Ending the battle between vegans, vegetarians, and everyone else | Brian Kateman | TEDxCUNY

The problem I have noticed with "Reducetarians" is that it is not very conscious decision at every meal. The fact that everyone overestimates themselves and their positive actions and underestimates their daily consumption of animal products. SOoooo many people say that they don't eat a lot of meat yet the numbers don't lie.

i'm really glad that people are actually making an effort to eat less meat,i'm a vegan and this is giving me hope that people are becoming more open minded

I went vegan after seeing Earthlings on youtube. I will never be the same.

Three years ago I decided to be vegan one time a week. I did it the first day and I never went back

I'm vegan and i don't get why people are so negative, I mean, he's doing something, atleast he understands and tries to educate people and it's a great adaptation for meat eaters, after some time they might understand that they don't need meet at all. It's better than nothing.

The only battle we have is the one we have with ourselves. I grew up eating meat because of my parents. I am vegan now because of the planet the animals and most important my health.

I couldn't handle beeing a "reducitarian", so I became strictly vegan :D!

You're not a carnivore, that'd mean you only eat meat. You're an omnivore.

Anyone can say they "try" to eat less meat.

My vegan-self want to shout that we must all stop eating meat right now at this moment! But I am actually happy to share this. If this movie will make people eat less meat it's perhaps better than a provegan that makes people do nothing else but fear and hate vegans. :)

I'm a vegan and I get uncomfortable when people (or myself) mentions it because I've been bullied for it but I'm working on normalizing these conversations for both myself and others.

I'm vegan and personally I still think its the optimal diet but I think promoting Reducitarianism would be more effective because when I talk about Veganism everyone gets defensive :( great speech though! :)

I think he's right. He's not saying 'if you're vegan you're wrong', he's saying 'if you're vegan/vegetarian that's amazing but not everyone will adapt to that lifestyle so why don't why try to tell those who still eat meat to try something that keeps them in their comfort zone and still help the animals, the planet and their health'. I would be a perfect world if every single person was a vegan, but there's a long way to go until that. For now, if everyone becomes a reducetarian, it will be a giant step.

What is the message here? I had an eating disorder (binging) and used to eat BBQ about 5 times a week. Became  fat and sick. Educated myself about food. Result: There is no alternative to veganism. I would have loved to learn that something like paleo could be a good idea but it is not. Result: Went on a low fat whole food vegan diet in 10/2013, lost ~70lbs and almost all my health problems and became very fit. Never looked back. If a hoggish guy like me can do that, everyone can. The question is: Do we want to learn and improve ourselves? Yes or no? What is proposed here ('reducitarians') is that we should attempt to make a difference without making a difference. Since attitudes are the keys to behavior, that is not going to work. You have to update your attitudes.

Summary: here is the bare minimum you can do to pretend you’re making an impact without making your friends uncomfortable.

"I'm a carnivore just like you"....wait so this guy ONLY eats meat and no plants?

VEGAN IS NOT A "DRASTIC" LIFESTYLE CHANGE!! IT'S THE EASIEST THING IVE EVER DONE!!!! UGHHHHH

As a vegan I'm a little disgusted with my fellow vegan commenters. I wish everyone would just drop eating animal products and using them altogether. It hurts my heart when I see someone drink a glass of milk, eat meat, or carry a leather wallet. That being said, as an INTELLIGENT vegan, I'm not an idiot and I don't slam people when they try to do less. People doing less is a great thing for our planet. It's the first step towards totally cutting those things out of your diet. Gary Yourofsky made the argument, is a murderer any less moral than a person who doesn't murder? Yes. So, is a person who murders 100 people less moral than someone who only murders 10? Even tough both are pretty immoral, I'd still say yes. Especially, if they're making the CONSCIOUS EFFORT to murder less. I will never be totally content until everyone (who can reasonably) is completely vegan, but I cannot complain when I see people trying to do less. It's the first step to a vegan future for this planet.

I am a vegan and I strongly believe this new term can actually be a really positive thing. I have a lot of people in my world who are so in love with eating meat that they get angry at animal rights activists for 'being so extreme' and cringe at the title 'Vegan'. I think if these types of meat addicted humans had a little flexible label for themselves, it could potentially lead joining the vegan movement; if not, well at least they are contributing less. I think that's a win, even though it's not perfect.

Saying to people, that they should eat less meat wont change more than saying that they should go vegan. "Less" is not defined. Less can still be daily 15 times instead of 16. Of they think they eat less, but in reality they don't. The meat and dairy industry are manipulating people to buy their products. They even spray meat so it's red instead of grey, that it looks better. Eating meat and dairy is an addiction for many people and you can only stop that addiction by stopping to eat that at all. For that it just needs a good reason and that you will see in movies like earthlings.