DOCSLIB.ORG

“I Don't Like Meat to Look Like Animals”: How Consumer Behavior

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
“I Don't Like Meat to Look Like Animals”: How Consumer Behavior ABSTRACT “I Don’t Like Meat to Look Like Animals”: How Consumer Behavior Responds to Animal Rights Campaigns. By Michelle L. Blake. As the animal rights movement enters its fourth decade, it is clear that American attitudes have evolved. Polls show that people are increasingly intolerant of animal suffering and more aware of animal causes. However, their consumption of animals continues unabated and often appears to contradict public sentiment. Consumer habits also ignore numerous pressures to change, including global concerns about the meat industry’s negative consequences for the environment, animal welfare, and public health. Meanwhile, there are more calls to protect animals as science proves that they possess social, intellectual, and emotional capacities that humans have long thought were theirs alone. Although behavior has not kept pace with changing attitudes, it will become increasingly difficult for Americans to ignore the consequences of their consumption habits. 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. Social-change literature suggests that practices will resist change until there is an adjustment in the paradigm that drives them. So, this thesis finally takes up questions of paradigm and practice and argues that we are moving nearer to a tipping point in our collective moral conscience. “I Don’t Like Meat to Look Like Animals”: How Consumer Behavior Responds to Animal Rights Campaigns Copyright by Michelle L. Blake June 2008 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author is grateful to Che Green of Humane Research Council and Courtney Dillard, Ph.D., who offered guidance and generously shared their own research. Dedicated to Fred, steadfast companion for 20 years and a master of the art of feline existence. He embodied the inherent wisdom and dignity of animal life. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 Overview ................................................................................................................. 1 Contextual Analysis: Ambiguity in American Culture ........................................... 5 Literature ..................................................................................................... 6 Cultural Myth and the Ethical Warrior ....................................................... 8 Religion ..................................................................................................... 10 Consumer and Market Structures.............................................................. 13 Summary ................................................................................................... 15 Thesis Structure .................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS ....................... 18 Overview ............................................................................................................... 18 Evolution of the Animal Rights Movement .......................................................... 19 Welfare, Rights, and Protection ................................................................ 19 Unique Challenges to Animal Rights as a Social Movement ................... 27 Movement Membership and Influence ..................................................... 36 Public Attitude and Acceptance ................................................................ 43 Consumer Behavior and Animal Rights ............................................................... 46 Consumer Dissociation Between Production and Consumption .............. 47 Consumerism and Self-image ................................................................... 53 Cognitive Dissonance ............................................................................... 57 Definition ...................................................................................... 57 Function in Social Change ............................................................ 59 Consumer Responses and Coping Mechanisms ....................................... 61 Boomerang Effect ......................................................................... 63 Self-prophecy and Social Norms .................................................. 65 Consumer Response to Animal Rights Campaigns .............................................. 70 Overview: HSUS and PETA ..................................................................... 70 Fur ............................................................................................................. 72 Consumer Messages...................................................................... 73 Industry Interaction ....................................................................... 82 Current Status................................................................................ 85 Cosmetics Testing ..................................................................................... 88 Consumer Messages...................................................................... 89 Industry Interaction ....................................................................... 94 Current Status................................................................................ 97 Vegetarianism and Factory Farming ......................................................... 99 Consumer Messages...................................................................... 99 Industry Interaction ..................................................................... 106 Current Status.............................................................................. 111 Summary ................................................................................................. 118 CHAPTER THREE: PROPOSAL OF SOMETHING NEW ............................. 123 CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS .......................... 138 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................. 143 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Overview Imagine a day in the life of an average consumer. An ordinary day is dawning. Countless Americans are rising, dressing, eating, and greeting the day. What would we learn about American consumers and animal rights if we followed just one of those consumers? If we tried to count the number of animal products she uses in her day, it would quickly become easy to lose track. The count might begin with her soaps and shampoos that are tested on animals and contain animal ingredients. The same is likely true of her cosmetics, hair products, perfumes and lotions. She’ll consume a few more animal products at breakfast – from the cream in her coffee to the eggs and breakfast meats that are American staples. She may have used a dozen or more animal products before she leaves the house, and then she’ll walk out the door in leather shoes, perhaps in a wool coat. She will consume animals all day. If she is an ordinary American consumer, she probably is deeply ambiguous about her relationship to animals. She probably lives with a dog or cat, an animal who is considered part of the family. She may give money to an animal charity or a nearby animal shelter. In fact, it is quite possible that she adores animals. She cannot imagine harming an animal. Yet her lifestyle depends on harm to animals. Our society both adores non-humans and views them as commodities to be consumed and managed to the advantage of humans1. In a culture that values compassion but also is exceedingly consumer-oriented, the animal rights movement is challenged to 1 In this thesis, the word “animals” refers to non-human animals. The author acknowledges and affirms that humans are but one species in the animal kingdom. 2 inspire behavioral changes that bring society’s practices into alignment with its sympathies. It’s likely that many Americans are not fully conscious of their conflicting sentiments. The public reached near-unanimous agreement that humans should not inflict suffering on animals for superfluous products like cosmetics or fur garments. However, many consumers buy cosmetics that are tested on animals, and even though fur coats are generally unpopular, many consumers now believe that fur-trimmed garments are acceptable because they are less ostentatious. And because most consumers don’t yet see meat as superfluous, behavior changes having to do with food choices have been even more difficult to achieve. In spite of this resistance, there is mounting pressure on Americans to rethink their reliance on animal products, especially for food. The pressure is coming from several fronts. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization concluded that animal-based agriculture causes more environmental harm than all transportation combined. Agriculture presents growing ethical problems as well. Operations
Load more

Recommended publications
  • "Go Veg" Campaigns of US Animal Rights Organizations
    Society and Animals 18 (2010) 163-182 brill.nl/soan Framing Animal Rights in the “Go Veg” Campaigns of U.S. Animal Rights Organizations Carrie Packwood Freeman Georgia State University [email protected] Abstract How much do animal rights activists talk about animal rights when they attempt to persuade America’s meat-lovers to stop eating nonhuman animals? Th is study serves as the basis for a unique evaluation and categorization of problems and solutions as framed by fi ve major U.S. animal rights organizations in their vegan/food campaigns. Th e fi ndings reveal that the organiza- tions framed the problems as: cruelty and suff ering; commodifi cation; harm to humans and the environment; and needless killing. To solve problems largely blamed on factory farming, activists asked consumers to become “vegetarian” (meaning vegan) or to reduce animal product con- sumption, some requesting “humane” reforms. While certain messages supported animal rights, promoting veganism and respect for animals’ subject status, many frames used animal welfare ideology to achieve rights solutions, conservatively avoiding a direct challenge to the dominant human/animal dualism. In support of ideological authenticity, this paper recommends that vegan campaigns emphasize justice, respect, life, freedom, environmental responsibility, and a shared animality. Keywords animal rights, campaigns, farm animal, framing, ideology, vegan, vegetarian How much do or should animal rights activists talk about animal rights when they attempt to persuade America’s meat-lovers to stop eating animals? As participants in a counterhegemonic social movement, animal rights organiza- tions are faced with the discursive challenge of redefi ning accepted practices, such as farming and eating nonhuman animals, as socially unacceptable practices.
    [Show full text]
  • Dharma Dogs: a Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines Anna Caldwell SIT Study Abroad
    SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Fall 2016 Dharma Dogs: A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines Anna Caldwell SIT Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the Animal Studies Commons, Asian Studies Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Sociology of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Caldwell, Anna, "Dharma Dogs: A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines" (2016). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2500. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2500 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dharma Dogs A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines Cadwell, Anna Academic Director: Decleer, Hubert and Yonetti, Eben Franklin and Marshall College Anthropology Central Asia, India, Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsala Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples, SIT Study Abroad, Fall 2016 Abstract India has the highest population of stray dogs in the world1. Dharamsala, a cross-cultural community in the north Indian Himalayan foothills, is home to a number of particularly overweight and happy canines. However, the street dogs of Dharamsala are not an accurate representation of the state of stay dogs across India.
    [Show full text]
  • Animals As Grace: on Being an Animal Liturgist
    ANIMALS AS GRACE On Being an Animal Liturgist Andrew Linzey ARNEY WAS A REFUGEE. Abandoned, he subsequently found a Bhome at the local animal sanctuary. It was there that we first met him. His shaggy hair, dark brown eyes, and exuberant temperament endeared him to the Linzey family. ‘There goes the woolly rocket’, we would say as he raced before us on long walks. So glad was he to have a home that when any of us opened the front door he would pin us to the wall and lavish his affection upon us. He had, I recall, very large paws, and made ample use of them when he wanted our attention. Still, he gave us much more than we gave him. One day he began to have fits, and an incurable neurological problem was diagnosed. Euthanasia was the advised course of action. The result was devastating for the whole family. Here was a dog badly treated by the world, yet, much as we loved him, we could not save him from suffering and premature death. We elected to bury him in the garden. As we stood around the open grave, I fumbled to find some appropriate words of parting. But there were no prescribed words. The physical neglect that Barney had suffered was paralleled by a spiritual neglect as well. The Churches had really nothing to offer—and nothing to say. The Christian heritage of 2,000 years of spirituality and scholarship has produced only liturgical silence over the deaths of millions of members of other species, even those who share and enrich our lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Animals Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal Volume 5, Issue 2
    AAnniimmaallss LLiibbeerraattiioonn PPhhiilloossoopphhyy aanndd PPoolliiccyy JJoouurrnnaall VVoolluummee 55,, IIssssuuee 22 -- 22000077 Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal Volume 5, Issue 2 2007 Edited By: Steven Best, Chief Editor ____________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS Lev Tolstoy and the Freedom to Choose One’s Own Path Andrea Rossing McDowell Pg. 2-28 Jewish Ethics and Nonhuman Animals Lisa Kemmerer Pg. 29-47 Deliberative Democracy, Direct Action, and Animal Advocacy Stephen D’Arcy Pg. 48-63 Should Anti-Vivisectionists Boycott Animal-Tested Medicines? Katherine Perlo Pg. 64-78 A Note on Pedagogy: Humane Education Making a Difference Piers Bierne and Meena Alagappan Pg. 79-94 BOOK REVIEWS _________________ Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser (2005) Reviewed by Lisa Kemmerer Pg. 95-101 Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust, by Charles Patterson (2002) Reviewed by Steven Best Pg. 102-118 The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA, by Norm Phelps (2007) Reviewed by Steven Best Pg. 119-130 Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume V, Issue 2, 2007 Lev Tolstoy and the Freedom to Choose One’s Own Path Andrea Rossing McDowell, PhD It is difficult to be sat on all day, every day, by some other creature, without forming an opinion about them. On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to sit all day every day, on top of another creature and not have the slightest thought about them whatsoever. -- Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (1988) Committed to the idea that the lives of humans and animals are inextricably linked, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828–1910) promoted—through literature, essays, and letters—the animal world as another venue in which to practice concern and kindness, consequently leading to more peaceful, consonant human relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Animal People News
    European Commission votes to ban dog &cat fur B R U S S E L S ––The European Commis- sion on November 20 adopted a proposal to ban the import, export, and sale of cat and dog fur throughout the European Union. “The draft regulation will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers for adoption by the co- decision procedure,” explained the EC Asian dog. (Kim Bartlett) announcement. “There is evidence that cat and dog fur been found not just on clothing, but also on a is being placed on the European market, usually number of personal accessories, as well as chil- dren’s soft toys.” Asian rabbits. (Kim Bartlett) undeclared as such or disguised as synthetic and other types of fur,” the EC announcement sum- “Just the idea of young children playing marized. “The vast majority of the cat and dog with toys which have been made with dog and Olympics to showcase growing fur is believed to be imported from third coun- cat fur is really something we cannot accept,” tries, notably China.” European Consumer Protection Commissioner Fifteen of the 25 EU member nations Markos Kyprianou said. Chinese animal testing industry have already individually introduced legislation “Kyprianou stopped short of calling B E I J I N G ––The 2008 Olympic Glenn Rice, chief executive of Bridge against cat and dog fur. “The proposed regula- for every product containing fur to have a label Games in Beijing will showcase the fast- Pharmaceuticals Inc., is outsourcing the tion adopted today addresses EU citizens con- detailing its exact origin,” wrote London Times growing Chinese animal testing industry, work to China, where scientists are cheap cerns, and creates a harmonized approach,” the European correspondent David Charter, the official Xinhua news agency disclosed and plentiful and animal-rights activists are EC announcement stipulated.
    [Show full text]
  • Linzey - Xx-4-Index R2:Roces - 01.Qxd 23/06/2009 12:33 Page 1
    linzey - xx-4-index r2:Roces - 01.qxd 23/06/2009 12:33 Page 1 INTRODUCTION Does Animal Abuse Really Benefit Us? andrew linzey It is quite clear that in abusing animals we abuse our relationship with animals, and that we abuse ourselves. We become less human to the extent that we treat any living beings as things. R. D. LAING I Philosophers and thinkers have long accepted that there is a connection between the abuse of animals and the abuse of weaker human beings. A roster of illustrious names can be garnered in this regard, including Pythagoras, St Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Alexander Pope, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Jeremy Bentham, as well as modern ones like Albert Schweitzer and Mohandas K. Gandhi. Immanuel Kant, regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of Europe and the late Enlightenment, was typical in that regard. In his lectures on ethics, given between 1775 and 1780, he expostulated: ‘If he is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard in his dealings with men’.1 Although Kant did not believe that we had direct duties to animals, he clearly held that human interests were sufficient in seeking to limit cruel behaviour to animals. Historically, this view manifested itself in the passing of a range of animal protection measures in the nineteenth century. Cruel behaviour to animals, it was thought, needed to be legally curbed in order to prevent cruelty to human subjects. It found its classic expression in the preamble to Lord Erskine’s Cruelty to Animals Bill in 1809: ‘The abuse of that [human] dominion by cruel and oppressive treatment of such animals, is not only highly unjust and immoral, but most pernicious in its example, having an evident tendency to harden the heart against the natural feelings of humanity’.2 Notice how cruelty is deemed not only unjust but also injurious to ourselves.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams
    THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT A FEMINISTVEGETARIAN CRITICAL THEORY Praise for The Sexual Politics of Meat and Carol J. Adams “A clearheaded scholar joins the ideas of two movements—vegetari- anism and feminism—and turns them into a single coherent and moral theory. Her argument is rational and persuasive. New ground—whole acres of it—is broken by Adams.” —Colman McCarthy, Washington Post Book World “Th e Sexual Politics of Meat examines the historical, gender, race, and class implications of meat culture, and makes the links between the prac tice of butchering/eating animals and the maintenance of male domi nance. Read this powerful new book and you may well become a vegetarian.” —Ms. “Adams’s work will almost surely become a ‘bible’ for feminist and pro gressive animal rights activists. Depiction of animal exploita- tion as one manifestation of a brutal patriarchal culture has been explored in two [of her] books, Th e Sexual Politics of Meat and Neither Man nor Beast: Feminism and the Defense of Animals. Adams argues that factory farming is part of a whole culture of oppression and insti- tutionalized violence. Th e treatment of animals as objects is parallel to and associated with patriarchal society’s objectifi cation of women, blacks, and other minorities in order to routinely exploit them. Adams excels in constructing unexpected juxtapositions by using the language of one kind of relationship to illuminate another. Employing poetic rather than rhetorical techniques, Adams makes powerful connec- tions that encourage readers to draw their own conclusions.” —Choice “A dynamic contribution toward creating a feminist/animal rights theory.” —Animals’ Agenda “A cohesive, passionate case linking meat-eating to the oppression of animals and women .
    [Show full text]
  • An Inquiry Into Animal Rights Vegan Activists' Perception and Practice of Persuasion
    An Inquiry into Animal Rights Vegan Activists’ Perception and Practice of Persuasion by Angela Gunther B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2006 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the School of Communication ! Angela Gunther 2012 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2012 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. Approval Name: Angela Gunther Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: An Inquiry into Animal Rights Vegan Activists’ Perception and Practice of Persuasion Examining Committee: Chair: Kathi Cross Gary McCarron Senior Supervisor Associate Professor Robert Anderson Supervisor Professor Michael Kenny External Examiner Professor, Anthropology SFU Date Defended/Approved: June 28, 2012 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Abstract This thesis interrogates the persuasive practices of Animal Rights Vegan Activists (ARVAs) in order to determine why and how ARVAs fail to convince people to become and stay veg*n, and what they might do to succeed. While ARVAs and ARVAism are the focus of this inquiry, the approaches, concepts and theories used are broadly applicable and therefore this investigation is potentially useful for any activist or group of activists wishing to interrogate and improve their persuasive practices. Keywords: Persuasion; Communication for Social Change; Animal Rights; Veg*nism; Activism iv Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................. ii! Partial Copyright Licence .................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Against 'Effective Altruism'
    Against ‘Effective Altruism’ Alice Crary Effective Altruism (EA) is a programme for rationalising for the most part adopt the attitude that they have no charitable giving, positioning individuals to do the ‘most serious critics and that sceptics ought to be content with good’ per expenditure of money or time. It was first for- their ongoing attempts to fine-tune their practice. mulated – by two Oxford philosophers just over a decade It is a posture belied by the existence of formidable ago–as an application of the moral theory consequential- critical resources both inside and outside the philosoph- ism, and from the outset one of its distinctions within ical tradition in which EA originates. In light of the undis- the philanthropic world was expansion of the class of puted impact of EA, and its success in attracting idealistic charity-recipients to include non-human animals. EA young people, it is important to forcefully make the case has been the target of a fair bit of grumbling, and even that it owes its success primarily not to the – question- some mockery, from activists and critics on the left, who able – value of its moral theory but to its compatibility associate consequentialism with depoliticising tenden- with political and economic institutions responsible for cies of welfarism. But EA has mostly gotten a pass, with some of the very harms it addresses. The sincere ded- many detractors concluding that, however misguided, its ication of many individual adherents notwithstanding, efforts to get bankers, tech entrepreneurs and the like to reflection on EA reveals a straightforward example of give away their money cost-effectively does no serious moral corruption.
    [Show full text]
  • Messages to Overcome Naturalness Concerns in Clean Meat Acceptance: Primary Findings
    Messages to Overcome Naturalness Concerns in Clean Meat Acceptance: Primary Findings July 2018 Authors: Jo Anderson & Chris Bryant Research team: Jo Anderson (Faunalytics), Chris Bryant (University of Bath), Kathryn Asher (Animal Charity Evaluators; formerly Faunalytics), Che Green (Faunalytics), Kris Gasteratos (Cellular Agriculture Society), Bruce Friedrich (The Good Food Institute), Jeff Rotman (Deakin University), Jamie Macfarlane (The Good Food Institute). Funding: We gratefully acknowledge Animal Charity Evaluators and the Animal Advocacy Research Fund for their assistance in funding this project. Introduction Studies of clean meat (also called Contents cultured meat, in vitro meat, etc.) to date Key Findings (page 3) have found that consumers’ willingness to eat it is uncertain (Pew Research, Methodology (page 4) 2014; Slade, 2018; Surveygoo, 2018; Terminology The Grocer, 2017; Wilks & Phillips, 2017; Sample & Procedure YouGov, 2013). Results (page 6) Did Participants Believe the Messages? One of consumers’ primary concerns Perceived Unnaturalness of Clean Meat about clean meat is its alleged Perceived Unnaturalness of Conventional Meat unnaturalness. This is a theme that has Perceived Importance of Meat Naturalness been seen in many qualitative studies Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Clean Meat (Laestadius, 2015; Verbeke, Marcu, et Behavioral Intentions al., 2015) and cited as one of the most Beliefs about Clean Meat common reasons for rejecting clean meat Attitude in surveys (The Grocer, 2017). Indeed, Affect Siegrist and Sütterlin (2017) have Overall Pattern of Results: Supplementary demonstrated that the perceived Analysis unnaturalness of clean meat explains a Conclusions (page 16) great deal of consumers’ safety Experimental Messages concerns. Further, Siegrist, Sütterlin, and Implications Hartmann (2018) show that this Limitations perception evokes disgust and likely Future Directions causes rejection of clean meat in References (page 19) practice.
    [Show full text]
  • Opening the Archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) How Did It Happen? What Does It Mean?
    S: I. M. O. N. SHOAH: I NTERVENTION. M ETHODS. DOCUMENTATION. Paul A. Shapiro Opening the Archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) How did it happen? What does it mean? Abstract The archives of the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany, contains over 50 million World War II era documents relating to the fates of over 17.5 million people. Using samples and case studies, Paul Shapiro, who led the campaign to open the archives, will pro- vide an insider’s view of the years-long effort to open the collections for research and discuss the importance of this recent event for Holocaust survivors, other victims of National Socialism, and scholars. Paul Shapiro is Director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Before joining the Museum, he served in the Bureau of Edu- cational and Cultural Affairs at the United States Information Agency and Department of State, where he was responsible for the Fulbright Fellowship Program and other major inter- national exchange programs. Earlier, he was an Editor of the journal Problems of Commu- nism and Editor in Chief of the Journal of International Affairs. Mr. Shapiro also served as a consultant to the Board for International Broadcasting, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, and the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations (OSI). I would like to thank the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust-Studies for inviting me to deliver this third Simon Wiesenthal Lecture. In the 1970s, Simon Wiesenthal and I collaborated, at long distance, in uncovering documentation that led to the removal of citizenship and deportation from the United States of the first fascist leader against whom the United States Justice Department took such action.
    [Show full text]
  • The Book Collection at the Veggie Center FAR from COMPLETE, THIS LIBRARY of VEGETARIAN SOURCES SHOWS the BREADTH of OUR CULTURE
    2 WHAT YOU’LL FIND AT THE VEGETARIAN CENTER OF NYC: A RESOURCE GUIDE The Vegetarian Center is the If you’re a vegetarian, we’ve brightest jewel in VivaVegie’s got the answers! education and outreach crown. The Vegetarian Center of NYC is a unique clearinghouse for information. On a daily basis, it receives numerous The VivaVegie Society has a solid history of service to phone calls and walk-in visits from inquisitive people in- the vegetarian community. Since 1991 it has distributed terested in the vegetarian lifestyle. People are always tens of thousands of copies of its hallmark publication, grateful for what the center has to offer them, usually “101 Reasons Why I’m a Vegetarian” by Pamela free of charge. Rice. It has continuously published its journal, The Viva- Vine, for over 10 years. It has been tireless in its dedication This place is here for you. to creative and effective vegetarian street outreach. Hun- Today we vegetarians have a place to call home—a fa- dreds of people, and perhaps thousands, have adopted cility that is there strictly on our behalf. In the long run, the vegetarian lifestyle because of the efforts of the group. the center will grow into whatever the vegetarian com- VivaVegie’s proudest accomplishment, however, has munity of New York City decides it should be. VivaVegie been the opening of its Vegetarian Center. Here is a has laid a foundation. The challenge for us as a com- place that focuses on projecting the vegetarian point of munity is to come together and build this center into a view as its primary mission.
    [Show full text]