A Vegan Future Hui - Enthusiastic Vegans spell 'V for Vegan' - Shot from Quadcopter

Thirty vegan advocates and animal rights activists, many of them leading figures in the movement, converged on Wellington over the weekend. The long anticipated event was entitled the ‘A Vegan Future’ Hui, and delegates from various groups and geographical regions all around New Zealand attended.

Their aim was to discuss strategy and tactics for presenting a very clear, open, and confident Veganism and Animal Rights focussed message to the public and politicians of our nation. Their clearly stated end goal is a vegan Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Attendees came from the far North to the deep South, and almost everywhere in between, including Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Tasman, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill. Their excitement, enthusiasm, and optimism was palpable.

Spokesperson, Carl Scott said, “In recent years there’s been a very noticeable and positive shift in public perceptions of veganism. There’s been an increasing acknowledgement and acceptance of this growing social justice movement, and the associated lifestyle choices it entails.”

“This is due in part to an increase in awareness of the significant and often severe suffering animals are currently enduring at human hands. Animal agriculture has also been demonstrated to cause massive environmental damage, including being a major contributor to climate change. Dairy is also a major contributor to water pollution, with 60% of our rivers now unsafe to swim in. Some people say that getting rid of dairy will destroy the economy. But the reality is the dairy industry could destroy tourism.

None of this sits well in a nation of people who generally respect, and even love animals, and who care about the environment. Eating animal-based foods has also been scientifically linked to serious human health issues, whereas a well balanced plant-based diet has been proven to have significant health benefits,” he said.

“At the same time, the ongoing increase in availability of vegan products and options, and easily available information, means that adopting vegan lifestyle choices has become quite easy in recent years. For all of these reasons, and more, people from all sectors of society, from our new governor general Dame Patsy Reddy, through to celebrities and sportspeople, as well as thousands of regular Kiwis of all ages, cultural backgrounds and ethnicities, spiritual beliefs, political affiliations, and more, are going vegan. It is especially popular amongst young people,” he added.

The Hui attendees believe that the time has finally come to open up a very public conversation about the major and urgent problems inherent in the status quo, with an emphasis on veganism, and rights for animals, as the logical solutions to those issues.

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