Matt Ball - The Accidental Activist

Over the past two decades, Matt Ball has had a singularly profound influence on the animal protection movement in the United States. Matt's reasoned, eloquent focus on having the biggest possible impact with the greatest possible efficiency has resonated with tens of thousands of individuals, and created fundamental, pragmatic change on every level of the movement.

Michael Greger, M.D., Director Public Health and Animal Agriculture Humane Society of the United States

Matt Ball is a terrific human being and a seasoned campaigner who really knows his onions. In this book, he ably condenses his decades of experience, public outreach, and good deeds into an irresistible, practical guide for the ethical Everyman. Buy this book and give it to anyone who aspires to do right and do good.

Ingrid Newkirk, President People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Matt Ball is in the very small group of people who have had the most significant influence on animal advocacy. He has been an essential, logical, relentless force for changing our movement's focus. As much as anyone I know, Matt has bent the arc of history toward justice.

Bruce Friedrich Senior Policy Director, Farm Sanctuary

Eloquent and inspiring, The Accidental Activist is essential reading for any animal advocate. Read this book and I can guarantee that you will come away uplifted, determined, and armed with exactly the information you need to change the world for animals.

Virginia Messina, MPH, RD co-author of Vegan for Her, Vegan for Life, and The Vegan Sourcebook

Tired of feeling frustrated? Starting to feel like it's hopeless? Don't waste another minute: read this book, get inspired, and maximize your effectiveness!

Jon Bockman, Executive Director Animal Charity Evaluators

Matt Ball is a thought leader in the animal movement who has helped pave an important path towards more pragmatic advocacy. For years he's inspired many not to focus on activism that may feel good, but rather on what's actually effective.

Erica Meier, Executive Director Compassion Over Killing

Matt Ball presents activists with the most important question: How can I do the most good? His essays are required reading for all our staff and interns.

David Coman-Hidy Executive Director, The Humane League

Matt Ball is the activist's activist. His mantra is effectiveness; his style is cool, calm, and collected; and his driving force is a palpable passion to end suffering. If you want to find out how to make your life matter, this collection of his wisdom is necessary reading.

Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan Our Hen House

There are few people whose work I have more respect and admiration for than Matt Ball. A true pioneer, Matt has put veganism on the map, sparing millions of animals from suffering on factory farms. I am excited that this book exists and hope it will serve as a textbook for new and veteran advocates alike.

Kristie Middleton, Food Policy Manager The Humane Society of the United States

I highly recommend The Accidental Activist for all of us who strive to become more effective voices for animals.

Josh Balk, Director of Food Policy The Humane Society of the United States

For over two decades Matt Ball has shaped, led, and expanded vegan advocacy. He's shared a wealth of information over these years, never hesitating to examine and modify his own assumptions and strategies as he went. The Accidental Activist highlights the best of his work, with the added bonus of pieces by other leaders in the movement whom he's inspired. Read it and be inspired, too.

Charlie Talbert, Board President Alliance For Animals and the Environment

Read this book if you want to prevent cruelty and inspire compassion.

Nathan Runkle Executive Director, Mercy for Animals

Animal advocates are fortunate to have the benefit of Matt Ball's many years of experience as an activist, and to be able to access that experience through his writing. In his essays, Matt provides many important insights and guidance for anyone who wishes to wield their time and resources to efficiently defend animals from harm.

Mark Middleton, AnimalVisuals

Matt Ball is one of my heroes. There is nothing I want more than to help make the world a kinder place, and nobody whose work has guided me better toward that goal. This book is a terrific collection of his ideas. I recommend wholeheartedly that it go to the very top of every activist's reading list.

Karen Dawn, DawnWatch and author of Thanking the Monkey

2014

Lantern Books

128 Second Place

Brooklyn, NY 11231

www.lanternbooks.com

Copyright 2014 Matt Ball

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Lantern Books.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN (pbk) 978-1-59056-454-7, (e) 978-1-59056-455-4

Library of Congress CIP information is available.

Peter Singer

I have followed Matt Ball and Vegan Outreach's evolution for many years, and observed the parallels with the evolution of the animal rights movement in the United States. Matt began his involvement in animal rights in the 1980s by participating in, and sometimes getting arrested during, protests against the use of fur, and against testing household products on animals.

Nowadays, Matt, in keeping with a large proportion of current animal activists, is much more focused on utilitarian goalsremembering, of course, that utilitarians such as Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Henry Sidgwick were always careful to include the welfare of animals, along with that of humans, when speaking of reducing pain and suffering. The bottom line for Matt is to have the greatest possible beneficial impact for animals, given the finite resources available. Matt's advocacy is informed by his understanding of psychology and the social sciences. It is based on a realistic, thorough, and ongoing evaluation of society as it currently is, and on how change can and does come about at different levels, from individuals to industries.

The consequences of this significant shift in the efforts of so many activists are evident. The movement to reduce animal suffering is having an impact, and the extent of that impact is growing at an accelerating pace. More people are changing their diet and eating fewer animals. More importantly, the number of animals killed in the United States is in decline, even as the population grows. A new future is in sight, one that Matt, Vegan Outreach, and other advocates are hard at work creating.

There is room for diverse views within the animal movement. Not every animal activist will agree with Matt on the best focus for her or his activities, nor on the best way of reducing animal suffering. Nevertheless, every activist will benefit from reading about how Matt arrived at where he is todayespecially because he is candid in describing what he now considers mistakes and missteps. Wisdom is the ability to learn from one's mistakes and from the mistakes of others. We are fortunate to have people like Matt helping us to be wiser tomorrow.

December 2013

Paul Shapiro

Vice President, Farm Animal Protection
The Humane Society of the United States

I have a confession. As with most confessions, it's one I'm not proud of. And, perhaps unlike most things an animal advocate would confess, it harmed animals.