Animal rights activist and vegan, Gary Yourofsky said the following in an interview last year, titled: In Conversation with Gary Yourofsky: “Educate Educate Educate!”
"Besides my recent trip to Israel, I no longer do open-to-the-public lectures because I am faced with the problem of attracting an audience. The only people who show up for a vegan presentation are animal rights people. And this movement is idiotic with its preaching-to-the-choir mentality. Telling animal rights folks about veganism is pointless. Education IS the most effective form of activism and I will continue educating NON vegans about veganism."
Gary is absolutely right. Those are the same people who show up at Vegfests; it's great for meeting up with old vegan friends and making new ones, but for helping to educate people about veganism, it's a wasteful joke.
I really wish vegan activists would do as Gary and educate people about veganism in schools, and also in churches--to which I do, but for now just in my own local church. Start with your own school or church. To any vegan who reads my blog, THESE are the places to do tabling, handing out pamphlets, and talking to others about vegansim, not at some veg conference (what the heck is this annual Animal Rights Conference? Just a waste of time, money and resources.), vegfests or other animal rights/veg meet. Plus, I don't understand why many vegans only follow fellow vegans on their Twitter or other social network. Why do you want just fellow vegans hearing your vegan message??
There's A LOT of self-indulgence and strutting around in self-satisfaction, trying to impress other vegans in the vegan community that just wastes time and energy, but most importantly, it hurts the animals in the need of getting the vegan message out quicker to non-vegans. Veganism is NOT a social club, so vegans should stop treating it like it is. The vegan community should stop preaching to choirs of vegans at group meets and start preaching to the choir that's in the churches.
Vegans, you should not strive to be well known in the vegan community. You should strive to be well known in the non-vegan community.
