Today I want to share something I’ve been wanting to write for a long time: a habit-based perspective on why people stick with veganism—or don’t.

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It’s easy to see stories about ex-vegans and wonder: “Is this real? Why would someone step away after giving it a sincere shot?”

But the numbers suggest it’s not rare. A 2025 VRG/YouGov poll found 4% of U.S. adults are currently vegetarian (including vegan), while 5% say they previously maintained vegetarianism for three-plus years but no longer do.

And in a major U.S. study often cited by Faunalytics (Humane Research Council, 2014), the authors concluded there are more than five times as many former vegetarians/vegans as current—“put differently, 84% abandon the diet.”

If veganism were only about beliefs, information would be enough. But veganism is lived through daily defaults—food, social life, convenience, identity.

In other words: it’s a habit system.

The Habit Explanation for Why People Leave Veganism

As a habit coach, I’m convinced that a big part of why people leave veganism has a lot to do with how habit change actually works in real life.

From a behavior standpoint, avoiding animal products isn’t fundamentally different from other habit shifts like exercising consistently, quitting alcohol, or changing how you eat when you’re stressed.

It’s not one decision; it’s a repeating system of choices across groceries, restaurants, family events, travel, holidays, cravings, time pressure, and social dynamics.

As advocates, it’s easy (and understandable) to treat veganism as a category of its own: a moral obligation. But plenty of moral and identity-based commitments still require behavioral support to be lived day after day.

Think of religious fasting, abstaining from specific foods, or other community-bound practices—many people value them deeply, yet still lapse when the environment, support system, or routines don’t match the commitment.

So a useful question for advocates to ask is:

“What made this change hard to execute consistently—and what support would make it easier to keep?”

The answer differs from person to person.

The Four Habit Tendencies

Gretchen Rubin came up with an excellent framework for why people build (or not build) certain habits.

The Four Habit Tendencies divides people into 4 groups (in order of prevalence):

1. Obligers: follow external expectations (what others want them to do) and struggle with internal expectations (what they want for themselves).

2. Questioners: follow internal expectations (doing what makes sense to them), reject external expectations (doing things others want that don’t make sense to them).

3. Upholders: follow internal and external expectations.

4. Rebels: reject internal and external expectations.

You can take the quiz to find your habit tendency here. (While this quiz is great, it puts you on their email list.) If you don’t want to enter your email address, you can use this page instead.

Practical Use Case For This Framework

I relied on the Four Habit Tendencies framework a lot when I did daily, text-based habit coaching with people a few years ago. During my time as a habit coach, I helped hundreds of people from six continents create better habits, so I got the chance to field-test this framework in different contexts.

While the habit changes I helped people with were mostly in other areas (productivity, sleeping, etc.), I would rely on these same principles if someone wanted my help to become vegan.

Essentially, depending on their habit type, different people need different strategies to stick with a habit change.

The 2 Most Common Habit Tendencies, and How They Relate to Veganism

Let’s look at two habit tendencies: Obligers and Questioners. The first one is by far the biggest tendency. It is also, in some ways, the easiest to work with as a habit coach (as long as Obligers have external support for their goals, they tend to thrive).

I’m contrasting this with the second-biggest tendency, Questioners, so you can see how they differ from each other.

Because Upholders and Rebels are rarer, it makes sense to first focus on how to best help Obligers and Questioners stick with new vegan habit choices.

Oligers

Obligers react to external expectations and do exceptionally well with external accountability.

However, they struggle with internal expectations—and not just when it comes to veganism. Obligers have a hard time saying no to others and putting themselves first. They might want to take time to meditate or workout but will struggle following through on their internal desires if this conflicts with someone else needing their help.

An Obliger who wants to be vegan and lives with other vegans will have a much easier time. In contrast, a vegan Obliger who lives in an environment that's hostile to vegans—or where loved ones demand meat-based meals—will struggle more than other types.

One reason Obligers may struggle is that veganism often lacks built-in outer expectations—and when family, roommates, or workplace culture pushes the other way, the default accountability system is working against them.

Some ex-vegans are probably Obligers who struggled with a lack of support, and who would have remained vegan in an environment where veganism was the default.

(This might also be why Obligers often have an easier time with religious food restrictions than with veganism: Depending on their situation, there's a lot of external expectation by other members of their religion to avoid certain foods.)

Questioners

In sharp contrast to Obligers, Questioners (the second-largest group) need to have an internal reason to stick with a habit change.

I'm a Questioner and became a vegetarian as a young child, even when everybody around me still ate meat. Similarly, I became a vegan in 2012, after becoming internally convinced it was the right thing to do. It has been relatively easy for me to stick with veganism, even in the face of opposition. As an Obliger, I probably would have struggled a lot more with this.

Questioners can't be externally convinced to develop a certain habit—they have to come to their own conclusions. No amount of cajoling from friends, partners, or activists will make veganism stick unless the reasons for becoming vegan make sense to them.

Of course, Questioners may also change position as new research or arguments emerge. Or, they might simply talk themselves out of a certain position that they don’t want to stick with for whatever reason.

(This is one way in which Questioners become ex-vegans… they simply don’t want to do it and then look for reasons to justify that. As a teenager, I had a brief period when I ate some meat, and it was because I thought I needed to eat meat. It wasn’t the lack of external support, it was an internal conviction that drove that change.)

So, What Do We Do With All of This?

Lasting change is a habit thing, not a willpower thing—and different strategies work for different people. Here are 5 takeaways from that insight:

1. To find new solutions, it can be helpful to look at veganism through a habit-only lens. When we do that, it often becomes easier to identify problems people encounter and solutions that might work for them.

2. Different approaches work for different people. Instead of a one-size-fits-all, we need strategies that speak to each type. Obligers do well with accountability, such as group check-ins, public pledges, or reminders from a friend. Questioners want a deep, nuanced why so it’s important to offer clear info, up-to-date science, and solid ethical arguments.

3. Obligers benefit from ongoing support. Obligers, the largest habit group, thrive when they have external accountability, and probably do well during a vegan challenge that includes this type of support. To stay vegan after a challenge, Obligers benefit from ongoing external support.

4. Learning about habit building can make animal advocates more effective. This applies both to their own workflow where being aware of habit tendencies can make them more productive, and to their public outreach.

5. Reducing matters, too. Even ex-vegans tend to eat less meat than people who’ve never tried. The “all-or-nothing” mindset isn’t supported by reality.

If you want custom strategies for yourself or your group, please reach out. You can leave me a comment with questions below, contact me through my website, or schedule a time to talk with me here.

I’m happy to consult, brainstorm, or just geek out with you. Let’s make compassionate change stick for the long run!

Warmly,
Louise

P.S.: Regardless of what habit type you are, we all benefit from community. I’m starting a series of free, monthly community gatherings for people who identify as old souls and care about their purpose.

If being part of a spiritual, vegan-friendly community speaks to you, you can register for the free monthly events here. Our first event will have a special June Solstice flavor! 🌻

Join the Old Soul's Purpose Circle

AI disclosure: A part of this article was re-written/edited by AI. I wrote the initial draft of this article and spent hours on different versions before it was ready to be published.

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Hi friend,

It’s been a while since I’ve written here on the Friendly Vegan Substack, and I first want to thank you for being part of this community!

Some of you may have noticed a change in my sender name—it's now Louise from Leader for Good. This shift brings together all my passions, including veganism, personal growth, and spirituality, under one united vision.

I look forward to diving deeper into why I believe veganism aligns so beautifully with being a "leader for good" in the coming weeks. 🌱

But before that, I’d love to invite you to participate in two heart-centered, free offerings I’m hosting soon, and share some recent positive vegan news.

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Community events coming up

📚 Conscious Creators: A 5-Day Substack Gathering

Are you a Substack writer exploring topics like personal growth, compassionate living (veganism, anyone?), or spirituality? If so, this gathering might be exactly what you need to build connections, gain exposure, and feel part of a like-minded creative community.

We kick off on June 16th, and I’d be thrilled to have you join us! You can find all the details here.

🌻 Permission to Thrive: A Guided Journey to Reclaim Your Spark

This 6-day journey feels especially close to my heart because it’s something I needed to practice myself while creating it. Over the past few days, I’ve learned to follow my own advice: to rest, to have fun, and to find my own rhythm.

Starting June 16th (and culminating on the Solstice 🌞), this gentle experience offers daily permission slips via email, an optional community gathering, and a supportive space to explore what thriving means for you.

If this speaks to you, you can sign up here, and if you’d like a deeper dive into the concept, you can read more about it here.

🤗 If someone in your (vegan or non-vegan) circle could benefit from either of these events, you’re welcome to share this post with them. While these events are vegan-friendly, they are open to everyone. 

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With that said, let’s look at recent positive news:

🎉 Good vegan & animal advocacy news

1. First Spanish city endorses the Plant Based Treaty 🇪🇸

Parla has become the first Spanish city to endorse the Plant Based Treaty, committing to sustainable food policies, promoting plant-based diets, and urging the Spanish government and the government of the Community of Madrid to develop a National and Regional Food Transition Strategy consistent with climate and biodiversity goals. This brings the total number of cities that have signed the Plant Based Treaty to 40!

Yay for politics for good!

You can read more about this here.

And more firsts (from the UK, this time)

2. UK’s unprecedented ‘Meat Free Made Easy!’ campaign 🇬🇧

Over 40 UK brands are uniting to launch an unprecedented campaign—potentially the world’s first—aimed at boosting the meat-free market. The initiative, set to roll out in Q2 and Q4 of 2025, will leverage social media, influencers, and in-store activations to encourage consumers to adopt meat-free diets.

Yay for marketing for good!

You can read more about this here.

Meat alternatives are also rocking it in other countries….

3. Germany’s meat alternatives production doubled in the last 5 years 🇩🇪

In 2024, Germany saw a 4% increase in meat substitute production, reaching 126,500 tonnes. This marks a 109.5% growth over the past five years which highlights the rising demand for plant-based options.

Yay for growth for good!

You can read more about this here.

Warmly,
Louise

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I’m leading a free co-working call on Tuesday (April 29). If you would like to participate, you can find all the details here. 

Hi friend,

As you might know, yesterday was World Day for Laboratory Animals (more about this here).

Which is very fitting because this month has brought highly positive developments for laboratory animals in the US (and, by extension, hopefully the world). So, let’s explore this in more detail

Positive news from US agencies

FDA announces shift away from animal testing

On April 10th, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a significant shift in its approach to animal testing. The FDA plans to phase out or reduce the requirement for animal testing in drug development, particularly for biological products like monoclonal antibodies.

Key elements of this new approach include:

• Replacing or reducing animal testing with New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), such as AI-driven computational toxicity models, advanced in vitro assays, organoids (lab-grown human tissue models), and organ-on-a-chip systems that mimic human organs.

• Utilizing preexisting real-world human safety data from countries with comparable regulatory standards to support drug approval without additional animal studies.

• Incentivizing pharmaceutical companies to submit non-animal test data by offering regulatory relief and potentially expedited review processes, aiming to make animal studies the exception rather than the norm within 3–5 years (!!!). 🥳

If you would like to find out more about NAMs, here’s a description.

According to some reports, EPA recommits to phase out animal testing

According to some reports, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also recommitted to phasing out animal testing for chemicals and pesticides, reviving a 2019 policy that got paused under the Biden administration.

This would include:

• Reducing animal testing on mammals by 30% by 2025.

• Completely eliminating mammalian animal testing by 2035 (!!!).

• Prioritizing NAMs and other non-animal testing methods for chemical safety assessments.

Unlike the official FDA announcement, there appears to be no press release from EPA that confirms these reports. Snopes concluded that “it is not possible to definitively say whether the Trump administration will return to its previous commitment to end mammal testing at the EPA by 2035.”

While it is disappointing that we don’t have an official announcement from EPA confirming these reports, it’s great that we are even talking about it! This makes it easier to advocate for an official announcement/recommitment.

If you want to show your support for phasing out animal testing for chemicals and pesticides, Humane World for Animals has you covered! On their website, they have a form you can use to send a letter to the EPA, stating that you support their commitment to end animal and pesticide testing on animals.

You can find it here.

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time!

💡 If you want to become a more effective vegan advocate, the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has you covered (with free courses and communication hacks). 💡

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I joined last year and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

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Hi friend,

You have probably heard about Senator Cory Booker’s epic and record-breaking 25+ hour speech in the US Senate.

If you haven’t, here’s the speech’s Wikipedia entry.

Here are highlights from his speech:

And here’s the moment he broke the record and the beautiful ending of his speech:

People have pointed out how awesome it is that a Black senator beat the previous record by scumbag, I mean, Senator Strom Thurmond — who in 1957 filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act.

In my view, there’s only one thing more awesome than Thurmond’s record being beat by a Black senator: Thurmond’s record being beat by a Black, vegan senator.

Now, the longest Senate speech is associated with a champion for civil rights, who also happens to be a champion for animals. From a symbolic perspective, it’s awesome that the current record-holder stands up against all forms of oppression, including those that are still being normalized.

(And yes, around the 13-hour mark, Booker mentioned his veganism: “I went out for dinner with Ted Cruz it was hard to find a restaurant. Because I'm a vegan and Ted Cruz is from Texas.”)

To avoid having to go to the bathroom, Booker had reportedly fasted for 3 days and avoided water for 24 hours prior to his speech. This is in stark contrast to Strom Thurmond who ate bites of beef and pumpernickel bread during his speech, and used a bucket in a Senate cloakroom to relieve himself.

Also, unlike many other people who filibustered before (for instance, Ted Cruz, who resorted to reading from a Dr. Seuss book), Booker actually stayed on topic throughout his speech.

I can’t help but think that all these are things a vegan politician would excel in:

• stage an impressive protest that’s beautifully symbolic,

• be physically uncomfortable for the greater good,

• avoid food in order to make a point, and

• rant against injustices — longer than anyone else.

I mean, what’s more vegan than that? Ranting against injustices while being physically uncomfortable is literally a vegan superpower! 😂

And while none of us might be able to copy Booker’s impressive feat, we all carry a spark of that same sacred defiance and a belief in vegan values within us.

Speaking of vegan values….

The next session of HBO’s The White Lotus will take place in a vegan resort

Season 4 of The White Lotus is in development — and the next season will take place at a fully vegan, eco-conscious resort!

The show creator Mike White explained: “I’ve been vegan for years, so I’ve been quietly manifesting a season that reflects some of those values.”

It’s really nice to see more and more vegans come forward and openly express their values in whatever field they work in. Mike White’s explanation reminded me of an article about Lucas Bravo from the show Emily in Paris. In this article, Bravo mentioned that he would love for his character’s restaurant to become vegan: “It’s something I’ve been talking about with Darren and producers for two years now, and I hope it’s going to happen.”

Seeing more vegan representation in series and movies can help shape cultural norms and influence people’s attitudes, so this is a very positive development!

Speaking of positive developments…

EU Commission commits to boosting domestic production of plant-based foods

Members of the European Parliament called for a comprehensive EU strategy to diversify protein sources, aiming to support plant-based options and reduce reliance on imported feed.

This effort, spearheaded by MEPs Strolenberg and Friis, prompted a commitment from Agriculture Commissioner Hansen to develop such a plan.

On LinkedIn, Strolenberg called this a “(Small) victory for plant-based proteins.”

Speaking of plant-based victories…

Rapid growth for the plant-based dairy market in Western Europe and North America

The plant-based dairy market in Western Europe and North America is growing at an unprecedented rate. It reached $11.55 billion (€10.7 billion) in 2023, up from $7.34 billion (€6.8 billion) in 2019 — a compund annual growth rate of 12%.

And, in even more positive news, a recent global survey found that 58% of respondents were open to switching to plant-based dairy!

You can read more about this here.

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time!

💡 If you want to become a more effective vegan advocate, the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has you covered (with free courses and communication hacks). 💡

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I joined last year and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

I wanted to let you know about a two free, vegan-friendly events I’ve created.

These monthly meetings might help you do your work in the world, and remember to take care of yourself, too.

1. A monthly co-working event for “surprising productivity”

This is a space to make progress on the things that matter to you.

And often, it’s easier to get things done in the company of others.

Perhaps that’s why a first-time attendant said that our last call had been “surprisingly productive” for him.

You can sign up for this here.

Let's co-work!

(This one is open to vegan + animal advocates.)

2. A monthly community gathering for catching your breath

This is a monthly event designed to help you align your being and doing.

This is built for people who’ve been told (or who’ve felt) that they’re “too much.” Too deep, too sensitive, too caring.

Here’s a taste of what happens inside:

• The deep sigh that comes from broadening your circle of compassion, and extending it to the one person who’s always left out.

• The quiet relief of being in a space where nobody thinks you’re caring too much… and the way your shoulders relax when you can finally drop your mask.

• The fun adventure of symbolically visiting the only magma chamber on this planet you can enter, and soaking up the wisdom of the volcano Þríhnúkagígur.

You can read more about this and register for the entire series here.

Sign me up, Scotty

(This one is open to everyone.)

What to expect from these events

A vegan-friendly space

While these events are not exclusively for vegans or animal advocates, they are vegan-friendly.

As someone who has been vegan since 2012 (and vegetarian since childhood), I want people like us to have a space where we can be ourselves, without excluding people who aren’t (yet?) vegan.

A space for exploring Soulful Productivity (being productive in a way that feels good):

Often, vegan and animal advocates are pushing so hard that their efforts aren’t sustainable long-term.

That’s why I want to help you move from traditional productivity to soulful productivity.

What is Soulful Productivity?

Soulful productivity is about aligning 3 important aspects of your experience:

• being,

• doing, and

• belonging.

People usually don’t feel great when their being and doing isn’t aligned. An example of that is someone who knows that doing something is wrong (for instance, cheating on their spouse) and yet, they still do it. This creates an internal conflict that creates tension.

If you are reading this, you are likely either vegan or curious about veganism. So, you are probably already doing a lot to align your being (your ethical beliefs) with your doing (the actions you are taking).

With soulful productivity, we are just extending that alignment between being and doing even further so that you can be productive in a way that feels good and honors your entire being.

How soulful productivity differs from toxic productivity

After years of being a productivity coach, it dawned on me that a lot of regular productivity advice can be quite toxic. For instance, it often sustains the idea that our worth depends on our doing (our actions, accomplishments and achievements) rather than our being (we are worthy simply because we exist).

Soulful productivity is the antidote to that.

Toxic productivity is when you take action

• on the wrong thing,

• for the wrong reason, or

• in the wrong way.

Soulful productivity is when you do

• the right thing,

• for the right reason, and

• in the right way.

Toxic productivity takes energy. Soulful productivity gives you energy.

How soulful productivity might connect to veganism

Soulful productivity might actually be rooted in vegan philosophy. After all, veganism is based on caring and compassion for all. It rejects the idea of treating living beings as a commodity.

Well, toxic productivity treats living beings as a commodity — whether it’s a cow in a factory farm, a poor woman in a sweatshop, or an engineer at a social media company that shall not be named. (Of course, the degree to which they are getting mistreated differs, and humans — especially privileged humans — have a lot more agency than animals to escape bad situations.)

Many evils in society stem from this single cause: treating living beings as a commodity.

Because this is so pervasive in our culture, we tend to internalize toxic productivity and treat ourselves the same way. For people who are advocates at heart, there’s the additional pressure of really wanting to make a positive difference in the world. (If you are an ethical vegan in current society, you are an advocate at heart.)

But here’s the thing: A cow is worthy, just because she exists. Her worth does not depend on her ability to produce something humans can use. The same is true for you.

That said, if you are like me, you probably still want to create and contribute to society… so let’s do it on our own terms, and in a way that feels good!

The work you are doing to help animals (however big or small) is important. It’s also important that you take care of yourself, and that you have the life you want to have. 🌻

Hopefully, our community gatherings can help you along the way.

The details

• There are two events: a monthly community gathering (this one is open to everyone), and a monthly co-working event (this one is only open to my private clients and students, as well as vegan + animal advocates).

• You are welcome to join either or both of these events.

• Click on the link above to register for the next couple of events. It’s totally okay if you miss some or all of these events. Registration is only so that you receive reminders and the call-in links.

• There is no charge for these events. I might share an optional tip jar link for those who feel moved to support this project. Please don’t feel obliged to contribute — you are doing such important work and in my book, that’s the biggest contribution you could make.

• If you have questions, please comment below or send me a private message.

And now, here are some positive vegan and animal advocacy news in case you missed them:

Positive Vegan and Animal Advocacy News:

Norway ended fur farming ahead of schedule

At its peak, Norway had almost 300 fur farms. But in 2018, due to the shifting public opinion, the Norwegian government decided to phase out fur farming. Farmers had until the end of February 2025 to close down their operations.

So, that probably means we can celebrate that a lot of fur farms are closing down this month, right? No, because the last fur farms actually closed ahead of schedule, with the industry shutting down in January 2023. So, Norway has been fur farming free for over a year!

This is a great reminder that change can sometimes come more quickly than expected. All it takes is getting started.

You can read more about this here.

Speaking of getting started…

UK becomes first country in the world to sell cultivated meat for pets

The UK became the first country in the world where cultivated pet food is now available: Meatly, a London-based startup, received regulatory approval in July 2024 to sell cultivated chicken meat for pet food, making it the first company worldwide to reach this milestone.

This month, Meatly launched the world's first commercially available cultivated pet treats. While they are currently only available in limited quantity in one location, this is a great first step.

Meatly Chicken is produced from a single sample of cells taken from one chicken egg. Even though cultivated meat is generally not considered vegan, it can still drastically reduce animal suffering.

The global pet population, particularly dogs and cats, consumes a significant amount of meat. In the US alone, dogs and cats are estimated to contribute about 25-30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption.

You can read more about this here.

Speaking of dogs…

Greyhound racing banned in Wales

Remember how I wrote about greyhound racing getting banned in New Zealand a while ago?

Greyhound racing is now set to be banned in Wales as well, making it the first nation in the UK to do this. The Welsh government has announced plans to phase out the sport "as soon as practically possible" following a petition with over 35,000 signatures. Deputy First Minister Irranca-Davies, who announced these plans, pointed to bans in other countries, including New Zealand.

The Welsh announcement is a great example of how a win for the animals is more than just a win, it’s a positive ripple effect waiting to happen. So while there are currently no plans to ban greyhound racing elsewhere in the UK, I’m hopeful this will eventually ripple out.

You can read more about this here.

Speaking of positive ripples:

The 5 biggest US coffee chains have now ended their non-dairy surcharge

Dunkin' has ended its milk surcharge for non-dairy milk alternatives. Starting March 5, 2025, customers will no longer be charged extra for using plant-based milk in their beverages at any Dunkin' location in the US. This decision follows similar moves by other major coffee chains like Starbucks and Tim Hortons.

Dunkin’ is the second-largest coffee chain in the US, and this decision will impact nearly 10,000 storefronts in the country. It also means that customers won’t have to pay extra for plant-based milk at the 5 biggest US coffee chains!!!

You can read more about this here.

Warmly,
Louise

Hi friend,

Today, I was so excited to see that this newsletter has reached 98 subscribers! I’m so grateful to all of you. Thanks for receiving this, so I can write about what truly excites me.

Positive developments in the midst of challenging times

The last week has been rather hard for me, given what has been going on in US politics.

It’s a good reminder that while we care about animals, we also care about a lot of other things. In that way, we are in the same boat as everyone else who is a fundamentally decent person who doesn’t want bad things to happen to others.

At the same time, as animal advocates, we are aware of some things other people in our boats aren’t yet aware of.

For instance, you might have seen reports about a drastic increase in the price of eggs. Most people, regardless of their political opinions, would think that that’s a bad thing.

Well, I obviously don’t. I think it’s great that eggs are getting more expensive. It might make them less desirable to buy. It might encourage people to try cheaper, cruelty-free alternatives. It might make the egg industry less profitable. And if the price of eggs reflects badly on the current US administration, well, that’s another side benefit.

Which brings us to our first bit of good news:

Increased egg prices in the US led to declining purchases

As of mid-January 2025, the average price for a dozen eggs in the US has reached about $6.30.

If, like me, you haven’t bought eggs in forever, you probably have no idea how expensive or inexpensive that is. So, here’s a number to put that in perspective: this is an increase of at least 36% compared to January 2024.

The egg shortage has led to restrictions on purchases in some stores, and overall egg purchases have declined by 15% year-over-year.

Ernest Analytics has discovered that since January 2021, there has been a strong inverse correlation (-0.5) between the average price of eggs and the quantity sold.

Given that there is no indication that the prices will go down anytime soon, we can continue to expect a decrease in egg purchases!

The increasing price of eggs (and other animal products) is a great chance to draw attention to cheaper, cruelty-free alternatives. For instance, here’s a funny meme that recently shared.

Speaking of money…

Norway's sovereign wealth fund introduces animal welfare expectations

Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, one of the world's largest wealth sovereign funds, has announced new animal welfare expectations for the companies in which it invests.

It now expects all companies it invests in to take into account international guidelines for animal welfare, aligning with recommendations from organizations like the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

Given the fund’s huge influence as one of the largest investors in the international food industry, this is a significant step toward globally promoting better animal welfare practices within invested companies.

Hooray!

Speaking of global perspectives…

One of Germany’s leading international law institutes holds Defund Meat conference

On 16-17 January 2025, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg held its “Defund Meat” conference. The conference had over 150 participants.

Here’s an excerpt from the conference theme (emphasis added):

“… meat remains the elephant in the room – or the sacred cow – especially when it comes to climate change and global public health strategies. Moreover, meat-reduction policies have not yet been instituted as integral part of the sustainable food transformation. While buzzwords such as the ‘decarbonisation’ of the economy and ‘fossil fuel divestment’ have become mainstream, comparable calls for a ‘deanimalisation’ of agriculture or for ‘defunding meat’ remain marginal. Considering livestock’s ‘long shadow’, it is time to drop the taboo: we need to talk about meat.

This interdisciplinary conference moved the meat question from the margins into the spotlight of the ongoing debates on One Health, sustainability, climate change, food security, and public health.”

The Max Planck Institute is one of the leading international law institutes in Germany, so it’s very exciting that they are discussing the “meat question.”

Speaking of meat…

Veganuary participants are more likely to become disgusted by meat

A new study surveyed omnivores that partook in Veganuary out of their own accord, and measured participants’ meat disgust and meat intake levels pre- and post-Veganuary. It found that “after avoiding or reducing meat intake for only 1 month participants showed an increase in explicit ratings of meat disgust.”

As a habit coach, I find this very exciting. It shows that when it comes to meat, a change in behavior can precede a change in attitude. As Natalia Lawrence, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Exeter, put it:

“Normally, the idea is to educate people first to change their attitudes, and hopefully they end up changing their behavior. But if you persuade people to change their behavior for a month, it seems that these things follow.”

On a purely anecdotal level, this matches what I have seen from people who reduced their meat intake (for instance, because their friends took a plant-based challenge) and subsequently experienced more disgust towards meat.

Basically, this might mean that we don’t need to proselytize at all. Perhaps, the best thing we can do is invite people to participate in Veganuary or other plant-based challenges with us, let them go through their own process, and simply be of support along the way. Doesn’t that sound way less exhausting (and much more fun) than engaging in endless arguments?

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time!

💡 If you want to become a more effective vegan advocate, the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has you covered (with free courses and communication hacks). 💡

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I joined a few months ago and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

Hi friend,

I’ll be honest: I want to send positive news to you… but I don’t feel like writing this newsletter right now. Not because I don’t like to write about positive developments in animal advocacy and veganism but because it’s been a rough last month for me (which included two hospital stays for people I care about).

Which brings up the question of how to be present with our experience when our experience is negative, without descending into negativity. While the challenges I’m dealing with aren’t related to activism, I think this is a valid question for all of us.

After all, there is such a thing as toxic positivity. If you feel like your heart is currently breaking about animal suffering or the state of the world or health issues people you care about are going through…

… is there space for positive news? Or is that a form of bypassing?

I don’t know the answer to that. But maybe there isn’t The Answer.

Maybe it’s just about exploring what is true for each of us at the moment. And the truth is that I have found some good news I’d like to share with you.

These good things don’t negate the bad ones — but the bad things also don’t negate the good ones.

And any hope that isn’t resilient AF isn’t truly hope. Here is a beautiful description by Matthew (@CrowsFault):

“People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider's webs. It's not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go.”

Perhaps that’s how to avoid toxic positivity when you’re going through shit? Gritty hope?

Alright, I can do that! Let’s explore some hopeful news:

Hopeful news

The 2025 Animal Welfare Research Award is underway to improve the lives of laboratory animals

In September 2024, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Germany announced the 2025 Animal Welfare Research Award. This award recognizes innovative research aimed at reducing or replacing animal testing. The nomination and application period completed on December 31, 2024, and the prizes will be awarded in April this year.

According to the press release, the prize has been restructured to better support the government’s goal of reducing animal testing and create the best possible protection for laboratory animals. That’s why for the first time ever this prize is awarded in 3 different categories with a total endowment of €220,000 (an almost ten-fold increase compared to the former total endowment of €25,000). 🥳

Source

Speaking of increases…

21.6% increase in vegan-friendly restaurant in Latin America

According to a recent ranking by Veganuary in partnership with Happy Cow, Latin American now hosts over 10,000 vegan, vegetarian, and vegan-friendly restaurants in Latin America.

This is a 21.6% increase compared to 2023 (yay!). 💪

Source

Speaking of restaurants…

56 % increase in vegan orders at UK quick-service restaurants

Restaurant technology provider Vita Mojo recently analyzed 139 million individual item orders and 9.8 million meal deals to discover trends at UK quick-service restaurants.

The data shows a positive trend : a 56% (!) increase in vegan orders in 2024, and a 64% (!) increase in vegetarian orders in 2024. 🎉

Source

And, more good food-related news:

LA plans to increase the procurement of plant-based food

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has unanimously (!) approved a motion to increase the procurement of plant-based foods across county departments.

Under the updated guidelines all county food programs must provide plant-based milk (yay!) and a daily vegan meal (double yay!). 🤩

County food services are also encouraged to adopt a 2-to-1 ratio of plant-based to animal-based entrées.

Source

Hopeful music

While we are on the topic of hope in the midst of hardship, I have been meaning to share some YouTube videos with you that I find rather hopeful. While these videos have nothing to do with veganism, based on statements I have seen from these creators of these videos I think they are likely vegans. :)

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time!

💡 If you want to become a more effective vegan advocate, the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has you covered (with free courses and communication hacks). 💡

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I joined a few months ago and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

Hi friend,

Ready for the last good news newsletter of this year?

While I will be taking the next two weeks off, I sure hope the stream of positive news for our animal friends will continue during this time… and I look forward to sharing them with you when I get back! 🤗

If you would like an overview of the most important wins for animals — specifically farmed animals — in 2024, from Open Philanthropy has you covered:

Open Philanthropy farm animal welfare newsletter

Ten big wins in 2024 for farmed animals

Progress for factory-farmed animals is far too slow. But it is happening. Practices that once seemed permanent — like battery cages and the killing of male chicks — are now on a slow path to extinction. Animals who were once ignored — like fish and even shrimp — are now finally seeing reforms, by the…

Read more

2 years ago · 71 likes · 9 comments · Lewis Bollard

As Lewis Bollard put it in this article:

“Against the giant wrongs of factory farming, these wins may appear small. But for the animals affected, they’re a big deal. And they were all achieved by a small group of advocates operating with less funding than Harvard spent renovating a single residential house.”

Which brings me to the next point:

Finishing 2024 strong

If you want to help the animal advocacy movement finish 2024 strong, it’s not too late to make a donation! Here are a few animal advocacy organizations I like:

• The Animal Welfare Fund (I have donated to them in the past, and they state that they still have room for more funding in 2024), and

• Animal Charity Evaluators (I donated to them this year).

What do I like about them? Well, they really strive to be effective. And effectiveness matters a lot when it comes to our donations. In fact, picking the right cause and/or organization could make your donation 1000x more effective. 😮

For instance, an essay by Dr. Toby Ord compares the years of healthy life you can save by donating 1,000 USD to five different interventions for the prevention or treatment of HIV and AIDS.

💡The best of these five strategies (educating high-risk groups) is estimated to be 1,400 times better than the worst of them. 💡

In other words, you could potentially do more good with 10 USD than with 10,000 USD… as long as you really focus on effectiveness.

Good news for animals (and the people who care about them)

Big win for chickens!!!

Remember when I wrote about the UK court case that could help a billion chickens?

Well, the verdict on that case is now in. And while The Humane League UK technically lost the appeal, animal activists have still hailed this as a historic win. 🎊

What’s going on? Have we lost our collective marbles? Is the lack of animal protein *gasp* finally getting to us?

No, it’s just that life is pretty complex, and so is law. As Molly Archer-Zeff, one of the people behind this lawsuit, wrote:

“The judges have ruled in favour on our main argument - that the law says that animals should not be kept in the UK if it means they will suffer because of how they have been bred. This is a huge moment for animals in the UK.”

Here’s how appeal judge Lord Justice Males put it:

“If a given breed can reasonably be expected to suffer a detrimental effect on its health or welfare because of its genetic make-up, the prohibition on keeping that breed of animal applies regardless of any commercial advantages which it may have.”

He added that the regulation “unequivocally prioritises animal health and welfare over commercial benefit”.

In other words, this is huge! In the wake of this ruling, Molly Archer-Zeff announced:

“While this ruling has failed to force the Government to act, it has confirmed our view that farmers are acting criminally by using fast-growing breeds. We will now explore bringing private prosecutions against mega-farms that use Frankenchickens.”

So, stay tuned! This fight for the future of 1 billion chickens isn’t over, it’s entering a new phase! 🐥

You can read more about this here and here.

Share

New Finnish dietary guidelines promote shift to more plant-based foods

Finland has become the latest country to advocate for more plant-based foods in its dietary guidelines!

Finland joins other countries that have revised their national recommendations towards more plant-based food, including:

• Taiwan,

• Canada,

• Germany,

• Austria, and

• Norway.

At this point, we are definitely seeing a trend! 🌱

Read more here.

New EU welfare proposal to come by 2026

On December 7, 2023, the European Commission proposed significant updates to the EU's animal welfare legislation, including an overhaul of transport conditions. Proposed changes would, for instance, reduce the animals’ journey time and increase their minimum space requirements.

Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, now promised that revised animal welfare proposals would be unveiled by 2026.

Reineke Hameleers, the CEO of Eurogroup for Animals, welcomed this news:

“It is welcoming to see for the first time a promise on a concrete timeline after such a long delay to better protect millions of sentient beings. Commissioner Varlelyi clearly stated his intention to have the first legislatives proposals out in 2026, after finishing the consultations in 2025. This is excellent news for the animal protection movement.”

I’m really looking forward to these overdue updates, and hope that any changes on the European level will also impact global standards through the “Brussels effect”! 🥳

Read more here.

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson got released from jail

Denmark has refused to extradite whaling activist Paul Watson to Japan. After being released from prison in Greenland, where Watson spent 150 days, he stated:

“My time in jail has at least served the purpose of focusing attention on Japan’s illegal whaling operations and the added benefit of focusing attention of the killing of dolphins on the Danish Faroe islands. So in that sense it was a successful campaign.”

The campaign to release him gathered a lot of support, including from the French President Macron, and from Brigitte Bardot and Pierce Brosnan.

Watson will now be able to spend Christmas with his sons! 🎄

Read more here.

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time!

💡 If you want to become a more effective vegan advocate, the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has you covered (with free courses and communication hacks). 💡

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I recently joined and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

Hi friend,

Just a quick reminder that this Sunday (Dec 15), Christspiracy is hosting 3 screenings with Q&A with directors on the 15th. You can get your tickets here:

- 12pm ET: https://gathr.com/events/e9c22ef2/christspiracy

- 4pm ET: https://gathr.com/events/729a4615/christspiracy

- 8pm ET: https://gathr.com/events/42252606/christspiracy

I haven't watched it yet. If you have, how did you like it? Would you recommend it for people who are already are vegans or animal advocates?

Good news from around the world

Positive developments for plant-based food in Türkiye

Cihan Baltepe, the founder of the plant meat company EatVappy was recently interviewed and shared some very hopeful things (emphasis added):

“Based on our sales data, we can say the plant meat sector in Türkiye is growing steadily. Until recently, our products were more expensive than animal meat. However, when we brought our production of plant meat up to scale, the price fell significantly. […]

When we began our work in 2017, there was no market for plant meat in Türkiye. Over the past seven years, we have shaped a viable sector in Türkiye, so people can enjoy healthy and delicious plant meat.”

You can find the full interview here on vegconomist.

And, the Turkish Food Codex Guide for Food Labeling and Consumer Information just introduced regulations for vegan products labeling for the first time.

While there are shortcomings in this regulation (for instance, plant milk — except coconut milk — cannot be labeled milk), it overall is a positive step for veganism in Türkiye.

Greyhound racing will be outlawed in New Zealand

New Zealand’s government plans to ban greyhound racing due to animal welfare concerns! This decision was announced by Racing Minister Winston Peters.

Greyhound racing will be phased out over a 20-month period to allow for the rehoming of approximately 2,900 racing greyhounds. Urgent laws are also being passed to prevent the killing of these racing dogs.

This ban is a great success of animal rights organizations including Save Animals From Exploitation (SAFE), the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Helping You Help Animals (Huha)!

You can read more about the ban here.

Greyhound racing is becoming more and more rare. In Scotland, a law banning Greyhound housing is before Parliament.

SPCA’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Arnja Dale stated:

“We hope Mr. Peter’s leadership on animal welfare inspires the very few remaining countries who still have a commercial greyhound industry to follow New Zealand’s brave example.”

New Zealand’s decision certainly puts pressure on Australia to follow suit. The ban has already sparked an opinion piece in an Australian newspaper with the title: “As NZ moves towards ban, Australia looks increasingly lonely as a haven for dog torture and abuse.”

Share

Veganism growing in Australia

Speaking of Australia, according to a 2024 The Food Frontier consumer survey, 5% of Australians now adhere to a vegan diet.

Can you guess the most popular diet in Australia? Meat reducer (21%)!

And guess who motivates people to reduce their meat intake? For people interested in reducing their meat intake, friends and family are the most common sources of information.

Looks like Australian vegans are doing some impressive PR work!

Seriously, though, this shows relationships play an important role in shaping food choices. It’s also good news because it indicates that personal connections can effectively counteract the meat industry’s influence propaganda.

You can find the whole survey report here (I found it very uplifting to scroll through it).

💡 If you want to become a more effective vegan advocate, the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has you covered (with free courses and communication hacks). 💡

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time.

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I recently joined and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

Trailer for Christspiracy

Hi friend,

Vegan and animal advocates are caring people faced with a gargantuan task — ending or at least significantly reducing animal suffering.

My guess is that many activists — no matter their cause — struggle with finding the right balance between advancing their cause, and taking care of themselves. Because animal suffering is so extreme and widely ignored, managing this tension might be even more challenging for animal advocates than for other types of activists.

So, let’s explore how to take care of animals, without sacrificing yourself and your own wellbeing in the process.

While this is a broader conversation, a useful first step is to differentiate between conscious and unconscious sacrifice.

What is conscious sacrifice?

While the word “sacrifice” has negative connotations these days, things aren’t that simple.

Here’s how Dr. Carol S. Pearson writes about the Martyr archetype — one of the six main archetypes we express in life — in her amazing work The Hero Within:

“Sacrifice and martyrdom have received much bad press lately,…, yet there is hardly a soul who does not believe in it in some form. At its base is a recognition that ‘I am not the only person in the world.’ Sometimes I choose to do something not so much because I want to, but because it will be good for someone else or I believe it to be the right thing.”

In other words, giving something up for something else isn’t necessarily bad. Sometimes it’s a very good, a necessary thing.

The word “sacrifice” literally means “to make sacred” and to have the life we want, we need to sacrifice many things. For instance, if you want to be in a relationship, you have to give up the freedom of life as a single.

Vegans and animal advocates are very familiar with the idea of giving up something for a higher good. After all, if you want to reduce animal suffering, you would do well to avoid using products that create this suffering in the first place.

While people relate to this differently — some vegans really miss animal products, whereas others don’t — we are all sacrificing something in the process.

And yet, because we consciously make that sacrifice and walk into it with eyes wide open, this is an example of a sacrifice that makes the world (and maybe our own lives) better.

It’s a sacrifice in the best sense of the word — of making something sacred.

What is unhealthy sacrifice?

While conscious sacrifice can help you have the life you want (for instance, by letting you live in alignment with your values), the same isn’t true for unconscious, automatic sacrifice. We could call this unhealthy sacrifice.

When a person gives up things unconsciously, they can’t reflect on whether this is authentic for them. They don’t actually make a choice, they just run with the program.

For instance, some of my coaching clients are deeply caring people. When we start working together, they often have the tendency to bend over backward for others, only to collapse exhausted because they don’t receive enough support themselves.

In many cases, the more emphatic a person is, the more this becomes an issue.

As people who care deeply about animals, we are quite susceptible to this. After all, most human issues pale when compared with how bad things are for animals. For instance, our inner monologue might sound like this: “Okay, so you didn’t get enough sleep because your child was sick? Well, at least you are not crammed in a cage without your child who is about to get slaughtered. Get over it!”

The problem with that type of thinking is that it doesn’t actually make anything better. We are just being unnecessarily harsh to ourselves, and punishing ourselves for cruelties that other people commit.

Even if we completely abolished factory farming and all forms of human cruelty, there would still be death, illness, loss, and grief on this planet. There will always be situations that are worse than your own. You don’t just deserve self-compassion if your situation is the absolute worst.

Our internal comparison shouldn’t be between our struggle, and terrible situations other sentient beings experience. The comparison should be between how you would treat yourself, and how you would treat another sentient being.

If you think that another human or animal deserves sleep when they are tired, the same is true for you. So, let’s treat ourselves with the compassion we (and all sentient beings) deserve!

How to stop unhealthy sacrifice

If you have a tendency towards unhealthy sacrifice, know that it’s not your fault and that this programming can change. The following steps can help you with that:

1. Develop healthy self-care

While there are times when it’s appropriate to put someone else’s needs first (such as with a newborn baby or very sick animal or child), it would be draining to live our entire lives that way. As capable adults, we must take care of our own needs.

To that end, it helps to develop appreciation for yourself. For instance, observe yourself through the lens of the 3 ancient virtues: truth, goodness, and beauty.

• It is courageous that you see things for how they are, instead of pretending animal cruelty doesn’t exist (truth).

• It is admirable that you strive to live in alignment with your values and help others less fortunate than you (goodness).

• And what could be more beautiful than compassion (beauty)?

When you are ready to love yourself the way you love others, it’s easy to see that you have the right (and perhaps the duty) to take care of yourself.

Your needs matter, too. After all, we are animals, too. If we are serious about reducing animal suffering, that includes the people we see when we look in the mirror.

(As someone who is spiritual but not religious, I would say that we are also more than just our human/animal body. However, the part of us that transcends our biology — whether we want to call it soul, spirit, or consciousness — probably doesn’t experience suffering.)

2. Reflect on how self-sacrifice can be selfish

Many people think sacrificing themselves for others or noble causes makes them a good person. However, as the late author Marty Rubin pointed out,

“Self-sacrifice is something other people always have to pay for.”

The truth is that we don’t live in a vacuum, and so self-sacrifice generally comes at a cost to everyone.

If someone gives up their life for someone else in a movie, they are seen as a hero. While there’s something inspirational about people who are willing to do this, their decision impacts other people, most notably their grief-stricken family and friends.

The same principle — that we impact others through our actions — is true in everyday life. For instance, there have been times when I was so focused on vegan and animal advocacy that I wasn’t very available for my family — who paid the price for my unconscious sacrifice of time and energy.

Trying to help animals is in alignment with my values, and so is being a good partner and parent. That’s why I need to find a way to balance the values that matter to me.

3. Recognize that receiving can be good for others and help you be a more effective activist

Many caring people don’t to be “takers.” While it’s great to be attentive to the needs of others, we should remember that people around us can make their own choices. For instance, if I need support but am afraid of asking friends or colleagues for help, I make the decision for them. Maybe the people around me actually would prefer to help me?

For most people, giving something and being there for someone in need feels great. It’s why so many people choose to volunteer. By not being open to receiving from others, we can deprive others of the joy of giving.

In my life, I try to make a conscious effort to let people support me if they like to. This can include actually receiving compliments (instead of brushing them aside) and saying “yes” if someone offers me something I want.

Getting support and taking care of yourself can also benefit your animal advocacy efforts. As a certified habit coach who has helped hundreds of people with their productivity, I can assure you that getting enough rest is crucial for being as productive as possible. By avoiding burnout, you can help animals in the long run.

4. Remember that you aren’t doing this alone

As someone who wants to help animals, you are pursuing a big vision that might seem unreachable at times. That’s why it’s important to remember that many other people are pursuing the same cause as you.

It’s okay to take a break and take care of yourself. Right now, there are people who are just joining the movement, ready to jump in. Nature abhors a vacuum, and so do humans. If you need to step back, someone else will step in.

And it’s not only other vegan/animal advocates who are supporting your cause. Dr. Melanie Joy has advanced the idea of vegan allies. Vegan allies are people who aren’t vegan themselves, but they are sympathetic to our cause.

One person I know keeps on telling me: “I think in 100 years, people will be as disgusted by what we are now doing to animals, as people today are about slavery.” While this person isn’t 100% vegan, she is probably 90% there — and she keeps on mentioning vegan meals to her friends, perhaps reaching them in ways a fully vegan person couldn’t.

While the pool of vegan / animal advocates is still relatively small, once you factor in people who are open to our ideas, things look a lot brighter.

For instance, Initiated Ordinance 309, a ballot measure that tried to ban slaughterhouses in Denver, got 36% of the vote (despite a massive, expensive campaign by opponents of the ban that likely reduced that number).

Clearly, animal advocates are not making up more than a third of the voting population in Denver. But people who are generally sympathetic to our cause? These people are driving down prices by buying plant-based products. They support animal welfare causes. And they might influence their friends, too.

And it’s not just that. Right now, there are people working on technological innovations (for instance, these ones) that can transform our food system once they go mainstream.

The revolution isn’t televised, but it is happening. We aren’t the only ones contributing to it, so it’s okay for us to take a break and recharge.

Learning from past activists

I think animal advocates can learn a lot from past generations of activists, who had to find a balance between advancing their cause and taking care of themselves.

So, let’s remember the words of American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton:

“Self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice.”

Ultimately, I think the goal of the vegan/animal advocacy movement is to abolish itself, just like abolitionists and suffragists eventually abolished themselves through their success.

Regardless of whether we get to see it in our lifetimes or not, that ultimate goal brings up the question of self-development. If you already lived in a world where animals are generally treated well by humans, what would you want to do, and how would you want to live your life?

Why not spend a bit of time living in that future, while you continue working towards it? After all, as Alan Kay put it: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

📌 How to start putting this into practice 📌

As yourself: "What is one thing I can do in the next week to support my well-being?"

Perhaps you would like to: 
- meet a friend, 
- get a massage, 
- read a fun book, or
- something else?

Pick one thing, and then schedule time in your calendar to do it. 

Helpful resources

has written a great article that discusses activists burnout. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Kind of Wild

How to Avoid Activism Burnout

It was almost 8pm when I broke down crying in front of my computer…

Read more

2 years ago · 12 likes · 8 comments · Sascha Camilli

Here are a few other helpful resources to support your wellbeing and resilience as a vegan/animal advocate:

• Connect for Animals offers a lot of events, including vegan meditations and an emotional support group for animal activists and animal caregivers.

• The Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has a lot of resources, including a response to the question: “I want to do more to help animals, but being an advocate stresses me out.”

• If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. They even have a channel that’s dedicated to wellbeing!

• I’ve included two short meditations at the bottom of this article.

Share

Positive news

Remember how I wrote that you aren’t alone and that there are many other people who are supporting the same cause as you?

This is even true in smaller niches within the animal advocacy movement. For instance, I started this newsletter because I felt a need for positive vegan and animal advocacy news.

After a few weeks of writing, I found Dani’s monthly newsletter, . Turns out has been sending out positive vegan news for over 1.5 years!!! 🎉 The thing that I thought was needed already exists, I just didn’t know about it.

This gives me space to write some articles that I have been wanting to write — for instance, what being a habit coach has taught me about helping people who want to become vegan. (Spoiler alert: different people need different approaches and what worked for you might not work for your best friend.)

The tone of this newsletter will still be uplifting, and most weeks, I plan to add some positive vegan news to it. This week, I am feeling tired, and so I will practice what I preach and take a step back. Here’s Dani’s latest newspaper with positive news:

VEGAN WORLD NOW

✌️ VEGAN VICTORIES MONTHLY #19

Hey, teammate! ✊…

Read more

2 years ago · 6 likes · 5 comments · Dani Linavi, MS, RD, CHWC

Warmly,
Louise (who’s about to take a nap or meditate or both…)

Videos:

Here are a few meditations I have recorded in the past.

If you like, you can get a free download on my website here and here.

Hi friend,

I won’t lie: As a vegan living in the US, Thanksgiving week is pretty hard.

I have lived on three continents and in a number of different countries — and yet, I cannot think of a single other holiday that is as centered around animal slaughter as US Thanksgiving.

So, what are we to do with this?

Well, there’s a beautiful quote that is pertinent to the situation: “… it is far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness.^{” —} W. L. Watkinson

Grab a match; here’s the next candle!

Here’s the scoop on Turkey Sentience Day:

I would like to create a Turkey Sentience Day that’s on the fourth Thursday of November (i.e. on US Thanksgiving).

Thanksgiving can be a tough holiday for vegans in the US — so let’s create an alternative, international holiday instead. I would be very happy to contribute to this, but probably don't have the energy to lead anything big, so I could really use your help.

Please comment below or send me a message on Bluesky if you would like to help.

You can also help by creating awareness of Turkey Sentience Day, for instance by:

• Wish people a “Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Turkey Sentience Day.”

• Post on Social Media with the hashtag #turkeysentienceday.

• Tell a few other vegans about this, for instance, by sharing this post.

Share

What is Turkey Sentience Day?

Turkey Sentience Day draws attention to the sentience of turkeys, and acknowledges their ability to experience pain and suffering.

Why a Turkey Sentience Day?

There are a few reasons I can think of:

• drawing attention to the victims of traditional Thanksgiving meals,

• exposing cognitive dissonance and interrupting patterns in a non-confrontational way,

• helping American vegans and animal advocates feel more at home during Thanksgiving.

Some people in my neighborhood have huge turkey statues outside, which is a painful reminder of American's cognitive dissonance around this holiday. When I walk near them and think of Turkey Sentience Day, I already feel better.

Plus, we might eventually be able to subvert this: "Oh, I saw your turkey statue outside! Are you also celebrating Turkey Sentience Day?"

I also hope Turkey Sentience Day is weird enough that some outlets like The Guardian might eventually like to write about it.

Why international?

By making this international, we can get support from all the animal advocates/lovers outside the US who feel no particular affinity to traditional Thanksgiving meals that include turkey. This might help with exposure.

What are the next steps?

I just came up with the idea of a Turkey Sentience Day today. So obviously, there isn’t enough time before this year’s Thanksgiving to create awareness, a website, etc. All that is more of a goal for next year.

However, we can still celebrate Turkey Sentience Day now:

⭐ How to help the cause and celebrate the first Turkey Sentience Day ⭐

• Wish people a “Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Turkey Sentience Day.”

• Post on Social Media with the hashtag #turkeysentienceday.

• Tell a few other vegans about this, for instance, by sharing this post.

Share

Other good news:

The Mexican Constitution now protects animals!

After passing a number of significant constitutional amendments, the Mexican Constitution now protects animals, making the country a leader in humane legislation!

According to Article 4 of the amended Mexican Constitution, the government must ensure animals are treated well, conserved, and cared for according to national laws.

This amendment elevates animal welfare to a constitutional priority!

The country has taken a similar leadership role before; its Constitution of 1917 was the first one to set out social rights, and served as a model for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Constitution of 1918. Let’s hope their recent amendments will inspire other countries as well!

You can find out more here.

New York bans pet shop sales

Starting in December, New York — one of the breeding industry’s largest markets — will prohibit the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores. The Humane Society estimates that this ban will stop about 50 pet shops from selling puppies bred in a puppy mill. It also makes it more likely that people adopt shelter animals.

Hopefully, other US states will follow suit and join states such as California and Maryland that have already banned puppy mills.

You can find out more here.

Care homes in the UK see a rise in vegan and vegetarian diets

According to a new survey by Vegetarian for Life, care homes in the UK have seen a 24% increase in vegan and vegetarian residents over the past decade. There are now more than 8,000 vegan and vegetarian care home residents as of this year (compared to about 6,500 in 2014).

The survey also found that almost a third of care homes currently cater to at least one vegan or vegetarian resident (39% increase).

You can find out more here.

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time.

This is true regardless of where you are on the journey of changing your personal diet! 

You don’t have to be a full-fledged vegan before starting your animal advocacy journey. I have been wanting to reduce animal suffering since I was a child, long before I ever heard about veganism. 

Dr. Melanie Joy, a prominent leader in the movement, advises everyone to “be as vegan as possible.”

Similarly, Hive, a huge online community of Animal Advocates (see point No. 4 below) has the following guidelines for joining: “While the majority of members work/volunteer at animal advocacy organizations and self-identify as vegan/vegetarian, we do not exclude people who are at a different stage in their career or a different point in their diet journey. We welcome anyone who has a sincere desire to be more effective in helping non-human animals.”

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I recently joined and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

P.S.: I started a positive vegan/animal advocacy newsletter because I believe most of us could benefit a lot from reading about all the good things that are happening in this place. For me personally, it helps me stay motivated and hopeful, and I suspect the same is true for many other people.

Our movement has an incredibly ambitious goal, and we won’t get there within weeks or months. So, it’s important to keep the faith.

If you know people who want to reduce the suffering of animals, could you please share this newsletter with them? Anything helps: sharing it on Social Media or elsewhere, liking this post, commenting, emailing it to a friend, etc.

Thank you!

Share

Another week, another round of positive vegan and animal advocacy news for you! I’m super-excited about this edition, for reasons you shall soon find out.

🎉 A strong vegan community emerges on Bluesky 🎉

If you aren’t yet on Bluesky, I highly recommend joining!

Bluesky is an up-and-coming social media platform, similar to Twitter (but without all the things that suck about Twitter — i.e. bots, ads, and Elon Musk).

We have a vibrant vegan/animal advocate community on Bluesky. I only joined last Tuesday, and already have over 600 new connections, most of them vegans, vegan allies and animal advocates. You can connect with me here.

Yesterday, I created a new Bluesky account for The International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics ( on Substack). In under 24 hours, we are already up to 54 subscribers!

What makes Bluesky so powerful for the vegan and animal advocacy community? I think it’s the following features:

• Huge growth: Due to people leaving Twitter (#xodus, haha!), Bluesky is in an exponential growth phase.

• Great search function: The search function works really well, if you want to look for vegan or animal rights/animal advocacy content.

• Strong blocking features: In general, the discourse on Bluesky is respectful. I’m coming up on 200 posts, and haven’t even received a negative comment so far. That said, there’s a strong blocking feature, and even lists you can subscribe to in order to automatically block trolls (this one).

• Starter packs: Bluesky allows you to create starter packs, which is essentially a list of accounts (and feeds, if you like) centered on a specific topic. There are now a bunch of vegan and animal advocacy focused starter packs available. These allow you to follow a bunch of vegans with one click. Many of these follow you back, so you can quickly build connections.

Want to join us?

I already created 3 vegan and animal advocacy starter packs:
➡️ Starter pack 1
➡️ Starter pack 2
➡️ Starter pack 3
Send me a message on Bluesky if you want to be added to my starter pack. 🤗

💡 Find more vegan, animal rights and animal advocacy starter packs.
💡 Search for vegan, animal rights, and animal advocacy content.

Want to grow your vegan or animal advocacy account?

Here are the steps I followed to quickly grow my and ICARE’s account:

1. Create an account over at bsky.app.

2. Make sure to fill out your profile. Include words people might look for, such as vegan, animal rights, or animal advocate (depending on what you focus on).

3. Search for relevant words on Bluesky, then follow accounts and like/comment/share posts you find.

4. Create a starter pack for your particular niche (for instance, I created an Animal Rights Law starter pack for ICARE). Your account will be included in the starter pack, and you need to include at least 7 other accounts.

5. Continue to interact with people.

6. That’s it! Enjoy!

🎉 More positive news for animals and the people who care about them 🎉

🇵🇰 Pakistan’s first animal law committee at an official bar association

Animal law advocates in Pakistan have made history!

Altamush Saaed has been appointed as the Founder and Chair of Pakistan’s first ever duly notified and accredited Animal Law Committee at an official Bar Association, the Lahore High Court Bar Association of Pakistan.

The Animal Law Committee accreditation documents were handed over to them by Senior Supreme Court Advocate and the President of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Asad Manzoor Butt.

But wait, there’s more good vegan news from Pakistan and Altamush! The country’s first International Animal and Environmental Rights Conference will be taking place at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Lahore, Pakistan on 18-19 January. You can register to attend or speak here.

Altamush also teaches Pakistan’s first Animal Law Advocacy Course and is Founding Managing Partner at Environmental and Animal Rights Consultants (EARC), Pakistan’s first dedicated Animal and Environmental law and policy firm. EARC offers pro-bono animal and environmental legal aid around Pakistan.

You can watch an uplifting interview with Altamush Saeed and Sentientism’s Jamie Woodhouse here:

All this shows how much of a difference a single person can make in our movement. Let's use this as inspiration for our own efforts, and work on creating more firsts (or seconds, or thirds)!

And, if you are inspired by Altamush’s success and interested in gaining expertise in Animal Rights Law: over at ICARE, we are starting our course “Contemporary Issues in Animal Rights Law” in January 2025. 

We still have two spots available. You can find out more here and register for the course here. 

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe’s vegan movement takes root

Speaking of first conferences:

The Veg Hub Zimbabwe recently held its first annual National Vegan Indaba, a symposium bringing together various stakeholders to build a unified vegan movement.

Interestingly (and in contrast with the vegan movement in countries such as the United States and Germany), their symposium emphasized self-sufficiency, growing one’s own vegetables, and community-supported agriculture.

This is a great reminder that animal advocates around the world can all learn from, and be inspired by each other`. It’s wonderful that this is truly a global movement. We all come from our unique cultural viewpoint, and yet share a profound understanding: animals deserve our compassion.

Find out more here.

✈️ The world’s largest airline now offers vegan creamer option

Thanks to PETA campaigning and public support, American Airlines (the world’s largest airline by daily flights) now has a vegan creamer option on its in-flight menu! They started offering it just this month — I think it’s a perfect way to celebrate World Vegan Day on November 1.

Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, and United Airlines are already offering oat milk creamer, so this is quickly becoming mainstream.

You can take action here to ask Southwest Airlines to follow suit.

More info here.

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time.

This is true regardless of where you are on the journey of changing your personal diet! 

You don’t have to be a full-fledged vegan before starting your animal advocacy journey. I have been wanting to reduce animal suffering since I was a child, long before I ever heard about veganism. 

Dr. Melanie Joy, a prominent leader in the movement, advises everyone to “be as vegan as possible.”

Similarly, Hive, a huge online community of Animal Advocates (see point No. 4 below) has the following guidelines for joining: “While the majority of members work/volunteer at animal advocacy organizations and self-identify as vegan/vegetarian, we do not exclude people who are at a different stage in their career or a different point in their diet journey. We welcome anyone who has a sincere desire to be more effective in helping non-human animals.”

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively advocates for animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators. (I have donated to them before and had a great experience). You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I recently joined and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

P.S.: I started a positive vegan/animal advocacy newsletter because I believe most of us could benefit a lot from reading about all the good things that are happening in this place. For me personally, it helps me stay motivated and hopeful, and I suspect the same is true for many other people.

Our movement has an incredibly ambitious goal, and we won’t get there within weeks or months. So, it’s important to keep the faith.

If you know people who want to reduce the suffering of animals, could you please share this newsletter with them? Anything helps: sharing it on Social Media or elsewhere, liking this post, commenting, emailing it to a friend, etc.

Thank you!

Share

Hi friend,

How are you holding up? I just published an article about finding hope after the election (for everyone, not just animal advocates) and now I’m ready to publish this newsletter.

When I started this positive animal advocacy news blog, I wasn’t sure how often I should send positive news updates: would there be enough to share for weekly posts?

At least for now, the answer is yes. Yay!

What makes this week’s edition especially exciting? The first two editions were heavily focused on positive developments in the US and Germany (the two countries I’m most familiar with).

Now that I’m getting more used to writing these updates, let’s go wider? What positive developments can we find around the globe?

Here we go:

Positive Vegan and Animal Advocacy News From Across the Globe

World Vegan Day turns 30 / The Vegan Society turns 80!

In 1994, Louise Wallis, the former president of The Vegan Society, created World Vegan Day to commemorate the organization’s 50th birthday. 

On November 1, 2024, World Vegan Day celebrated its 30th anniversary, showing us how much more mainstream veganism has become in the last few decades.

But hold on, doesn’t that mean we have another anniversary to celebrate?

That’s right, The Vegan Society is turning 80! So, let’s take a moment to celebrate the early pioneers in our movement:

The Vegan Society was founded in November 1944 by Donald Watson, his future wife Dorothy Morgan, and four other friends (including Elsie Shrigley and George and Fay Hendersons).

Donald Watson's journey as an animal advocate began in his youth, when he was horrified by the slaughter of animals on his uncle's farm. He became vegetarian at age 14. After learning about the ethical implications of dairy production, he adopted a vegan lifestyle around 1944.

Watson and his colleagues tried to create a community that could advocate for a lifestyle devoid of animal exploitation. However, the London Vegetarian Society rejected their non-dairy stance as extreme and antisocial. So, they established their own organization instead.

Watson coined the term vegan by taking the first three letters and the last two letters of “vegetarian” because "veganism starts with vegetarianism and carries it through to its logical conclusion."

According to Shrigley, the day of the founding meeting was "a Sunday, with sunshine and a blue sky — an auspicious day for the birth of an idealistic movement.” Beautiful, isn’t it?

Thank you for your service!

New Animal Charity recommendations highlight particularly effective animal charities around the world

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) just announced its 2024 charity recommendations, spotlighting organizations like Çiftlik Hayvanlarını Koruma Derneği (ÇHKD), Dansk Vegetarisk Forening (DVF), and Sinergia Animal. ÇHKD has secured over 30 cage-free commitments in Türkiye (benefitting around 850,000 hens annually), while DVF has influenced the equivalent of USD 14 million in Danish government funding toward plant-based foods

Sinergia Animal focuses on reducing farmed animal suffering in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, and Thailand.

As these diverse recommendations show, Animal Advocacy is truly a global movement, and progress is being made around the globe.

Organizations recommended by ACE promise significant benefits for animals at relatively low costs, making them excellent choices for donations.

For instance, ACE estimates that combined, Sinergia Animal’s cage-free corporate campaigns, institutional meat reduction campaign, and pig welfare program could positively impact hundreds of animals per dollar spent.

But wait, it gets better! Right now, ACE has a matching challenge. Thanks to a generous donor, every dollar we donate will currently be matched (up to a total of 300,000). For instance, if you donate $20, ACE’s recommended charities will receive $40!

Find out more about ACE’s recommendations here.

Donate here.

(To find out more why it’s important to make sure our donations are as effective as possible, check out my brief article here.)

The next generation of African Animal Advocates is getting trained now!

Animal Advocacy Africa had just started its second training program for Animal Advocates across Africa. Here’s what it does:

“The programme is designed to equip participants with skills for effective animal advocacy, increase their understanding of farmed animal welfare issues, and explore solutions to mitigate the rise of industrial animal agriculture in African countries. Through this initiative, we aim to cultivate a network of advocates prepared to launch new farmed animal advocacy initiatives or join existing organisations within Africa.”

When Animal Advocacy Africa launched its training program in 2023, it received ~ 300 applications (for 20 spots) so there’s clearly a huge demand for these types of training on the African continent!

Find out more about Animal Advocacy Africa here.

Positive plant-based trends and goals in China, the world’s largest meat consumer

Good news from the world’s largest meat consumer: The Chinese government plans to reduce meat consumption by 50% by 2030.

And a recent survey in China revealed that a vast majority of Chinese people might be on board with changing their diet! The survey, conducted by Kantar for ProVeg International, showed that 98% of Chinese consumers would be willing to increase their intake of plant-based foods if they were informed about its benefits.

(Guess who was the group least willing to change their diet to more plant-based options? The vegans! While 61% of omnivores and 36% of flexitarians indicated a strong willingness to change their diets, only 1% of vegans said the same. Hahaha! I can just imagine their inner monologue: “Preaching to the choir here, bro. I mean, seriously, how much more Kale do you expect me to eat?” It’s funny when the only ones unwilling to change based on plant-based propaganda are those who already have. #lifegoals)

This indicates a strong potential for growth in the vegan market in China.

Read more about this here.

How to Help Animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time.

This is true regardless of where you are on the journey of changing your personal diet! 

You don’t have to be a full-fledged vegan before starting your animal advocacy journey. I have been wanting to reduce animal suffering since I was a child, long before I ever heard about veganism. 

Dr. Melanie Joy, a prominent leader in the movement, advises everyone to “be as vegan as possible.”

Similarly, Hive, a huge online community of Animal Advocates (see point No. 4 below) has the following guidelines for joining: “While the majority of members work/volunteer at animal advocacy organizations and self-identify as vegan/vegetarian, we do not exclude people who are at a different stage in their career or a different point in their diet journey. We welcome anyone who has a sincere desire to be more effective in helping non-human animals.”

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively advocates for animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators. (I have donated to them before and had a great experience). You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I recently joined and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

P.S.: I started a positive vegan/animal advocacy newsletter because I believe most of us could benefit a lot from reading about all the good things that are happening in this place. For me personally, it helps me stay motivated and hopeful, and I suspect the same is true for many other people.

Our movement has an incredibly ambitious goal, and we won’t get there within weeks or months. So, it’s important to keep the faith.

If you know people who want to reduce the suffering of animals, could you please share this newsletter with them? Anything helps: sharing it on Social Media or elsewhere, liking this post, commenting, emailing it to a friend, etc.

Thank you!

Want More Positive News? Check out Past Editions:

Hi friend,

While the results of the US election are disappointing news for animal advocates (and many other people), there are plenty of positive developments happening, too.

In this newsletter, I will share positive news that touch upon vegan and animal advocacy related topics. For positive news about the wellbeing of people and the environment, I can highly recommend Fix the News.

Positive developments for animals

Many Americans want to consume fewer animal products

A November 2024 report identifies a growing trend towards plant-based food alternatives, particularly when it comes to milk, cheese, and meat. The report, based on Kroger retail data, reveals that factors like rising costs, health concerns, and environmental considerations are driving this shift.

Even though most plant-based products are still more expensive than their animal-based counterparts, the gap is shrinking every year. In 2023, some plant-based categories (such as butter, seafood, and meat) already reached or went beyond price parity.

The report leverages Kroger retail data from 7.8 million households. 45% of shoppers are actively seeking to consume less animal products. 🎉

That we are seeing a trend towards price parity, and increased interest in plant-based products in the world’s biggest economy is amazing news!

Read more here.

Speaking of grocery shopping:

For the first time, a plant-based shopping cart is cheaper than an animal-based one in Germany

A recent study conducted by ProVeg in Germany compared prices at six major grocery chains. It discovered that the price difference between plant-based alternatives and their animal-based counterparts has decreased significantly (from 53% in 2022 to 16% this year).

The study found that for the grocery chain LIDL, a plant-based shopping cart was now actually slightly cheaper than an animal-based one! Once again, LIDL is breaking new ground for a plant-based lifestyle. 🤩

Given that Germany is the most populous country in the EU (and the third-largest economy in the world), I am hoping these changes in cost will eventually lead to similar changes in other countries, too.

How did this happen? In the fall of 2023, LIDL became the first retailer worldwide to slash the prices of its own-brand vegan line, with the aim of reaching price parity with animal products. Just a few days later, the German retailer Kaufland followed suit. Some other retailers also reduce the prices of their plant-based products.

(Excuse my language: I’m so f*cking appreciative of them and as a German vegan, I’m so proud of the leading role Germany is taking in the global transition to a plant-based lifestyle!

I’m writing this in public in a gym near Washington, DC, with happy tears in my eyes.

Given how this week has been going, people who see me are probably thinking that I am crying for very different reasons… but I think it’s important to let ourselves be impacted by positive news, and to give at least as much attention to them as to negative developments.

So, happy tears it is!)

Read more here.

Speaking of firsts:

Proposed Changes to US Dietary Guidelines: Prioritizing Plant-Based Proteins

The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture are reviewing proposed updates to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines. These updates would prioritize plant-based proteins over meat for the first time!!! 😮

Sarah Booth of Tufts University explains:

“Instead of starting with meat, poultry, and eggs to seafood, we’re proposing to flip it so that the nuts, seeds, and soy products are listed first, then seafood, and then meat, poultry, and eggs.”

The proposed guidelines would re-categorize legumes as protein sources, potentially shifting societal views on protein consumption.

Unsurprisingly, the meat industry has pushed back, arguing that plant-based proteins are less nutritionally rich. The final recommendations are due early next year.

(Why is this good news, even though there’s not a final recommendation yet? Because the fact that there’s even a proposal like this shows that things are changing.

Basically, it’s like a soccer match: if one team just keeps on taking shots towards the goal, at some point it’s quite likely that a ball will go in. When a team scores, they often get momentum, which can lead to them scoring goals. And unlike soccer matches, we have more than 90ish-minutes to win the match. Plus, at some point, the referee, the spectators, and even the other team might like to join our team.

Okay, so it’s really not like a soccer match at all.)

Read more here.

Beyond Meat returns to growth

Beyond Meat has reported a return to growth in the third quarter of 2024. Revenue increased by 7.6%. Gross profit was $14.3 million (compared to a loss of $7.3 million the year before). Beyond Meat has updated its outlook for 2024, expecting continued growth in net revenue and improvements in gross margins.

Read more here.

Vietnam’s effort to end bear bile farming are getting close to the finish line

Vietnam’s ongoing efforts to reduce the number of bears kept in captivity are nearing completion. Within less than 20 years, their number has decreased from about 4,000 individuals in 2005 to just 192 (a 95% reduction!).

Read more here.

Silver Linings

While this newsletter is supposed to be about good news for vegans and animal advocates, I also want to include some news that are more neutral, or talk about the silver lining in negative news.

So, here we go:

The American election might not negatively change things for animals

Most animal advocacy organizations and publications have stated that Kamala Harris would be a better president for animal advocacy issues.

On the other hand, the CEO of VegTech Invest, Elysabeth Alfano, argues that the election will probably not impact US food policy one way or the other.

Here’s how she put it:

“I think there are arguments on both sides for food systems transformation. On one side you have climate change, but on the other side you have food insecurity, which is an issue of national security. So as you look at things like the Department of Defense spending just about 20% of its recent R&D grant on alternative proteins, sustainable oils and egg replacements and the Better Meat Company.

[…]

I think both sides are quite capable and even willing to bend over to the meat lobby. I just think they have so much power, more than I even realized a year ago. Nothing happens unless they say it happens. So I think neither of them is going to put their political career online by going up against the meat lobby. So there are arguments to be made for both sides that they could make progress, and there’s arguments to be made, that neither of them will make progress.”

You can find the podcast here and the transcript here.

Vox’s Kenny Torella has written a great article about the potential election impact on animals. Here are the silver linings he sees:

“… some of the people high up in Trump’s orbit, despite their reactionary views on other social issues, have indicated relatively pro-animal welfare or anti-factory farming beliefs. Some in a second term could wind up in positions to advance animals’ interests, like Lara Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — though Kennedy could do plenty of damage to human beings if put in a position of authority on health.

Whether they’ll use their influence to help animals in a second Trump term is unknown to unlikely. But there’s a sliver of precedent they could build on, as Trump’s first term wasn’t all bad for animals. For example, his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Secretary Andrew Wheeler sought to significantly reduce animal testing with the goal of replacing most of it with alternative methods by 2035, and other federal agencies cut back on kitten, dog, and monkey testing.

And for all the very real differences between President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the truth is that when it comes to animal welfare, there’s not much daylight between the parties…”

Ballots loses (and one symbolic win) for animal-related topics

As you might know, animal advocacy issues also lost during the election. For instance, Denver voters rejected ballot measures that would ban businesses from making or selling fur-based products and outlaw slaughterhouses within city limits.

While this is disappointing, we should also acknowledge that the ballot measures were a far shot at this point. However, public opinion can shift rapidly, so a few years from now, similar ballot measures might do a lot better. Even just starting this discussion is a sign that things are changing and might encourage people to start thinking more about animal suffering.

So, there’s a big silver lining to this. Instead of being sad that the ballot measures didn’t win, let’s celebrate that they even made it this far!

According to a Vox article, the group behind the Denver ballot measures (emphasis added):

“… celebrated the fact that more than a third of the city’s voters were willing to vote for a far-reaching measure as banning slaughterhouses — even as the campaign was outspent 6-to-1 by a coalition of national and state meat industry groups, restaurants, and labor unions.

‘This was a bold campaign, and no one said changing the status quo was going to be easy,’ Pro-Animal Future spokesperson Olivia Hammond said in a press release. ‘Over 100,000 meat eaters voted for a world without slaughterhouses, and that’s a foundation we’ll continue building on. Voters aren’t used to seeing animal rights on the ballot, and we are paving the way with this campaign.’”

The idea of “paving the way” is why we should celebrate the lone animal advocacy ballot win I’m aware of (if I missed something, please let me know!): a ban on concentrated animal feeding operations in Berkeley, which passed with 59.3%!

You can read more about it here.

In some ways, this win is more symbolic than practical, given that the only operation it would have directly affected has already shut down. But symbols matter (a national flag is a symbol that some people are willing to die for…), so it’s great that this ballot measure passed. Also, this ballot measure has already inspired similar ballot in measures elsewhere.

Onward and upward!

(Remember, the whole soccer game analogy? Or, to quote Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Well, shots are being taken left and right, and we are gaining momentum.)

How to Help Animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time.

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively advocates for animals, such as the Humane League (I have donated to them before and had a great experience). You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue).If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I recently joined and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)

Warmly,
Louise

This is an exciting newsletter for me: today’s the day I’m becoming a real animal advocate! So, I thought it would make sense to mark this occasion with a post in this publication.

While I have been vegan since 2012 (and decided to stop eating meat when I was 6 or 7), I only recently committed to doing more. So today, I’m starting volunteering with an organization that focuses on reducing animal suffering. :)

What had stopped me before? For most of my life, reducing animal suffering felt like a hopeless endeavor, which led me to numbing out. I was afraid that doing advocacy for animals would feel terrible because it would get me to face animal suffering on a regular basis.

However, I recently realized that things have changed a lot since I was a child and even since I became a vegan.

As a vegan in 2012 in Germany, I sometimes felt like a bit of an extraterrestrial. In 2016, I moved to the USA. Whenever I return to Germany now, I’m amazed by how mainstream vegan choices have become over there.

In a bit over a decade, things have shifted dramatically! While ever country and culture is different, Germany’s example gives me hope for the world at large. I now think that things can become so much better for animals, even within a generation.

And, it’s up to us to make that happen. So I will despair less and do more! And I would like to help other (current and future) vegans do the same.

Today’s newsletter is my first step in that regard. Being aware of animal suffering can feel really hard. The movement for animals is still in its early stages, so it’s not always easy to see if we’re having an impact.

So, I wanted to share a couple of positive developments for animals to encourage you. If you would also like to help animals, I will share some ways of doing that below.

Positive News

1. UK court case could help a billion chickens

Last week, the Humane League UK (THL UK) was in the High Court to challenge the legality of fast-growing breeds of chicken. It might take a while until this case gets decided.

Regardless of the outcome, that this case made it into the appeal stage is a huge success and a chance to raise more awareness of the plight of fast-growing breeds of chicken.

Here’s how Molly Archer-Zeff described it:

“During our previous court hearing, we secured more broadcast media coverage in the two days of the case than we did in the previous 12 months, sparking a national conversation about the cruelty of breeding Frankenchickens and making it the single biggest media impact of any action since our inception, with a potential reach of over 350 million people.”

You can read more about this case here on the Effective Altruism Forum.

To support this, you can share about this case on Social Media, or donate to the Humane League UK.

2. European’s Plant-Based Sales Rise

A new GFI analysis of plant-based food sales in six European countries (Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK) shows positive news:

• plant-based sales in these countries reached €5.4 billion in 2023 (an increase of 5.5% from 2022),

• volume sales were up 3.5%,

• total value sales increased in five of the six countries studied.

You can read more about this here.

3. The Number of Farmed Animals in Europe is Declining (Except for Chickens)

A report from Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, shows large declines in most farmed animal populations between 2003 and 2023, including an almost 15% decline in the number of pigs.

The numbers of farmed sheep, goats, and cows has also decreased (sadly, the number of chickens have increased). The report attributes this decline to a decreasing demand for meat among Europeans, driven by concerns about health, animal welfare, and the environment.

The trend is supported by research from the Good Food Institute Europe, which found significant decreases in sales of animal-based meat and milk, alongside increases in plant-based alternatives.

You can read more about this here.

How to Help Animals

1. You can donate to an organization that effectively advocates for animals, such as the Humane League (I’ve donated to them before and had a great experience). You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.

2. You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue).

3. If you are not yet a vegan, you can support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support along the way, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.

4. If you have more time, you can join ’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I plan to join this week. :) You can also find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.

Warmly,
Louise

As a result of avian flu, millions of animals are currently killed by overheating. This is euphemistically called “ventilation shutdown plus” (VSD+), a practice used in the poultry and pig industry.

Simply put, VSD+ means overheating animals until they die — which can take many hours.¹

And yes, this type of death is as horrific as you imagine it to be.

Despite their oath to prevent animal suffering, leaders at the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) have endorsed this practice: AVMA’s guidance currently approves VSD+ for the killing of chickens and pigs in “constrained circumstances.”

According to Veterinarians Against Ventilation Shutdown, this has highly problematic consequences:

“The AVMA’s depopulation guidelines are understandably considered the industry standard for those seeking guidance around depopulation. Unfortunately, various industry voices have construed the guidelines to justify using VSD+ even for foreseeable backups of healthy animals during COVID — and have pointed publicly to the guidelines as justification. AVMA’s silence on this matter has allowed this tragic misapplication of the guidelines’ apparent intentions to flourish.”

Over one thousand veterinarians have already called on the AVMA to reclassify VSD+ as “not recommended.”

How to Take Action:

You can message the AVMA leaders here and ask them to stop supporting this cruel practice (it takes one minute or less):

Take action now

Please also share about this campaign via email and Social Media.

P.S.: If you like, you can cross-post this article to your publication. Here’s how.

[1] Smith P, Crabtree H, Bird N. Perfecting the pig environment. Nottingham, England: Nottingham University Press, 2009: “In the United Kingdom, a case study involving swine that experienced a ventilation failure event showed that 100% mortality was not achieved within that particular barn design, even after 16 hours.”

Animals deserve our care: