A.F.A.R.
Wednesday April 29th, 2020 with Carolyn
The writer Chas Newkey-Burden discusses why vegan activism needs to focus on animal rights, rather than the promotion of plant-based products.

For Episode 24 of Always for Animal Rights, I am pleased to share my recent interview with the professional writer Chas Newkey-Burden. As part of his animal rights activism, Chas writes articles about animal rights and animal cruelty for mainstream media publications in the UK, including the Independent, the Guardian, and others. In this interview, Chas speaks about his experiences writing about animal issues for the mainstream media, how people have responded to his articles, and how receptive the media is to publishing nonhuman-centric stories. He also tells me about why he went vegan and why he opposes "Ahimsa dairy". This interview also covers why vegan activism that focuses on animal rights and liberation, rather than the promotion of plant-based products, is the proper way forward for the animal rights movement. This is very important for us to remember, especially since we’re seeing a surge in the popularity of "plant-based" products nowadays (which, as discussed in the interview, are often not truly vegan anyway). Animal liberation cannot be achieved through capitalism, and Chas provides compelling arguments as to why this is the case. Remember that veganism isn't about consumerism, but rather, it's an ethical philosophy and corresponding way of living that opposes animal exploitation. It's a very thought-provoking interview.