Kathryn Asher | The University of New Brunswick (original) (raw)

Papers by Kathryn Asher

There are a variety of approaches to addressing meat overconsumption including forms of meat rest... more There are a variety of approaches to addressing meat overconsumption including forms of meat restriction that vary by the degree of reductions and the type of meat reduced. This study examines three such diets—a vegetarian diet, a reduced-meat diet, and a chicken-free diet—with a focus on the differences in the lived dietary experiences of their adherents. These lived experiences are operationalized using a variety of measures: satisfaction with food-related life, social ties, convenience, social/personal life, health, cost, motivation, identity, perception of prevalence rates, length of diet adherence, and the theory of planned behavior (intentions, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms). The data comes from an online survey of a cross-sectional, census-balanced sample of more than 30,0000 U.S. residents aged 18+ years sourced from Nielsen’s Harris Panel. The results showed meat reducers to be a larger group than previously suspected, with a third of America...

Which factors in the domestic sphere serve as barriers to the successful promotion and maintenanc... more Which factors in the domestic sphere serve as barriers to the successful promotion and maintenance of vegetarian and vegan diets? In this paper, we seek to explore the domestic roadblocks to vegetarian and vegan diet conversion in order to complement existing sociological research on vegetarianism, veganism, and animal advocacy. To accomplish this, we engaged in a review of sociological literature on food and domestic life, including literature from sociology of the family, sociology of gender, the sociology of food, and other areas. The barriers we found include family reactions to dietary change, mothers’ roles in providing food for young children, the subordination of women’s food preferences, women’s food provisioning as a form of power, the dynamics of food choice between spouses and significant others, the role of meat in the domestic hierarchy of meals, and race and social class.

Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Aug 2014

This paper presents an Efficacy Assessment Model (EAM), for the animal activism movement. The EAM... more This paper presents an Efficacy Assessment Model (EAM), for the animal activism movement. The EAM is a decision-making aid for animal activists. Similar in intent to Jeremy Bentham’s hedonic calculus, the EAM is a continually improvable model that helps guide decisions on alternative courses of action. There are eight components of the EAM: degree, durational effect, attainability, proximity, tangential positive impacts, tangential negative impacts, magnitude, and resources. The model allows activists to rate their activism under each component, to show which course of action should be pursued.

I believe the EAM is required because humans’ exploitation of other animals has progressively intensified in both size and degree, with disproportionate gains in response.1 Furthermore, the current abolition/reform debate bitterly divides activists, and at times precludes their cooperation. The debate is a division between two groups of activists who ultimately seek the complete abolition of nonhuman animal exploitation. The disagreement is about whether exploitation should be ameliorated (in addition to being incrementally abolished).

My revisiting of the abolition/reform debate is innovative in two respects. To my knowledge there is only one other exploration of the debate that presents: 1) the advantages and disadvantages of both sides, and 2) criteria for assessing the utility of activism irrespective of its association with either camp.

To bridge the current divide in the debate, I identify the animal activism movement’s overarching goal as reducing, to the point of eliminating, harm to nonhuman animals. The EAM measures how effective animal activism is at achieving this goal.

As part of my research, I created a website to house the EAM. The website served as an open forum where activists shared ideas and recommendations on improving this living tool. The model as it appears in this paper is at a theoretical level; although, my hope is that in future it will move to a practical one.

The EAM can be used by animal activists to: 1) clarify and complexify the abolition/reform debate; 2) guide judgment on the relative merits of activism irrespective of its association with either side of the debate; and 3) guide future research. More research is required on the practical and debate issues to decrease the subjectivity of the assignment of ratings within the model’s components. Examining other social movements and the animal activism movement in more detail, as well as scientific research and opinion polls, may be beneficial to address this subjectivity. In addition, the EAM requires modifications to address: 1) the weighting of its components; 2) the weighting of the tangential impacts; 3) the tangential impacts rating system; 4) the tangential impacts on other players as well as other social movements; and 5) the need to make it more user-friendly. Although the EAM has drawbacks at this initial stage, most of the known drawbacks can be addressed over time with more research.

T.O.F.U. Magazine

Through the 10 Billion Lives North American Tour, a group of advocates travel across the U.S.—wit... more Through the 10 Billion Lives North American Tour, a group of advocates travel across the U.S.—with a few Canadian stops along the way—to conduct video outreach to inspire the adoption of a vegan diet (or steps in that direction). The name references the nearly 10 billion land animals that are used every year for food in the U.S. Their tour, which operates full-time with an average of five events per week, uses a truck that serves as an office space, sleeping quarters, and most importantly an outreach tool. The custom-built vehicle uses eight screens to host up to 32 simultaneous viewers. The tour is staffed by a coordinator who rounds out the crew by bringing on a handful of interns, and adds volunteer capacity when possible. Since launching in Portland, Oregon in the spring of 2012, the tour has made 99 stops in 63 different locations, covering close to 30 states and has reached more than 39,000 individuals, including a record 1,105 in one day.

T.O.F.U. Magazine

Jo-Anne bears witness to the life of animals in the human environment with her lens. Her images u... more Jo-Anne bears witness to the life of animals in the human environment with her lens. Her images uncover the often ignored relationships we have with the animals we abuse. If you find yourself upset by the haunting scenes Jo-Anne captures, you can follow her suggestions for helping animals on the project’s website (weanimals.org), which offers an exhaustive list from the personal to the political. Also, consider supporting her efforts by making a donation or purchasing a print. Since We Animals’ 1998 inception, Jo-Anne’s photographs have been the face of dozens of animal advocacy campaigns and have pulled her from her backyard in Toronto to some 40 countries around the globe. She shares some stories and images with us here.

As Vibrant Communities Saint John and partners step up the pace to reduce poverty in Saint John, ... more As Vibrant Communities Saint John and partners step up the pace to reduce poverty in Saint John, we arm ourselves again with the most recent census data—from Statistics Canada’s 2006 census—in a follow up to our first Poverty and Plenty report published in 2005.

Poverty and Plenty II is organized around five chapters: demographics, poverty and plenty, housing, education and employment, and the priority neighbourhoods. The centerpiece is the statistical profile of 27 indicators organized into the first four chapters and examined through a priority neighbourhood, city, Census Metropolitan Area, provincial and national lens. The demographics chapter looks at population change, age and family type. The poverty and plenty chapter looks at the poverty rate before and after tax as well as the rate for children, seniors, and several family types. This chapter also looks at median household income and offers an analysis of households with very high and very low incomes. The housing chapter looks at rental housing, the age of housing stock, the affordability of rental housing, and mobility rates. The chapter on education and employment looks at high school and postsecondary education completion as well as labour force participation. The priority neighbourhoods chapter looks at the city’s five priority neighbourhoods in detail. Data from this census and last (when available) is offered to show how we are faring this census and what changes occurred, or did not occur, since the last.

The data presented in Poverty and Plenty II is intended to be used to guide planning, policy and programs. This compendium of data serves as a companion piece to the Greater Saint John Poverty Reduction Strategy. There is something in this document for everyone. The neighbourhood volunteer can use the information to plan where they dedicate their volunteer hours while the regional manager of a government department can use this report to strategize about where they invest their funds. And most importantly this document arms neighbourhoods with detailed data about themselves.

The purpose of this discussion paper is to identify the personal and community impact of early sc... more The purpose of this discussion paper is to identify the personal and community impact of early school leaving, and to provide a foundation for strategic community actions that will help more children succeed in life.

This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to pa... more This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to paint a picture of the current state of child poverty. This is the sixth year that the New Brunswick Child Poverty Report Card has been prepared. It describes our province’s child poverty history and the particular challenges it faces.

This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to pa... more This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to paint a picture of the current state of child poverty. This is the fifth year that the New Brunswick Child Poverty Report Card has been prepared. It describes our provinceʼs child poverty history and the particular challenges it faces.

Saint John’s young people find themselves in a vulnerable position. A meaningful response calls f... more Saint John’s young people find themselves in a vulnerable position. A meaningful response calls for their involvement in decisions that affect their lives. As with any devalued population, young people are in the best position to identify the range of struggles they face and generate strategies for addressing them.

This paper documents the Saint John Youth Cabinet’s (SJYC) journey from the theoretical to the practical. The idea to create a youth cabinet stemmed from a recommendation by the Saint John Civic Panel of Inclusive Cities Canada (ICC). They recommended that the Human Development Council spearhead the creation of a municipal youth cabinet to remedy local youth disengagement. A youth cabinet was seen as a body tasked with advising municipal representatives on youth issues and making the community more youth-friendly.

The paper examines the emergent youth cabinet model, and places it in a broader context by exploring youth (dis)engagement in Canada and its effect on social inclusion. This evolution from theory to practice offers insight into improving the inclusiveness of communities for their young members.

The paper presents a snapshot of Saint John and its local youth community, including challenges faced by a high poverty rate, the looming youth exodus, and local young people’s feelings of exclusion. ICC’s work on social inclusion is explored, particularly in relation to youth civic engagement, and youth (dis)engagement.

This ICC policy and practice paper offers insight into Saint John’s journey of implementing a youth cabinet locally, which has been coloured by the ups and downs of working to engage a transient and undervalued segment of the population. The paper explores the Saint John model in light of the initial theory to practice transition, governance structure, membership, municipal relations and funding, and local and national initiatives. The paper concludes with an examination of challenges and prospects. Since the author is also the founding coordinator of the SJYC, parts of this paper are written in the first person.

This report presents the findings of a count of homeless youth 16 to 24 years of age in the city ... more This report presents the findings of a count of homeless youth 16 to 24 years of age in the city of Saint John during the month of February 2007. It also highlights best practices in Fredericton and Moncton for sheltering their city’s homeless young people.

Housing is a key influence in the overall well-being of Saint John residents. The impacts of poor... more Housing is a key influence in the overall well-being of Saint John residents. The impacts of poor housing transcend throughout the community: inadequate shelter can influence how Saint John addresses crime, education, employment, health, poverty, and social inclusion. Conversely, new investments in secure, appropriate, and affordable housing for Saint John residents can ensure that all of our neighbourhoods benefit from our community's future growth.

The Human Development Council has been calling for adequate, affordable housing in Saint John for a number of years. Recent research supports our call for action. Focus groups held as part of the Inclusive Cities Canada Project-a venture aimed at increasing the capacity of Canadian cities to secure and maintain inclusiveness-stressed the need for affordable housing in Saint John. The Inclusive Cities report highlighted that although there is a high vacancy rate, the suitability and adequacy of local housing is problematic. Street youth, seniors, people with disabilities and single mothers are most likely to shoulder the affects of our local housing problems. Poverty and Plenty, developed in partnership with Vibrant Communities Saint John, also highlighted the severe housing challenge present in our community's most vulnerable neighbourhoods.

This booklet can help housing proponents identify programs that will help them address Saint John's affordable housing needs. A brief outline of basic information, applicable federal and provincial funding programs; and private and corporate charitable foundations is offered to provide a road map for those interested in tackling this important issue that plagues so many in our community. While the Saint John municipal government does not have any official affordable housing programs, they do own Saint John Non-Profit Housing, which has helped address the housing needs of Saint Johners for a number of decades.

This report presents the findings of qualitative and quantitative research that explored the nonp... more This report presents the findings of qualitative and quantitative research that explored the nonprofit and voluntary sector in the Saint John area. Highlights of the findings are offered as well as a summary of the findings. A complete version of the survey data is presented in the Appendix.

In the summer of 2004, the Human Development Council conducted a survey of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in the Saint John area. The survey area included organizations based in Grand Bay-Westfield, Hampton, Quispamsis, Rothesay, and Saint John. The survey was sent to 273 nonprofit and voluntary organizations listed in the Human Development Council’s human services directory. There were 132 respondents, which yielded a 48.4 percent response rate to the survey.

The types of nonprofit and voluntary organizations surveyed include support groups, incorporated and unincorporated organizations, registered charities and organizations that exist predominately for the benefit of their members. Organizations contacted also ranged from those with no budget to organizations with multi-million dollar budgets. Hospitals, universities, and churches were not included in the survey.

This survey was designed to detail the health of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in the Saint John area. Relevant findings include the sector’s financial health, the strength of human resources, office equipment and technology, as well as organizations’ perception of their measures of success, strengths, weaknesses and major challenges.

First Steps Housing Project is a home for pregnant and parenting teens and young women in Saint J... more First Steps Housing Project is a home for pregnant and parenting teens and young women in Saint John, NB, Canada. Take a tour of this supportive space through the eyes of one young mom, Melissa.

A "Take Back The Night" march to support survivors of sexual assault took place September 23 in S... more A "Take Back The Night" march to support survivors of sexual assault took place September 23 in Saint John, NB, Canada. This video chronicling the experiences of four courageous survivors was shown at the march, attended by nearly 100 women, children and men.

Thesis Chapters by Kathryn Asher

Despite decades of promotion, rates of vegetarianism have changed minimally in the U.S. In part d... more Despite decades of promotion, rates of vegetarianism have changed minimally in the U.S. In part due to this slow growth rate, farmed animal advocates are divided about whether encouraging meat elimination or meat reduction (and which type) is best. Following Voltaire’s assertion that the perfect can be the enemy of the good, this research explores whether vegetarianism (the perfect) may be the enemy of the good for realizing advocates’ desired social movement outcomes in American society around meat and farmed animals. This dissertation, drawing on applied sociology and positioned at the intersection of effective altruism, social movement outcomes, the sociology of food, and dietary behaviour change, examines this research question and speaks to whether social movements should ask for intermediate steps or focus on their desired end goal.

This dissertation engages with an effective animal advocacy lens—a subset of effective altruism—to study the current and future potential impact of three diets promoted to varying degrees by U.S. advocates: a vegetarian diet, a reduced-meat diet, and a chicken-free diet (per the problem of smaller-bodied animals). Quantitative methods were used to consider how these diets can help this social movement “do the most good,” a key tenet of effective altruism. Data was collected from an online census- balanced cross-sectional sample of 30,000+ U.S. adults provided by Nielsen in 2016.

Results showed a reduced-meat diet had the highest prevalence rate among American adults and the largest number of food opinion leaders based on current as well as future potential eating patterns. A reduced-meat diet was the driver for the greatest number of meat-free meals eaten each week and the largest number of adults this is spread amongst, both taking in current and future potential trends. A reduced-meat diet also had the best external perceptions among those who are not restricting their meat consumption. Lived experiences was the one exception, where a vegetarian diet had the best internal experiences among individuals currently eating one of the diets. These findings suggest that there are reasons to infer that a reduced-meat diet may best support an effective animal advocacy approach to U.S. dietary outreach.

There are a variety of approaches to addressing meat overconsumption including forms of meat rest... more There are a variety of approaches to addressing meat overconsumption including forms of meat restriction that vary by the degree of reductions and the type of meat reduced. This study examines three such diets—a vegetarian diet, a reduced-meat diet, and a chicken-free diet—with a focus on the differences in the lived dietary experiences of their adherents. These lived experiences are operationalized using a variety of measures: satisfaction with food-related life, social ties, convenience, social/personal life, health, cost, motivation, identity, perception of prevalence rates, length of diet adherence, and the theory of planned behavior (intentions, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms). The data comes from an online survey of a cross-sectional, census-balanced sample of more than 30,0000 U.S. residents aged 18+ years sourced from Nielsen’s Harris Panel. The results showed meat reducers to be a larger group than previously suspected, with a third of America...

Which factors in the domestic sphere serve as barriers to the successful promotion and maintenanc... more Which factors in the domestic sphere serve as barriers to the successful promotion and maintenance of vegetarian and vegan diets? In this paper, we seek to explore the domestic roadblocks to vegetarian and vegan diet conversion in order to complement existing sociological research on vegetarianism, veganism, and animal advocacy. To accomplish this, we engaged in a review of sociological literature on food and domestic life, including literature from sociology of the family, sociology of gender, the sociology of food, and other areas. The barriers we found include family reactions to dietary change, mothers’ roles in providing food for young children, the subordination of women’s food preferences, women’s food provisioning as a form of power, the dynamics of food choice between spouses and significant others, the role of meat in the domestic hierarchy of meals, and race and social class.

Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Aug 2014

This paper presents an Efficacy Assessment Model (EAM), for the animal activism movement. The EAM... more This paper presents an Efficacy Assessment Model (EAM), for the animal activism movement. The EAM is a decision-making aid for animal activists. Similar in intent to Jeremy Bentham’s hedonic calculus, the EAM is a continually improvable model that helps guide decisions on alternative courses of action. There are eight components of the EAM: degree, durational effect, attainability, proximity, tangential positive impacts, tangential negative impacts, magnitude, and resources. The model allows activists to rate their activism under each component, to show which course of action should be pursued.

I believe the EAM is required because humans’ exploitation of other animals has progressively intensified in both size and degree, with disproportionate gains in response.1 Furthermore, the current abolition/reform debate bitterly divides activists, and at times precludes their cooperation. The debate is a division between two groups of activists who ultimately seek the complete abolition of nonhuman animal exploitation. The disagreement is about whether exploitation should be ameliorated (in addition to being incrementally abolished).

My revisiting of the abolition/reform debate is innovative in two respects. To my knowledge there is only one other exploration of the debate that presents: 1) the advantages and disadvantages of both sides, and 2) criteria for assessing the utility of activism irrespective of its association with either camp.

To bridge the current divide in the debate, I identify the animal activism movement’s overarching goal as reducing, to the point of eliminating, harm to nonhuman animals. The EAM measures how effective animal activism is at achieving this goal.

As part of my research, I created a website to house the EAM. The website served as an open forum where activists shared ideas and recommendations on improving this living tool. The model as it appears in this paper is at a theoretical level; although, my hope is that in future it will move to a practical one.

The EAM can be used by animal activists to: 1) clarify and complexify the abolition/reform debate; 2) guide judgment on the relative merits of activism irrespective of its association with either side of the debate; and 3) guide future research. More research is required on the practical and debate issues to decrease the subjectivity of the assignment of ratings within the model’s components. Examining other social movements and the animal activism movement in more detail, as well as scientific research and opinion polls, may be beneficial to address this subjectivity. In addition, the EAM requires modifications to address: 1) the weighting of its components; 2) the weighting of the tangential impacts; 3) the tangential impacts rating system; 4) the tangential impacts on other players as well as other social movements; and 5) the need to make it more user-friendly. Although the EAM has drawbacks at this initial stage, most of the known drawbacks can be addressed over time with more research.

T.O.F.U. Magazine

Through the 10 Billion Lives North American Tour, a group of advocates travel across the U.S.—wit... more Through the 10 Billion Lives North American Tour, a group of advocates travel across the U.S.—with a few Canadian stops along the way—to conduct video outreach to inspire the adoption of a vegan diet (or steps in that direction). The name references the nearly 10 billion land animals that are used every year for food in the U.S. Their tour, which operates full-time with an average of five events per week, uses a truck that serves as an office space, sleeping quarters, and most importantly an outreach tool. The custom-built vehicle uses eight screens to host up to 32 simultaneous viewers. The tour is staffed by a coordinator who rounds out the crew by bringing on a handful of interns, and adds volunteer capacity when possible. Since launching in Portland, Oregon in the spring of 2012, the tour has made 99 stops in 63 different locations, covering close to 30 states and has reached more than 39,000 individuals, including a record 1,105 in one day.

T.O.F.U. Magazine

Jo-Anne bears witness to the life of animals in the human environment with her lens. Her images u... more Jo-Anne bears witness to the life of animals in the human environment with her lens. Her images uncover the often ignored relationships we have with the animals we abuse. If you find yourself upset by the haunting scenes Jo-Anne captures, you can follow her suggestions for helping animals on the project’s website (weanimals.org), which offers an exhaustive list from the personal to the political. Also, consider supporting her efforts by making a donation or purchasing a print. Since We Animals’ 1998 inception, Jo-Anne’s photographs have been the face of dozens of animal advocacy campaigns and have pulled her from her backyard in Toronto to some 40 countries around the globe. She shares some stories and images with us here.

As Vibrant Communities Saint John and partners step up the pace to reduce poverty in Saint John, ... more As Vibrant Communities Saint John and partners step up the pace to reduce poverty in Saint John, we arm ourselves again with the most recent census data—from Statistics Canada’s 2006 census—in a follow up to our first Poverty and Plenty report published in 2005.

Poverty and Plenty II is organized around five chapters: demographics, poverty and plenty, housing, education and employment, and the priority neighbourhoods. The centerpiece is the statistical profile of 27 indicators organized into the first four chapters and examined through a priority neighbourhood, city, Census Metropolitan Area, provincial and national lens. The demographics chapter looks at population change, age and family type. The poverty and plenty chapter looks at the poverty rate before and after tax as well as the rate for children, seniors, and several family types. This chapter also looks at median household income and offers an analysis of households with very high and very low incomes. The housing chapter looks at rental housing, the age of housing stock, the affordability of rental housing, and mobility rates. The chapter on education and employment looks at high school and postsecondary education completion as well as labour force participation. The priority neighbourhoods chapter looks at the city’s five priority neighbourhoods in detail. Data from this census and last (when available) is offered to show how we are faring this census and what changes occurred, or did not occur, since the last.

The data presented in Poverty and Plenty II is intended to be used to guide planning, policy and programs. This compendium of data serves as a companion piece to the Greater Saint John Poverty Reduction Strategy. There is something in this document for everyone. The neighbourhood volunteer can use the information to plan where they dedicate their volunteer hours while the regional manager of a government department can use this report to strategize about where they invest their funds. And most importantly this document arms neighbourhoods with detailed data about themselves.

The purpose of this discussion paper is to identify the personal and community impact of early sc... more The purpose of this discussion paper is to identify the personal and community impact of early school leaving, and to provide a foundation for strategic community actions that will help more children succeed in life.

This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to pa... more This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to paint a picture of the current state of child poverty. This is the sixth year that the New Brunswick Child Poverty Report Card has been prepared. It describes our province’s child poverty history and the particular challenges it faces.

This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to pa... more This report is one of the many provincial report cards that have been written across Canada to paint a picture of the current state of child poverty. This is the fifth year that the New Brunswick Child Poverty Report Card has been prepared. It describes our provinceʼs child poverty history and the particular challenges it faces.

Saint John’s young people find themselves in a vulnerable position. A meaningful response calls f... more Saint John’s young people find themselves in a vulnerable position. A meaningful response calls for their involvement in decisions that affect their lives. As with any devalued population, young people are in the best position to identify the range of struggles they face and generate strategies for addressing them.

This paper documents the Saint John Youth Cabinet’s (SJYC) journey from the theoretical to the practical. The idea to create a youth cabinet stemmed from a recommendation by the Saint John Civic Panel of Inclusive Cities Canada (ICC). They recommended that the Human Development Council spearhead the creation of a municipal youth cabinet to remedy local youth disengagement. A youth cabinet was seen as a body tasked with advising municipal representatives on youth issues and making the community more youth-friendly.

The paper examines the emergent youth cabinet model, and places it in a broader context by exploring youth (dis)engagement in Canada and its effect on social inclusion. This evolution from theory to practice offers insight into improving the inclusiveness of communities for their young members.

The paper presents a snapshot of Saint John and its local youth community, including challenges faced by a high poverty rate, the looming youth exodus, and local young people’s feelings of exclusion. ICC’s work on social inclusion is explored, particularly in relation to youth civic engagement, and youth (dis)engagement.

This ICC policy and practice paper offers insight into Saint John’s journey of implementing a youth cabinet locally, which has been coloured by the ups and downs of working to engage a transient and undervalued segment of the population. The paper explores the Saint John model in light of the initial theory to practice transition, governance structure, membership, municipal relations and funding, and local and national initiatives. The paper concludes with an examination of challenges and prospects. Since the author is also the founding coordinator of the SJYC, parts of this paper are written in the first person.

This report presents the findings of a count of homeless youth 16 to 24 years of age in the city ... more This report presents the findings of a count of homeless youth 16 to 24 years of age in the city of Saint John during the month of February 2007. It also highlights best practices in Fredericton and Moncton for sheltering their city’s homeless young people.

Housing is a key influence in the overall well-being of Saint John residents. The impacts of poor... more Housing is a key influence in the overall well-being of Saint John residents. The impacts of poor housing transcend throughout the community: inadequate shelter can influence how Saint John addresses crime, education, employment, health, poverty, and social inclusion. Conversely, new investments in secure, appropriate, and affordable housing for Saint John residents can ensure that all of our neighbourhoods benefit from our community's future growth.

The Human Development Council has been calling for adequate, affordable housing in Saint John for a number of years. Recent research supports our call for action. Focus groups held as part of the Inclusive Cities Canada Project-a venture aimed at increasing the capacity of Canadian cities to secure and maintain inclusiveness-stressed the need for affordable housing in Saint John. The Inclusive Cities report highlighted that although there is a high vacancy rate, the suitability and adequacy of local housing is problematic. Street youth, seniors, people with disabilities and single mothers are most likely to shoulder the affects of our local housing problems. Poverty and Plenty, developed in partnership with Vibrant Communities Saint John, also highlighted the severe housing challenge present in our community's most vulnerable neighbourhoods.

This booklet can help housing proponents identify programs that will help them address Saint John's affordable housing needs. A brief outline of basic information, applicable federal and provincial funding programs; and private and corporate charitable foundations is offered to provide a road map for those interested in tackling this important issue that plagues so many in our community. While the Saint John municipal government does not have any official affordable housing programs, they do own Saint John Non-Profit Housing, which has helped address the housing needs of Saint Johners for a number of decades.

This report presents the findings of qualitative and quantitative research that explored the nonp... more This report presents the findings of qualitative and quantitative research that explored the nonprofit and voluntary sector in the Saint John area. Highlights of the findings are offered as well as a summary of the findings. A complete version of the survey data is presented in the Appendix.

In the summer of 2004, the Human Development Council conducted a survey of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in the Saint John area. The survey area included organizations based in Grand Bay-Westfield, Hampton, Quispamsis, Rothesay, and Saint John. The survey was sent to 273 nonprofit and voluntary organizations listed in the Human Development Council’s human services directory. There were 132 respondents, which yielded a 48.4 percent response rate to the survey.

The types of nonprofit and voluntary organizations surveyed include support groups, incorporated and unincorporated organizations, registered charities and organizations that exist predominately for the benefit of their members. Organizations contacted also ranged from those with no budget to organizations with multi-million dollar budgets. Hospitals, universities, and churches were not included in the survey.

This survey was designed to detail the health of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in the Saint John area. Relevant findings include the sector’s financial health, the strength of human resources, office equipment and technology, as well as organizations’ perception of their measures of success, strengths, weaknesses and major challenges.

First Steps Housing Project is a home for pregnant and parenting teens and young women in Saint J... more First Steps Housing Project is a home for pregnant and parenting teens and young women in Saint John, NB, Canada. Take a tour of this supportive space through the eyes of one young mom, Melissa.

A "Take Back The Night" march to support survivors of sexual assault took place September 23 in S... more A "Take Back The Night" march to support survivors of sexual assault took place September 23 in Saint John, NB, Canada. This video chronicling the experiences of four courageous survivors was shown at the march, attended by nearly 100 women, children and men.

Despite decades of promotion, rates of vegetarianism have changed minimally in the U.S. In part d... more Despite decades of promotion, rates of vegetarianism have changed minimally in the U.S. In part due to this slow growth rate, farmed animal advocates are divided about whether encouraging meat elimination or meat reduction (and which type) is best. Following Voltaire’s assertion that the perfect can be the enemy of the good, this research explores whether vegetarianism (the perfect) may be the enemy of the good for realizing advocates’ desired social movement outcomes in American society around meat and farmed animals. This dissertation, drawing on applied sociology and positioned at the intersection of effective altruism, social movement outcomes, the sociology of food, and dietary behaviour change, examines this research question and speaks to whether social movements should ask for intermediate steps or focus on their desired end goal.

This dissertation engages with an effective animal advocacy lens—a subset of effective altruism—to study the current and future potential impact of three diets promoted to varying degrees by U.S. advocates: a vegetarian diet, a reduced-meat diet, and a chicken-free diet (per the problem of smaller-bodied animals). Quantitative methods were used to consider how these diets can help this social movement “do the most good,” a key tenet of effective altruism. Data was collected from an online census- balanced cross-sectional sample of 30,000+ U.S. adults provided by Nielsen in 2016.

Results showed a reduced-meat diet had the highest prevalence rate among American adults and the largest number of food opinion leaders based on current as well as future potential eating patterns. A reduced-meat diet was the driver for the greatest number of meat-free meals eaten each week and the largest number of adults this is spread amongst, both taking in current and future potential trends. A reduced-meat diet also had the best external perceptions among those who are not restricting their meat consumption. Lived experiences was the one exception, where a vegetarian diet had the best internal experiences among individuals currently eating one of the diets. These findings suggest that there are reasons to infer that a reduced-meat diet may best support an effective animal advocacy approach to U.S. dietary outreach.