CAAN works to expose and transform carnism, the invisible belief system that conditions people to eat certain animals.
What is Carnism?
Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat (certain) animals. Carnism is essentially the opposite of vegetarianism or veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the meat of some animals disgusting and the meat of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all. But when eating animals isn’t a necessity for survival, as is the case in the majority of the world today, it is a choice - and choices always stem from beliefs. More
The Importance of Understanding Carnism
For Vegetarian and Vegan Advocates and Organizations Because vegetarian and vegan advocates have sufficiently raised public awareness about the production and consumption of animals (including animal suffering on factory farms, the environmental consequences of animal agriculture, and the health benefits of a plant-based diet), the time is ripe for the next step in advocacy. More Advocates are ideally poised to target the roots of the issue: to expose and challenge carnism, the invisible belief system that makes eating animals possible in the first place. Understanding carnism can tremendously empower vegetarian and vegan advocates and organizations for a number of reasons and in a variety of ways. More |
For Meat Eaters Most of us who have grown up eating meat don’t realize that every time we sit down to our food, we are acting in accordance with an invisible belief system that has shaped our thoughts, preferences, feelings and behaviors. We aren’t aware of how we have been conditioned to eat animals without considering the implications of our choices on ourselves or on others - or to even realize we are making choices at all. More This invisible belief system, carnism, has created the illusion that when we eat meat we are making our choices freely. But carnism is structured to enable humane people to participate in inhumane practices without realizing what they’re doing, to block our awareness so that we unknowingly act against our own interests and the interests of others. If you eat meat, you need and deserve to know the truth about carnism so that you can make your choices freely, because without awareness, there is no free choice. More |
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