I’m not a 100% fan of PETA since their caring consumer book is not right. I’m deeply saddened by this. Most of the companies they list as ‘cruelty free’ are not since most of the companies get ingredients from suppliers that test on animals. It’s very misleading . I ‘ve written many letters and emails to the misleading companies to only use ingredients from suppliers that do not test on animals but they refuse. The right list is the CCIC’s list which can be found at http://www.leapingbunny.org/
I hope this helps people. You can compare the list with PETA’s list and see the big difference.

I’m speaking of his initial statement about “Should animals have the same rights as us…..”

Hi Bea,
Yes, George indicated he’d be sharing his learnings with his friends back home. He seems to have had a very positive experience (Elaine provides a link to the follow up interview on the Peta blog.

Hi VeganNoodle,
It was supposed to be a short review, but I was taking notes as I watched and then it was bedtime and I still hadn’t done my post… Anyway, yes, we loved that too — vegans are NORMAL PEOPLE too!!! Yay! That will certainly help advance the cause.

Hi Nate,
Sorry you missed it. Even though I presented most of it, if you have the opportunity to catch it again. FX runs the show a few times during the week. It’s on again on Friday and Sunday. Here’s a link to their schedule, you probably have to check your local TV guide to verify the times.

Hi Elisabeth,
Gary of Animal Writings, responds re dairy cows in comment #6. Unfortunately, the myth of the farm that most of us were raised on no longer exists, see this post.

Hi Gary,
Thanks for your response to Elisabeth. You pretty much covered the animal rights issues. One health issue to add. In “The China Syndrome,” by Campbell, he talks about how unhealthy milk is, specifically casein. I still haven’t finished the book, so I haven’t blogged about this much… but it’ll put you off milk if the animal rights issues aren’t enough to swing you.

Hi Elaine,
Thanks for the follow up link! I enjoyed reading what George had to say after the fact.
Re militant vegans. I believe the concept of the show wouldn’t have gotten off the ground if the perception of vegans was that we are rational people. The producers are looking for conflict and drama (and ratings). Unfortunately, vegans are looked upon as “Hezbollah-like” (Bourdain). So you can argue that having an outspoken militant faction promotes visibility to the cause. But what kind of attention are you garnering? If you’re accosting people, are they likely to “listen” to your message? More than likely they will label you as an impassioned lunatic and walk away, or “fight back.” Neither of these get you the results you want.
I also agree with you that people “don’t like feeling guilty or wrong, no matter how they get to that feeling, be it by ‘militant’ activists or by more gentle methods.” But I don’t believe an antagonistic approach is the most effective way to get your message across.
Interestingly, it appears George agrees with this. He identifies his two worst experiences as being at Animal Acres and the UCLA protest (Q3). He didn’t respond positively to being judged or being verbally abused. If he’d been with a “militant” host family he would have abandoned his stay (he says he would have gone home if he had been housed with Bauston).
Finally, I think the thing I object to most about the “militant” faction, is that they don’t respect the fact that, right now the way things stand, people have the “right” to eat meat (even if the treatment of those animals is morally wrong). If they were better educated about how that meat got to their tables they might make different decisions. But if you’re yelling at someone, how likely is it that you’ll have the opportunity to educate them?
“Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.” –Henry Ward Beecher — I truly believe this and try to incorporate it in my dealings with others.
Clarification: the “you” is for conversational purposes, not directed specifically at you.

Hi Kara,
Yes, some of those things are hard to watch. I couldn’t believe they actually had the nerve to air that on a nationally syndicated TV series. I would have suspected they’d be afraid of offending their sponsors.

Hi Emily,
I think the show was so appealing was that both sides of the story were presented as “normal.” The hunter didn’t look like some blood-crazed barbarian, and the vegans weren’t hippy freaks.
Yes, Jane and I both believe that humans will continue to eat meat throughout our lifetimes, but we do hope for a shift in the treatment of food animals and perhaps a shift to a less meat-centric diet overall.

I was thinking about this a bit and I wonder:
1. Do you think George would have been interested in doing the show if he hadn’t seen, encountered, or heard about more militant activism?

2. Do you think the producers would have thought the should would be interested in doing the show if all vegans were non-”militant’?

3. Do you think people are completely honest when they say things like, “if those vegans weren’t so mean to me I would have gone vegan years ago” or do you think that’s really just an excuse because people are uncomfortable admitting they weren’t ready to go vegan earlier?

In my experience, many people react more to the idea than to the way the idea is presented. They react to the idea that they’re doing something wrong. They don’t like feeling guilty or wrong, no matter how they get to that feeling, be it by “militant” activists or by more gentle methods.

Just some thoughts.