Maybe We’re Not So Different: Understanding Animal Activists
My dad, John Purviance, bottle feeding a bum calf at Woodland Ag.
Disclaimer: All of this information comes from my personal observation unless otherwise specified.
As Kayla and I have said many times in the past week, it’s hard to find anything in the news right now because the news is completely consumed by the Coronavirus pandemic. This wave of “no new news,” swept across my vegan and anti-ag Facebook groups as well. For the most part, the members of these groups have been suspiciously quiet on the whole anti-agriculture movement.
Last night I laid down to go to sleep but couldn’t sleep because I kept asking myself, “why?”
Why aren’t these people posting like they used to? Why is no one leading a crusade against farmers and ranchers? Why am I not getting notifications multiple times a day from these groups about the “evils of agriculture?” Why is no one posting un-true information about climate change?
After wrestling with these questions for hours, a light bulb went off and I thought, “wow, maybe they’re starting to understand!” I should’ve known better, because this thought was, in fact, too good to be true.
This morning, I decided to check these groups one more time and my negative faith in the anti-ag activists was restored. You see, I am in multiple groups and one of these groups is specifically focused on vegan activism, not just animal rights or cruelty. And this specific Facebook group was riddled with posts BLAMING meat eaters for Coronavirus as well as rejoicing over the layoffs in different processing plants — both topics of discussion which are so bogus I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around them.
However, I would like to take this time to discuss something I have learned within my two years undercover in these groups: not all animal activists are the same.
There are many different categories and subcategories of animal activists. And, this will come as no surprise to those of you who know the truth about animal agriculture, ranchers and farmers fall into each one of these categories just as the anti-ags do.
Keep in mind: what I’m about to explain to you is purely based off of my observation, this was not sourced from a textbook — so take these explanations how you will.
I have broken animal activists into three main categories: Ethically Influenced Activists, Environmentally Influenced Activists, and Social Justice Warriors. It is important to note that many individual groups fall into each of these categories. These groups include vegans, animal law fighters, animal cruelty crusaders, and ranchers and farmers.
Ethically Influenced Animal Activists:
Ethically Influenced Animal Activists are just that: animal activists influenced by ethical beliefs. They advocate for things such as animal health and welfare. They want what’s best for the animal, at all costs. This could mean refusing to eat meat and dairy, in an attempt to slow down the slaughter of animals or obtaining a degree from Harvard Law with a focus in Animal Law (yes, this is a real thing). This could also mean spending a seemingly infinite amount of money on medical supplies to keep your animals healthy — just as ranchers and farmers do.
Environmentally Influenced Animal Activists:
Environmentally Influenced Animal Activists are also defined by their name, they fight for the animals in order to help the environment. As defined by the Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture makes up 9 percent of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions. This does not mean ANIMAL agriculture is responsible for these emissions — agriculture AS A WHOLE is responsible for 9 percent of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions (this includes crop production and transportation as well).
Some people are environmentally influenced based off false pretenses. Such as the people who go vegan after watching the film Cowspiracy. Cowspiracy, as discussed in a previous AvA column, is a film which contains several misleading statistics. Many people see this film or listen to activists such a Joaquin Phoenix blow animal ag’s “environmental impact” out of proportion and become anti-ag. They speak out against agriculture and claim it’s destroying the environment.
On the other end of the Environmentally Influenced Animal Activists spectrum is those farmers and ranchers who try to make their operation as sustainable as possible. These are the agriculturists who recognize that, although it is small, agriculture DOES have an impact on the environment and choose to work towards a more sustainable agricultural future.
Social Justice Warriors:
The last of the big three categories is quite possibly the one which fires me up the most and that is the Social Justice Warriors. Although many people who fight for social justice do it out of the goodness of their heart, this is not the definition for my category. When I say Social Justice Warrior, I am talking about the people who speak out for or against something for personal gain in the public eye. Personally, I believe Joaquin Phoenix is more of a Social Justice Warrior than an ethically or environmentally influenced animal activist.
Animal Cruelty Crusaders, Vegans, and Farmers and Ranchers can all fall under this category. Social Justice Warriors will do just about anything to make THEM look better. Sometimes, this is good for their cause. Maybe they are doing it all for appearances but hey, at least they’re making a difference. However, I am always leery of their motives and the steps they took to get there. What are they hiding? Will they make a big show of doing something and then not deliver? Will they make a big scene on camera but change their tune when the camera stops rolling?
If you’ll notice, out of these three big categories, there were two individual groups who fell under each: the vegans and the farmers and ranchers. This is because these two groups are not so different.
Vegans want animals to live in a healthy environment, just as farmers and ranchers do. I can promise you; no one is more concerned about healthy living conditions than the person who owns the land and the animals who graze upon it.
Vegans want animals to be healthy and free of sickness, just as farmers and ranchers do. I can promise you; no one wants livestock to be healthy more than the person who is raising them.
Vegans want agriculturists to change their practices to help the environment; and I can promise you, no one wants to practice environmentally sustainable agriculture more than the person who is constantly, publicly BLAMED for climate change.
The bottom line here is, we all want what’s best. Some of these groups may want a different outcome, but the drive to create the best possible life for livestock is a want and need from every animal activist.
When you take a step back and realize we all just want to raise healthy animals, it doesn’t seem like that big of a difference. And that realization, coupled with the fact that we simply cannot feed 7.7 billion people cost effectively and nutritionally on a vegan diet alone, will provide you, the agriculturist, with a good argument.
