Archived Version: May, 2014
| Status | Exploratory |
| Primary Work Area | Industrial Agriculture |
| Website | Carnism Awareness and Action Network |
| Review Published | May, 2014 |
| Type | Archived Review |
| Current Version | May, 2014 |
Carnism Awareness and Action Network seeks to transform the conversation around how dietary choices affect animals by naming and discussing the concept of carnism, the belief structure and oppressive system that conditions people to eat certain animals. Their mission is to destabilize carnism while supporting veganism, both ideologically and practically. They raise awareness of carnism in a variety of ways, including hosting public talks, media campaigns, video development, and activist training. They also are working to affect specific areas of society through Carnism Awareness Task Forces. These task forces confront and challenge norms of carnism within their professions by using targeted arguments and actions, so that those professionals can use their platforms to educate the larger public.
Carnism Awareness and Action Network seeks to transform the conversation around how dietary choices affect animals by naming and discussing the concept of carnism, the belief structure and oppressive system that conditions people to eat certain animals. Their mission is to destabilize carnism while supporting veganism, both ideologically and practically. They raise awareness of carnism in a variety of ways, including hosting public talks, media campaigns, video development, and activist training. They also are working to affect specific areas of society through Carnism Awareness Task Forces. These task forces confront and challenge norms of carnism within their professions by using targeted arguments and actions, so that those professionals can use their platforms to educate the larger public.
Impact Evaluation:
Task forces are promising
The task force model used by CAAN is an innovative and promising approach to advocating for farmed animals. By connecting advocates within a specific profession or other common interest, it may build powerful and sustaining networks of advocates. Furthermore, the task force model encourages these advocates to act in the areas where they have a comparative advantage, using their credibility within their professions to address institutional norms regarding the treatment of animals. We believe this approach has good potential both for directly spreading concern and care for animals, and for addressing the institutional policies that currently uphold and support animal agriculture.
Little track record
The Carnism Awareness and Action Network is a very young organization taking a relatively novel approach to helping animals, which means we do not have much information from the past that can help us judge how efficient or successful its programs will be. We do know that they are embarking on a variety of methods to raise awareness of carnism, and that they are focusing on campaigns in the United States and Germany. Furthermore, one of the large benefits we see as potentially achievable through CAAN’s actions is the creation of sustainable networks of advocates, something which is particularly hard to judge as successful or unsuccessful after a short time. We look forward to learning more about the effectiveness of CAAN’s programs in the future.