Take Part in Veganuary and You May See Yourself Differently

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People have been struggling with their conscience for a long time when it comes to killing and eating animals. The “animal paradox” (contradiction between people’s preferences for animals and their concerns about animals) may have inspired by the paintings since 37,000 years ago. Since then, many thought leaders They have left animals, including Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Shelley, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Today, half of US adults and three quarters of UK adults against the factory farming that produces it almost all of their animals, but still close one out of 10 following a meat-free diet.

Plant-based foods are becoming increasingly tasty and affordable in many countries. Adopting them would save their lives 80 billion animals year and may cause 75 percent reduction in environmental damage than animal food.

Benefits of going to the plant for adoption health and long life it is well established and gives respect cardiologist saying, “There are two types of cardiologists: the vegans and the vegans.”

Despite the proven advantages of a vegetarian diet, many people continue to eat meat, using methods such as “defensive thinking” or behavioral disruption and prevention reduce any mental confusion.

Every January since 2014, a Vegetables campaign—which encourages people to eat a plant-based diet in January—has tried to break down psychological defenses with pictures of cute chicks, fat chicks, and calls for an end to the problem. Last year, around 25 million peopleincluding about 4 percent of the UK populationhe joined them.

A study conducted by Veganuary shows that more than 80 percent of participants continue to reduce meat consumption, reducing their intake to half or more, after six months.

At the University of Exeter, we have independently conducted three online studies for Veganuary participants (a fourth is underway) and found that when people reduce or avoid meat they start to see animals and themselves differently.

Aversion to animals

On average, people say they like a few animals, and some get them dirty things. This fulfills ours old research showing that 74 percent of non-vegetarians and 15 percent of vegetarians find meat disgusting.

One of our studies (under peer review) suggests that this “animal aversion” goes deep. Those who explain (especially vegetarians) react to the idea of ​​eating meat in the same way that meat-eaters react to the idea of eating excrement, or human or dog meat.

PICTURE
Quote: Disgust with animals runs deep.
Credit: Filip Obr/Alamy Stock Photo

If such misconceptions appear when people avoid meat during Veganuary, giving up meat for a long time may not be the sacrifice many would expect. We are now collecting data over 12 months from the 100 people who took part in our Veganuary survey last year and will see if misconceptions about meat predict long-term changes in meat consumption.