Passion and Outrage Aren’t Enough

The numbers show it is very, very hard to *actually* help animals

“I don’t eat much red meat.”

In the past 35 years, Anne and I have heard that too many times to count. Whenever vegetarianism or veganism is mentioned, most people reply by saying that yes, they understand how bad red meat is.

Although it is not our intention, nearly everything animal advocates say to meat eaters will support the broader anti-red-meat narrative. In the real world, any mention of the environment (esp. “carbon emissions”), health and wellness (including “ultraprocessed”), or animals (mammals always the default) drives the move away from red meat...

...and supports the horrific increase in the consumption of factory-farmed chickens.*

Our intentions don’t offset reality; e.g. “Global Chicken Output Surges.”*

Those of us behind One Step for Animals spent decades trying to advocate for a specific diet with some iteration of Health! Environment! Animals! We’ve known countless clever, passionate advocates who have done variations on this, claiming that this time, their version of the argument will work!

Yet the per-capita consumption of factory-farmed animals is at an all-time high.

None of us intended for our advocacy to support a move from consuming a few big mammals to countless small, brutalized birds. But that was the consequence.

Only consequences matter.

Chickens aren’t helped by our intentions. Chickens can only be helped if people eat fewer chickens.

This is why One Step for Animals’ first principle is:

Avoid advocacy that has any possibility of leading individuals to replace red meat with chickens.

Admittedly, it was very hard to give up Health! Environment! Animals! It is so right, and should be so compelling! (And you can’t advocate half measures, right? Our personal lifestyle is the only rational response, right?)

But being right is irrelevant. How people should react is irrelevant.

Only consequences matter.

And given the undeniable facts – per capita consumption of animals has never been higher – One Step’s only other principle is:

Promote a simple message that is accessible, sustainable, and maximally impactful on the amount of suffering in the world.

If you believe that consequences matter, please consider clicking here. Your donation will expand One Step’s efforts to explain to more people why they should choose to not eat chickens.

It is a cliche, but your donations to One Step for Animals really make a difference – the number of people who see a “Please don’t eat chickens” message goes up and down based on contributions. And that number is currently way down.

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