Posts By: Gary Smith
Gary Smith
Welfarism vs Abolitionsim: a healthy debate
As the late Rodney King exclaimed, “Can’t we all just get along?” Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a blog post about how infighting is the scourge of the animal rights movement and that animals are dying because of
The Thinking Vegan Pop Quiz: How do you deal with despair?
Kierkegaard argued that despair, the moral condition of hopelessness, is the most profound human suffering we experience. He said it is a painless moral and spiritual suffering, that slowly kills us. So, as an animal rights activist and vegan, how
My interest lies in animal liberation, not making more vegans
I purposefully chose a provocative title, so before you spend time formulating the hate mail in your head that you intend to send me, be patient and listen to my argument. animal liberation: (noun) the freeing of animals from exploitation
No, fat shaming is still not okay
I received a lot of feedback on my post about large animal organizations using fat shaming as part of their advocacy. Between the comments I received as well as reading the comments on well written blog posts on the subject
Fat shaming doesn’t help animals
Large animal protection organizations are famous for their attention-getting, eyebrow-raising campaigns – but shaming overweight people in hopes of getting them to go vegan should never be accepted by our movement. In the latest example, people are shamed for
Interview with Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan of Our Hen House
Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer are the top hens at Our Hen House, a unique nonprofit that helps activists develop new tactics for helping animals. Through a daily blog, a weekly podcast, videos and other content, Jasmin and Mariann
More Green Smoothies for Me!
Yesterday, a blogger wrote a piece about green smoothies. Her conclusion was that combining a couple of pieces of fresh fruit with handfuls of leafy greens in a blender is bad for you. Yes, that was her conclusion, and the
Top 10 Animal Rights News Stories of 2011
Can you stand another year-end list? Below are what we believe were the ten biggest news stories of 2011 for animal rights initiatives. While some of these generated massive amounts of ink and airtime, a few were important stories that
An open letter to a vivisector
I received an email from a vivisector regarding from the media coverage for Beagle Freedom Project, which my company Evolotus has managed for almost a year. Below I’ve included her letter, in sections, then my responses. “First, I should introduce
I am grateful for you
As I was tossing and turning in bed, between the hours of two and four a.m. last night, a wave of gratitude hit me. I’m not sure exactly why; maybe because it is so close to Thanksgiving and we are
Interview with “Vegan For Life” author Ginny Kisch Messina
Vegan For Life is the most comprehensive book on vegan diets that I’ve read yet. The subtitle, “Everything you need to know to be healthy and fit on a plant-based diet” is really true. The book literally covers every possible