A Moment of Silence for Donald Watson, Founder of The Vegan Society

Donald Watson, together with some others, founded The Vegan Society in 1944. Here my entry on Watson from the Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism:

WATSON, DONALD (1910–2005)

Born September 2, 1910, in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, England, Donald Watson coined the term “vegan” to describe individuals who abstain from the consumption and use of animal products and founded the Vegan Society to promote this idea. Watson spent much of his life as a woodworker or teaching woodwork. His father was a headmaster of a nearby school. His uncle and grandmother ran the family farm, and, at an early age, Watson, who had thought of the farm as an idyllic place, witnessed the slaughter of a pig. This began his reassessment of the human-nonhuman relationship, which continued through Watson’s adolescence.

In 1924, at age 14, Watson became a vegetarian. Twenty years later, in 1944, he founded the Vegan Society, although he had already been practicing a vegan diet and lifestyle for a few years prior. “Vegan” comes from the beginning and ending letters of the word “vegetarian.” Watson thought that veganism was the logical conclusion of rejecting animal products for reasons of morality and health. He maintained that dairy products, such as milk and cheese, and eggs, were every bit as cruel and exploitive of sentient animal life as was slaughtering animals for their flesh: “The unquestionable cruelty associated with the production of dairy produce has made it clear that lacto-vegetarianism is but a half-way house between flesh-eating and a truly humane, civilised diet, and we think, therefore, that during our life on earth we should try to evolve sufficiently to make the ‘full journey.'” He also avoided wearing leather, wool, or silk and used a fork, rather than a spade, in his gardening to avoid killing worms.

Watson was opposed to hunting, fishing, blood sports, and the use of animals in experiments or for testing purposes. Although he claimed to have respect for those who liberated animals from laboratories or engaged in other forms of direct action, he expressed concern that such activities were counterproductive. He was an advocate of organic farming and was critical of genetic modification of plants and animals.

Watson touted and exemplified the health benefits of a vegan diet, but he clearly saw veganism primarily as a moral principle. He regarded the vegan movement as “the greatest movement that ever was” because it provided a solution to the crisis of greed and violence that affected and afflicted humankind and that threatened ecological disaster. Although he was not religious in a traditional sense, he had deeply held spiritual beliefs that included the idea that being a carnivore violated natural law and that violence against nonhuman animals was a violation of spiritual laws that brought psychological unhappiness and ill health. Watson maintained that compassion was the only useful part of religion and that veganism involved practicing compassion.

Watson was committed to nonviolence in general. He had objector status during World War II. He lived an active and healthy life until his death in 2005 at age 95. Watson predicted, as did playwright George Bernard Shaw about his own funeral, that it would be attended by “all the spirits of all the animals” that Watson had never eaten.

Gary L. Francione

I hope that my profound respect for Watson, and his progressive vision, is apparent even from this brief entry.

I wrote this entry on Watson in 2010. In 2011, I was actually banned from the Vegan Society’s Forum because I was promoting veganism after I started a discussion you can read here.

And now, The Vegan Society has decided to “rebrand” itself through a campaign–You Don’t Have to Be Vegan–costing £6000. The Vegan Society has explicitly and deliberately abandoned veganism as a moral baselines in favor a most flexible version of flexible veganism that is described by The Vegan Society as “vegan consumerism”:

ScreenHunter_209 Jul. 04 08.14

(Click on image to enlarge.)

An article about Ruth Semple, Head of Communications, Public Policy, and Research for The Vegan Society had this to say:

Semple, who joined the charity in October 2012, knew she had a serious problem to solve. Not only was the visibility of the charity low – among the public as well as journalists – but the branding and identity no longer reflected its aims. Rather than existing solely to provide information to help individuals become vegans, the society now wants to engage with policy-makers at a higher level on a wider range of issues, such as international development and climate change.

So Semple embarked on the charity’s biggest-ever rebranding project, which cost £6,000. “At first some staff were resistant because they didn’t see the need for it,” she says. “They asked why we were spending so much money on design work when we should be doing other things.”

Nevertheless, she went ahead with the project, drawing on pre-existing academic research examining the portrayal of vegans in the media – typically, says Semple, they were seen as ascetics or faddists – and analysing the 2013 membership database, which found the average age of members was 56.

“We realised that we needed to attract the next generation and find out what they wanted,” Semple says.

And what is that “pre-existing academic research” to which Semple refers?

It is one study: M. Cole and K. Morgan, Vegaphobia: derogatory discourses of veganism and the reproduction of speciesism in UK national newspapers, British Journal of Sociology 2011 Volume 62 Issue 1.

And what does that one study say?

It says that newspapers in Britain portray vegans and veganism in derogatory ways–as “ascetics, faddists, sentimentalists, or, in some cases, hostile extremists”–in order to perpetuate speciesism and to disconnect discussions of veganism from the moral and ethical issues presented by animal exploitation.

Is that any surprise? Any surprise at all?

Newspapers are owned by corporations that have vested economic interests in perpetuating all sorts of injustice, including, but not limited to, animal exploitation, and in keeping discussion focused on the most superficial level so that we avoid discussing the real issues of morality and injustice.

Interestingly, the authors conclude that media effort to discredit veganism may reflect the

view that human violence towards nonhuman animals is deeply problematic to most humans. If it were not, there would be little purpose to the vegaphobic discourse as it was manifested in our research findings. (page 150)

That is, the corporate media portray vegans and veganism negatively precisely to deflect attention away from the moral beliefs that most people have. That is, we all think that what Michael Vick or Mary Bale did was wrong, but the media discourage our making the deeper connections between what they did and what we do in our everyday lives.

The authors conclude:

Therefore, the effort to continually reassert the connection between veganism and nonhuman animal liberation remains worthwhile, and the temptation to promote veganism under the non-confrontational guise of convenient healthy lifestyle choice may be unwise. This is not to argue that education about the practicalities of living a nonviolent life is not important, but it is prey to co-option. (page 150)

Have you fallen off your chair yet?

The Vegan Society is relying on academic research for its “You Don’t Have to Go Vegan” campaign where that research supports the opposite conclusion. That research indicates that media are trying to discredit veganism precisely because people care morally about animals, and that would support the idea that we should continue to emphasize the moral point and to talk about the practicalities of nonviolent living. The Vegan Society is using this research to justify abandoning the moral argument and to abandon any talk about the practicalities of nonviolent living in favor of the message of flexible veganism and “vegan consumerism.”

The “co-option” has already occurred.

Here are three of the new Vegan Society campaign posters:

vegan lipstick

vegan icre cream

vegan trainers

I wonder what Donald Watson would think about the new campaign. I wonder if he would have been pleased to see his Vegan Society producing these sorts of posters.

In 1944, in the first newsletter of The Vegan Society, Donald Watson said this:

A common criticism is that the time in not yet ripe for our reform. Can time ever be ripe for any reform unless it is ripened by human determination? Did Wilberforce wait for the ‘ripening’ of time before he commenced his fight against slavery? Did Edwin Chadwick, Lord Shaftesbury, and Charles Kingsley wait for such a non-existent moment before trying to convince the great dead weight of public opinion that clean water and bathrooms would be an improvement? If they had declared their intention to poison everybody the opposition they met could hardly have been greater. There is an obvious danger in leaving the fulfilment of our ideals to posterity, for posterity may not have our ideals. Evolution can be retrogressive as well as progressive, indeed there seems always to be a strong gravitation the wrong way unless existing standards are guarded and new visions honoured.

In 2014, Jasmijn de Boo, CEO of The Vegan Society says:

Developed after a long period of research and meaningful dialogue, the campaign shows that we have really been listening to the views of vegetarians and meat eaters. Some people can make the jump to veganism overnight, but we understand that for others, the “Go vegan. Now!” messages are lost.

As if the choice were between a simplistic slogan, “Go vegan. Now!” and abandoning veganism as a moral baseline through promoting flexible veganism and “vegan consumerism.”

CEO de Boo continues:

Everyone is now free to embrace veganism, not only those who are already vegan, but those who are thinking about it and want to start bringing more plant-based dishes into their diet, or replace their leather shoes with vegan versions. Vegans can choose from a wide range of different food and products in supermarkets and online. It’s never been easier, in fact.

We are not here to tell people what to do or how to live. We are giving people the choice and the chance to join us. We are here to support anyone moving towards a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle. It’s not all-or-nothing. It’s about starting a conversation, or planting a seed.

In other words, The Vegan Society was doing a thoroughly incompetent job getting people excited about veganism. Rather than trying to figure out how to reinvigorate Watson’s message of interspecies justice and nonviolence for a new generation and for a world that desperately needs to hear that message, The Vegan Society decided to abandon that message in favor of the idea that if people buy vegan products, it’s all okay. And given that everyone buys some vegan products, The Vegan Society can declare victory, make everyone feel good for buying vegan products, and get donations and bequests of gratitude because the Society is putting its stamp of approval on their non-veganism; on their flexible veganism; on their “vegan consumerism.” It’s all great for the Society’s business and it’s great for consumers who can buy their indulgences for exploiting animals by making a donation. Only the animals lose.

Is it hard to educate about morality in 2014? Yes, it most certainly is. But it was also difficult in a different way in 1944, when Donald Watson was trying to deal with these issues in a world that was just emerging from the horrors of World War II, the rise of dictators and tyrants, and the nightmare of the Holocaust.

Watson met the challenge in 1944. The Vegan Society in 2014 has not. In fact, it has capitulated to defeat. The Vegan Society claims that its message of “vegan consumerism” is the only way to get young people to become interested in veganism, claiming that

Facebook “likes” on the charity’s page now exceeds 1,000 a week, compared with 100 to 200 previously.

But the Abolitionist Approach Facebook page, which promotes veganism as a moral baseline, is at almost 60,000 likes, has gone up about 40,000 in the past year or so, and a big chunk (almost 40%) is the age group 18-34. And not one paid boost.

The idea that a strong moral message does not appeal to the public in general, or to young people in particular, is nonsense. The Vegan Society has just decided that it can bring in more money by selling it all out and putting a stamp of approval on non-veganism, flexible veganism, and “vegan consumerism.”

A moment of silence for Donald Watson. That is the least we can do for someone whose progressive vision and message of nonviolence has been betrayed and abandoned.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

ADDENDUM, JULY 3, 2014

Dr. Matthew Cole, one of the co-authors of the study in the British Journal of Sociology has publicly stated that his study:

provides no support whatsover for the conclusions that the Vegan Society have drawn from it, that this was made clear to the Society in the strongest of terms several weeks ago, and that their continued references to it are unjustified.

ScreenHunter_207 Jul. 03 16.09

(Click on image to enlarge.)

ADDENDUM, JULY 4, 2014

I posted this at http://goo.gl/RWPXym:

I have been a vegan for 32 years. I have written for The Vegan and I was interviewed in The Vegan as part of a series on animal ethics that included Tom Regan, Peter Singer, and me. I have great respect for Donald Watson and his progressive vision and I wrote the entry on Watson in The Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism (2010). Despite this, in 2011, I was banned from the Vegan Society on line discussion forum because I objected to the Society accepting paid adverts that promoted and praised non-vegan restaurants and inns. I wrote about the matter here: http://goo.gl/41TlKQ

At the time, I predicted that the Vegan Society would soon explicitly embrace and promote some version of “flexible” veganism.

And that is exactly what they have now done.

The Vegan Society is trying to blame those who see veganism as a moral baseline for the failure of the Society to be more successful in attracting new members. No, the vegans were not the problem. The problem was that the Society has lacked creative and dynamic leadership for a while now. I believe that there were some staff in the past who had good ideas but they were stifled by a rather smug and reactionary Council of Trustees. Those staff members are gone. In any event, the Society utterly failed to present the exciting vision that motivated Watson in a way that is relevant for a world that needs that vision more urgently in 2014 than it did in 1944. And now, in a desperate and most cynical attempt to get a greater share of charity donations, the Vegan Society has installed leadership that is overtly hostile to veganism as a moral baseline, and the Society has completely abandoned and betrayed Watson’s vision. I note that the current Chair of the Council of Trustees notes on his bio that he used to work at the RSPCA.

I suggest that we have a moment of silence for Donald Watson.

And then I suggest that those of us who see veganism as a moral baseline get on with promoting Watson’s message of nonviolence and interspecies justice. Unfortunately, The Vegan Society will not be an ally in that effort.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University

ADDENDUM, July 4, 2014

Vegan Society CEO Jasmijn de Boo has issued a statement in response to significant negative reaction that the Vegan Society has received in response to abandoning veganism as a moral baseline.

de Boo states:

We are aware that there has been some misinformation going around about the Love Vegan campaign and we are monitoring this closely – particularly, the slogan of the campaign has sometimes been partially quoted or taken out of context.

The full slogans of the Love Vegan campaign so far are as follows:

“You don’t have to be vegan to love vegan lipstick.”
“You don’t have to be vegan to love vegan trainers.”
“You don’t have to be vegan to love vegan ice-cream.”

We know that we need to be inclusive and non-judgemental if we are going to encourage and support large numbers of people to go vegan and stay vegan.

By vegan, we mean vegan, as defined by our founding members 70 years ago this year. We have never and nor will we ever campaign for so-called ‘part-time veganism’ as a permanent lifestyle, but only as part of an exciting journey towards 100% veganism. We know from experience that it makes the whole concept more accessible to everyone – and I’m sure you’ll agree that every step towards veganism, however small, makes a difference.

de Boo is merely confirming exactly what everyone is concerned about.

1. The Vegan Society says that it wants to be “inclusive and non-judgmental.” How can one seek to end animal exploitation–or any fundamental violation of rights–in an “inclusive and non-judgemental” way?

You cannot take a position that “X is morally right” without taking the position that “Not-X is morally wrong.” Judgment is the essence of morality. In this very statement, the Vegan Society is stating that it rejects veganism as a baseline moral principle.

2. The “You don’t have to be vegan” slogan does not change if you say that “You do not have to be vegan to love vegan lipstick.” That’s the problem. The Vegan Society is reducing veganism from a moral principle to what the Society has called “vegan consumerism.”

3. No one ever has or ever will consume only animal products. Everyone consumes vegan products at least on occasion. So why is the fact that someone buys a pair of vegan trainers going to lead them to go vegan particularly when the Vegan Society has decided that it will not promote veganism as a moral baseline? How is “vegan consumerism” going to lead to veganism? What “journey” is being referred to? To call this campaign extremely silly is the most positive thing that can be said about it.

4. To say that the current Vegan Society has anything to do with the one that Donald Watson started in 1944 is fantasy and unfair to the memory of Watson. The Society has embraced moral relativism. The problem is that one thing you could say with complete certainty: Donald Watson was not a moral relativist and the Vegan Society of 1944 was not based on moral relativism.

5. It’s interesting that de Boo says that we need to be “non-judgemental” when the Society has, throughout the online discussion of this matter, been characterizing vegans who promote veganism as a moral baseline in all sorts of ad hominem ways.

de Boo states:

As we receive no government funding, the vast majority of our income is generated by our Vegan Trademark registration scheme. Having more vegan products registered with the Vegan Trademark achieves three things: it gives people more confidence when shopping for vegan products, it shows companies and retailers that the vegan market share is growing, and it funds The Vegan Society’s charitable work.

de Boo explicitly confirms what many of us have suspected the new campaign is about: getting non-vegan product manufacturers to pay the Vegan Society to get a stamp-of-approval on some vegan items it may have. And the Vegan Society is reassuring these manufactures that they’re not promoting veganism; they’re just promoting vegan products.

In response to objections that animals are mentioned as a reason to go vegan after health, the environment, and economic development, de Boo states:

The subheadings on our ‘Why Vegan?’ page of our website are deliberately not numbered, but we understand some of the concerns raised about this page. The new website is still being developed, and we know that some of the pages still need revising.

So the Vegan Society spent £6000 on the “rebrand,” did all of this “research” and had all of these focus groups, but they just forget to get the website right before the launch?

Come on.

In the very article that discusses the launch, we find the following statement:

Rather than existing solely to provide information to help individuals become vegans, the society now wants to engage with policy-makers at a higher level on a wider range of issues, such as international development and climate change.

The Society made a deliberate decision to move away from the focus on animals. This is not a matter of failing to tweak the website.

And the decision to move away from the focus on animals is even more remarkable considering that only a few months ago, de Boo acknowledged:

Statistics taken from a Vegan Society membership survey some of you may have filled in a few years ago revealed that over 80% of our members are vegan for the animals. Most British people currently signing up to our Vegan Pledge project say the same. Compassion for animals is a key motivation for people to go vegan and stay vegan. It’s important that we embrace this in a positive way.

Eighty percent of members are in it for the animals. And the Vegan Society decides to abandon the notion of veganism as a moral baseline and to opt for “vegan consumerism,” international development, and climate change?

It’s breathtaking.

de Boo states:

As always, we are open to any practical and positive suggestions relating to our work as a charity, and welcome polite and constructive dialogue on our Facebook page.

We accept that we need to make sure our communication is equally respectful, and as stated above, steps will be taken effective immediately to ensure that those commenting on Facebook on behalf of The Vegan Society do so in a respectful and friendly manner at all times.

The responses that have been posted on Facebook on behalf of the Vegan Society in response to this new campaign have been anything but “respectful.” Indeed, those who disagree with the new direction of the Vegan Society were subjected to outright name calling.

de Boo needs to take responsibility for this and not throw her employees under the bus. She needs to acknowledge that failure to engage legitimate criticism is a policy of the Vegan Society that goes all the way to the top.

In 2011 when I raised the issue of the Society taking paid advertisements that promoted and praised non-vegan restaurants, I was perfectly “polite and constructive.” Indeed, I actually took the time to prepare a lengthy memo to address the problem in a most constructive way. I was thanked for raising a “reasonable question” and told that the Council of Trustees was considering my concerns. And then, with absolutely no explanation, I was banned from the on line forum. I never received a reply to my concerns about the matter of non-vegan advertisements and I wrote a perfectly polite note to CEO de Boo on October 2, 2013, asking about how Council decided to resolve the matter.

I never received an acknowledgement or reply.

de Boo asks:

Why are people saying that The Vegan Society has “sold out”?

Because it has.

GLF

ADDENDUM, Added August 6, 2014:

The Vegan Society issued this statement to its Pledge Mentors:

Douglas statement

(Click to enlarge.)

I have several comments:

First, it is wrong for The Vegan Society to claim that there has been a “deliberate mis-interpretation of our [their] Love Vegan campaign.”

The Vegan Society’s own “Ambassador,” Fiona Oakes, stated on BBC Radio that veganism is not “for everyone” and “not probably for very many people,” and then defended those statements by characterizing those who promote veganism as a moral baseline as “fundamentalist nutters.”

“Ambassador” Oakes claimed that promoting veganism as a moral baseline “damages” animals.

And, as the essay above demonstrates, the entire rebrand by The Vegan Society is an explicit rejection of veganism as a moral imperative.

If there is any “deliberate mis-interpretation” going on, it is on the part of The Vegan Society, which is rejecting veganism in favor of a most flexible form of “flexible veganism” and hoping that the rest of us don’t notice.

We did.

Second, the claim that their “aims and objectives remain unaltered from those of our [their] founders 70 years ago” is beyond absurd and completely disrespectful of the memory of Donald Watson.

Third, it is troubling that The Vegan Society is asking people to not make any public criticisms of its position.

GLF

Monday: Your Choice

Meatless_Mondays_are_option1V6

or

calendar

We keep hearing welfarists say that most people who go vegan went vegetarian first, so we should promote going vegetarian.

We keep hearing welfarists say that if we promote “happy” meat and other “happy” animal products, that will lead people to go vegan eventually.

This is all nonsense. There is no empirical evidence that establishes a causal link between any non-vegan situation and veganism.

To the extent that people go vegetarian before they go vegan, or eat “happy” meat or eggs or whatever before they go vegan, is it any surprise?

Animal organizations all promote vegetarianism and “happy” exploitation. Not one promotes veganism as an unequivocal moral baseline.

It is our responsibility to make clear that if animals matter morally, we are obligated to go vegan. If someone cares about animals but wants to do less, that should be their choice and never what we promote.

Telling people that vegetarianism, “happy” meat, “Meatless Monday,” “vegan before 6,” or “flexible veganism” are morally acceptable will just delay progress, and not lead to it.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

Interview on Brian Oxman Show

On Wednesday, June 25, 2014, I was a guest on the Brian Oxman Show.

You can listen here.

**********

If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

Message to The Vegan Society: It’s About Justice

The Vegan Society has obviously gotten a significant critical reaction to its explicit rejection of veganism as a baseline moral principle as represented in its “You don’t have to be vegan” campaign.

The Vegan Society has been going in the wrong direction for a while now. In 2011, the Society banned me for promoting veganism after I started a discussion you can read here.

In any event, here is their latest unsuccessful attempt to justify the new campaign: a 1952 statement from Muriel E. Drake, then TVS Vice-President, in which she calls veganism a “new way of life” and the decision to go vegan “momentous,” and states that we should “bring the ideas of veganism to the notice of others . . . but we have no right to attempt to make up their minds for them.”

Drake

First of all, Drake made those comments 62 years ago. Veganism was a relatively new idea back then, particularly in the West. So was racial equality. So was the equality of women. So what? It’s 2014 now.

Second, no one disputes that we cannot make up anyone’s mind for them. People have to make up their own minds. And that is precisely why we must be crystal clear that veganism is the moral baseline as it represents the only rational response to recognizing the inherent value of other animals.

We must be crystal clear that veganism is a fundamental matter of justice.

The Vegan Society thinks that our inability to make up anyone’s mind for them means that we should not promote veganism as a fundamental moral principle.

That’s completely wrong and we can see that by looking at the human context.

We cannot make up anyone’s mind for them about the equality of women. Does that mean that we should be characterizing accepting their equality as a “momentous” decision about which we cannot take a clear, strong, and unequivocal moral position? Does our inability to make up anyone’s mind for them mean that we should not be crystal clear as a fundamental matter that patriarchy is morally wrong?

Of course not.

We cannot make up anyone’s mind for them on veganism or any moral issue. But that does not mean that fundamental moral principles cease to be such or that we do not have an obligation to be crystal clear about these moral issues. On the contrary. Our obligation to be clear is itself clear, and is more compelling—and not less—to the extent that discrimination is pervasive.

In 1944, in the first newsletter of The Vegan Society, Donald Watson, who founded the Society in 1944:

A common criticism is that the time in not yet ripe for our reform. Can time ever be ripe for any reform unless it is ripened by human determination? Did Wilberforce wait for the ‘ripening’ of time before he commenced his fight against slavery? Did Edwin Chadwick, Lord Shaftesbury, and Charles Kingsley wait for such a non-existent moment before trying to convince the great dead weight of public opinion that clean water and bathrooms would be an improvement? If they had declared their intention to poison everybody the opposition they met could hardly have been greater. There is an obvious danger in leaving the fulfilment of our ideals to posterity, for posterity may not have our ideals. Evolution can be retrogressive as well as progressive, indeed there seems always to be a strong gravitation the wrong way unless existing standards are guarded and new visions honoured.

Read those words. Think about them.

Seventy years later, The Vegan Society says: “You don’t have to be vegan to love vegan things” and transparently promotes moral relativism—it’s all about optional choice—and the idea that we should not promote veganism as a fundamental moral principle.

That’s a very clear example of moving in a backward direction; this is exactly what Watson was referring to when he said that change can be “retrogressive.”

It’s 2014. It’s easy to go vegan. It’s better for human health and for the health of the planet on which all life depends.

But, most importantly, it’s the morally right thing to do. It’s what we owe other animals. Veganism is a matter of justice.

And it is our obligation to make that crystal clear in creative, nonviolent ways.

**********

If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

ADDENDUM

By way of background, I am adding the text of a Facebook post that I wrote on May 16, 2014:

A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR THE MEMORY OF DONALD WATSON (1910-2005), WHO FOUNDED THE VEGAN SOCIETY IN 1944

The Vegan Society has recently decided to explicitly disavow the idea of veganism as a moral imperative.

In this essay, “CEO” Jasmijn de Boo explains why here.

According to CEO de Boo: “Research shows that young people don’t want to be talked at or made to feel guilty about issues, instead they want the freedom to choose for themselves, to come to their own conclusions and reach that moment of realisation.”

But creative, nonviolent vegan advocacy is not about talking at anyone or making anyone feel “guilty.”

On the contrary.

It is about helping people in a constructive and caring way to put into practice an idea that most people already have: that animals matter morally and that we have moral obligations that we owe directly to them.

It’s about recognizing that our moral concern about animals should be applied throughout our lives, and not just in sporadic moments when it feels good or fits in with some superficial concept of “lifestyle.”

CEO de Boo sets up a false choice between making people feel “guilty” or promoting a most flexible version of “flexible veganism.” Those are not the only choices, unless, of course, one wants to defend marketing a “flexitarian” approach, which is what the “new” Vegan Society has clearly opted to do.

Imagine where the civil rights movement would be if we had decided that market “research” showed that people did not like being made to feel “guilty” about racism so, instead, we promoted a “treat a person of color nicely when you feel like it” campaign.

CEO de Boo explicitly adopts the language of the “happy exploitation” movement, claiming that many people won’t go vegan “overnight.” Well that’s no surprise, particularly given that none of the large animal charities—and now The Vegan Society—promote veganism as a moral imperative that grows out of a consistent moral commitment to justice and nonviolence, which, by the way, is explicitly what Donald Watson promoted.

But the issue is not whether anyone does anything “overnight.” The issue is whether The Vegan Society should promote a clear moral message that veganism—whether achieved “overnight” or not—is the only rational response to the idea that most people already accept: that animals matter morally. The Vegan Society says that it will not promote that idea, instead opting for a celebration of non-veganism.

CEO de Boo writes: “Everyone is now free to embrace veganism, not only those who are already vegan, but those who are thinking about it and want to start bringing more plant-based dishes into their diet, or replace their leather shoes with vegan versions.” That is an even looser version of “flexible veganism” than something like “vegan before 6,” which, although nonsensical, promotes not consuming animals for at least a part of the day.

The Vegan Society under CEO de Boo has joined the other corporate charities that have abandoned the idea that there are meaningful moral principles that we are obligated to respect. But what these corporate charities do not seem to understand is that you don’t effect a shift in moral paradigms by rejecting the idea that moral principles matter.

In 1944, Donald Watson wrote:

“We can see quite plainly that our present civilisation is built on the exploitation of animals, just as past civilisations were built on the exploitation of slaves, and we believe the spiritual destiny of man is such that in time he will view with abhorrence the idea that men once fed on the products of animals’ bodies. . . . A common criticism is that the time is not yet ripe for our reform. Can time ever be ripe for any reform unless it is ripened by human determination? Did Wilberforce wait for the ‘ripening’ of time before he commenced his fight against slavery?”

In 2014, CEO de Boo writes: “We are not here to tell people what to do or how to live. We are giving people the choice and the chance to join us. We are here to support anyone moving towards a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle. It’s not all-or-nothing. It’s about starting a conversation, or planting a seed.”

Seventy years separate Watson from CEO de Boo. The word “progress” does not come to mind.

The Vegan Society has just joined the “happy exploitation”/”flexitarian” movement.

Please: a moment of silence for the memory of Donald Watson.

Gary L. Francione

The Economics of Animal Welfare: Some Brief Comments

Some welfarists say that welfare reform will help animals because reform causes a price increase and that decreases demand.

This position shows that welfarists do not understand the economics of animal agriculture or of welfare reform.

Since most welfare reform campaigns address inefficiencies in the production process, many welfare reforms increase production efficiency so production costs can actually decrease.

If there is an ultimate price rise for any reason, that price rise generally usually does not affect demand because demand for animal products is often inelastic–demand is not very sensitive to price in a range–and the price rise generally does not go outside that range.

Moreover, if the price of an animal product goes up, that does not mean that consumers go vegan. Far from it. Generally, if someone cannot afford beef, they buy lamb or pork or chicken. If someone cannot afford chicken, they buy chicken pies or some cheaper form of processed meat.

And, in the end, the best that welfarists can do is help industry create niche markets, like Whole Foods “5-Step Animal Welfare Rating” happy meat, where affluent people can pay a higher price and get a stamp of approval from the animal groups that praise and express their “appreciation and support” to Whole Foods:

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Welfarists are claiming victory because, in recent years, meat consumption in the U.S. has dropped. They claim that this is because of animal welfare campaigns. There is *no* support for that and the far more likely explanation is that meat prices have remained stable or even increased and the economic slump is affecting the ability of consumers to buy the forms of meat measured in those surveys. Second, there is increasing concern about the detrimental health affects of animal foods.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

“But it took me 10 years to go vegan.” So What?

I never cease to be amazed by those people who say that we should not promote veganism as a moral imperative because they took a long time to go vegan.

What is the relevance of how long it took someone to see that going vegan was the right thing to do? Answer: it has no relevance whatsoever.

Frankly, I am not all that surprised that it took a lot of people a long time to go vegan given that none of the large animal charities present veganism as the moral baseline and they all promote welfare reform and happy exploitation to a greater or lesser degree. I routinely encounter people who have been vegetarians for 20 years and only went vegan after they encountered the abolitionist approach. Although these people were almost always volunteers with one or more animal charities, no one ever asked them to go vegan, much less made clear to them that veganism was a moral imperative–an unequivocal moral baseline. Indeed, most animal charities continue to promote vegetarianism as an alternative to veganism. That is not consistent with presenting and promoting veganism as a moral imperative.

But the point is that the the validity of moral principles does not depend on how long it took any particular person to recognize their validity. None of us would doubt this where humans are concerned. For example, if it took someone ten years to recognize that racism was wrong and to stop using racist epithets, does that mean that we should not be crystal clear that racism is wrong? Of course not. Would anyone suggest that we have “Racist Joke-Free Friday” to provide a “baby step” approach for those on the “journey” away from racism? Of course not.

Similarly, the fact that it might have taken some people many years to see that the moral status of animals required that they go vegan does not mean that we should promote “Meat-Free Mondays,” cage-free eggs, crate-free pork, and all of that other nonsense to accommodate those who are still on the “journey” away from speciesism.

We should always be clear that we cannot justify animal use and that veganism is a moral imperative; a moral baseline. If someone wants to do less than go vegan, that should be that person’s choice and never because we have put a stamp of approval on any form of animal exploitation.

And being clear about moral obligations does not mean judging people. I have many acquaintances who are not vegan. I do not judge them, but I am always clear with them that we cannot justify animal use morally and veganism is a basic moral obligation for us all.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

What? The Humane Slaughter Act is Not Being Enforced?

Farm Sanctuary has done a Freedom of Information Act request and has discovered that the United States Department of Agriculture is not doing a good job enforcing the Humane Slaughter Act and the problem is apparently particularly bad in Des Moines, Iowa.

WHAT? The USDA not enforcing the Humane Slaughter Act?

Come on, Farm Sanctuary. It’s well known that slaughter not in compliance with the Humane Slaughter Act occurs all over the country. And it’s been well known for a long time now, as this 2001 article from the Washington Post makes clear: Warrick, They Die Piece by Piece (2001).

And it was well known before 2001 and was apparent to anyone who ever visited a slaughterhouse.

The USDA couldn’t possibly enforce the Humane Slaughter Act in any meaningful way (even if that was even possible) given the billions of animals that go through slaughterhouses every year–any more than the Animal Welfare Act can be enforced to ensure that animals exploited in labs are treated “humanely.”

And even if the Humane Slaughter Act was to be enforced perfectly, the process of slaughter would still be unspeakably horrible for the animals who end their lives amidst the terror, noise, pain, and squalor of the abattoir.

And the Humane Slaughter Act was never really about anything more than preventing worker injuries and carcass damage anyway.

Bottom line: ALL slaughterhouses are hideous places. All of them.

There is no “humane” exploitation.

There are only welfare campaigns that are recycled again and again and again to literally sell the idea to the public that the problem is “abuse” in one place or another.

There are only welfare campaigns that reinforce again and again and again that the issue is a matter of treatment and not one of use–and that the solution is to donate to animal charities so they can do research and undercover work to reveal what is already well known and has been well known forever, and “fix” the problem by having a plant here and there fined or closed temporarily or even permanently as animal charities declare non-existent victory (and as production just shifts to another slaughterhouse).

There are only welfare campaigns that again and again and again promote the idea that the problem is the slaughterhouse, the factory farm, the livestock market, the individual worker or some other supplier of the products of death when the real problem is that we demand the products of death in the first place.

The problem is one of use and there is one and only one “fix”–going vegan and having a grassroots movement that makes crystal clear to the public that moral concern about animals means going vegan.

Let’s start educating the public with the right message–and not reinforcing the wrong one, which is what animal welfare charities have been doing forever.

This is all part of the same thinking that leads animal welfare charities like Farm Sanctuary to make public statements expressing “appreciation and support” for “pioneering” programs of happy exploitation:

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Although I do not question the sincerity of those at Farm Sanctuary, I sincerely believe that this is all wrong.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

“Kicking Animals is WRONG.” So Is Killing Them.

Animal welfare charity Mercy for Animals (MFA) has a new “undercover” video.

Guess what? They have discovered that animals are kicked and otherwise treated badly at livestock markets.

Imagine that.

MFA is outraged:

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Sure it is. But MFA, here’s some news: using animals for food–whether they are kicked or not–is WRONG.

MFA urges: “SPEAK OUT AGAINST ANIMAL ABUSE: Sign the petition calling on the Livestock Marketing Association to protect animals.”

The Livestock Marketing Association is going to “protect animals”? Really?

Once again, MFA perpetuates the idea that an industry that exists to kill animals to satisfy our palate pleasure can “protect” them.

Once again, MFA promotes the fantasy that there is an abusive and non-abusive way to exploit.

Once again, MFA assures the public that animal exploitation can be effectively regulated.

Once again, MFA brings out people like Temple Grandin–the queen of happy exploitation–to support their campaign:

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Once again, MFA pretends that the people who “abuse” animals are different morally from all of those who demand and consume meat and other animal products. The livestock market and, in particular, the workers at the livestock market, are the problem; the “bad people”–not those of us who happily demand and consume the products of that industry and who may even donate to groups like MFA so that they can continue to consume animals with “compassion” and “mercy.”

This is all part of the same thinking that leads animal welfare charities like MFA to make public statements expressing “appreciation and support” for “pioneering” programs of happy exploitation:

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Although I do not question the sincerity of those at MFA, I sincerely believe that this is all wrong.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

EAT LIKE YOU CARE–IN SPANISH!

EAT LIKE YOU CARE: An Examination of the Morality of Eating Animals is now available in Spanish.

COME CON CONCIENCIA: Un análisis sobre la moralidad del consumo de animales is now available on all Amazon sites:

U.S.; Spain; Mexico; Brazil; CanadaU.K.; Germany; Italy; Japan; India; Australia

You do NOT need a Kindle device to read the book. The book may be read on any phone, tablet, PC, or Mac with a free Kindle app.

Amazon allows you to send a copy of this to anyone with an email address!

Anna Charlton and I are grateful to Joanna Porter and Marianna C. Gonzalez for their very hard work in translating the book.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

The Kapparos Campaign: A Good Example of What’s Wrong with Single-Issue Campaigns

On June 12, 2014, I spoke on a panel at the New York City Bar Association as part of a panel on Kapparos, which involves ritual use of chickens. An animal advocate, Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns, gave a presentation in which she showed photos of the various abuses of chickens used in the Kapparos event. Kapparos involves holding an object over one’s head and saying prayers that are supposed to transfer one’s sins to the object. Some Jews use live chickens as the “object” of transfer. Karen and her group are part of a campaign to end the use of chickens as Kapparos.

An audio recording of the event can be found here.

Let me be clear: I oppose the use of chickens as Kapparos–or for any other purpose. And I like Karen Davis personally; I am glad that she was out there beginning in the mid-1980s trying to sensitize people to the plight of chickens, who are, with fish, the animals most exploited by humans but were often overlooked even by animal advocates. I appreciate that she promotes veganism more than many other charities do but I disagree with some of the welfarist campaigns she has supported and I am bothered by the anti-Kapparos campaign.

Why?

Nothing Karen showed in her presentation is behavior that does not occur as part of the process of slaughtering all chickens. For example, she showed pictures of what appeared to be Hasidic men holding the chickens in ways that caused them pain. But the only difference between how chickens are often held and handled at slaughterhouses, and how they are held or handled at the Kapparos event, is the fact that in the latter, it is Hasidim or other Jews doing the holding and handling. If these poor birds were not used in the Kapparos ritual, they would have been sent to the slaughterhouse and would have had the exact same fate.

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with single-issue campaigns: they encourage the idea that what some group does is worse than what the rest of us do. A single-issue campaign focused on fur lets everyone who wears wool or leather off the hook and gives them an excuse to hate or attack those (mostly women) who wear fur. A single issue campaign about the dolphins at Taiji allows people, many of whom are not even vegan, to engage in vile ethnocentric and xenophobic hate speech against the Japanese. A single-issue campaign against a squirrel-shooting in a rural community encourages people to call those involved “rednecks” and “backward” when they are doing nothing different from what any non-vegan does or supports. And a campaign focused on Kapparos gives people an excuse to segregate the Jews as “bad people.”

I think that the Kapparos campaign enables and facilitates anti-Semitism. I am not saying that anyone connected with the campaign or who supports the campaign is anti-Semitic. I am saying that the campaign effectively segregates Jews as morally different from all other animal exploiters. It’s functionally indistinguishable from anti-Kashrut campaigns or the Islamophobic anti-Halal campaign in the United Kingdom.

Moreover, I spent some time looking at the Alliance to End Chickens as Koporos site. I saw nothing that indicated that the campaign was a vehicle for promoting veganism, which is what was claimed when I raised concerns. That is,the Kapparos campaign is not maintaining that Kapporos is like all other chicken slaughter and that it ought all to be stopped because we cannot justify consuming animals. Rather, it is very explicitly seeking to segregate this practice as objectionable without recognizing that it is indistinguishable from what most people support and participate in if they consume chicken or other animal products.

As Vincent Guihan has noted:

If a group ran a crusade against Jewish methods of circumcision — and just Jewish circumcision — and then denied that the campaign was Antisemitic, I think most people would likely disagree and see this for what it is: a shameful, calculating and completely unacceptable campaign that further denigrates an already marginalized community in order to ingratiate the majority.Almost all single-issue campaigns actively encourage segregation. And that is not a good thing for humans or nonhumans.

Single-issue campaigns are, on many levels, a very bad idea. They serve one primary purpose: fund-raising devices for animal charities. This is not to say that animal charities intentionally embrace campaigns that they know to be counterproductive in order to make money. It is, however, to explain the practical motivation that helps to account for why such welfare reform campaigns and single-issue campaigns are chosen and the failure to see how counterproductive they are.

ScreenHunter_169 Jun. 13 10.24

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2014 Gary L. Francione

ADDENDUM ADDED June 16, 2014:

I respectfully request that if the Alliance for Kaporos continues this campaign, that it place on the Alliance website, and include in all future petitions, correspondence, and presentations, a statement to the effect that:

“The Alliance acknowledges that the use of chickens as Kapparos is not distinguishable from the transport and slaughter of chickens in non-religious contexts and the Alliance does not maintain that anyone involved in the Kapparos event is engaged in conduct that is morally more odious than those who engage in the slaughter of chicken in non-religious contexts, or those who consume chicken (or other animal products). Therefore, the Alliance promotes veganism and its opposition to Kapparos should be seen in that context and not as directed specifically at the community involved in this practice.”

This is not to say that I would then agree with or support the campaign. I would not. I am still concerned that such a campaign segregates a group and makes them the “bad” people for doing whatever everyone else does. I am only suggesting a possible way that may help to mitigate the problematic tone of this campaign and make clear that animal exploitation is not something others do and, on the contrary, is something engaged in by almost everyone.

Gary L. Francione

ADDENDA ADDED JUNE 18/19, 2014

I have received a number of disappointing messages in connection with my concern about this campaign from:

Will Anderson (Green Vegans)
Karen Davis (United Poultry Concerns)
Mary Finelli (Fish Feel)
Veda Stram (all-creatures.org)
Will Tuttle (World Peace Diet)

One of these advocates (Karen Davis) claimed that opposition to this campaign constitutes “bigotry.”

Another advocate (Will Tuttle) stated, in response to my concerns: “it’s best I think to focus more on acknowledging and appreciating each other, rather than criticism that can be hurtful and discouraging.” But that just says that we should be complicit in campaigns that facilitate discrimination and segregation rather than speaking out against them; we should be tolerant of intolerance. That is a call to ignore our moral responsibility. It is not acceptable.

Several advocates said that because the Kapparos campaign was being conducted by vegans who were opposed to all animal use, the campaign was really about veganism and wasn’t problematic. But that’s just wrong. If a campaign identifies some group as involved in conduct that is indistinguishable from the conduct that every non-vegan participates in (directly or indirectly) and supports, as the Kapparos campaign clearly does, then it is problematic in the ways I have identified. The fact that people involved in the campaign may be be vegan is completely irrelevant.

And watch this video that is on the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos site. Ask yourself if this is in any way promoting veganism.

An advocate claimed that because some Jews supported the Kapporos campaign, that “serves to dispel the notion that it promotes anti-semitism.” But that is also clearly wrong. It is like saying that the fact that some people of color oppose efforts to increase civil rights means that there is no discrimination that needs to be addressed.

Another advocate claimed that if anyone thought the anti-Kapparos campaign was sending a message that the use of chickens as Kapparos was targeting Jewish conduct in any particular way, the Alliance Against Chickens as Kaporos should not be held responsible for that “cognitive dissonance.” (I believe he meant “misunderstanding” as “cognitive dissonance” would make no sense in this context.)

Again, that is plainly wrong. Let’s go back to Vincent’s Guihan’s excellent example. If a group that was opposed to all circumcision had a particular campaign called the Alliance Against Jewish Circumcision, would it be a matter of misunderstanding if the public saw that as particularly about a Jewish practice? Of course not. The very existence of the campaign suggests that the Jewish conduct is the particular problem.

I am sincerely sorry that some animal advocates feel the way that they do and are just dismissing concerns about the Kapparos campaign in favor of the sacred principle, “thou shalt never criticize what another ‘animal person’ does even if it is plainly problematic.” That is nothing but cult-like thinking that is inimical to the existence of a vibrant movement for social justice. I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that many animal advocates are apparently oblivious to systematic anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of discrimination, including racism and sexism, and how many single-issue campaigns, such as the Kapparos campaign, capitalize on, and exacerbate, the effects of, these forms of discrimination.

Gary L. Francione

ADDENDUM ADDED JULY 26, 2014

The Alliance for Kaporos has not accepted my suggestion that it place on the Alliance website, and include in all future petitions, correspondence, and presentations, a statement to the effect that:

“The Alliance acknowledges that the use of chickens as Kapparos is not distinguishable from the transport and slaughter of chickens in non-religious contexts and the Alliance does not maintain that anyone involved in the Kapparos event is engaged in conduct that is morally more odious than those who engage in the slaughter of chicken in non-religious contexts, or those who consume chicken (or other animal products). Therefore, the Alliance promotes veganism and its opposition to Kapparos should be seen in that context and not as directed specifically at the community involved in this practice.”

I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that this campaign is deliberately exploiting and promoting anti-Semitism.