(no subject)

[hebinekohime]

Dear Bruins For Animals,

I am a transfer student who will be starting classes at UCLA next month. I have been subscribed to your mailing list since last Fall, and have been excited to read about vegan additions to the campus food court and about your group's antivivisection advocacy. At that time, I had intended to join your group once quarterly classes started. However, your recent statements have been increasingly problematic, and have forced me to reconsider.

To give an example, this is a quote I found on your web page:

"Though Bruins for Animals clearly encourages veganism in terms of diet and lifestyle in the realm of minimizing animal cruelty, we realize – as clearly seen with a large portion of our membership comprising non-vegetarians – that it is not practical to expect residents here at UCLA to all go vegan or vegetarian, and thus cage-free eggs are a huge step in the direction toward cruelty-free."

Hmm... where do I start? First, it is not at all clear that cage free eggs move society toward veganism, or even lessening consumption of animal products. Rather, by giving egg consumers a clearer conscience, labels such as cage-free encourage the same or higher consumption of eggs. Second, the practice of commercial egg farming, cage free or not, involves the mass killing of unwanted male chicks and the slaughter of 'spent' hens. It isn't consistent to endorse these activities in the name of animal welfare. Third, advocating better animal products takes time, energy and resources away from vegan advocacy. It is a sure way to lose potential vegans, as well as all those who might be interested in reducing their consumption of animal products for environmental or humane reasons.

Ida Hammer makes this point in her post "How To Prevent Social Change". http://veganideal.org/content/how-prevent-social-change-lesson-1-limit-your-vision

I'm familiar with many different strategies of animal advocacy, and I realize that campaigns like yours are the work of well-intentioned progressives who hope to win as many ears as possible. However, by undercutting vegan education and advocacy, you've lost me as a member. More importantly, you're missing a chance to win potential vegan members. Some of whom may be sitting next to you.

Instead of "go cage-free", I suggest "cut animal products out, or cut them down" as a more consistent and practical message.

P.S.: I also recommend Ida's other posts on this subject. In particular:
http://veganideal.org/content/absurdity-triage-and-need-social-change
http://veganideal.org/content/moving-beyond-yes-prop-2
http://veganideal.org/content/moving-abstraction-veganism

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

Good luck! I totally agree with your letter but it's sad how much backlash such critiques receive sometimes. ^^;;;

(Also, I LOVE Ida & would totally make her the Queen of the Movement if I could, hee.)