Where we came from

If you want to keep on going, it's good to look back now and then.

Progress for the animals is never fast enough. Every day that passes, hundreds of millions of farmed animals are slaughtered for food. Just take a look at these staggering statistics:

Most of the animals we eat - including the fish - are raised on factory farms in terrible conditions. So each day this system continues is a tragedy. In this context, some say we cannot afford to be patient.

But making things right for animals is an ultramarathon. What those who want to help animals cannot afford is impatience. They should know they’re in it for the long run, and might never see their dream realized in their lifetime. But if they’re not patient, and allow themselves to be consumed by frustration, anger, or sadness, they’re in danger of burning out. And in a burned-out state, there’s so much less one can do - for oneself and everyone else. I’ve been there - and will write about that another time.

Still, everyone who cares about animals will at times be frustrated with the rate of progress. That’s why I’d like to give you a bit of perspective: the perspective of someone just over fifty, who started his career for animals 25 years ago.

That was during my university years, in 2000, when I co-founded my first organization (now known as Proveg Belgium). Let me take you there for a moment, to help you appreciate better what has changed for vegans and activists, and how much more opportunity there is today to help animals.

So, back then, in 2000…

• The number of professional organizations (with, say, more than five staff members) campaigning for farmed animals could almost be counted on one hand. Today, there is a thriving landscape of many dozens of non-profits, working ever more professionally. Moreover, we can now find them all across the globe, whereas earlier we only found them in richer, western countries.

• After I started my organization, we were an all-volunteer group for five years because we had no access to money. I remember being overjoyed, on taking over another organization, to get their biggest asset: an old photocopier! It was only in 2005 that we got our first paid staff members. Today, at least if you have the drive and some good ideas, getting funding and other support is a lot easier.

• Most activists were well-meaning, soft-spoken idealists with even softer backgrounds: social work, teaching, the humanities… While there’s of course nothing wrong with that (I belong to that group), crucial skills were definitely missing in the movement. Today, fortunately, we can find more and more people with economy, business, law or coding degrees in our midst.

• Back then, you could say we didn’t know what we were doing. There was hardly any relevant research. If there was, it was from neighboring spaces (general psychology, marketing etc.), and no one was centralizing it so we didn’t read it. Today - also thanks to the Effective Altruism movement - organizations like Faunalytics or Rethink Priorities, or funders like the Open Philantropy Project are busy analyzing what works and what doesn’t. (It needs to be said that we still have a lot to learn.)

• Back in the day, our tactics and strategies were mostly limited to person-to-person outreach, street protests, or potlucks. All of that is still useful and we’re still doing it, but the movement has now also entered professional kitchens, boardrooms, government buildings and courts, prioritizing institutional change above personal change.

• I come from a time when all you could find in a supermarket was tofu (which was the recommended ingredient when a non-vegan recipe called for cheese!) and some dry vegetable burgers. If you were lucky you could find one brand of soy milk (forget about oat, almond or other fancy stuff). How different it is today, when many retailers are actually ahead of most consumers.

• Most vegetarian restaurants (there hardly any were vegan ones), in my country served no alcohol, were not open at night or in weekends, and all served similar plates with grains, legumes and raw vegetables. Healthy? Definitely. Fun or attractive? Not so much. Today you can find vegan restaurants from fast food joints to verrrry upscale places like Eleven Madison Park, and many non-vegan places offer reasonable vegan options (varying greatly by city or country).

• Perhaps most importantly, more and more we’re seeing how restaurants, retailers, producers or government departments are open and sometimes actively reaching out for our assistance and expertise - whereas back when I started, as a vegan organization we had to beg for five minutes of their attention.

• Oh, and in 2000, the internet was only just taking off. There were no social media yet with which we could spread our message relatively cheaply, and smartphones and apps still had to be invented.

There is no doubt that we need much more of all of the above (and definitely in the global south), and in the years between then and now, the number of animals exploited has only gone up. But today, the animal protection movement is in a much better position to help than 25 years ago. In that time, it has grown from an experimenting toddler to a somewhat wiser adult. It is no longer only radical, but also professional.

Looking back and seeing where we came from helps me to keep on going. I imagine where we could be in another 25 years. We can cover another big part of the distance, if we work hard, work smart, work sustainably, and work together.

Thank you for whatever part you’re playing in this unfolding story!