Student: Beau Broughton
Graduation date: May 2014
Capstone type: Thesis
Capstone project:
Project not yet linked to capstone record
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I employ a multifaceted methodology situated in American food activism discourse to investigate the segment of the animal protection movement focused on farmed animals. Animal advocates use undercover investigative media in farms and slaughterhouses to inspire individual change by decreasing the visual distance between morally-contested sites of production and consumption. I focus on the 10 Billion Lives Tour, which utilizes video media, an ethical narrative, and a receptive demographic to encourage a reduction in consumption of animal products as a response to perceived systemic cruelty within animal agriculture. I assisted in collecting follow-up surveys, which demonstrate the campaign’s relatively high success rates: nearly 60% of viewers reported consuming less meat, dairy, and eggs one year after watching the campaign’s informative video. I also argue that the rise of popular media texts addressing food—coupled with legislative victories and institutional changes regarding production practices—supplements the role of grassroots advocates. I draw on specific examples to better illustrate the post-modern literary food landscape. Fundamentally, my research serves both to inform animal protection advocates concerned with campaign efficacy, as well as to draw outside scholars and social activists into the realm of grassroots outreach for farmed animals. By discussing the barriers and shortcomings of the broader animal protection movement in the United Sates, I aim to build on existing research and critical advocacy work to foster a social movement that must discontinue exclusive tactics to become more inclusive, cohesive, intersectional, and, therefore, more effective.