Summary
The Animal Rights National Conference, which rotates between the West Coast and East Coast, is an annual event for animal liberation activists from scores of organizations to meet, share ideas and strategy, and coordinate their campaigns.
The conference this year in Northern Virginia claimed to draw 1,500 attendees, although witnessed attendance put it closer to 1,000. There were about 100 organizations tabling the event and 150 speakers spread over the course of 4 days with several presentations tracks happening in parallel.
There was a large range of animal activist groups tabling the event. Openly radical groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) mingled with organizations such as Compassion in World Farming that, at least in public, try to appear more moderate. In addition to animal liberation groups, many alternative food companies had booths, from older brands (Tofurky) to startups (NuMu–fake cheese).
One booth specifically worth noting is Karner Blue Capital. The organization is planning to expand beyond being an investment and into offering a “socially responsible” 401(k) plan. The group is operated by Vicki Benjamin and several partners, most notably disgraced former HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle. When asked about his involvement, several low-level Karner associates told he was simply an occasional advisor. When we spoke to Vicki Benjamin, she refused to talk about Wayne’s indiscretions but commented that he is in fact a full partner. Pacelle’s role will be to facilitate the creation of Karner Blue Center for a Humane Economy, which appears to be essentially an HSUS clone that Pacelle is trying to build from the ground up.
Key Presentations/ Presenters
Bruce Friedrich, Good Food Institute
Friedrich was a longtime PETA executive who has since rebranded himself and assumed a role running the Good Food Institute. GFI is a trade association for fake-meat products.
These days, Friedrich has established himself as one of the foremost thought leaders in the vegan world. His presentations centered on food technology. Using caloric ratios of production, (it takes x amount of crop calories get 1 calorie of meat), Friedrich sold the idea that meat production is futile, pairing the idea of increased protein consumption globally with the idea that there isn’t enough land.
In addition, Friedrich used the fear of super diseases created by supposed resistance to antibiotics as another reason to abolish animal agriculture. He promoted food “sustainability” as reasons to support plant-based and lab-grown meats. He admitted that there are some people who will never stop eating meat but hopes that more advanced cell-based meat will solve that issue.
His main focus is to for plant and cell-based meat to have a lower price point, taste nearly the same as the real thing, and make it as convenient as possible for people to eat. When these three criteria are met, Friedrich believes the game is over for the animal agriculture industry.
Friedrich mentioned that the Good Food Institute focuses on three areas:
- Science and Technology: GFI has lobbied for funding for universities to pursue open source resources for fake and cell-based meat products in order to create more efficiency and lower market prices.
- Corporate Engagement: GFI believes that most major ag companies are purely about protein and holds peruses dialogue with Tyson, Cargill, and JBL
- Policy Change: GFI has hired a state lobbyist in addition to the federal lobbyist it already has on staff. USDA gave University of Washington 250k in funding for fake meats and hopes to get Israel, Brazil, and India to invest more into fake and cell-based meat.
Alan Dare, Mercy for Animals / Kelly Meyers, The Humane League
Mercy for Animals has established a new program branded as “Conscious Eating.” The program has started with four Brazilian cities and plans to target China, India, and Southeast Asia, aiming to convert 50 million meals from meat to plant-based by 2021.
The program targets city level officials to enact Meatless Monday campaigns by promising to give the cities recognition for implementing the program. Implementation starts with providing recipes to food workers, who then learn to make the recipes on a mass scale. The program is meant for public schools and programs run by city governments. The activists “sell” localities on the concept by saying a reduction in meat would trim budget costs.
The Humane League’s presentation revolved around corporate change through harassment. The presentation focused on The Humane League’s assault on McDonald’s. The Humane League has no issue harassing higher executives via email and person-to-person confrontation. One example is the tactic of buying shares in the company to be able to speak at the shareholder’s meeting. This is not new, and the resolutions almost always fail, but the activists view it as effective pressure.
In addition to protesting, The Humane League also expressed great interest in further using ballot measures to change legislation after the successful passage of Proposition 12 in California. (Prop 12 bans the sale of conventionally produced pork and non-cage-free eggs.)
Conclusion
More than ever, veganism has gone corporate. Attendees at this conference had a general understanding that most people aren’t going to become strict vegans or vegetarians. Instead, the goal is to switch the proteins offered without anyone knowing. After years of not seeing their “go veg” campaigns have a measurable impact on the public, they are now skipping the consumer and go straight to the provider with a more business-focused mentality.