The Vegan Persuasion Problem: What Actually Works to End Animal Consumption?

In this thought-provoking episode, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with Seth Green from Stanford’s Humane and Sustainable Food Lab and Benny Smith from Allied Scholars for Animal Protection to tackle the million-dollar question: how do we actually get people to stop eating animals? The conversation dives into Seth’s fascinating meta-analysis of intervention studies and sparks a passionate debate about what really works in animal advocacy. While the research suggests most current approaches show minimal effectiveness, Benny makes a compelling case for moral persuasion and worldview change as essential components of long-term movement building.

• Meta-analysis reveals most animal advocacy interventions produce only small reductions in meat consumption (typically just a few percentage points)
• Showing animal abuse footage such as that found in “Dominion” appears more effective than other persuasion methods, reducing consumption by approximately 13.5%
• Debate centers on whether to focus on incremental behavior change or transformative worldview shifts that create more vegans and activists
• Historical examples from religious movements suggest successful moral transformations require long-term community building rather than quick fixes
• Speakers explore whether choice architecture, health messaging, or emerging technologies like Ozempic might offer alternative paths to reducing animal consumption

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Seth Ariel Green is a research scientist at the Humane and Sustainable Food Lab at Stanford, a research group dedicated to accelerating the end of factory farming. He lives in Brooklyn NY and blogs at https://regressiontothemeat.substack.com/.

Benny Smith is the Programs Manager at Allied Scholars for Animal Protection, where he was the first full-time hire after graduating from Brown University in 2023.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode’s interview.

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Join hostesses Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan on this unique and fun award-winning podcast that focuses on changing the world for animals.

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