The other day, Nadia McKechnie, a Vegan advocate and head of vegan organizations here in Japan came to my campus to speak to us about Veganism!
The talk was mainly about the benefits of having a plant-based diet, and the dangers of meat consumption and production. The talk also focused heavily on the cruelty in the farming market.
I have always been sort of interested in veganism, mainly because I've always thought the idea of mass breading/ producing meat from livestock to be really grim and awful, but I could never really get myself to quit eating meat. Hearing this talk really gave me a new sort of perspective on this though.
I really liked how the talk wasn't in a way of shaming people who eat meat. The talk was very professional, yet lighthearted, but when needed, she really put the point across. It was also very nice hearing from other vegan people who also came to the talk, and hearing their experiences with their vegan lifestyles was kind of inspiring! I'm still not entirely sure if ill ever be able to transition into a vegan entirely, but I thought this was a ver necessary talk that I needed to hear!
I enjoyed reading your thoughtful comments on Nadia's talk, Dan. I think the power (and intelligence) of Nadia's approach is that it does not (as you say) involve shaming people. That only makes people defensive anyway, and it pushes them away. She effectively showed what kinds of varied and delicious vegan foods there are out there now, and one doesn't have to give up taste and satisfaction in order to eat cruelty free. I very much wish I had seen a talk like Nadia's when I was your age because it might have persuaded me to turn vegan _much_ earlier. Although, as I said at the talk, I've been vegan for 29 years, I didn't become vegan until I was 33 years of age. In fact, I didn't feel particularly ready to become vegan at your age. As the expression goes, "if I knew then, what I know now" things might have been different.
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