It would be difficult to imagine a more mainstream endorsement of the meatless lifestyle than came in June 1998 in the latest edition of Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care. The perennial best seller grabbed national headlines when the world’s leading pediatrician recommended that children be raised on a vegan diet.
Yet this is just one among many current opportunities to inspire the public to adopt the meatless/less-meat lifestyle.
Recognizing the enormous destruction caused by meat eating, the Sierra Club has joined the debate on the negative impact of factory farming. And Brian Halweil of the Worldwatch Institute, writing about collateral damage associated with meat, notes that “Reducing global meat consumption even slightly offers win-win solutions to some of humanity’s most pressing problems.”
At Johns Hopkins University, the Center for a Livable Future has drafted an extraordinary statement which not only encourages eating lower on the food chain but also questions the ethics of current factory farming practices.
Veggie awareness has never been higher in the public consciousness. The American Dietetic Association takes the position that “appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, are nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.”
The New York Times recently added its voice to the debate with a powerful editorial blasting the intensive confinement of pigs.
Opinion polls show that the public disapproves of current factory farming practices. The public further agrees that those who profit from cruelty should be held responsible.
Public outcry over facebranding a few years ago was so intense that the USDA launched a farm animal well-being task group.
Stung by activist lawsuits, corporate giants McDonald’s and Wendy’s have both instituted farm animal well-being programs with significant participation on the part of senior management. Burger-King is expressing interest in a similar initiative.
The
Time Is Ripe
Together, all these developments suggest that the time is ripe for action. There is escalating interest in the nine billion victims of factory farming and the health and environmental consequences of meat eating, including at the grassroots activist level, where professor Scott Plous in a recent Journal of Comparative Psychology article documented a major shift of activist interest towards farm animals in the past six years––especially among younger activists. The practices and consequences of factory farming are coming under discussion in ever-increasing numbers of articles, not only in the animal and environmental press, but also in mainstream publications like Newsweek.
Clearly there is momentum. The inertia from decades of thoughtless, habitual meat-eating is being overcome. Together we can create the critical mass to inspire the public to consider the meatless lifestyle and challenge the abuses of factory farming. We want the public to rethink meat as is being done with tobacco.
If we are to succeed, we must work on all fronts. And this will include keeping up the pressure on the fast food and supermarket industries so that more corporations join in the pioneering efforts of McDonald’s and Wendy’s. Those like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), who resist the idea that animals need to be treated humanely, need to have their callous corporate cultures held up to the light of public scrutiny.
We must continue to work with governments. The USDA’s Farm Animal Task Group has made some initial progress. Their initiatives could be greatly energized by greater public involvement. Above all, we need to measure our success by results—by increasing the numbers of vegetarians and part-time vegetarians and by the number of farm animals whose lives are improved.
We
Can Do It!
The animal protection and vegetarian movements have already demonstrated the will and resources to influence public thinking. Campaigning on behalf of farm animals, we can work with other constituencies dedicated to improving food safety, protecting the environment and small farmers.
Working together, we can improve the quality of life for all. We hope that both the grassroots groups and national organizations will take advantage of present trends and brainstorm with the goal of turning words into action. The time has never been better. Let’s seize the opportunity!