lepa

People seem most receptive when talking about how their diet affects their health, and angriest when the treatment of animals is brought up. Have you found that to be true, and if yes, why do you think that is? What do you think is the most effective way to talk to omnivores and even vegetarians about animal abuse and maintain a productive conversation? Obviously any effective dialogue comes from a place of mutual respect, but if you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated. When you talk to people about excluding animal products do you cite certain experiences or reports that are generally, for lack of a better term, 'eye openers'? Most people will not just sit down and watch Earthlings at your request, which is what is typically recommended. With your past work how do you remain calm when people tell you abuse doesn't happen often/at all? Sorry about all these jumbled questions, I'm trying to get them in quickly at work in between meetings. Thanks in advance!

Dairy actually might be addictive, to make the calf crave it, which is really cute to think about if it it didn't end up in humans' glasses instead of calves' stomachs. Human breast milk is the same way. It took me a few months to stop craving dairy and I put off veganism for a long time because I was addicted to dairy. I still crave it sometimes 6 months later, but I know how the dairy products I can buy at the store end up there and that makes abstaining from them a lot easier. Obviously vegetarianism is better than an omnivorous diet, but it still creates a market for dairy, eggs, veal, and beef. As long as you are aware of that and accept it, which it seems like you are and do, okay. But a lot of vegetarians actually don't know that egg and dairy industries are just as exploitative as the meat industry and contribute to the cycle, and education is important (thus, why ag gag laws are obviously terrible).

Cows are mammals and, like mammals, produce milk for their offspring. They don't just happen to have udders filled with milk as most people tend to think. Maybe you're being sarcastic, I didn't learn that until I was 19 and I was horrified. The only way to have enough for a population of about 300 million milk-obsessed Americans is to separate the calf from its mother and milk her until she can be impregnated again. This is done a few times until she is slaughtered.