegan of vegetarian, unless they have some life altering experience.
As for me, I was always concerned in the environment, and after doing a bit of research, I figured out that I wanted to go vegan to do my part. It didn't take long for me to start caring about the animal and health aspects of going vegan too. If you want to actively recruit, you have to find people's soft spots in a subtle manner. I am not much of a recruiter, but if someone asks me a thoughtful question (you can tell if they are actually interested) then I try and answer seriously, while stressing that it isn't as daunting as it seems.
I think people do things more for "health" benefits than anything. A few weeks ago I had posted a link from MSN about a vegetarian diet being more healthy. I think that article itself probably convinced a few people to try veg*n diet, something that an agressive campaign probably wouldn't have.
I'd have to sat that personally for me it was the pictures, videos, and stories I saw and read about sent to me by PETA, Farm Sanctuary, and other groups that made me stop eating meat. I was horrified by the literature and do owe it to those two groups (as well as a few others) for making me a vegetarian first then vegan in the long run. I have always said that the added health benefits of eating a vegan diet are just a "fringe benefit" for me. As I've become more aware of, and read more about the environment over the years, I've switched to eating only organic foods as well.....(well as much as one can try....it's almost impossible to eat 100% organic).
Though the literature and videos from animal rights groups don't work for everyone....they did for me, and a few others I know (including my ex-wife). When I first became veggie/vegan I thought the majority had done so for the same reason as I did. Mostly because the only other vegans I really knew in person were involved in animal rescue and farm sanctuaries (Like the Catskill Animal Sanctuary near Woodstock, NY that I was very actively involved with when I lived there). It was not until I started "hanging out" here at vegweb that I really came to understand that many are vegan for a variety of reasons. Overall.....in the end we ALL get the same benefits. Less animals suffer, the environment benefits, as we all get and hopefully stay healthy. ;)
-dave
Back in the late 80's (the first time I became a vegetarian--1988 I think it was), my best friend gave me a book called Diet for a New America by John Robbins. Though I became a vegetarian for a few different reasons (all having to do with animals and the environment), I can easily say that the horrible photos of the atrocities committed against farm animals in that book made a huge impact on me. I would stare at those pictures in horror and disbelief, for it was the first time I had any knowledge of cruelty to farm animals. I remained a vegetarian (that first time around) for eight years. So I do think photos can make a tremendous impact on someone, particularly if the person is sensitive to animals to begin with.