Consumer side activism works best on a small scale, where the impact is very clear and obvious. As it scales up the effect of your activism becomes obscured since the boycotters becomes a smaller % of the market. The number of people going vegan (predominantly in the global north) does not out number the growing markets in developing countries. Major production companies are still gaining customers on a global scale due to globalization
Obviously go vegan, but expecting real change out of nothing but a dietary choice is unrealistic. Direct action through other means like legislation etc. will be more effective both in the short and long term
On the small scale though I do believe it is effective. If you get your entire friend group or community to boycott a family restaurant that supplies the meat from their farm you will be having a real effect on those animals.
This is not carnist apologia, obviously they SHOULD go vegan, but a vegetarian or carnist participating in direct action, physically saving or improving animals lives has a more profound impact than vegans who simply refrain from picking up already dead animals from their grocery store.
my POV. Thoughts?
a really small scale example of what I’m talking about is the Amish in my area have a little market where they sold milk/butter from their cows and eggs from their chickens aswell as handmade apparel to a few dozen people. Me and a few ppl got together and explained to them if they stopped selling animal products we would all buy their other stuff to make up for the loss
Sure it’s not exactly a huge thing but the cows/chickens weren’t as heavily strained. Since they weren’t producing for an extra 100 or so people. Plus the Amish treat them far better than any industrial farms.
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Well this was a year ago and they don’t sell animal food products anymore. They still sell apparel from cows and horses that died naturally, which I don’t have a HUGE issue with since in my culture making full use of a deceased animal is a sign of respect in a way, the animal still lives on past it’s death.
But most farmers and community members buy their jackets, scarves, baskets, and such since they are legitimately well made and supports them.