Tools for Advocacy

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

From the ongoing dialogue on , it's clear that many of us spend

considerable amounts of time and energy attempting to communicate with friends,

relatives, and co-workers on the health, environmental, animal protection, and

human rights benefits of a plant-based diet. Many of us regularly

offer books such as John Robbins' " Diet for a New America " or Erik Marcus'

" Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating " as gifts to people whom we feel might be

swayed by the powerful arguments in those books.

 

I'd like to offer a suggestion for another tool that we might use in our

advocacy work. Bruce Friedrich, director of vegan outreach at PeTA (People for

the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recently recorded a CD (also available as a

tape) called " Veganism in a Nutshell. " The recording summarizes some

of the most powerful arguments in favor of veganism into 67 impacting minutes.

The recording offers an introduction by " Satya " magazine founder, Martin Rowe,

and is rounded out with a fun Q & A segment, where some of the questions most

commonly asked of vegetarians by meat-eaters ( " what about plant

suffering? " " what would happen to the animals if everyone became vegan

overnight? " etc.).

 

Since the recording is a PeTA project, there is no copyright on it. So, you are

encouraged to duplicate the recording and distribute widely. I've included with

this email a review written by Dr. Steven Gross, a grassroots activist from

Illinois. there's information on how to order the cd at the end

of Steve's write-up.

 

Cheers,

Alka

 

 

" Bruce Friedrich gave one of the most persuasive and well informed vegan

lectures that I and the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii have ever heard. "

-William Harris, MD

 

Veganism in a Nutshell: A Review of Bruce Friedrich's CD

by Steven Jay Gross, PhD

 

In our car-driving culture of long, solitary commutes, books on tape

have become more and more popular-though I suppose they're now mostly

books on compact disc. If there's one cassette or CD you buy for a

meat-eating loved one this year, make it Bruce Friedrich's " Veganism in

a Nutshell. "

 

It is my opinion that this CD/cassette is second only to " Meet Your

Meat, " PETA's video that documents the inhumane treatment of animals for

food. There is not a single widely distributed animal rights CD or

cassette in existence, so Bruce's new recording fills a crucial gap.

 

One thing I find impressive about PETA is its policy against copyright

-- none of PETA's materials are copyrighted. If you like this CD, or if

you like " Meet Your Meat, " PETA encourages you to make copies to share

with others. Of course, at $5 a CD or cassette, and bulk rate of $2.50

each, it's probably worth buying it from PETA to get the glossy cover

that adds to the presentation when you give the recording to your

parent, son, friend, or loved one. But it's up to you. Bruce Friedrich

is the (Vegan Outreach Director) for PETA. His objective in this

65-minute recording is to provide the basic arguments for why someone

should be vegan. It's a Herculean task -veganism in an hour-but he meets

the challenge, examining human rights, human health, environmentalism,

animal welfare, and animal rights, and following all this with the

questions that most vegans are most often asked, offering excellent

answers that are both succinct and convincing.

 

A narrator tells us that Bruce, who is 33 years old, spent 6 years

working for the homeless in the inner city before joining PETA in 1996.

Certainly someone who has devoted most of his adult life to reducing

suffering gets my attention. But Bruce also is an engaging speaker who

is easy to listen to. His imagery is powerful, his facts are extremely

well ordered and presented, and his talk is laced with enough dark humor

so that even skeptics will enjoy listening. Following is a synopsis.

 

HUMAN HEALTH

 

Bruce starts out by discussing human health, which seems to me like a

good decision, since it's one that everyone who picks up the cassette or

CD will have at least some interest in. For health's sake, Bruce argues,

you must choose a vegan diet. Citing epidemiological studies and other

medical research, he persuasively demonstrates how a vegan diet helps

reduce the likelihood of heart disease, strokes, cancers, obesity, and a

host of other diet-related disorders. He cites Dr. William Castelli, Dr.

Dean Ornish, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, and others, convincingly making the

case for the health benefits of a vegan diet.

 

ENVIRONMENT

 

Howard Lyman says that an environmentalist who eats meat is like a

philanthropist who doesn't give to charity. Bruce makes the case that

funneling grains, soy, and other crops through animals is both wasteful

and polluting, citing facts, figures, and common sense. He says that

America's practice of running grains, soy, and corn -- which have lots

of fiber and complex carbs and no saturated fat or cholesterol --

through animals to make meat -- which has no fiber or complex carbs and

lots of saturated fat and cholesterol -- makes about as much sense as

running pure water through a sewer system and then drinking it.

 

HUMAN RIGHTS

 

After working in college on global and domestic poverty issues and then

spending six years in a homeless shelter, Bruce speaks with passion

about human rights issues. He suggests that veganism is the only diet

for people who care about people. He points out that 1.3 billion people

live in poverty and 800,000 are starving, 40 million of whom die each

year. He points out that the poorest countries, such as Ethiopia,

Somalia, and much of Central America, use their agricultural land to

grow feed grain or to raise animals for the developed world,

illustrating meat eaters directly participating in this oppression of

the global poor. He goes on to discuss domestic issues, including the

high rates of injury and turnover in slaughterhouses, and more.

 

ANIMAL WELFARE

 

Bruce uses Senator Robert Byrd's speech to the US Senate decrying the

barbaric treatment of farm animals to illustrate that food animals

suffer pain. Describing a wide array of mutilations and other standard

factory farm practices, he states that if these same practices were used

on a dog or cat, they would result in a felony conviction.

 

ANIMAL RIGHTS

 

Bruce makes, basically, Peter Singer's argument, which was also Jeremy

Bentham's argument: Other animals feel pain in the same way that we do,

so they have an equal right to be free from pain. Quoting Albert

Schweitzer, he states that " compassion, in which all ethics must take

root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all

living creatures and does not limit itself to human kind. " Reflecting on

the words of Isaac Bashevis Singer, Bruce states that mistreating

animals is the epitome of the paradigm might makes right, a paradigm

that is morally bankrupt and repugnant.

 

CONCLUSION: BUY IT

 

All in all, " Veganism in a Nutshell " makes as convincing a case for

veganism as I can imagine. I encourage you to buy or make copies for

every commuting meat eater you know. Since you can now duplicate CDs for

about 50 cents each, you might also consider carrying around copies to

give to people who ask why you're vegan. Listening to Bruce's recording,

I heard in my mind's eye the voice of Joan Baez singing the song

" Imagine. "

 

With this new addition to the animal rights and vegetarian movements,

the dream of a peaceful, vegan world, a world where we choose the

nonviolent diet from the Garden of Eden, seems a little closer.

 

A cassette or CD can be purchased for $5.00 from PETACatalog.com or by

calling 757-622-7382, ext. 1510.

 

Steven Jay Gross, Ph.D., is the president of Steven J. Gross and

Associates, a professional business negotiation firm, and is the founder

and co-chairperson of Illinois Humane PAC, a humane lobbying group. He

has done extensive pro bono work for PETA in its efforts with major

corporations including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Safeway.

 

C.D. can be ordered here:

 

http://animalrightstuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD & Store_Code

=A & Product_Code=901 & Category_Code=VT

 

cassette or C.D. can be ordered here:

http://petacatalog.com/peta/product.asp?dept%5Fid=3 & pf%5Fid=AC170 & mscssi

d=