Ondine Sherman is co-founder and managing director of Voiceless: The Animal Protection Institute, based in New South Wales, Australia. Last month, AlterNet.org published an article in which she declares that animal protection is one of the "fastest growing social justice movements of our time".
She cites the greatly increased media coverage of cruelty issues, documentary films being shown in cinemas, and a huge growth in plant-based food technology/products, as demonstrating massive public concern. According to a 2017 poll, 54 percent of American adults say they are "currently trying to consume fewer animal-based foods (meat, dairy, and/or eggs) and more plant-based foods (fruits, grains, beans, and/or vegetables)."
And another recent report shows that Americans are switching to a vegan diet in record numbers with six percent of the population identifying as vegan—a 600% increase from 2014.
Sherman points to a couple of reasons why the movement, which began in the 1970s, has suddenly taken off. The relentless work of animal advocates has done much to expose practices in agricultural and other animal industries around the world. This has been aided by the democratization of the media (social media), which enables the public to go around the powerful corporate PR machines to see what's really going on behind the scenes.
The choices consumers make affects the number of animal products a company will buy resulting in an increase or decrease in animals slaughtered, raised and bred. Consumer purchasing power influences the major food companies that do business with the worst animal welfare offenders. Due to the growing customer demand, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Starbucks and others have all introduced plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy.
Each person who adopts a plant-based vegan lifestyle by eliminating animal products or even reducing them in incremental steps like becoming a "reducetarian" can make a huge difference.
"Each and every one of us has the power to control the amount of animal suffering. Let's bring the U.S. to number one in best practice, and make it truly great again as an example of animal protection for the world." -Ondine Sherman
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