In response to some of the posting going onto today on various walls about Fiona’s stance on veganism we would like to make the following statement to try to explain our approach to getting the cruelty free message into the mainstream. We think that most people are aware that, generally speaking, people do not like being told what to do – they certainly do not like being told what they can and cannot eat. A perfect example of this is the obesity issue in the country today. People are constantly being told what is good to eat and and what is not, but they continue to eat what they want because they like it – even at the expense of their own health - or life. This makes the promotion of the vegan message a potentially hazardous one, and our experience is that direct confrontation in this respect merely serves to alienate. The masses are looking for excuses all the time in order to justify the continuation of their eating habits and being able to dismiss vegans as aggressive, petty and as fundamentalist nutters, seems to do the trick quite nicely. - F’ing & blinding in a messages to Fiona or on her wall merely underlines this aggressiveness we see in the movement. So our approach is different – Fiona will never tell anyone to go vegan – this has to be their choice and they have to want to make that choice or else it will fail. Fiona sets out to show that as a vegan she gets all she needs to perform in the way she does in extreme sport and if the diet can power her to three world records then it has to be good enough to power the average person to work ! We therefore want to give people a “reason” to consider the lifestyle – you really cannot tell people to do it – whilst the animal suffering is plenty reason for some, it is just not the case for the majority and if we want the cause to grow we have to appeal to the non vegan community – not the already vegan community. In our experience with interviews you have to display that you have an understanding of other people’s points of view and respect for their choices – whether you agree with them or not as this is a democratic society. More now than ever, the general public are filled with fear of fundamentalism and what they perceive as, radical behaviour or thoughts, we really do not want to give anyone the opportunity to lump the cause erroneously into that category. This is why we choose to veer away from the idea we are trying to force anything on anyone – we want it to be their decision based on facts not fear. This is our reality, it may not be yours but I think the many would agree that if you had 10 people in a room and decided to hold a debate on something as banal as ‘what is the best car in the world’ it would be hard to get them to agree, so to think it is easy to get everyone in the world to suddenly agree on such a potential ‘minefield’ of a topic of their diet is totally unrealistic. We have found this tactic to work and Fiona is now getting asked to come back for repeat interviews, regular slots on radio shows and regularly written about in a very positive way in the media. This keeps the word ‘vegan’ alive in the press in a positive way and that is what we want – for veganism to be seen in its full glory not only as a benefit to individuals but to the animals and the planet too. No negativity, just positivity. As for ‘selling out’ we don’t believe this is doing so. We believe this is the opposite as we are being allowed to ‘sell’ what we believe to more people. This way a vast majority of people who would have gone through life never really having heard of the positive benefits of veganism or dismissing it as a ‘fad’, un-sustainable lifestyle get to see, hear and read that it is no such thing rather than all Fiona’s achievements just being buried from view by a biased media printing untruths, bad examples and stereotypes. Whatever you think or how you choose to go about getting your message across we both agree on one thing, in-fighting is not the way forward and does not benefit the animals in any way, shape or form. Taking an aggressive and hostile stance towards someone with your own beliefs and ideals but using a different method to enlighten others and lead them down this path is not, in our opinion, acceptable on any level and we don’t want to continue the debate as it is essentially detrimental to the animals and the vegan cause Below is a response from Fiona to someone who asked for her comments on the subject and these are her own words. It is very, very hard to explain in a few sentences but, believe me, you are briefed before you go on these shows exactly what you can and cannot say. If you don’t play ball you don’t get on. For instance, if you look at the interview I did for the BBC Breakfast show I was told that I was not to mention the vegan issue at all. The only way I could do it was, when asked, to say that the reason I did the challenge of the North Pole Marathon was to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Vegan Society – of which I am an Honorary Patron. If you also notice, after that, there is absolutely no ‘take up’ on the questions by both interviewers on the vegan issue at all. They did not want it on there and you cannot speak of what you want, you can only answer questions. You are told before you go on, we don’t want some radical extremist who just appears to be dictating to everyone what they should and should not do (or words to that effect). If it is a sports show they tend only to want to talk about the sport and won’t let you just take the conversation where you want to or they will cut you off. You have to take the softly, softly approach and kind of lead people in a rational way for them to think it out for themselves. Obviously, I don’t agree with this but I have learned you have to go along with it or you will get nowhere with the Press. To be frank, in my experience, mentioning being vegan is an absolute taboo in the media and a lot of people have said the same thing and had the same experiences. Once you start telling people what they absolutely can and cannot eat they get very aggressive (and it is actually confrontational with the interviewer who, 9 x out of 10 isn’t vegan themselves) but I do hope that by showing what I have done, it might lead them into the same kind of thought path as myself. I want to promote veganism, of course I do, but you have to have the media on your side to do it. They love to stereotype people who follow an ethical vegan lifestyle with being some kind of dictator, radical and unable to see anyone else’s point of view. You have to show that you aren’t that way and hope your actions speak louder than your words. By using this approach I have managed to get more interviews and a lot of people have contacted me on the back of them saying they are interested and want my help to discover this new lifestyle choice. If you go on to a show and say that you think everyone should, by now, be following a vegan diet or lifestyle, a lot of listeners will just switch off – using the excuse it is totally infeasible. I do hope they won’t if they get a chance to hear the full story, the fact you do fit your lifestyle in with every other facet of your life, that you do understand the issues and challenges other people face and that it can and does work. Quite frankly, I want to stand on top of the highest mountain I can find and say ‘why isn’t everyone vegan by now and why am I having to waste my time stating the obvious’ – and by being vegan for 40 years I don’t think I should have to do that, but in my experience you have to or you will get nowhere. In November 2013 I broke 3 World Records – which should have been National news. In fact, I had a National newspaper willing to cover the story but when the Editor found out about the vegan issue they dropped me stating they could not allow me to be in the paper as it would upset some of their advertisers. It’s all about the money. If you say everyone has to be vegan, no compromise you won’t even get a look in, this proves it. I just want to go out there and have the opportunity to show people that if they are thinking about veganism or not, it could be for them – obviously the thinking people will take my lead but there are those who won’t and never will do. The choice is simple, do you get the opportunity to get to some people or none. I have tried it one way and am now having to ‘play ball’ to a certain extent to get my message across and hope that some may take on what I am saying. I realise I cannot do this alone. You have to have individuals in society starting to embrace this lifestyle and then start their own catalytic affect amongst their own peer group. For instance, in MdS in 2012 one of my fellow competitors became vegan because he saw me in action, from then he has several friends who have done the same. My views are, have always been and always will be 100% ethical vegan for the animals and I have a lifetime of living that to endorse it. However, I have no power over the press. I simply am given the options to tell my story but on THEIR terms. I either remain silent or work with it. I am sorry but this is what I have found to be the case – of course, I want the whole world to be vegan but, until the time comes that globally people wake up, I have to take the opportunity to encourage as many people on this planet as I can as this is the best I can do. For instance, if you look at the interview I did for the BBC Breakfast show I was told that I was not to mention the vegan issue at all. The only way I could do it was, when asked, to say that the reason I did the challenge of the North Pole Marathon was to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Vegan Society – of which I am an Honorary Patron. If you also notice, after that, there is absolutely no ‘take up’ on the questions by both interviewers on the vegan issue at all. They did not want it on there and you cannot speak of what you want, you can only answer questions. You are told before you go on, we don’t want some radical extremist who just appears to be dictating to everyone what they should and should not do (or words to that effect). If it is a sports show they tend only to want to talk about the sport and won’t let you just take the conversation where you want to or they will cut you off. You have to take the softly, softly approach and kind of lead people in a rational way for them to think it out for themselves. Obviously, I don’t agree with this but I have learned you have to go along with it or you will get nowhere with the Press. To be frank, in my experience, mentioning being vegan is an absolute taboo in the media and a lot of people have said the same thing and had the same experiences. Once you start telling people what they absolutely can and cannot eat they get very aggressive (and it is actually confrontational with the interviewer who, 9 x out of 10 isn’t vegan themselves) but I do hope that by showing what I have done, it might lead them into the same kind of thought path as myself. I want to promote veganism, of course I do, but you have to have the media on your side to do it. They love to stereotype people who follow an ethical vegan lifestyle with being some kind of dictator, radical and unable to see anyone else’s point of view. You have to show that you aren’t that way and hope your actions speak louder than your words. By using this approach I have managed to get more interviews and a lot of people have contacted me on the back of them saying they are interested and want my help to discover this new lifestyle choice. If you go on to a show and say that you think everyone should, by now, be following a vegan diet or lifestyle, a lot of listeners will just switch off – using the excuse it is totally infeasible. I do hope they won’t if they get a chance to hear the full story, the fact you do fit your lifestyle in with every other facet of your life, that you do understand the issues and challenges other people face and that it can and does work. Quite frankly, I want to stand on top of the highest mountain I can find and say ‘why isn’t everyone vegan by now and why am I having to waste my time stating the obvious’ – and by being vegan for 40 years I don’t think I should have to do that, but in my experience you have to or you will get nowhere. In November 2013 I broke 3 World Records – which should have been National news. In fact, I had a National newspaper willing to cover the story but when the Editor found out about the vegan issue they dropped me stating they could not allow me to be in the paper as it would upset some of their advertisers. It’s all about the money. If you say everyone has to be vegan, no compromise you won’t even get a look in, this proves it. I just want to go out there and have the opportunity to show people that if they are thinking about veganism or not, it could be for them – obviously the thinking people will take my lead but here are those who won’t and never will do. The choice is simple, do you get the opportunity to get to some people or none. I have tried it one way and am now having to ‘play ball’ to a certain extent to get my message across and hope that some may take on what I am saying. I realise I cannot do this alone. You have to have individuals in society starting to embrace this lifestyle and then start their own catalytic affect amongst their own peer group. For instance, in MdS in 2012 one of my fellow competitors became vegan because he saw me in action, from then he has several friends who have done the same. My views are, have always been and always will be 100% ethical vegan for the animals and I have a lifetime of living that to endorse it. However, I have no power over the press. I simply am given the options to tell my story but on THEIR terms. I either remain silent or work with it. I am sorry but this is what I have found to be the case – of course, I want the whole world to be vegan but, until the time comes that globally people wake up, I have to take the opportunity to encourage as many people on this planet as I can as this is the best I can do.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 19:04:07 +0000
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