Thanks for your message, Patti. I'm very glad there are groups like UPC, and I'm also glad there are groups that conduct undercover investigations like HSUS. The groups may not play the same role in our movement, but both are important.

 While I am not convinced that it helps animals for one animal group to publicly condemn other animal groups, I respect Karen and UPC very much and always have. Any antagonism she may have toward us is certainly not reciprocated in any way. I wish only the most success for UPC.

 With regard to Karen's condemnation in this case, I am always open to the possibility that we can be doing things better. In this case, I do think it's hard to imagine that an average viewer would watch the horror show we uncovered and think, as she wrote, that "the experts" are telling you to relax, it's okay. € That's the exact opposite message any reasonable viewer would receive, and based on the hundreds of viewers who contacted us about this latest investigation, it's not what people took away. As well, the condemnation inaccurately asserts that our narrator blandly suggests eating less meat from factory farms. Yet that's not what it says. The narrator urges people to eat less meat, not any one type of meat.

As far as including an additional ask regarding eggs: I agree that's very important and perhaps would have made a strong video even stronger. It's tricky to ask people to do several things since that can lead to decision paralysis, and we were already asking people to do two things: eat less meat, and urge USDA for improvements. The video discusses the egg industry a lot, but it acknowledges that these birds are being slaughtered for their meat to be eaten by humans. That's why we focused more on meat than eggs. Maybe it was the right call; maybe not. If other groups can do a better job than us with investigations and videos, I very much hope they will and I'd tout their good work on it.

For what it's worth, HSUS has a lot of egg-free resources (see here, for example), of course Josh Balk at HSUS helped create the egg-free company Hampton Creek Foods, and we've worked with a number of major food companies to reduce their use of eggs. We're a big investor in many egg-free (vegan) food companies like Beyond Meat, Veggie Grill, and Miyoko's Kitchen. We put out lots of resources like the HSUS Guide to Meat-Free Meals, our Meatless Monday video, our free vegan recipe of the week, our vegan recipe library, and more. As well, every issue of our member magazine has a feature on vegan cooking.

Perhaps we could and should be doing more, but compared to other animal groups of our size, it's hard to tell who else is doing anything remotely like this. Of course, all groups, certainly HSUS included, can always improve, and I very much want to help HSUS do just that.

Wonderful Interview with John Robbins
The Eugene Veg Society published an exclusive interview with John Robbins. I have admired him for decades, every since I read Diet for a New America in 1986  I still look up to him, and read whatever he writes.  You can read what advice this wise and kind man offers to new vegans, and what he wishes he could change about himself and more here:
http://www.eugeneveg.org/pdf/Interviews/2015/John_Robbins.pdf

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