4 ms·

> And similarly, to encourage others to decrease their meat consumption by letting them know that by buying meat, they are very likely going against their value

> And similarly, to encourage others to decrease their meat consumption by letting them know that by buying meat, they are very likely going against their values Well, people know. Maybe they don't KNOW know, in the sense of actually visiting a slaughter house and smelling the blood, but I'm sure most people know about animal shipments, tiny cages, and that gassing or slashing animals throats isn't a picnic. Personally I donate money to an animal protection program (probably don't donate enough). Conversations I have with people in my life about this are overwhelmingly futile and people become quite hostile when you talk to them about this.

yboris 6y ago
It's a challenge talking about this topic. It's very easy to come off as "I'm better than you" or "you are a bad person". But these conversations can be productive and non-offensive. I encourage people to see a wide continuum between eating 100% meat and eating 0% animal products. I express that I understand the challenges in decreasing one's meat consumption. I point out that it's not all or nothing - you can be "mostly vegan" (while still consuming animal products sometimes). It's best to have conversations like this when the person is asking, not because you "caught" them eating an animal product. Because of how grim the reality is for animals raised for food, most people are reluctant to be exposed to what it means. They will hope that (and not look for evidence against their belief that) the meat they buy comes from a better place (it's worth pointing out that in the US about 99% of meat comes from factory farms). As I said - people's values are likely aligned. Polls consistently show that people do not approve of animal abuse. The final argument that made me drastically decrease my meat consumption was the empirical fact that individual choices matter:while supermarkets are not 100% responsive (buying 1 item less decreases their next order by 1 item), they are responsive to demand. And if they buy in batches (which they likely do), you have a chance of triggering a "next-larger" batch order. On average it all works out to an (economic) elasticity of less than 1, but a far cry from 0 (depends on type of meat, but rough figure of 0.5 is a sensible underestimate).
- joelbluminator 6y ago
  Did you actually manage to convince anyone to stop eating meat, who wasn't already having major doubts about what he was doing to begin with? If so how?
  - yboris 6y ago
    I have had many friends share with me that they have decreased their meat consumption. I am not under the illusion that I was the person who caused that change. Change rarely works this way. Our decisions to do something (especially this drastic) are composed of numerous influences. Part of change is about what people expect to be the new normal. If all your friends are ok with homosexual marriages, you'll likely change your point of view soon enough anyway. If many of your friends at least mention that they are concerned about factory farm abuses of animals, you might one day decide to eat one less hamburger. Change is much easier when younger; I changed during college years. I'm now 35 and I'm sure to have nudged at least some of my friends to eat less meat in the last decade. Much of it probably was just my consistency. If your friend tries a fad diet, you can ignore it. If their diet lasts 5 years, you'll at least want to learn more about why and how. It's an important issue to change others' opinions on. A great book about this subject is "Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change" by Nick Cooney

yboris 6y ago

It's a challenge talking about this topic. It's very easy to come off as "I'm better than you" or "you are a bad person". But these conversations can be productive and non-offensive. I encourage people to see a wide continuum between eating 100% meat and eating 0% animal products. I express that I understand the challenges in decreasing one's meat consumption. I point out that it's not all or nothing - you can be "mostly vegan" (while still consuming animal products sometimes). It's best to have conversations like this when the person is asking, not because you "caught" them eating an animal product. Because of how grim the reality is for animals raised for food, most people are reluctant to be exposed to what it means. They will hope that (and not look for evidence against their belief that) the meat they buy comes from a better place (it's worth pointing out that in the US about 99% of meat comes from factory farms). As I said - people's values are likely aligned. Polls consistently show that people do not approve of animal abuse. The final argument that made me drastically decrease my meat consumption was the empirical fact that individual choices matter:while supermarkets are not 100% responsive (buying 1 item less decreases their next order by 1 item), they are responsive to demand. And if they buy in batches (which they likely do), you have a chance of triggering a "next-larger" batch order. On average it all works out to an (economic) elasticity of less than 1, but a far cry from 0 (depends on type of meat, but rough figure of 0.5 is a sensible underestimate).

joelbluminator 6y ago
Did you actually manage to convince anyone to stop eating meat, who wasn't already having major doubts about what he was doing to begin with? If so how?
- yboris 6y ago
  I have had many friends share with me that they have decreased their meat consumption. I am not under the illusion that I was the person who caused that change. Change rarely works this way. Our decisions to do something (especially this drastic) are composed of numerous influences. Part of change is about what people expect to be the new normal. If all your friends are ok with homosexual marriages, you'll likely change your point of view soon enough anyway. If many of your friends at least mention that they are concerned about factory farm abuses of animals, you might one day decide to eat one less hamburger. Change is much easier when younger; I changed during college years. I'm now 35 and I'm sure to have nudged at least some of my friends to eat less meat in the last decade. Much of it probably was just my consistency. If your friend tries a fad diet, you can ignore it. If their diet lasts 5 years, you'll at least want to learn more about why and how. It's an important issue to change others' opinions on. A great book about this subject is "Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change" by Nick Cooney