Billie Eilish said you can't love animals and eat meat. The internet exploded, exactly on cue. But I think most animal advocates are thinking about cognitive dissonance all wrong — and I wrote about what the research actually says.

Okay, I know I'm like the tenth person to weigh on the Billie Eilish thing, but here's my take: we need to think more deeply about what cognitive dissonance theory actually says about human psychology instead of pointing it out and hoping hypocrisy will get people to change behavior. Check it out!

I charted dozens of studies showing that calling menu items "vegan" isn't very good at incentivizing people to order them. What does work? Highlighting their taste or health benefits seems to work best.

One of the best ways to increase plant-based consumption is obvious: offer more plants! In this chart, I plotted data points from several studies showing that increasing the PB ratios on a menu is a pretty easy way to increase consumption. Most people don't even notice it!

Fact 1: Most people dislike factory farming Fact 2: Nearly all farmed animals in the world are factory-farmed Fact 3: In surveys, only a minority of people say they purchase meat that is "inhumae" or factory-farmed Something here doesn't add up...

Progress! www.greenqueen.com.hk/gfi-state-of...

Here's what the research shows about how defaults work: across every study I am aware of, a plant-based default increased the uptake of plant-based foods. It boosts sales by around 50 percentage points in total. Pretty big win!

Here’s what a vegan default looks in practice: the meat dish is still available, but the customer has to put a bit more effort into getting it. Assuming the veg dish is tasty and filling, most people will end up eating plant-based. Convenience often overrides taste preferences.

In a recent review of 1,233 environmental claims from Big Meat companies, 98% were false, vague, or misleading and more than 2/3 had no supporting evidence behind them. If you see a meat or dairy company claiming they’re more sustainable, you should be extremely suspicious.

If you want to reduce global meat consumption, the obvious move is to make meat more expensive. Right? Turns out meat taxes are way more complicated — and riskier — than they look. 🧵

"Buy local" is good advice for a lot of things. Meat is not one of them.

Meat consumption is falling in several European countries — not because of moral arguments, but because of policy, price, and product availability. The Netherlands. Denmark. Germany. The transition is already happening, so our job is to speed it up.

The way we treat farmed animals is one of the greatest injustices in the modern world. These animals need committed people to fight for them. Are you one of these people? If you’re wondering whether professional animal advocacy is the right path for you, this is your opportunity to find out 🧵⬇️

A new study shows us why non-vegan animal advocates can be so critical: they may actually be better messengers for the cause. 👇

the world is a joke sometimes

New from me! Why your bank account may be fueling factory farming...and what we can do about it:

Much of the growth in the meat industry in the US is driven by younger generations — I suspect this is due to the popular link between high-protein and health.

The University of Southampton has voted to implement a plant-based default starting next year! These policies are excellent at shifting diets without causing significant backlash. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Interesting new study about meat consumption in romantic partners. If one partner eats more meat and the other eats less, the flexitarian is more likely to be pressured to eat more meat (as opposed to the meat-lover being pressured into eating less) due to cultural norms.

When examining studies on meat’s impact on health, we should always be aware of who funded the study. A report shows that 79% of meat-industry-funded studies found that red meat is good for you, while 73% of independent studies found that red meat is harmful.

In case you missed it, I wrote down basically every reason why we all need to eat a lot less meat. (Turns out, it's a lot!) Here it is:

Most animals are factory farmed, yet only a small portion of consumers say their meat comes from farms with inhumane conditions. This suggests a stark gap between people's values and the food systems we've set up.

New from me!

Sounds like a great time for the government to help these farmers transition from dairy farming to more sustainable and ethical farming practices (ones that are more popular even!)

Reason number 87 why the new health guidelines are extremely silly:

This story is blowing my mind: large factory farms are shipping their manure to small, unregulated farms in order to avoid the legal requirement to dispose of it properly. Full story: sentientmedia.org/trick-lettin...

More is coming to light about how we got the inconsistent & contradictory new guidelines. Much of it came about because the evidence was cherry-picked. 1/

The new US dietary guidelines make a lot more sense when you realize that four of the nine external advisors have financial ties to the meat industry.

What are the most vegan countries on Earth? A new study helps answer: leading the list are India, Mexico, and Israel, while other countries like Thailand, Russia, and China are near the end of the list of countries that were reviewed.

A little end of year analysis from me on the state of all things plant-based, and why eating a more plant-based diet is still one of the most impactful things people can do for society: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

It’s January 1, which means it’s the start of Veganuary! I’ve written previously about vegan challenges, finding that those like Veganuary have retention rates of 10-28%.

The majority of deforested land is used for animal agriculture, either directly or indirectly, and the beef industry is the single biggest driver of deforestation. Seth Millstein explains:

In the developed world, #meat is currently the default option in restaurants & #catering. Yet, vegetarian & #vegan options as the default can nudge consumption without being too controversial, as customers are still free to eat meat: morethanmeatstheeye.substack.com/p/plant-base... #plantbased

Good news to wake up to!

It's not all bad!

1/ Most of the time when we discuss global meat reduction, we’re talking about sustainability and ethics. And that’s true! Reducing animal ag would reap major wins for animal welfare & climate. But there’s another reason that I rarely see discussed: it’s good for the economy. 👇🏽

One of the biggest but under-discussed issues in animal agriculture is the heavy use of antibiotics — around 2/3 of all antibiotics in the world are given to farmed animals, not humans. ourworldindata.org/antibiotics-...

1/ 🧵 Stop Calling Foods “Vegan” — Here’s What Works Instead Names matter when shifting diets. If we want more people eating less meat, the words we use need to be chosen carefully. Read more👇

A year ago, I took the 10% Trial Pledge, to donate a significant amount of my earnings to high-impact charities every year. And I haven't looked back! www.givingwhatwecan.org/pledge

🧵 THREAD — Why don’t environmentalists focus on meat reduction, even though animal agriculture is a massive problem for the climate? I have some ideas. 👇🏼

Northern European countries are leading the way in meat reduction!

Sometimes it can be hard to see progress. That’s why it’s so important to step back every once in a while and reflect on the wins we’ve achieved. Here are ten of the biggest ones, courtesy of Lewis Bollard:

🧵 THREAD — Why menu design could be the biggest untapped vegan strategy 👇 Want more people to choose plant-based food? It’s not just about adding vegan dishes — it’s about how many there are vs animal-based ones.

1/ 🧵 If we want more people to eat plant-based foods, persuasion isn’t the answer. Defaults are. 🌱 When veg meals are the default, people choose them more. A lot more. Nearly four times as often. Here's how 👇🏽

Despite contributing a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and a whole host of other environmental problems, animal agriculture is rarely reported on. That's a problem! If people aren't reading about the issue, they won't know how to act on it.

A little bit of good news! EU pushes back decision on "veggie burger" label ban.

New study finds not only that people have lower perceptions of plant-based meats for no real reason, but that these negative beliefs are stronger in sexist people.

New from me: why plant-based defaults are the meat reduction intervention that excites me most!

Big news: Poland, the world's second biggest fur producer, banned fur farming this week. www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Today is Giving Tuesday! I work to make the animal protection movement more effective by sharing evidence-based strategies. Nearly all of my public work is pro bono and never paywalled. If you want, feel free to donate, it really helps me out! buymeacoffee.com/bjornolafsson