Students can watch a short video and earn a dollar on the UA Mall today and Tuesday.
Farm Animal Rights Movement, or FARM, has set up a bus on the UA Mall that shows a four-minute video depicting the animal cruelty that occurs within the food industry.
The UA is just one of the many stops the bus is making on its “10 Billion Lives” North American Tour that began May 2012 and will last until the end of 2013. The Tour travels across the United States stopping at college campuses, farmers markets and music festivals.
“For every dollar we hand to someone it’s going to ultimately save the lives of 10 animals,” said Andy Tabar, the tour operator of the campaign.
Tabar, a vegan of five and a half years, became the tour operator for the campaign after attending a conference FARM held to promote animal rights. Tabar had previously started a vegan clothing company and toured with multiple bands. He said he realized he had the experience necessary and shared the mutual goals of FARM, so he decided to join the tour.
FARM is a vegan-based organization whose goal is to stop cruel animal practices in the food industry by promoting an animal-free diet.
The graphic video shows the process of breeding, storing, and slaughtering farm animals in the U.S., emphasizing the poor conditions that animals are kept in and how they are killed. Real footage from farms across the country is used in the video and shows the abuse and slaughtering of pigs, chickens, turkeys and cows.
“It is not a fun thing to watch, you’re like ‘Oh make a dollar, it’s probably like a promotional video for something fun,’ but no, it’s sad,” said Allison Pollack, a pre-education freshman. “I was a vegetarian for four years and something like this was the reason why.”
The video contrasts the conditions of the animals at these farms to those of wild ones to persuade viewers that animals have emotions and feel pain. By showing that animals have feelings, FARM encourages the viewers to consider a vegetarian or vegan diet.
“It was horrible. I’ll definitely cut down with meats and start from there,” said Alyssa Friedman, a pre-family studies and human development sophomore, after she watched the video.
At the end of the video, viewers are asked to pledge a specific amount of days per week where they won’t consume animal products and they are asked for their email to do follow up surveys. The tour operators approach every viewer after they have finished the video and ask if they have any more questions or want more information and then give them $1.
“Taking that first step, and whether that’s one vegan meal a week or seven days a week, we can start to have an impact on how animals are treated in the system and basically give the animals the proper worth to their lives,” Tabar said.
By showing the video, FARM seeks to spread awareness and campaign for the expulsion of inhumane practices.
“Stuff like this is significantly more effective than any of those other types of campaigns because, again, nothing is going to happen unless public opinion starts to move in that direction,” Tabar said.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the mission statement of Farm Animal Rights Movement. The organization does not lobby for legislative changes, and it seeks to promote a vegan lifestyle. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.
