The mistreatment of livestock and the ethical sustainability of the meat industry have been hotly debated for decades. While organizations like PETA and Greenpeace push for better animal treatment, many others are on the ground informing others. Social media has provided a platform to do so, and one video by a Rhode Island TikToker is going viral for being heavily convincing.
TikTok user @taryn4theanimals out of Rhode Island captioned the video, saying, “Connect the dots, people!!” Before diving into several strong points for veganism. “You don’t think it’s [Expletive] suspicious that the animal agriculture industry is the leading cause of deforestation, ocean dead zones, species extinctions, methane emissions, and many more environmental issues?” She says. “All the while, they’re exempt from multiple environmental protection laws.”
The TikToker goes on to say that the meat and dairy industries give a significant portion of their proceeds to the Trump administration. Additional points follow, such as RFK encouraging greater dairy consumption and the fact that it’s illegal to record inside animal processing facilities. The video ends with @taryn4theanimals’s final points on the stigma surrounding vegans and the lack of support for non-animal diets. And now, many are watching the video and agreeing with the Rhode Island advocate that veganism is as much a human rights issue as an environmental one.
Vegans Speak Up
“The Got Milk campaign under Bush was nothing but lobbyists pushing their products. Same with bottled water. America is trapped by capitalism,” one user comments on the video on Reddit. “I guess the animal agriculture industry has been suspicious since the 1920s. The agricultural lobby is notorious for punching far above its weight in bipartisan lobbying. They get away with it due to being quiet,” another user replies.
Some shared their own journey toward veganism, while also claiming this began long before the Trump administration. “I went vegetarian the day the WWE started pushing huge meat burgers at their events and casting their heel as an ecoterrorist vegetarian. That was, for some reason, the day I realized something was up with the right wing and the meat industry. That was almost a decade ago, and the people who said I was crazy back then say it a lot less, now.”
One user shares this about the Rhode Island drama. “I haven’t gone full vegan yet, but I’m now trying. I have dietary issues that would make it hard, and I’ve always kind of promised myself I’d keep at least eggs in my diet for my own health, but RFK’s recent push has me really looking into every protein alternative I can find, wherever I can sub it in for dairy and eggs.”
