Intelligence

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, August/September 1996:

A Food Research Association
survey reported in the May 29 edition of
New Scientist that “conscientious consumers”
fall into three categories, of
whom only vegetarians boycotting animal
products tend to sustain boycotts over
time. The second category includes people
who think about ethical issues, but
mainly shop by price; the third is people
who worry about issues but rarely change
their actual shopping behavior.

In 1966, as the civil rights
movement peaked and anti-Vietnam War
protest rose, 15.5% of college freshmen
joined a protest, according to a
University of California at Los Angeles
study. By 1990, when the children of the
1960s demonstrators reached college,
39.4% protested. The 1994 figure was an
even higher 40.4%. But student interest
in politics has markedly dropped: 29.9%
of freshmen often discussed politics in
1968, but only 14.8% did in 1995, a hint
that protesting is now done more for peer
group reinforcement than as outreach to
those of differing beliefs and values.

Animal and environmental
issues together drew 2.8% of U.S. charitable
gifts in 1995, a 12.5% rise over
1994, says Giving USA, published by the
American Association of Fund-Raising
Counsel. Total charitable gifts rose 11%,
the biggest jump since 1986.