An Introduction to Carnism with Dr. Melanie Joy (vegan), Part 2 of 2

Her book “Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows” has been translated into over 20 languages and is considered a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the psychology of eating animal-people.

“We don't have to just debunk people's cultural beliefs. What we can do is talk about the impact of eating animals on our bodies, on the planet, and, of course, other animals. In just one day, more farmed animals are slaughtered globally than the total number of people killed in all wars throughout history. I mean, that is absolutely staggering. There's so much harm being done. So, we can raise awareness of these factors. And as my colleague Tobias Leenaert (vegan) says: ‘Make compassion easier. Make it easier and as easy as possible for people to have access to healthy plant-based foods so that it becomes easy to do the right thing for themselves, for the planet, and for the animals.’”

“So, what we as vegans, people who are listening as vegans, need to do is, it's important to encourage people to move toward veganism, of course, but we also need to get people to be vegan supporters. And a vegan supporter is a supporter of veganism, even though they're not vegan themselves. And that could be a person who donates to vegan organizations so that they can do the important work they're doing. A person who's working in politics, a person who's in the media. Some of the people working in the media have done more for the cause than people who don't eat animals at all. So, I think it's really important that we encourage people to be vegan supporters. And this is a big part of where my hope lies.”

“People who are interested and they come to VeganAdvocacy.org, they can access our materials. We have books, and we have lots of different videos. And we have online courses, and we have in-person trainings, and we have online webinars and short videos, longer videos, lots and lots of different resources and of course, videos to share with the non-vegans, in your life. So, we have videos that are designed to reduce defensiveness in people who are not vegan, so that they're more receptive to the message.”