Why Outreach?
1. Help people change the
attitudes and behaviours that hurt animals (including humans).2. Motivate people into action.
Results of Effective Vegan Outreach
Effective Vegan Outreach will:* cause people to go vegetarian and vegan (immediate converts)
* cause people to reduce their meat consumption (incremental reducers)
* motivate new people to become active (new volunteers and potential CALMrads)
* motivate and reaffirm the exisiting veg*n population
* build the profile of the movement
* create a pretense for people to talk about animal exploitation and veganism
* help people take a step in the right direction (planting a seed)
* result in some negative responses (that can have a positive effect)
Immediate converts - people who go veg*n shortly after the outreach. With minimal experience you can easily expect to get at least 1 new veg*n for every hour of outreach you do.
Incremental Reducers- people who start to cut back on the amount of animal products they use consciously or subconciously.
New Volunteers and Potential CALMrads - people who want to get active and get involved with outreach initiatives and direct action campaigns. These people are the exponential factor of outreach. Outreach can get through to someone who will get through to thousands. Motivating others into action is what grows and sustains the movement.
Motivating and Reaffirming the Existing Veg*n Population - Getting a leaflet/seeing a poster that supports your beliefs is like getting a pat on the shoulder and giant thumbs up. It sends the message, there are lot of people (and all of the animals) out there who appreciate what you are doing.
Building the Profile of the Movement - If people outreach with the ethic "the revolution is happening now", it will happen now. By doing effective outreach we place the thought into the minds of all people (veg and not) that animal liberation is possible and that we will not stop until every cage is empty.
Creating a Pretense for People to Talk About Animal Exploitation and Veganism -
Vegetarians and vegans are often bullied and pressured into being passive and quiet about their choice not to eat animals. If you are vegetarian and your friends all recieve leaflets from someone else about vegetarianism, it is very likely they will bring it up to you in conversation or be more interested if you bring it up. People talk about their days, particular the unique events that happened to them. Recieving a leaflet or seeing Meat Your Meat blasted on the side of the school wall is a unique experience and one people will talk about.
Helping People Take A Step In the Right Direction (planting a seed)
People can be divided into four groups:
Actively Opposed - a father who forces his daughter to eat meat, a doctor who tells his patients to stop being vegan, a vocal and pissed off ex-veg, those who profit from animal industries (corporations, politicians, etc), those who enjoy hurting animals. The actively opposed are a very very small minority.
Passively Opposed - a guy who disapproves of his girlfriend going vegan, those who refuse to try 'vegan food'
The Neutral - No one is neutral. If you can't tell if they are in favour or opposed, they are likely opposed.
Passively In Favour - thinks vegetarianism is a good idea/cool, interested in vegan food.
Actively In Favour - someone trying to become a vegan/vegetarian or already is one, animal rights/liberation activists,
Most people are passively opposed or passively in favour and those who are actively in favour outnumber the actively opposed by thousands. By helping people take a step in the right direction you help push everyone in the right direction. As more people become actively in favour, more go from passively opposed to passively in favour and it becomes less acceptable to be actively opposed.
Negatives Responses that Result in a Positive Effect
Example 1- a teacher tells his students "you shouldn't google factory farming, its not for young people to see," after every student in the highschool recieved one of CALM's Google Factory Farming cards in their lockers. This attempt to keep the truth from students does nothing but fuel their curiousity.
Example 2 - jerks laugh and say "I am going to eat three animals..." or "vegetarianism is for fags," as leaflets are handed out. Everyone hates jerks, and people will think "if the jerks hate vegetarianism then maybe vegetarianism is for me". Even most meat eaters would rather relate to nice and pleasant leafletters than a couple of jerks. Creating this dichotomy, where the vegans leafletting are nice and those who openly oppose it are jerks, will only bring more people to veganism.
