Here’s how our favorite rescue piglet Eric stacks up…most people totes want to eat him!!!! Smh. 

A research project of The Humane League, Humane League Labs conducts direct testing to discover how we can make vegan advocacy efforts as effective as possible. That sounds like a much-needed resource! From their site: “Our goal is to figure out which images, messages, and approaches inspire the most diet change and spare the greatest number of farm animals.”

A new study focuses on pictures: Which Farm Animal Photos are Most Likely to Inspire People to Eat Vegan? 

With all the different pictures we see of animals and all the effort we put towards spreading our message of compassion, haven’t you always wondered which images actually work the best? I def have! 

The researchers showed a sample of 800 people various pictures of farm animals and then asked them how likely they are to stop eating animal products based on each picture. They also asked how much the animal suffered and how human-like the animals in each picture were. The conclusion?

The results suggest that when sharing photos of farm animals, vegan advocates will be most effective at inspiring people to want to change their diet when they use:  photos of diseased/injured or dead/dying animals; photos of pigs, or of sickly/dead/dying chickens; photos of individual animals; and photos of baby animals.

They noted that when you don’t have a captive audience (say, while leafleting) graphic images may turn people away. But if you do get someone to listen, graphic images are the most persuasive. Happy rescue photos? They don’t do much. 

I spared you from the most “successful” images, but you can see them in this report summary. The full study is linked at the bottom.

Humane Labs ends the summary with this note: 

Lastly, as all of the photos tested in this study are usable by vegan advocacy groups (after securing permission from the advocacy group, photographer, or stock site that owns them), we encourage vegan advocates to consider using several or many of the top-ranked photos in their advocacy materials.

You can check out their previous studies on their homepage. I have a suggestion for a future study: the long-term effects of fat-shaming as a vegan advocacy tool! Not that a positive result would make exploiting fat-phobia ok, but I would be interested to see if it’s even effective at all—as that’s often used as a justification. 

What future studies would you like to see?

“

The center’s parent agency, the Agriculture Department, strictly polices the treatment of animals at slaughterhouses and private laboratories. But it does not closely monitor the center’s use of animals, or even enforce its own rules requiring careful scrutiny of experiments.

As a result, the center — built on the site of a World War II-era ammunition depot a two-hour drive southwest of Omaha, and locked behind a security fence — has become a destination for the kind of high-risk, potentially controversial research that other institutions will not do or are no longer allowed to do.

”

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Ellovi sent me a big jar of their Butter in the brand new vanilla scent! I thought you guys would like this product because not only is it cruelty free (no animal testing or animal ingredients!), it’s made with only 6 “wildly-harvested” ingredients: Macadamia, Hawaiian coconut, shea, vanilla bourbon, Ghanaian marula, and non-GMO corn starch. Simple! Oh and it comes in a glass jar for your reusing/recycling pleasure. 

It’s a very all-purpose product. Suggested uses:

• All-over body butter (great for massages)
• Night-time facial moisturizer
• Natural sunscreen (SPF 5 – 10)
• Makeup remover (try it on a cotton ball)
• Great for sensitive skin, eczema, and rosacea.

Another cool thing, it doesn’t have water in it, so it’s uber-concentrated. This jar is gonna last forever! Well, for a year. They don’t use preservatives so you should use it up within a year. I can do it! And because it’s concentrated, that also means it’s extra moisturizing for your skin.

So the texture is not creamy like a lotion, it’s more like…I guess actual butter consistency. BUT, unlike actual butter, it’s not greasy at all when you put it on. I was worried it’d be greasy or waxy because it’s so thick but nope! It went on easy and absorbed right in! With not a trace of greasy residue. But my skin definitely felt softer! 

As I said, they JUST added this vanilla version of the butter to their line (and a vanilla lip butter too). It doesn’t smell like straight-up vanilla extract to me, more like a vanilla cookie maybe. But the scent isn’t that strong. You can def smell it when you put it on, but after that it’s more of a subtle smell. Very nice! 

In conclusion, I give it all my thumbs up! I’m stoked to add this to my vegan skincare routine! I’ve been keeping my jar at work but I may have to get another for home. You can buy it for $26 on their site. A little pricy but like I said, it’s concentrated so you only need a little at a time. It’ll last a good while. Plus, macadamia is the first ingredient…those nuts are baller. 

Oh, and it looks like if you order the vanilla Butter by Jan 31st, you get a free vanilla lip butter! But what I really want to try is that new tinted lip butter—it gets its color from some cray flower I never heard of! Exciting! Just when you thought you heard of all the cray flowers in the world.

Fruit Bliss sent me a whole bunch of their fruit to try out! I’m rich in dried fruit! But this is not just any dried fruit. They sun-dry the fruit but then they rehydrate it a bit so they a super juicy! It’s kind of like…how to describe…it’s like the difference between when you get sun-dried tomatoes from the store and when you make oven-dried tomatoes at your house (if you’ve never oven-dried your own tomatoes…dude, get on that. So easy, so good). They are just a lot juicier and not at tough as typical dried fruit.

Here’s my best attempt at a glamour shot:

They DON’T use sulfur dioxide, which I guess is in a lot of dried fruit to keep the color, so they are all kind of brownish. But you can see how they look juicy right? The figs are my fave. They are less chewy than the dried figs I’ve had before and more like just the middle of a Fig Newton. I want to try them with some vegan brie!

All their fruit is also organic and non-GMO Project verified! That’s like all your favorite stuff you guys. Here’s a little thing on their process from the site:

BONUS!: Fruit Bliss also collaborates with and donates to community-based programs that educate people—especially kids—about healthy eating. NICE!

I’m not sure what stores carry their products but you can def order online. I like the mini pouches! Just the right size!

Hi my friends! Time to look inside last month’s Vegan Cuts Beauty Box!

I got a nice metallic polish from Bellapierre Cosmetics, a nail file I desperately needed, some aromatherapy oil from 21 Drops to clear my mind, a lavender mask and scrub from Becca and Mars, super cool SPRAY ON lotion from North Coast Organics (who Jenny Bradley tells me makes great deodorant as well), and, my v favorite item, cream blush from Delizioso Skincare! I’m never not going to love cream blush. 

I got this for free but if you want to try it, the box subscription is $19.95 a month, shipping included (for US addresses. International is more).