A vegan activist is vowing to continue the war against meat, saying consuming it is "the worst injustice in the history of this planet".
Dr Michael Morris says vegan activist group Gummy Bears is conducting a "civil disobedience campaign", comparing it to women's suffrage and the Hong Kong protests.
He also compares banning meat to banning slavery, saying the UK and US economies thrived after slavery was abolished.
Gummy Bears has been leading an Auckland-wide initiative to place stickers on stop signs so they read "STOP eating animals".
But they're upset after meat-eaters launched a counter-campaign by putting stickers over their stop sign stickers.
Gummy Bears spokesperson Dr Morris told The AM Show on Wednesday "we don't need to eat animals.
"We cause immense suffering in New Zealand alone," he said. "We kill more animals than we've killed in all the wars in the 20th century.
"It's an absolute travesty."
Dr Morris said the organisation was trying to get creative.
"We can be [totally] healthy, and thrive, and be a top athlete on a vegan diet," he told The AM Show.
"The dairy industry is just as cruel as the meat industry in some ways."
Sports reader Mark Richardson questioned Dr Morris on whether he was aware ditching meat in New Zealand would cause an "economic downturn".
"Meat is on the way down anyway," Dr Morris replied.
"The US south relied heavily on slavery for its economy and they used the same arguments then."
Vegans have upped their activism in New Zealand this year. At the weekend, dozens of activists protested as part of a coordinated, nationwide effort - including a brief disruption of the annual Christmas parade.
Activists also disrupted shoppers at supermarkets across the country on Saturday, appearing at Auckland's Quay St Countdown, Wellington's Kilbirnie Pak'nSave, Christchurch's Moorhouse Ave Pak'nSave and Countdown Central in Dunedin.
In September a handful of activists made global headlines after their controversial protest at Auckland's Countdown St Lukes.
Many social media users, politicians and the shoppers themselves lashed out at the protesters. NZ First MP Mark Patterson said "good law-abiding meat-eaters" were being harassed by "an iron-deficient mob".
