Vegetarianism and Veganism
The Language of Going Green
Submitted on Jul 25, 2008 Diet and Nutrition | Vegetarianism and Veganism
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This article presents a glossary of "green" consumer technology, including some with particular relevance to animal-related issues: community-supported agriculture, biomimicry, freegan, locavore, slow food, and others.
The Interactive Effect of Cultural Symbols and Human Values on Taste Evaluation
Submitted on Jul 24, 2008 Diet and Nutrition | Vegetarianism and Veganism
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A research study examining the symbolic meaning of foods and beverages found that when participants tasted meat, they were more what influenced by what they thought they had eaten than what they had actually eaten. The study's authors conclude that "Participants who ate the vegetarian alternative did not rate the taste and aroma less favorably than those who ate the beef product. Instead, what influenced taste evaluation was what they thought they had eaten and whether that food symbolized values that they personally supported."
"I Don't Like Meat to Look Like Animals": How Consumer Behavior Responds to Animal Rights Campaigns
Submitted on Jul 23, 2008 Advocacy Strategies | Farmed Animals | General Animal Protection | Vegetarianism and Veganism
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Consumers are largely isolated from the moral implications of their choices by numerous mechanisms that allow them to dissociate their use of animals from the suffering of animals. The literature review portion of this thesis examines the psychological and cultural constructs that present unique challenges to animal rights as a social movement. From that contextual backdrop, this thesis then evaluates consumer response to three major campaigns conducted by HSUS and PETA between 1980 and the present. The campaigns are vegetarianism and factory farming, the anti-fur movement, and the campaign against cosmetics testing on animals. While consumer response has been mixed, there are other outcomes from those campaigns that signal broader cultural changes. [Excepted from report]
From Label to Liable: Scams, Scandals and Secrecy; Lifting the Veil on Animal-Derived Food Product Labelling in Australia
Submitted on Jul 08, 2008 Diet and Nutrition | Farmed Animals | Vegetarianism and Veganism
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From Label to Liable is the second in-depth report from Voiceless, an Australian animal protection organisation. The report has been endorsed by leading animal protection organisations, Animals Australia, Compassion in World Farming and the World Society for Protection of Animals, and is intended to lift the veil on animal-derived food product labelling. It reveals that millions of animals across Australia today are raised in factory farms, in cages of steel and cement, to satisfy the demands of consumers who are mostly unaware of the pain and suffering behind their food choices. [Summary provided by author]
The Animal Tracker (Wave 1 - June 2008)
Submitted on Jul 07, 2008 Animal Experimentation | Companion Animals | Diet and Nutrition | Entertainment Animals | Farmed Animals | General Animal Protection | Research Tools and Methods | Vegetarianism and Veganism | Wildlife and Exotics
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This report summarizes results from Wave 1 of the Humane Research Council's "Animal Tracker" survey of U.S. adults regarding their attitudes and behavior toward animals. This inaugural survey of 16 core questions shows strong support for the protection of all animals. The strength of that support varies by situation and species, however, and actual behavior does not always reflect the favorable attitudes identified.
One Million Vow to Reduce Carbon by Being Vegetarian
Submitted on Jun 27, 2008 Vegetarianism and Veganism
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More than one million Taiwanese people, including some political figures, have pledged to reduce carbon emissions by becoming vegetarian. This would reduce at least 1.5 million tons of carbon emissions in Taiwan during the course of one year.
Why Population Growth is Animal Enemy #1
Submitted by Che on Jun 23, 2008 Advocacy Strategies | Diet and Nutrition | Farmed Animals | General Animal Protection | Vegetarianism and VeganismThe so-called "developing" world is growing quickly and in most cases adopting Western lifestyles and diets as they do so. Feeding a global population of more than 9.3 billion (by 2050) will therefore mean the consumption of billions more animals. With references to Thomas Malthus and a recent study by David and Marcia Pimentel, we take a closer look at this population problem.
Sustainability of Meat-Based and Plant-Based Diets and the Environment
Submitted on Jun 17, 2008 Diet and Nutrition | Farmed Animals | Vegetarianism and Veganism
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Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion people live primarily on a meat-based diet, while an estimated 4 billion live primarily on a plant-based diet. The US food production system uses about 50% of the total US land area, 80% of the fresh water, and 17% of the fossil energy used in the country... The meat-based food system requires more energy, land, and water resources than the lactoovovegetarian diet. In this limited sense, the lactoovovegetarian diet is more sustainable than the average American meat-based diet. [Abstract excerpted from article]
What the World Eats (in One Week)
Submitted by Che on Jun 17, 2008 Diet and Nutrition | Farmed Animals | General Animal Protection | Vegetarianism and VeganismMy last post on in vitro meat production argued that the new technology will render animal farming obsolete, but I also admitted that the change will take a while. In the meantime, overall meat consumption will rise dramatically in spite of the immense gap between the world's wealthy (and well-fed) and its poor (and malnourished). Here we take a closer look at the diets of nine families in nine very different countries, through the lens of photo-journalist Peter Menzel.
How to End 98% of Animal Abuse in the Next 25 Years
Submitted by Che on Jun 11, 2008 Advocacy Strategies | Diet and Nutrition | Farmed Animals | General Animal Protection | Vegetarianism and VeganismSo-called "lab meat" is the future of farmed animal advocacy, with the potential to completely replace the hundreds of billions of animals consumed every year throughout the world. While it still faces major science- and business-related hurdles, the promise of in vitro meat is eliminating the vast majority of animal suffering caused by humans. More than just another example of "system-wide change," the successful commercialization of lab meat would be downright revolutionary.