How do we best promote veganism? - Casey Taft

Casey Taft is a psychologist who works with clients to prevent violent behavior. In his article, "How Do We Best Promote Veganism?: A Psychologist's Perspective", he pulls together many of the principles that also underly the work of Vegan Australia.

Casey's work enables him to draw on the vast knowledge base in promoting behaviour change among people and apply that to the area of promoting non-violence towards animals.

Casey uses insights into how successful behavioral shift occurs among groups considered "resistant to change" and applies this to our work in spreading veganism.

His main point is that we must have a "clearly defined end goal" in all our vegan advocacy, and that goal is ending violence. He says "If we want unnecessary violence towards animals to end and view this as a social justice issue, then veganism should be what we advocate for unapologetically."

"With any behavior strategy, it's important to be genuine, straightforward, and clear about what needs to change without judging and putting others on the defensive. Yes, this is possible and actually quite simple and therapeutic. You can show understanding and empathy for how a problem behavior developed and what upholds that behavior while maintaining a stance that all violence must end. The two are not mutually exclusive, and both are required for change to occur."

"In our animal advocacy, we should promote veganism and reward and reinforce steps towards that goal. Cutting down on meat, eliminating dairy etc. are all steps in the right direction towards veganism, and if we want to promote real change, we should be supporting these gains as much as we can. But these should be viewed as positive steps towards veganism rather than ends in and of themselves."

"With increasing vegan awareness in the general population and ethical and scientific reasoning all on the side of veganism, now more than ever there is an opportunity to bring about great change. We need to seize this opportunity by unashamedly encouraging others to go vegan in our messaging and supporting steps towards that goal."

Please read the full article here.