Jamie Kilstein of Citizen Radio

Welcome to the 175^th episode of Our Hen House, Official Honoree of the 2013 Webby Awards. Today’s episode features Jamie Kilstein, with a special review by Liz Dee.

In today’s episode, we give you the skinny on NYC’s huge vegan expo, The Seed, where we gave a talk entitled, “Fed Up? New Ways to Feed Your Body, Your Soul, and the World.” We’ll report back on the happenings there, including when and why Mariann felt her viewpoints made her vulnerable and the common and unexpected theme of the questions which followed our presentation. We’ll also discuss (and act out) how an alien coming down from outer space would react to the many ways we humans are ruining the planet and abusing animals.

Joining us today is indie media superstar Jamie Kilstein, co-host of the popular Citizen Radio podcast. Jamie, a passionate, outspoken, and hilarious vegan, will give us his unabashed thoughts on everything from the sanctuary movement (and how it has recently hit home for him), vegan athletes, how animal activism differs from other social justice movements and what we can take from that to improve our game, and his thoughts on what it’s like living in a day and age where everybody knows everything about our lives.

The Vegan Vine

Then, Our Hen House’s Liz Dee will join us in providing an enlightened review of The Vegan Vine, a 100% vegan wine company that you will want to know about. (This review marks the first episode where Jasmin reviewed a product while at least somewhat intoxicated. So yeah. Don’t miss that.)

All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.

For a list of the news items we discuss in today’s episode, and then some, take a look at the breaking news ticker at the top of ourhenhouse.org, and also check out our list of archived news items.

You can listen to our podcast directly on our blog (below!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Don’t forget – we’re reader and listener supported. Plus, we offer some fantastic thank you gifts for your donations. Thank you for helping us to create quality content, and for helping us to bring you a new, hour-long (and then some) podcast episode each week!

“History is a race between education and catastrophe.” -H.G. Wells

“Mistletoe. Impoundment #81087″ from “Landfill Dogs” by Mary Shannon Johnstone

This spring I attended the Living With Animals conference at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) (which you may have heard about on Our Hen House), where I gave a presentation on the “Picturing Animals” course I teach at Brock University. While I enjoyed the opportunity to speak to other academics about this class and about some of the rewards and challenges of teaching animal studies in an art department, my favorite part of the conference was learning about all the incredible projects others are currently working on. I heard a number of fabulous presentations at the conference, but one that particularly stood out for me was a presentation that Mary Shannon Johnstone gave about her project, Landfill Dogs. Johnstone, an associate professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., is a photographer who uses her camera to address issues of companion animal overpopulation and, in particular, the high turnover rate in animal shelters.

Landfill Dogs is Johnstone’s most recent project on this theme. Some of her prior projects included photographing euthanized cats and dogs (note: contains some disturbing imagery) in county animal shelters, an attempt to shed light on the tragedy of overpopulation. We have all heard the statistics, but Johnstone hoped that when faced with images showing the end result of overbreeding, people might make different choices around spaying/neutering their companion animals, and, perhaps, open their homes to animals in the shelter. While reflecting on this project, Johnstone realized that these photographs might not have been as effective as she would have liked them to be – as she noted, “these animals were already dead by the time people viewed these photographs.”

“Rose. Impoundment #82564″ from “Landfill Dogs” by Mary Shannon Johnstone

Landfill Dogs addresses the same issues, but from a very different perspective. In this project, Johnstone selects dogs who are in danger of being euthanized simply for the “crime” of having been in the county animal shelter for too long. She takes the dogs out of the shelter to be photographed, to a landscape that is at once enjoyable for the dogs and deeply symbolic given the nature of the project – the landfill. Here, the dogs are given a chance to run and play, to be outdoors, and to have the undivided attention of someone who cares for them. They are given treats, a car ride, and a walk, and these encounters are captured by Johnstone’s camera. The resulting images are striking. In one image, a dog named Mistletoe leaps in the air, perhaps after a ball or a Frisbee. The golden evening light adds warmth to the image, but its title – Mistletoe. Impoundment #81087 – is a reminder that this is not just any dog out enjoying the park. This is an impounded dog, one whose days at the shelter are numbered. In another instance, a brown and white dog named Rose (Impoundment #82564) is photographed watching snow fall from the sky. In Johnstone’s presentation at the EKU conference, she remarked on how the faces may change from week to week, but that the steady stream of dogs remains constant. She also noted how many of these Landfill Dogs are pit bulls or pit mixes. The proliferation of specific breeds of dogs in the shelter was not something Johnstone initially set out to address in this project; however, the high numbers of this type of dog speak to broader cultural issues around how certain kinds of animals are characterized and treated in our society.

“Landfill Dogs” by Mary Shannon Johnstone

The dogs who are the focus of the Landfill Dogs project are beautiful, inquisitive animals, and their personalities come through in Johnstone’s images. These photographs are then used to “advertise” that these dogs are in desperate need of being adopted or fostered, that this really is their last chance to live. Since Johnstone started this project in October 2012, only two of the dogs she photographed at the landfill were euthanized; all of the rest were adopted or fostered. Johnstone speaks of the symbolism of the landfill, how in this case it can be a landscape of hope: “It is a place of trash that has been transformed into a place of beauty. I hope the viewer also sees the beauty in these homeless, unloved creatures.”

Johnstone brings this combination of photography and advocacy to her classroom. For instance, in her ART 949 class at Meredith College, the subject matter is photographing for the Web, a topic that is a mainstay of most art programs. However, in this case Johnstone has added a thematic element to this course – students learn the expected technical skills while also being educated on issues of companion animal overpopulation. As part of ART 949, students are required to volunteer at the local animal shelter as photographers, and their photographs are then used to help the animals in the shelter get adopted. This mix of artistic skills and animal advocacy is innovative and inspiring, and I know many of us who heard Johnstone speak about her experience with this course at the EKU conference are thinking about how we can implement these kinds of educational experiences in our own classrooms.

Janelle’s vegan pancakes are, indeed, killer.

When my partner and I moved from New York City to the New Jersey suburbs, I was worried. After being spoiled by multiple vegan restaurants a stone’s throw from my apartment, our new local vegan options largely consisted of our grocery store’s salad bar. So, when I heard that a vegan restaurant was to open in a nearby town, my heart skipped a beat. Were my cruelty-free dining prayers finally going to be answered?

Enter Janelle Elizabeth Soto, founder of what is soon to be the first vegan diner in the Garden State: The Killer Vegan Diner and Delicatessen. Killer Vegan will offer American, Latin, and Italian comfort food and diner favorites, veganized. Poised to make culinary history in the diner capital of the world, Janelle is creatively raising the final funds to get Killer Vegan’s doors open, with Sunday pop-up brunch buffets held at Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant in South Orange, and a recently launched Indiegogo Campaign. (Don’t miss the video on the campaign page, which tells Janelle’s remarkable story – and even includes some badass footage of her being arrested for acts of civil disobedience.)

Shifting from participating in impassioned civil disobedience to performing culinary magic, Janelle remains dedicated to her goal of obliterating animal suffering. Her fare is designed to show that we can let go of cruel foods without giving up delicious familiar dishes. As Killer Vegan’s campaign page explains, “The restaurant will use fresh ingredients to recreate plant-based versions of well-known favorites, allowing us to keep our feet planted in the traditional cuisine of the past with our sensibilities and ethics leaning towards the future.”

Janelle’s culinary skills are appreciated by all those who, like me, flock to Killer Vegan’s Sunday brunches where, for $25, she offers an all-you-can-eat, organic, fair-trade vegan smorgasbord. The menu includes buttermilk pancakes (dairy-free, of course) with homemade organic berry syrup, French toast, scrambled tofu, house-made seitan sausage, tempeh bacon, home fries, Latin slow-cooked black beans, Spanish rice, steamed greens, and biscuits with cashew sage gravy. Is your mouth watering yet? (If you’re in or near New Jersey, stay on top of the pop-up brunch schedule on Killer Vegan’s Facebook page.)

Like any vegan joint worth its smoked salt, Killer Vegan pleases more than just the already converted. At brunch, my omnivorous brother-in-law sang high praises for the tofu scramble; a pescatarian friend recently helped herself to thirds; and I have overheard more than one meat eater say they could imagine going vegan if they could just “eat like this all the time.” Talk about food as activism! Brunch lovers will be glad to know that Janelle will be continuing these glorious Sunday buffets when she completes renovations and opens Killer Vegan’s sunny 1,500-square-foot space in Union, N.J. Until then, you know where I’ll be every Sunday.

Janelle recently agreed to chat with me about all she has planned for Killer Vegan. Even if you’re not lucky enough to be a fellow New Jerseyite, I know you’ll gain insight and inspiration from this incredible story, which highlights the extraordinary value of food as activism.

***

Our Hen House: I can’t tell you how happy we are about your plans for Killer Vegan. Going back to your early days for a minute, tell us when and why you went vegan.

Janelle Elizabeth Soto

Janelle Elizabeth Soto: I went vegan about 18 years ago. I was vegetarian for a year prior to that, after I had one of those typical “lightbulb” moments and realized I was eating animals. There was no way I wanted to be involved in that. I went vegan after I read a couple of books, and I was like, “Whoa, that’s how they get that stuff?” – like dairy, eggs, honey, etc.

OHH: I can so relate! And, Janelle, I know that you used to be heavily involved with protesting against various forms of animal exploitation. Could you explain how your animal activism has evolved to focus on food?

JES: Back in the day, I did a lot of protesting, and I could be militant at times. All of the protests consisted of some form of ardent chanting. One day, my fellow protesters and I held alternating fur protests at both Saks and Fendi on Fifth Avenue in New York City, where we rotated from one store to the other every couple of hours. By the end of the day, everyone was hoarse and tired, and I, for one, wasn’t up to leading any more chants. So we just stood there with our signs, in silence. And it was at that precise moment that people began to approach us, read our signs, and ask questions. And although I do believe that there’s a time for chanting, it became apparent that the best time is probably not when you’re trying to create a dialogue, especially in a city like New York where everyone is trained to zone things out. That experience inspired an information table at a vegan food cart I was running outside of the World Trade Center. While people were standing in line, they would peruse the literature. As I would serve them vegan food, they would ask me questions. It was a very positive experience.

These events have shaped my activism in such a way that, now, I seek to be an example to others, and aim to be open and receptive to whomever I’m dealing with. This openness usually leads to productive interactions. Providing people with delicious vegan food usually ends up being the most productive interaction. The pairing of the food cart with the literature table in particular seemed to yield the most fruitful results, which is where Killer Vegan comes in.

OHH: Where did the name “Killer Vegan” come from?

Killer Vegan’s logo — “Norman”

JES: The name came to me about 15 or 16 years ago. Growing up, we often used the word “killer” to mean “excellent” or “awesome,” so it seemed natural to describe my fantasy vegan restaurant as being the “killer” vegan restaurant. Throw in the irony of the word “killer” next to the word “vegan,” tie it into my experience of growing up in Jersey, and The Killer Vegan Diner and Delicatessen just seemed perfect to me.

OHH: What will the Killer Vegan Diner and Delicatessen’s menu be like, and what’s your inspiration behind it?

JES: The menu will consist of Latin, Italian, and American comfort food, with everything being made in-house and from organic, fair-trade whole foods – and, of course, from kindness. The food is inspired by my multicultural heritage.

Another element of the menu that is informed by my childhood is the affordable pricing. I grew up in a family that was on welfare at times, and I had the food stamp experience. While I love a nice upscale vegan restaurant or supper club, to this day I can only afford them on special occasions. I know many more people who can’t afford them at all. I believe in making quality vegan food available to the masses, and the masses just aren’t raking in the dough.

OHH: In addition to serving cruelty-free fare, how do you plan to use Killer Vegan as a platform to influence change?

Janelle has been hosting all-you-can-eat Sunday buffets in anticipation of the opening of Killer Vegan

JES: For starters, as I mentioned, I plan on having an accessible menu, price-wise. And without going into detail, the design of the physical space will reflect compassion.

Then there’s our Sundays. Aside from our brunch buffet, Sunday afternoons and evenings will be reserved for film screenings, book signings, lectures, workshops, fundraisers, and the like. My original idea 15 years ago stemmed from wanting to provide an environment that promoted activism. Not just animal rights, but environmental and other social justice issues as well. We also have been – and will continue to be – involved at a community level.

And last but not least, Killer Vegan will be very kid friendly. We will have a weekly lunchtime story hour and a monthly children’s open mic night. I was a vegan nanny for non-vegan families for almost 10 years, and I’m familiar with how important it is to have nurturing terrain for children. And, as cliché as it sounds, Whitney Houston was right – the children are our future. And she was a fellow Jersey girl.

OHH: In closing, could you give us your five best tips for vegans interested in pursuing culinary activism?

JES: Happily!

1. Maintain positivity and confidence. These are, first and foremost, important qualities with regard to any type of activism, especially when you’re dealing with food. Maintaining confidence in what you’re providing will help ensure a good reception.
2. Stick to familiarity. Provide food that’s not too foreign to whomever you’re serving. Stick with crowd pleasers. At the same time, you don’t want to set people up for disappointment. Don’t tell someone that something “tastes just like chicken” if it doesn’t, which leads to …
3. Be honest. I would say that it’s not a good idea to imply that the vegan diet is the end-all, cure-all. Telling someone they’re going to glow, that they’re going to lose weight, and that they’ll never get a cold isn’t helping the cause. The best way to ensure that someone sticks to a vegan diet is to give them the appropriate tools to enable them to eat a healthy vegan diet, meeting all of their nutritional needs.
4. Keep your sense of humor. Don’t take yourself too seriously. I find it valuable to navigate vegan outreach and life in general with a sense of humor intact. I grew up in a wisecracking family, and being able to laugh and joke definitely takes the edge off.
5. Take initiative. Jump, jump, jump at any opportunity to serve vegan food to non-vegans – be it a work event, a family gathering, or any other social function. Just get vegan food out there, and keep them coming back for more.

***

Want to know Janelle Elizabeth Soto’s top five animal rights books? This exclusive content is reserved for our darling flock. Join the flock (or sign in!) to read on. As a bonus, flock members will also have the opportunity to win the book Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer.

Vegan for Her: The Women’s Guide to Being Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet (Da Capo Press, July 2013)

One of my favorite things about our online magazine is getting to work with so many of my role models. Among these heroes of mine are Ginny Messina (“The Vegan R.D.”) and JL Fields, who share a regular guest spot in our Thought for Food column. Most recently, the dynamic duo – who, by the way, are preparing for the publication of their forthcoming book, Vegan for Her: The Women’s Guide to Being Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet – wrote all about “Peanut Butter for Vegan Advocacy.” Based on the overwhelming reader response, let me just say that – egad! – y’all are passionate about your peanuts! Today, Ginny and JL are back, this time to discuss another hot topic amongst vegans and aspiring vegans: protein. So read on, darling chickens, because Ginny is starting us off by sharing her unique take on the sometimes controversial P-word, and, following that, JL will once again wow us with a tasty recipe, this one called Grape and Brazil Nut Chicken-Less Salad.

And for those of you who are OHH flock members, listen up! Just for you, Ginny is letting us in on three super-fast things to do with plain old lentils, adding more plant protein punch to your plate. If you’re not a member of the flock yet, what’s the hold up? Just for joining, we’ll send you a copy of the award-winning documentary, Vegucated, and a copy of the anthology, Defiant Daughters: 21 Women on Art, Activism, Animals, and the Sexual Politics of Meat (for which I’m a contributor). Plus, you’ll get access to exclusive content, discount codes, giveaways, contests, inside scoop, and more.

And now, here’s Ginny and JL with some energizing words of wisdom.

xo jasmin

***

Protein in Vegan Diets: Take Advantage of the Options

by Ginny Messina, MPH, RD (Recipe to follow by JL Fields)

Beans beans, good for your heart …

Vegans generally consume less protein than meat eaters and lacto-ovo vegetarians. And in our meat-centric society, many people view that as a problem. “Where do you get your protein?” is the annoying question we have to answer over and over again.

It’s tempting to counter all of that concern by putting protein in its place. Except for fruits and oils, all plant foods have protein. So, it’s virtually impossible to not get enough protein, right? And it’s not like you ever see vegans staggering around with kwashiorkor – isn’t that proof that vegans are getting plenty of protein?

But, nutrition is a little more complex than that. Nutrient shortfalls can be downright sneaky in fact. For most people who have access to enough food, too little protein isn’t likely to have obvious and acute consequences. Instead, its effects are more subtle – taking a toll on bones and muscles over time, for example.

Protein should never be an issue for vegans, though. We can meet protein and amino acid needs with ease by consuming three servings per day of legumes. It’s easy enough to do, too. Legumes are a big and varied group of foods that play prominent roles in most diets. They include dried beans, of course, but also peanuts and all types of soy foods. It’s reassuring for new vegans and potential vegans to know that they can get much of their protein from familiar foods like veggie burgers and PB&J sandwiches.

But many protein-rich plant foods have fallen out of favor with vegans. Soy foods are viewed with suspicion by some (along with gluten, another protein-rich food). Peanuts often get the cold shoulder, too, because they are high in fat. And veggie meats are sometimes shunned as “too processed.” Unfortunately, these concerns end up shrinking the selection of protein-rich foods.

JL’s protein of choice lately — Beyond Meat. (Recipe below.)

I tend to favor dried beans as the main source of protein in my diet. They are unique among all foods because they package protein with lots of fiber. That combination makes them especially satiating and satisfying. But I also love tofu, which I eat for breakfast every day. And, for fun and convenience, I eat veggie meats made from either soy protein or gluten, too. JL’s recipe for Grape and Brazil Nut Chicken-less Salad is a great example of how easy and comforting these foods can be. Even though I emphasize certain protein-rich foods over others, I consider them all to be healthy options. It keeps my diet varied and interesting.

New vegans, or those who are thinking about adopting more of a vegan-friendly eating style, sometimes worry about protein. We can assure them that protein needs are easily met on vegan diets and that we have a long list of protein-rich foods – including some very convenient ones – to choose from. It keeps vegan diets accessible to everyone.

***

RECIPE: Grape and Brazil Nut Chicken-Less Salad

by JL Fields of JL Goes Vegan

Mix it up baby, now …

Beyond Meat, the newest plant-based meat product to hit grocery store shelves, is taking the vegan world by storm. In fact, I’m beyond impressed. I recently grilled their Southwest Chicken-Free Strips for Cinco de Mayo, and they were so good that my omnivore husband opted for the vegan meal instead of the meat. With that in mind, I thought I would try the Grilled Beyond Meat in a salad, and, yep, once again he was sold, choosing the vegan dish over the animal-based alternative!

This protein-packed salad comes together in just 10 minutes – it’s perfect for a quick spring or summer meal. Just mix, plate, and serve it in no time – preferably at a picnic, on your deck, or on your patio. I served this as a salad over chopped romaine, but it’s also great on bread (I love toasted sandwiches), or in a whole grain wrap.

Grape and Brazil Nut Chicken-Less Salad

by JL Fields

Ah, but it’s not …

Ingredients

• 12 ounces Beyond Meat Grilled Chicken-Free Strips, chopped into bite-size pieces
• ¾ cup chopped celery
• ¾ cup grapes, quartered
• ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
• ½ cup vegan mayonnaise
• 6 Brazil nuts, chopped (about 1/8 cup)
• Ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, add pepper to taste, and serve over lettuce, on bread, or in a wrap.

YIELD 4 servings

***

JL Fields (front) and Ginny Messina (back, being shy)

Virginia Messina, TheVeganRD.com, and JL Fields, JLgoesVegan.com, are co-authors of the forthcoming Vegan for Her: The Women’s Guide to Being Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet (Da Capo Press, July 2013). In Vegan for Her, nutritionist Ginny Messina tackles the issues pertinent to women who follow or who are considering a vegan diet, and JL Fields provides health-supportive recipes and tips for taking your veganism beyond the plate. With specific guidance on meeting women’s unique nutritional needs throughout the lifecycle and information about food choices that relate to many health concerns, Vegan for Her is a practical and realistic guide to making sure your plant-based diet is as healthy as it can be.

Image: Hartmut Kiewert, by way of the Critical Animals Conference

Darling chickens, there is a Call for Papers that you’ll want to pay attention to — especially if you have been itching to get over to Germany. This could provide the perfect excuse.

The 3rd Annual European Conference for Critical Animal Studies is coming up on November 28-30, and they are currently seeking proposals (of no more than 500 words) for presentations (15-20 minutes), panels, roundtables, and workshops. The theme of this year’s conference is Technoscientific Developments and Critical Animal Studies. (So coincidental, since I was just ruminating on technoscientific developments this morning, over my soy latte …)

So far, some of the highlights of this groundbreaking conference include Dr. Anat Pick, who will be one of their keynotes (don’t miss Anat’s interview on our podcast, nor her recent moving OHH feature entitled “Convenient Untruths“), and a screening of Maximum Tolerated Dose (we interviewed filmmaker Karol Orzechowski on our podcast, on the same episode where we reviewed the film — glowingly). There’s tons more being planned too, including an art exhibit, and a roundtable on the end of animal experimentation. Want in?

The European Conference for Critical Animal Studies will take place this year in Karlsruhe, Germany (but will be in English). Their website has a whole lot more information about their calls for papers, but check out some of their areas of inquiry:

• Nonhuman animals and new technologies (such as biotechnology and neurosciences)
• Intersection in exploitation of nonhuman animals and the environment (such as climate change, “vertical farming”)
• Critical perspectives on domestication and breeding
• Critique of animal experiments
• Alternative technologies and alternative sciences
• Interventions in and redefinitions of nature
• Critical perspectives on ethology and the discourse on cognitive-abilities of nonhuman animals
• Posthumanism and critical animal studies
• “Bioart” and artistic use of technoscience to reflect on animal rights
• Future of critical animal studies
• Feminism (e.g. biotechnology and sexual violation)
• Cultural and literary representations of nonhuman animals from a CAS perspective
• Critical Animal Studies vs Human-Animal Studies and the problem of translation
• other areas relevant to Critical Animal Studies

The deadline for submissions is June 15.

By the way, in case you’re curious, according to Google Maps, Karlsruhe is only 6 hours from what I hear is the vegan mecca, Berlin. Perhaps you heard our recent podcast interview with Silja Kallsen-MacKenzie of the Albert Schweitzer Foundation? Silja, who is based in Berlin, could not stop singing the city’s praises, making this tofu-muncher hungry for more.

Regardless of whether your trip will result in a visit to the all-vegan grocery store chain Veganz — and even if you don’t bring me back a vegan wienerschnitzel — I’m just so thrilled that critical animal studies is such a quickly emerging field, and that it is gaining international recognition by some of the best voices in academia and animal rights. If you are lucky enough to attend this conference, make sure you tell me how it was.

I feel like I’m burning out. It’s not the common kind of working-too-hard-and-needing-a-break burning out. This is different, unique to activists and advocates and caregivers and whoever else cares that something really terrible is happening to someone.

This is compassion fatigue.

I can’t pinpoint exactly which story of abuse or picture of zoo cages set me on the path toward burnout, but there were two that made me realize what was happening to me; I had to close them as soon as they flashed across my screen. Yesterday there was the photo of the koala who wandered off for a couple of days and came back to find his home razed to the ground by loggers. The caption said he sat on the wood chips for an hour – just sat there.

Today it was a photo of a baby elephant trying with his little trunk to revive his dead mother. She ate rat poison that palm oil producers put out to kill elephants who were eating the palm fruit. I don’t know what happened to the baby.

When a picture of a severely burned and broken cat popped up on my Facebook feed today, I scrolled down past it like my life depended on it. Well, maybe not my life … but my spirit? Definitely.

To get away from the horror, I surf the web, or I read “Calvin and Hobbes” and “Bizarro” strips I’ve read 10 times before, or I nap. I’ve been napping a lot.

In a way I created this situation. I follow people and organizations on Twitter that tweet articles and photos about animals in unthinkable distress. I “friend” people on Facebook who post more of the same. I have created a pipeline to gather all of this toxic stuff and dump it into my psyche.

On the other hand, I don’t have much choice. This is the work I do: I write articles about issues that people should know about – things that people need to change – and a big chunk of those articles are about animals. I can’t write about petitions that need signing or products that need boycotting if I don’t know about them. I also can’t write about them if I’m sapped by despair.

My perfectionist tendencies don’t help. Whatever I do doesn’t feel like enough, so then there is guilt, too.

I’m sure many of you have been where I am now. Maybe some of you even know how to manage it. Not me. So to the web I go, on a quest for feel-good solutions that will get me writing again.

A quest – that reminds me of the classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail and its fabulous killer rabbit. Because rabbits are so helpless in real life, it’s restorative to see one ripping warriors’ throats out, laughable effects be damned. You should watch it.

I digress, but that is how I cope. (Rather, it was how I coped, pre-quest.) Back to the point, here is the story of my quest.

The Quest for Coping Mechanisms

Before I started out, I had to look up the script of Holy Grail to revisit the killer rabbit scene. In short order I was laughing and reciting lines (pretty poorly, as my husband helpfully pointed out, but having fun anyway). Not 10 minutes before, I had been crying about that baby elephant. Thus Coping Mechanism #1 was born.

Coping Mechanism #1: Read/watch/remember something that makes you laugh. Or talk with someone who makes you laugh. Just laugh.

When I got over my killer-rabbit-induced guffawing, I started to look for some more serious approaches to the topic. I quickly discovered that the advice out there on compassion fatigue is mainly for direct service providers like therapists and nurses. In my experience, those of us who read, write, lobby, organize, fundraise, and otherwise indirectly engage with beings in trauma are also vulnerable and need help. I sifted through for recommendations that also apply to us.

An example is the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project. Of course, it is for people caring directly for humans, not indirectly for non-human animals, but some of the information and advice is useful. Some affirming tidbits include the following:

• “Caring too much can hurt.” So I’m not just a wuss. Good start. (Not loving the “too much” though. How much is just right, exactly?)
• “When caregivers focus on others without practicing self-care, destructive behaviors can surface.” Like, maybe, napping every few hours? Wearing pajamas for days? Check.
• Compassion fatigue is what’s called a “secondary traumatic stress disorder.” Having an official label makes this feel more concrete and legitimate. Again, not a wuss.

Unfortunately, this website was light on solutions beyond self-care. Here are some of the more useful suggestions:

Coping Mechanism #2: Take care of yourself.

• Live a balanced life.
• Exchange information and feelings with people who can validate you.
• Clarify your personal boundaries. Identify what works for you and what doesn’t.
• Develop a healthy support system: people who contribute to your self-esteem, people who listen well, people who care.
• Keep yourself healthy: eat well, drink water, exercise, meditate.
• Take vacation time (this one is actually from a different website, Psychology Today).

There was one more tactic here that I really like:

Coping Mechanism #3: Choose your battles.

I work on this one a lot, and it can help. Because of this adage, I narrowed down to three the number of animal-related nonprofit organizations I donate to, which helps me recycle the other envelopes bearing heartbreaking photos of needy animals without (too much) guilt.

There are many worthy, pressing, non-animal-related causes that I have consciously decided not to get into a lather about. I try to think about them abstractly when I think about them at all. It can feel callous and selfish, and I think about that quote – “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good [people] do nothing.” True, all true, but I have to preserve myself. When I try to change everything, I can’t change anything.

I thought that this strategy was helping me with specific animal issues, too. For instance, I decided, fairly arbitrarily, not to educate myself on or follow the ag-gag travesty. Too many issues, not enough time. That was fine for a while, but it didn’t last, as ag-gag became too big and outrageous and dangerous to stay ignorant about. Now I can’t imagine trying to ignore something so important. Where animal issues are concerned, I can’t tune out.

So choosing my battles helps a lot when it’s feasible, but sometimes the choice is out of my hands.

Psychology Today, which already recommended taking vacation time, came through with this last bit of advice:

Coping Mechanism #4: Adopt a Positive Attitude

• A sense of humor about life
• Self-confidence
• Curiosity
• A focus on the positive
• Gratitude

This seems like a good idea generally, and particularly when you need to counteract some seriously negative stuff.

Now I think I’ll take a shower, put on some real clothes, and pop Holy Grail into the DVD player.

Source: www.johnsalley.com

Welcome to the 175^th episode of Our Hen House, Official Honoree of the 2013 Webby Awards. Today’s episode features NBA veteran John Salley, with a special review by JL Fields.

In today’s episode, we will share with you some advice we were given by a well-known songwriter on how she deals with rejection – and we, of course, will relate that advice to animal rights activism. We’ll chat about how saying you’re busy all the time gets old, and we’ll report back on Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s book launch here in New York City, for her latest and greatest, On Being Vegan. Then, we’ll chat about bullying, and talk about a recent news story that seems to have exploded – this is regarding a high school in Northern California where members of the agriculture club are telling the media that the vegan kids are bullying them. But… are they?

Joining us today is 15-year NBA veteran – and the first NBA player to win four championships with three different teams – John Salley. John, a passionate vegan, and spokesperson for The Vegan Vine wines, will talk to us about which restaurant inspired him to embrace a plant-based diet, how he thinks his wildly popular basketball career would have been affected had he gone vegan then, how he handles his family’s reactions to his diet, his passion for creating inroads to getting more vegan options added to kids’ cafeteria menus, how his 10-year-old speaks up for animals unapologetically, and how to handle pushback from family and friends who might not get it. Don’t miss this interview with a world-renowned basketball champion, and a true blue animal ambassador.

For our review, JL Fields of JL Goes Vegan will be joining us once again to give us the skinny on Door 86 – the newest (and perhaps yummiest) vegan cheese to hit the market.

All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.

For a list of the news items we discuss in today’s episode, and then some, take a look at the breaking news ticker at the top of ourhenhouse.org, and also check out our list of archived news items.

You can listen to our podcast directly on our blog (below!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Don’t forget – we’re reader and listener supported. Plus, we offer some fantastic thank you gifts for your donations. Thank you for helping us to create quality content, and for helping us to bring you a new, hour-long (and then some) podcast episode each week!

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” -Mark Twain

Battery cages as documented by Compassion Over Killing

If you ever had any question that Big Ag has a stranglehold on legislatures across the country, including the one in Washington D.C., you can now put that question to rest.

Wednesday night, the House Agriculture Committee finally passed a Farm Bill, which will now go on to the House for a full vote. Within that long overdue, complicated, incredibly important piece of legislation is a provision sponsored by Representative Steve King (R.–Iowa) that could effectively end all efforts to reform the way animals are treated in animal agriculture in the US. It will also eviscerate California legislation that is already in place that is on track to prohibit the sale of battery cage eggs and other legislation, that just came into effect, protecting ducks and geese from being force-fed for foie gras.

This amendment basically provides that no state can prohibit the sale of agricultural products produced in a way that would violate its own laws if the product was legally produced in its state of origin. If it passes, it will mean that, when it comes to agriculture, Congress will have guaranteed a race to the regulatory bottom. If your state wants to pass a law limiting what Big Ag can do — to protect workers, animals, food safety, the environment, whatever — and those regulations might cost producers anything at all (as better practices tend to do), your state cannot do anything about products from other, less progressive, states undercutting the prices of local producers. Republicans otherwise devoted to states’ rights will have pulled the rug out from under states (well, out from under progressive states, anyway), requiring them to either embrace the lowest common denominator when it comes to regulating Big Ag, or to undercut the competitiveness of its own producers.

What’s going on here?

Well, it’s pretty much all about chickens.

Over the past several years, animal rights groups have mounted campaigns in a number of states that, among other things, have successfully placed limitations on the way egg producers can treat their hens. These limitations are very minimal, but are vast improvements over the way that hens live now, which is, without going into detail, pretty much too horrible to contemplate.

The first of these campaigns was in California, and success there was achieved by ballot initiative. Voters of California were given the choice, on the ballot, to say yea or nay to better conditions for the birds. By an overwhelming margin, they said yea. Big Animal Ag got worried. Then, Michigan passed a similar law and Ohio put a moratorium on new battery cage facilities. These laws were passed by legislatures, but probably not out of the kindness of the legislators’ hearts. Ballot initiatives were looming in those states as well, and Big Animal Ag, and its legislative minions, no doubt saw the writing on the wall.

This was bad. Government interfering with the way animals were treated. Different states having different standards. And, most of all, of course, money. It costs money to raise chickens in conditions that are not quite so brutal as the current industry standard. Since the improved conditions are minimal, it doesn’t actually cost a lot more money, but in a highly competitive market, increased regulations imposed on one sector of a business that are not imposed on another sector of that same business can be devastating.

But there were work-arounds. In the proud tradition of industry everywhere, there was always the possibility of Big Animal Ag moving its facilities to states that had lax, or no, regulations, and no possibility of a ballot initiative, and then shipping their eggs to states with regulations, like California. While that’s hard to do with plant agriculture, since you can’t move your land, it’s a piece of cake when it comes to animal agriculture — which just involves buying cheap land, building a lot of huge sheds (or, for cattle, feedlots), cramming them with animals, and shipping in feed.

But then California got smart. Worried about the future of its egg industry, and not wanting to see it move on to greener pastures (though, really, we’re talking about the opposite of green pastures here), it soon passed a law that will, once these new standards prohibiting battery cages go into effect, prohibit the sale of any eggs, regardless of their state of origin, that were not raised in accordance with them. That way, producers in, say, Idaho, a state that enthusiastically welcomes factory farming in all of its worst manifestations, and other nearby states, cannot start shipping eggs to California that would be able to undermine California’s farmers’ prices because their hens are treated more brutally, and cheaply.

United Egg Producers, the industry trade group that represents the vast majority of egg production companies in the US, was reading the writing on the wall. What they saw was a growing patchwork of different regulations in different states governing the treatment of hens, that now had the potential to affect producers even in states that didn’t have any laws governing the treatment of hens. And different states might start enacting different standards, making the situation that much more complicated.

They no doubt also noticed the most important message that the ballot initiative had given them — that the way in which virtually all of the many millions of laying hens in the United States were living was not acceptable to a majority of people. People might not yet be buying according to these beliefs — still grabbing the cheapest eggs on the shelf — but it was only a matter of time. They may also have noticed that people were starting to exhibit some wavering in their devotion to eating eggs, and an increase in concern about the health implications of egg consumption. They may even have been aware that innovative food start-ups, likely the blatantly named Beyond Eggs, were coming up with cheap, healthy, commercially viable alternatives to eggs (check out the Our Hen House interview with founder Josh Tetrick).

For whatever reasons, they felt vulnerable. Vulnerable enough to do a deal with their arch-enemy, the Humane Society of the United States, to co-sponsor a bill that would set federal standards for the treatment of laying hens. Those standards were, no doubt, the least they thought they could get away with while putting people’s concerns to rest. So they went to Congress and begged Congress to regulate them, at least a little bit.

The resulting bill, the Egg Products Inspection Act (known as the Egg Bill), which has been hanging around Congress for a few years, would set certain very minimal standards for the conditions in which egg-laying hens are kept. The conditions are actually fairly pathetic. After a 15 year phase-in period, each hen, depending on her breed, would have either 124 or 144 square inches of space to live in, plus access to a perch, nesting box, and scratching area. Egg cartons would also have to be labeled to inform consumers whether the eggs came from caged hens.

Though they’re notably better than the conditions for hens now, and they would be the first federal standards regulating the treatment of animals in factory farms, these standards are less than what California’s voters had demanded. In fact, the Egg Bill is so weak that it is even controversial within the animal rights movement. Some people think it is a step forward, some think it will forever set in place these very low standards and eliminate the possibility that legislatures around the country might someday do better for hens.

However, let’s face it. No one in Congress is concerned with the attitudes of various factions of the animal rights movement. The real support for the Egg Bill comes from United Egg Producers. Seems like a slam dunk – an industry joining together with its most powerful critic asking Congress to regulate it. But the rest of Big Animal Ag, like the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, were pretty disturbed. They were, in fact, horrified at the idea of any federal standards for the treatment of animals. All of this upset their comfortable world, in which the treatment of their animals is a private matter that no one is allowed to interfere with.

There were two possible approaches to this. First priority was to defeat the Egg Bill. Last week Senate Ag Committee Chair Deb Stabenow (D.—Mich.) took the Egg Bill out of the Senate’s farm bill markup, so that problem was taken care of, at least for the moment. But that still left the problem that the egg producers were facing in California, and which other animal ag concerns might face in the future, of some states potentially passing laws that would require out-of-state producers to comply with progressive legislation in order to sell their products there.

And thus we come to the latest chapter in this saga. The House Agriculture Committee, always eager to please, has attempted to take care of that as well, by including the King Amendment in its version of the Farm Bill. If enacted into law, this would mean that, if any state passes progressive legislation regarding agriculture, producers would be free to move to other, friendlier states and ship their products back across state lines. Since no state legislature is going to want to disadvantage its industry, and potentially see it move to Idaho, or Iowa, or Illinois, or any of the other vast majority of states that have no regulations limiting the brutal confinement of animals, state legislatures contemplating progressive change will have one more reason not to do anything to get in Big Animal Ag’s way.

(Since we posted this, a number of people have asked us how they can take action. Many animal protection groups are working to defeat the King Amendment, including HSUS. You can find out how to take action on their website. Also, while signing an online letter to your Representative is always a good start, writing a personal letter is even better, calling is always a good idea [you can ask for the person in their office who handles agriculture issues and find out if they know about it and, if so, where they stand,] and visiting their offices is even better. Write a letter to your newspaper, or an op ed. Spread the word by sharing this article on Facebook and Twitter. This is all happening right now, so don’t delay. As animal lobbyist Ledy Van Kavage likes to say, politics is not a spectator sport!)

If you haven’t yet heard of Jaime Karpovich, then listen up, because

Jaime agreed to chat with us about Save the Kales!, the uprising of cooking shows in mainstream media, and the importance of DIY media

And for those of you who are members of the OHH flock, you get a bonus! Don’t miss the extended interview with Jaime, in which she spills the beans about her upcoming book project, what drives her veganism, why she’s never seen Earthlings, and the one thing she can’t live without. And thanks to Jaime’s generosity, OHH flock members also can enter to win a Save the Kales! T-shirt, and a DVD with three of her favorite episodes from Season 1!

(If you’re not yet a member of the flock, what’s stopping you? When you join, you will receive, as our thank-you gift, a copy of the award-winning film Vegucated, as well as a copy of Defiant Daughters: 21 Women on Art, Activism, Animals, and the Sexual Politics of Meat.)

And now, prepare to be inspired by Jaime Karpovich of Save the Kales!

***

OHH: First of all, congratulations on all of the incredible successes you’ve been having lately with Save the Kales! For anyone who has been hibernating beneath a kale leaf for the past year, what is Save the Kales!?

Jaime Karpovich: Save the Kales! began as a blog, and has become a lifestyle and cooking TV show (the show is just over a year old). Each episode has three segments: on location, cooking, and meeting a guest. The show’s perspective is to find vegan or vegan-friendly businesses and community members who are happy and thriving, proving you can be a happy and community-involved vegan even if you don’t live in a big city. Plus, you get two recipes that can be anything from a raw main course to savory, veganized comfort foods like vegan beer cheese soup.

OHH: You recently told me that Save the Kales! has gone through puberty. Did you have to go through a weird body odor phase?

JK: I’m constantly learning what Save the Kales! actually is, and so much of that has been figuring out what it isn’t. For example, once I realized that it’s not inherently a food blog, it took off this tremendous pressure I felt to constantly post recipes, get an expensive camera, learn photography, spend a lot of money on ingredients. I think there’s an expectation of vegan blogs to have a huge focus on food, and while I love cooking (obviously), it’s not my whole life. It was a relief to let go of that expectation

As for the TV show, it has evolved from the first episode to where we are now (currently taping the 14th episode). A lot of other shows tape all the episodes over a series of a few weeks, then air them over a period of a few weeks or months. We tape our shows every month, weeks before they air, and that experience really lets us learn so much because we really get time to absorb and examine how we do things. We started with two cameras and three people and now we have sometimes up to five cameras, assistants, and interns.

OHH: It seems like Save the Kales! has really found its footing. Would you agree?

JK: I think I’m just cracking through the ice on the potential of where Save the Kales! can go in the future, and more importantly, really believing in its voice and value.

Lately I’m more comfortable, since over time we’ve put out a more concise and professional product, but it’s still very sincere, you know? It’s polished, but it’s not stuffy. You’ll see me use very technical cooking terms like, “Use your hands to mix the seitan until you’ll feel it turn into a smushy blob.” Look, I’m not a trained chef; I don’t pretend to be. I feel like being relatable will draw more people to try cooking something they’ve never cooked before. I approach each show with the idea that the audience is not vegan, and most are not. I want people to try this stuff. That’s where the activism kicks in.

OHH: It seems like vegan cooking shows are all the rage. Finally, right? Why do you think the networks are finally catching on?

JK: Between health concerns, food allergies, and the “cool factor” of eating vegan food, networks are finally (slowly but surely) getting it. It seemed for a while like they didn’t realize that someone doesn’t need to be vegan to watch a vegan cooking show. Of course, there is the issue of finding sponsors to fund the shows that don’t contradict the show’s mission (you don’t want a hot dog commercial in the middle of a vegan cooking show).

Everyone, no matter their diet, would be better off eating more vegetables, so a show that is plant-based is just smart. It may not appeal to every single person with a television, but it doesn’t have to. It will appeal to a lot. And we need a lot of shows to represent the many different vegans!

OHH: What kinds of unexpected challenges did you run into with your show?

JK: The first few months of our show, I was struggling to figure out what it was. If it isn’t all organic food, people are mad. If it is all organic food, then it’s too expensive and not realistic. If it’s savory foods, then the health people are mad. If it’s low-oil, low-fat foods, then it portrays vegans as only eating salads. Gluten is bad. Gluten is awesome. On and on. Finally I thought, if you don’t like what I’m doing on this show, go and make your own. Seriously. No one is stopping you, least of all me.

I cannot possibly be everything to everyone. So now the content of the show is based on what I feel like doing that month, and that’s pretty much the only criteria for content. I’m not offended or hurt if someone doesn’t relate. There are a ton of talented people out there doing shows, YouTube videos, blogs, etc. You’re bound to find someone you really like, and if you can’t, then become that person yourself. You can spend time criticizing, or you can spend time making what you want to see.

OHH: We first met (and fell in lurve) when Mariann and I spoke a couple of years ago at the Bethlehem VegFest, for which you were one of the organizers. I was impressed by the fact that the whole town seemed to be behind this massive event. The rest of Bethlehem was a virtual ghost town while the Fest was happening. Tell us a little about how the Bethlehem VegFest has evolved since then, and what you have planned for this year’s festivities.

JK: The city was so excited – so excited! – for VegFest. We love our festivals in Bethlehem, but the Bethlehem VegFest was new, and everyone was so enthusiastic from the beginning. Our first year had an estimated 10,000 attendees, and our second year saw about 7,000 in the first three hours before we shut down early due to a hurricane.

This year, the festival is focusing in on quality over quantity. The festival will be an all-vegan event with an eco-friendly spin. With our proven great attendance, we’re hoping that it will attract speakers, authors, and cooks from outside the area to participate, and that the local businesses get even more exposure. We want the movers and shakers side by side with the people who give Bethlehem its own vibe and personality.

I was just talking to a friend about this a week ago. She was saying how she wanted to talk to other vegan, female, small business owners for some advice, because she was alone in her business concerns. But she quickly found herself rattling off this huge list of names, women from right here in our area. That was profound. There are probably more people in your town, no matter where you live, who share your values and passions. Connecting to each other is what makes communities thrive.

OHH: Can you speak for a moment about the power of DIY media?

JK: I tell this story sometimes when I speak, about a professor on a discussion panel I attended about creativity and community. A student in the audience asked what classes he should be taking to work toward becoming a film director, and the professor was so outraged at this idea of having to take a class to direct films! He was like, “Go buy a camera, rent a camera, or borrow a camera. Then just make a film. If you work, do it before or after work. If you’re in school, do it on the weekends. You don’t need to take classes to be a director, just go and be one.”

That’s amazing. DIY media means we don’t have to ask for anyone’s permission. I wanted to make a TV show and I found the right people and we made one. We just went for it. No studio called and “gave” it to us.

Everything being hands-on means you learn so much more than if you just showed up, talked at a camera, and left. I’ve learned a lot about lighting and editing. Me and the crew have developed this great rapport. We can shoot things out of sequence and “get it,” and know that it will be cohesive.

Not asking for permission, not waiting for someone to give you the green light, and being in complete control of your content … That is incredible. We are lucky to live in a time when a cell phone can film, edit, and upload a movie for the world to see in just a few minutes. Possibilities are infinite.

OHH: Tell us a secret, something that you didn’t expect to talk about during this interview. Not to, you know, put you on the spot or anything…

JK: Being able to connect with people I really look up to has been such a beautiful mind-fuck, because you idolize and hugely respect these people and then you meet them and they are regular people, and they’ve spilled coffee on themselves, and they send text messages, and they forget what they were talking about mid-sentence. And suddenly their lives and their work become things that you can do, because you’re a regular person too. It’s not that your idols stop being superheroes – it’s that you can start to see yourself there among them. That is powerful. Go to book signings and conferences and events, then start daydreaming about your own.

OHH: Thank you so much, Jaime! It’s amazing to watch as your activism continues to blossom. You’re such an incredible success story, but the most exciting part is that at the front and center of your efforts are the animals. We look forward to staying on top of all of the ways you continue to Save the Kales, and – hell, why not? – the world.

***

If you’re a member of the flock, don’t miss your opportunity to win a Save the Kales! T-shirt and DVD, as well as the chance to read a more intimate, extended interview with Jaime Karpovich.

According to the Facebook page for Saturday’s protest, Amy, who was standing on a public thoroughfare, used her phone to record the extreme animal abuse she could see occurring at  Smith & Sons — a facility which is co-owned by Draper’s Mayor, Darrell H. Smith. Prior to her case being dismissed, Amy stated the following:

I visited the Smith Meatpacking Slaughterhouse in Draper, Utah because I have heard numerous reports that any bystander standing on the public thoroughfare could witness the horror of cows struggling for their lives as they were led to their violent deaths. What I saw was upsetting, to say the least. Cows being led inside the building struggled to turn around once they smelled and heard the misery that awaited them inside. I saw piles of horns scattered around the property and flesh being spewed from a chute on the side of the building. I also witnessed what I believe to be a clear act of cruelty to animals – a live cow who appeared to be sick or injured being carried away from the building in a tractor, as though she were nothing more than rubble. At all times while I documented this cruelty, I remained on public property. I never once crossed the barbed wire fence that exists to demarcate private and public property. I told this to the police who were on the scene. I am shocked and disappointed that I am being prosecuted by Draper City simply for standing on public property and documenting horrific animal abuse while those who perpetrated these acts are free to continue maiming and killing animals.

Saturday’s protest aims to attract (at least) 200 activists, who will proudly hold their phones up and document the truth, as a reminder of the constitutional rights that are put at risk by these nonsensical laws. From an organizing standpoint, incorporating creative tactics such as these not only provide a hot media story (which is a huge bonus for grassroots tactics like this protest), but also effectively gets you more bang for your buck. If 200 people take footage with their phones, for example, think of the “DIY media” that can be generated. Think of the ripple effect.

If you can’t manage to be in Draper this weekend, do note that the event page for Saturday’s protest also includes a whole list of people to contact to express your disapproval of Utah’s ag-gag law. These include policymakers, prosecutors, and owners of Smith & Sons Meatpacking Company.

To end on a positive note, you might already know that just this week, the governor of Tennessee vetoed that state’s ag-gag bill. One small step for man; one giant step for animal-kind.

Jenny Brown with Abby

At first glance, the Facebook page for Dust Bunny’s Boutique appears to be about a sweet little gift shop, full of fuzzy, animal-themed tchotchkes. But when you look closer, you might find that the warm fuzzies you’re feeling have less to do with the vegan fabric on the kissing duck doodads, and more to do with Abby, the passionate 16-year-old activist and entrepreneur behind them.

When I first contacted Dust Bunny’s Boutique about covering their incredible project for Our Hen House, I thought that I’d wind up writing a short and sweet piece about some inspiring folks who make crafts and then use those crafts to raise awareness and funds for animal rights. Badda bing. There you have a highly replicable, artistic, and grassroots campaign.

I loved the concept, even before I got an email back. But when the extra long response popped into my inbox, I was concerned that I wouldn’t make my dinner meeting on time, so I figured I’d just glance at it, and read the rest later. No dice. As soon as I saw what Mary Jane Serfilippi had to say about her younger daughter Abby, I knew I’d be late for my meal.  What I had initially presumed would be a spiffy piece for OHH on how “you too can create crafts with a conscience!” promptly wound up taking on a life of its own. It was clear that the article I had to write was not simply about crafting with a conscience. That’s because young Abby might be the most inspiring young activist I’ve heard about in a long time, maybe ever. This kid has gusto. Do yourself a favor and read her story….

When she was in fourth grade, Abby and her family bought a guinea pig — Muffin — from a nearby store in their hometown of Delmar, NY. Soon after, when she learned that other guinea pigs just like Muffin are often left abandoned, and are up for adoption at the local shelter, Abby was horrified, and took it upon herself to create a small campaign aiming to re-home those at the shelter. At one point, her family wound up with 22 of them.

But re-homing these animals wasn’t enough, because for all of the ones who had been given forever homes, countless others were still without one. So young Abby, already an avid craftster, received permission from her school to sell her creations at the school’s craft fair — the proceeds of which would benefit various animal sanctuaries and shelters. That was the beginning of an awareness- and fund-raising campaign which is now known as Dust Bunny’s Boutique, and these days, raises funds for a whopping seven animal rescue organizations.

Abby’s mom, the supportive and kind Mary Jane, told me that, “Over the past few years, Abby’s outreach has grown, and she has pursued many venues where she can sell her crafts and bring her message to the public.” The venues include a local bank, which, for the past two years, has allowed Abby to set up a display and sell her crafts for one month each summer. Plus, according to Mary Jane, “Abby has reached out to the Honest Weight Co-op, and was given permission to sell her crafts there during the Easter season, as well as at Little Anthony’s, Kleinke’s Farm Stand, the Village Animal Clinic, Gades Farm, Lil’ Buddha Tea, the Loving Cafe, and the Perfect Blend Cafe. She also sells her crafts at the St. Thomas Craft Fair, Holy Names Boutique Noel, and the Hamagrael Craft Fair.” Clearly, Abby is making quite a name for herself in her town, and bringing the animal message along for the ride.

100 percent of the proceeds of these sales benefit animal causes, including the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, Animal Protective Foundation, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, Farm Sanctuary, various New York State wildlife rehabilitators — including North Country Wild Car — and, of course, the Critter Connection in Connecticut, which is devoted to helping abandoned guinea pigs. “To date,” boasts Mary Jane, “Abby has raised $5,553 from the sale of her crafts.” Dust Bunny’s Boutique is a “labor of love” for Abby, her older sister Jessie, and an understandably kvelling Mary Jane.

But the story of Abby the Animal Ambassador doesn’t end there. Let’s back up …

So, you already know that fourth-grader Abby bought a guinea pig, learned about the plight of these little darlings, and started a craft campaign to raise funds for animal rescue groups. Already, that’s more advocacy than most people accomplish in a lifetime — let alone in a few short years on this planet. But for Abby, Muffin the guinea pig was only the start, a first step in her life’s mission to change the world for animals. Muffin was simply the gateway drug.

“Abby’s desire to help farm animals began four years ago,” Mary Jane told me. “After viewing a video revealing the brutal treatment to animals used in the fur industry, and coming to understand the unfortunate mistreatment of industrial farm animals, Abby made a personal change in her life. She knew the most effective way to help the animals was to become one less consumer of the meat and dairy industry and to adopt a plant-based diet.” After changing her diet — which, let’s face it, is not always the easiest feat for a middle-schooler — Abby continued to dig deeper, quickly learning about the animal oppression that’s inherent in the clothes we wear and the products we consume. She became a bona fide vegan, and an outspoken one at that.

“In seventh grade,” her mom continued, “Abby volunteered to participate in the St. Thomas Brenda Deer Memorial Learning Fair. She wanted to share with her fellow students what she had learned about factory farming.  She made a display with posters and pictures and had informational pamphlets for people interested in learning more about factory farms and changing their diets. She even had a sign-up sheet for people to volunteer to try ‘Meat Free Monday.’  The response was very positive and convinced her to keep spreading her knowledge.”

And so, Abby then took it upon herself to set up a display at the local library, educating the public about factory farming. She was then given the green light to use this subject as the topic for her eighth grade service requirement. That was all Abby needed to reach out to Catskill Animal Sanctuary founder Kathy Stevens, who came to talk to Abby’s school about factory farming and the role of sanctuaries, as well as read from her book, Where the Blind Horse Sings: Love and Healing at an Animal Sanctuary.

“That spring,” said Mary Jane, “Abby created and hosted an event at her school called ‘A Feast for St. Francis,’ where vegan chef Kevin Archer and education coordinator Betsy Farrell-Messenger, from the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, came to the school on a Saturday and gave lessons in vegan cooking, talked about the health benefits of a plant-based diet, and also shared many wonderful stories of the rescued farmed animals at the sanctuary.” Abby’s event also included age-appropriate educational videos (which Abby selected), information for how to eat optimally as a vegan, and an assortment of recipes to please both the palate and the conscience. There was even a raffle that benefited the life-saving work of Catskill Animal Sanctuary.

Mind you, all of this was going on at the same time as Dust Bunny’s Boutique, which was gaining popularity within the community, and raising more and more funds to benefit animal charities. The information provided at Abby’s craft tables now expanded beyond just guinea pigs, and included farmed animals as well, and plenty of reading material about veganism. “When Abby entered her freshman year at the Academy of the Holy Names,” said Mary Jane, “she received permission to incorporate her work for the animals into her service requirements for her [new] school. Her first accomplishment was to gain approval to wear a non-leather shoe in place of the required leather one.”

Mary Jane is continually inspired by her daughter, so much so that, in 2011 — two years after Abby graduated from St. Thomas the Apostle School — Mary Jane started the St Francis of Assisi Scholarship, which is given to a seventh-grader who demonstrates a strong regard for animals. “We wanted to keep Abby’s mission of compassion for all animals alive at the school, and decided a scholarship could do this,” explained Mary Jane. The $200 scholarship, which is donated from Mary Jane’s personal funds, goes toward the student’s tuition.”Each year, students write a paragraph answer to a question we ask them about animal rights. We go through the entries and select a winner.”

This story leaves me all sorts of verklempt. What strikes me most is how the outpouring of community support has helped to buoy the drive and passion of a young girl with a mission and a determination to end the exploitation of animals. The kind of mass social change that Abby is looking to achieve begins with one person’s courage to face the truth — hard as it is — and commit to changing the shape of things. That brave force was young Abby, who — even as a fourth-grader — refused to look away. But the takeaway here is twofold. Because in addition to finding loads of inspiration from this kid (much of which is replicable, so hopefully you’ve been taking notes), I am also reminded of the power of community support. Abby’s school, her local library, her family, her friends, and various businesses in her area all rallied behind her altruistic efforts, providing a solid foundation with which she could get across her message. I am as inspired by Abby’s community as I am by Abby.

At Our Hen House, we like to think that we are “indefatigably positive.” We focus on opportunities and ideas for changing the world for animals, even though, at times, we indeed feel the despair. As I write this, as I delve into the story of one young girl who will stop at nothing to raise awareness about the plight of animals, I am reminded of what positivity really means. Like you, like me, Abby has felt that gut-wrenching sadness when faced with what goes on for animals behind closed doors. But she also sees true goodness in people — otherwise she wouldn’t be persevering so selflessly and relentlessly. She wouldn’t be making crafts with her sister and her mom and selling them in order to help animals in need. She wouldn’t be taking a stand against wearing the leather shoes that are supposed to be part of her school’s uniform, and implementing new policies of compassion.

I’m often asked who or what is at the heart of the animal rights movement. I’m convinced that at the heart of the movement is Abby, and folks like Abby, who may themselves remain unsung, but won’t stop singing.

One such creative approach can be found in Australia, where the RSPCA recently made headlines for its “education mobility unit” which mimics a battery cage, but is human size. The kids eagerly take turns crowding into the cage, providing a hands-on and frighteningly accurate experience of what hens go through for the entirety of their short lives. Of course, the big difference is that the kids can eventually get out.

Picture: BRENDAN FRANCIS Source: Cairns.com

Photo Source: Vegan Outreach

Welcome to the 174^th episode of Our Hen House, Official Honoree of the 2013 Webby Awards. Today’s episode features Lisa Kemmerer, with a special appearance by Jenny Brown

In today’s episode, we bring you our recurring “Anxieties Rising” segment, dedicated to the animal agriculture industry. We’ll chat about an article from Beef Magazine entitled “Is It Fair to Use Religion in the Animal Rights Debate?” Beyond that, we’ll also chat about Jasmin’s recent and somewhat accidental interview for a major documentary by the filmmakers behind Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. And we’ll tell you all about a one-woman show we saw, Blondie of Arabia, which is full of various social justice themes – including animal rights. Plus, we’ll report back on last week’s fundraiser we attended for Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, aptly called Sanctuary in the City, held at the uber-chic Chelsea gallery, Alexander Gray Associates. While at that fabulous event, we had the opportunity to chat with Woodstock Sanctuary founder Jenny Brown, and today we’ll bring you that interview. You won’t want to miss it. Jenny, who is one of our heroes, will let us in on what the deal is with slaughterhouses in the city.

For our feature interview today we’ll be joined by philosopher, activist, and author Lisa Kemmerer, who will discuss her book Animals and World Religions. Lisa will tell us about why religion is an important part of her work vis a vis animals, and she’ll ruminate on why so many people who follow religions that seem to require ethical behavior behave in ways that are so unethical when it comes to animals. She’ll chat with us about so much more, too – this is a hefty subject indeed! – so don’t miss this eye-opening interview.

For our review, we will give you our list of 5 New-to-Us Chinatown Produce Finds, and we’ll tell you which ones you absolutely have to try, and which ones you can skip.

All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.

For a list of the news items we discuss in today’s episode, and then some, take a look at the breaking news ticker at the top of ourhenhouse.org, and also check out our list of archived news items.

You can listen to our podcast directly on our blog (below!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Don’t forget – we’re reader and listener supported. Plus, we offer some fantastic thank you gifts for your donations. Thank you for helping us to create quality content, and for helping us to bring you a new, hour-long (and then some) podcast episode each week!

“Once you see it, you can’t un-see it. And once you’ve seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There’s no innocence. Either way, you’re accountable.” -Arundhati Roy

CHEETAH by Nathaniel Gold
over art created by Cheetah

You know by now that we have a thing for art that speaks up for animals. Creative advocacy is a powerful and often mysterious way to reach people with the truth of animal suffering, and — same coin, different side — the beauty of liberation. So I want to point you toward a new exhibition that is using art to advocate for animals — in a unique, beautiful, and, at times, sneakily gut-wrenching way.

Nathaniel Gold’s Equality and Individuality is a collaboration with (and benefit for) Save the Chimps. But this collaboration goes further than your run-of-the-mill partnership. In addition to Gold (who is also the author of The Chimpanzee Manifesto) painting portraits of some of the individual residents at the sanctuary, some of the chimps themselves are getting out their artist palettes and creating one of a kind paintings. But most excitingly — and here’s where the collaboration comes in — Equality and Individuality will also include pieces by both Gold and the chimps.

Here is a video of best friends, Cheetah and Timmy, painting a portrait together:

And here’s one of the truly remarkable Nathaniel Gold discussing his process of painting portraits of the rescued chimps, as well as what it’s like sharing the canvas with these non-human primate artists. You really must see this.

There is a touching interview with Gold in this week’s Scientific American blog, where he discusses how his trajectory to speak up for chimps began with a student project  – a short film which he calls “the fictional story of a chimpanzee inserted into real-world events, sort of like Forest Gump, and the idea was that this chimp was now behind bars as a kind of political prisoner.” Gold also discusses his concept of using “chimps as a mask to better reveal ourselves.”

Equality and Individuality is on display in Vero Beach, FL, at Gallery 14, throughout May. According to Save the Chimps, the art may also be commissioned for $1,000, 50 percent of which will directly benefit their “special needs chimps.”

Paintings featured on www.ourhenhouse.org (currently featured on the homepage slider) are all by Nathaniel Gold and select resident chimps from Save the Chimps, and are on display at the Equality and Individuality exhibit in Vero Beach, FL.

American Strays

We’ve all seen a stray dog or cat on the streets — sometimes, depending on where we live, with sad regularity — and many of us have us done our best to handle the dismal situation in a way that results in the animal winding up in a safe and happy environment. Sometimes that means capturing the animal ourselves and bringing him or her to a reputable no-kill shelter. Or sometimes we accidentally find ourselves with a new family member — whoops! Seeing stray felines might also instigate us to alert a feral cat group, so we can make sure that the animal becomes part of a “trap neuter return” program. Regardless of how we act when we see these homeless individuals foraging for food, if you’re like me, you lose sleep about it — even if you’ve done your very best to help. Indeed, even the happy endings can create sad repercussions for us, because although it brings us joy that one individual has found her way, we know the rest of the rest of the story, and it ain’t heartwarming.

A few years ago, I came across an injured pigeon here in NYC, and was able to get him to a facility that took in wildlife. He wound up in the very good hands of a wildlife rehabber, and was eventually re-released into the wild. That right there is a happy ending. And yet, I still think about this particular pigeon all the time. And with him in mind, I obsess about how maligned these truly extraordinary animals are, and how hated they have become — for absolutely no good reason.

Then there was Tips, the dog I helped rescue during a trip to Puerto Rico, where malnourished, stray dogs are pretty much everywhere. Our friend and travel-mate, Joan, had found Tips trembling in a bush. One of his front paws had been flattened, probably from being run over by a car. We wound up bringing him to a very kind vet (after several hours of trying to get him safely out from the bush). Then, the incredible folks at All Sato Rescue kept him there while he became rehabilitated. Luckily, since I had my Flipcam with me at the time of the rescue, I made a video about it — resulting not only in necessary funds for Tips, and donations to All Sato Rescue, but it also led to a forever home for him in Florida, where he is living luxuriously. (Admittedly, I am now on a campaign to get myself adopted by Tips’ new family. He has a pool, you guys!)

This is our sweet Rose, who was once found abandoned. She has found her way into our homes and hearts. Photo by Jessica Mahady.

Part of the heartbreak that comes with finding strays — even if, like Tips, they wind up in loving homes — is that the problem is so much bigger than just one animal. That’s not to say that rescuing one animal doesn’t matter. In fact, that’s an entire world to him or her (same goes for farmed animals, which is why we shouldn’t eat them — in doing so, we take away their entire world). And there are so many incredible organizations working tirelessly to end animal homelessness, approaching the issue from a systemic level.

But in order to get the public behind campaigns to end dog and cat homelessness, they have to first bear witness. And as I learned full well with my short, no-budget documentary of sweet Tips, video footage goes a long way — especially when it comes to awakening the public about the oppression of animals. Another important strategy is highlighting the stories of individuals, as opposed to speaking in general terms about strays. This kind of focus on the individual has proven extremely effective in fund- and awareness-raising. Take a look at Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Farm-Animal Project, or heck, even Children International’s child sponsorship program. Both of these perfectly demonstrate how when you focus on one story — on”someone, not something” (to quote a Farm Sanctuary campaign) — you can really make a huge impact. Stories reach people, just as video does.

With all of that in mind, one of my favorite new online media campaigns is American Strays, a project of World Animal Awareness Society. American Strays is a web-based show highlighting the people and animals that the World Animal Awareness Society comes across “while counting stray dogs in the city of Detroit as we try to solve the mystery of just how many strays wander the streets on any given day.” Airing every Tuesday — and streaming the same day as the filming — American Strays directly tackles the crisis of 50,000 stray dogs throughout the city. The website explains that “the viewer will witness the inner workings of present day animal rescue in Detroit by those on the front lines.” Some of the episodes are nearly impossible to bear, covering topics such as Highway Statistics, Puppy in Peril (documenting the sad story of a stray puppy stuck in a pipe), and Penny Goes to Prison (documenting the story of Penny, a beautiful but tragic 6-month-old pit bull mix). Even though some episodes are hard to watch, this show — and this campaign — is strong, effectively shedding light on a problem that many citizens simply don’t think about.

Even if you don’t have a camera crew, capturing and publishing the stories of individual animals can really pack a punch. Even back when I made the video of Tips — 3 years ago, almost to the day — I was using a simple Flipcam. And now, most Smartphones will produce a high quality video, no fancypants tech equipment needed.

Just this morning, I came across an inspiring project called Invisible People, which features short video interviews with America’s homeless population (the human variety). I instantly became enamored with the stories of these people and how they wound up on the streets, and I immediately wanted to do something to help them. That’s yet another testament to the power that comes when mixing the story of the individual (be they human or non) with some very basic video capabilities. Though I’m the first one to talk about the importance of using a multi-pronged approach when it comes to changing the world for animals, I’ll also be the first in line to say that creating short videos like these might be the very key to unlocking a future that embraces and demonstrates compassion for all.

With gardens getting greener and produce becoming more colorful, I’ve become inspired by the ways people with a green thumb use it to help those who may be less lucky. This seed of compassion was planted by an article I read in Kentucky’s Daily News, detailing one community’s efforts to grow fruits and vegetables and divide the bounty between a food pantry and a CSA for refugees. The article, entitled “A Great Need: Food for All Community Garden will provide fresh produce, fight hunger,” demonstrates the beauty of using plant-based foods to help the hungry. First of all (and needless to say), you’re helping people who really need it, not only to have food, but to have the best food on the planet — high-quality, health-promoting, fresh fruit and vegetables.

And your impact can go far beyond the hungry individuals you’re helping out. In fact, when you feed the hungry plant-based goodies, you are not only filling them up, but you’re also reducing the number of animals in their diets and reminding them of the deliciousness of plants. And if you like to think globally while offering your local produce, just imagine the worldwide impact of eating vegetables instead of animals, since the waste of resources represented by animal agriculture is a major contributor to world hunger. Reason number 9,842 to go vegan.

These volunteers in Kentucky may not be vegan (yet), but I can’t help but love that they are spreading the gospel about the virtues of veggies. One of the folks spearheading this effort is Rev. Michael Nasser of Holy Apostles, who told the Daily News, “We’re a small community, (we don’t have) a lot of money, but (we have) open hearts and acreage.” Preach it!

We’re now in the season where people who love to garden start to get serious about it. (And it’s been my experience that they tend to get really serious about it.) Let’s hope they are all lucky enough to find a local food pantry or other outlet so that they can have the pleasure of sharing the bounty with people who will truly appreciate it. It’s nice to remember that advocating veganism doesn’t have to always be about  telling people what they shouldn’t eat. Rather, growing produce, feeding people, and promoting veganism are about enlightening people about what they should eat — fruits and vegetables, for starters. Growing food and growing compassion go hand in hand, as does sharing the goodness with those who need it most.

Handwriting, it seems — both script and print — is becoming a lost art. My grandmother, for example, has the most beautiful penmanship I’ve ever seen. Her loops are perfect ovals; the slant of her words are always consistent. Now that I think about it, put that talent together with Grandma’s penchant for animal rights, and I would bet my Bic that she would simply adore “Animal Writes,” a new program by Adam Orand which encourages thoughtful, hand-written correspondence on behalf of animals.

“With a simple postcard,” states the website, “you can help an animal by connecting with another human to make a difference on an issue you’re passionate about.” Animal Writes gives you a plethora of ideas to get you started on picking an issue, ranging from writing a postcard to a politician, a company (“tell a business what you think about their treatment of animals”), law enforcement, an animal advocate (“send them an encouraging thank you to let them know how much you appreciate them”), a reporter, a neighbor or friend, or a celebrity.

In a world of digital fury (in all honesty, I type faster than I think), why handwritten? What gives? Why not typed? Doesn’t it seem easier and faster to just bang out the message and press “send”? Animal Writes demystifies this:

In today’s digital age, we are inundated with constant texts, tweets, posts and pokes. But have you ever stepped back to think that through all of this it’s really hard to actually connect with someone? Doesn’t it seem like posting a message to a couple hundred “friends” ends up with no one really listening? One of the easiest ways to show someone else you care is by taking an extra moment to hand write something. Not only does it show how important the issue is to you, your message will stand out amongst the electronic chatter and make a memorable statement.

Animal Writes also includes handy tips for the Future Postcard Writers of America (my term — not theirs). There, you’ll find the more obvious pointers like making sure you have enough postage, not forgetting to provide a return address, and being absolutely polite. But beyond those no-brainers, I for one appreciated the more out-of-the-box tips, such as the one encouraging us to keep our correspondence green by repurposing a cereal box into a postcard. Crafts and advocacy? I am in!

Perhaps one of the coolest aspects of Animal Writes is that, in addition to helping us come up with the ideas and strategies, it also provides the opportunity to buy repurposed postcards, which can be obtained from thrift stores and yard sales, resulting in a “large collection of overprint, retro and odd ball postcards that have been saved from landfills.” You can purchase Animal Writes postage stamps, too.

Grandma, if you’re reading this, start flexing those hand muscles, and I’ll do the same.

In a world laden with oppression, let’s get back down to basics. It’s time to become an Animal Writes activist.

Invisible Histories (2012) is a piece that focuses on animals killed in the name of scientific research. Specifically, it is a response to the contents of the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS), a repository for radioactive waste generated in the mid-20th century. Among the “waste” shipped to NFSS were the bodies of thousands of animals who had been given injections of plutonium as part of atomic weaponry research conducted at the University of Rochester. This so-called Rochester Burial included 280,000 mice. When Szoke learned about the NFSS, located a short drive from the American side of Niagara Falls, she was struck by the staggering number of animal bodies buried there. “What would 280,000 radioactive mice even look like?” she wondered. Invisible Histories is a project that is intended to answer this question and, in so doing, asks viewers to confront not only the fate of these particular mice in this particular landscape, but also the processes through which animals are so frequently rendered invisible in our society.

Donna Szoke, Invisible Histories (video still), 2012

Szoke created this project to confront this idea of animal invisibility as well as to provoke more questions. Invisible Histories is composed of a 3-D animated, digitally rendered, glowing green mouse reproduced 280,000 times. In a gallery setting, this piece takes the form of a video of a seemingly endless loop of mice running across the projection surface located along the baseboards of the gallery wall. Many people do not notice the mice at first – we are no more accustomed to viewing art at floor level than we are to paying attention to the fate of the countless animals who have lived and died in laboratories around the world.

The lives, deaths, and burial of these 280,000 mice were shrouded in secrecy. They were rendered invisible, something Szoke attempts to counter with this work. She sees this piece as “a way to apologize, to collectively hang our heads and wish for forgiveness.” Her hope for Invisible Histories is that the “280,000 iterations of this one glowing mouse will go some way towards a collective re-imagining of these tiny beings. It invites the viewer to visualize other historical outcomes, and hopefully by extension, other presents, and other futures.” In other words, this piece does not stop with these mice whose lives were taken from them all those decades ago. Szoke sees an important connection existing between this history and the choices we collectively make today.

Donna Szoke, Alfred Waits (video still), 2012

Another recent work by Szoke is a piece called Alfred Waits, a looping video of an animated horse meant to represent Alfred, the horse ridden by Major General Sir Isaac Brock, an officer in the British Army during the War of 1812. While there have recently been many commemorations of this war between the United States and the British Empire, which included, of course, Canada, with this piece Szoke turns our attention to an often forgotten aspect of armed conflict – the animals who serve alongside soldiers.

On October 13, 1812, General Brock was killed in battle, but Alfred was temporarily spared. Another British soldier, Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell, took command after Brock’s death and rode Alfred into battle later that same day. This time, Alfred was not so lucky and was killed in action. Today, bronze memorials for both General Brock and Alfred can be found in the Niagara landscape. Unlike the lab mice buried at the NFSS, Alfred has not been forgotten, although his role and story are typically presented as a footnote to those of his human companions. In this instance, then, Szoke’s piece is not about making the invisible visible. Rather, she asks us to imagine alternate scenarios for Alfred. What would have happened if Colonel Macdonell had not ridden Alfred back into battle? What if Alfred had run away? What if Alfred was still stoically and patiently waiting for General Brock’s return?

Like Invisible Histories, Alfred Waits brings history into the present through contemporary media technologies – as Szoke describes, this is “an imaginative engagement with a very real history.” Alfred Waits is a site-specific piece, triggered by a quick response (QR) code located near the bronze memorial for Alfred. The resulting video that appears on the screen of a smartphone shows an animated, yet haunting, sketch of a horse in the very landscape the viewer is standing in, the very landscape that Alfred was killed in. This piece asks us to consider the role of animals in human warfare, but also asks us to think about what this specific horse may have experienced in this specific location on that specific day. Did Alfred wonder what happened to General Brock? Was he frightened? Was he bored? Obviously we will never know the answers to these questions, but this piece foregrounds the sentience, agency, and emotional lives of animals in a way that may lead to further reflection about those we continue to share our lives with. For example, the model for Alfred is a horse named Floyd, a resident of the Last Chance Horse & Pony Rescue. In her artist statement about Alfred Waits, Szoke contrasts the compassionate efforts of this sanctuary with the ongoing and controversial issue of horse slaughter in Canada. In other words, we are asked to carry forward empathy we may feel for Alfred, and situate it in our contemporary circumstances.

Through the process of making these histories visible for viewers in the 21st century, Szoke raises important questions about our relationships with animals in our contemporary times. The distance of history often opens the door for critical reflection. How will we choose to respond to the stories of Alfred and the 280,000 mice? Will we allow history to repeat itself?

Welcome to the 173^rd episode of Our Hen House, 2013 Official Honoree of the Webby Awards. Today’s episode features Iris Ho, with special appearances by Jay Astafa and Ari Solomon.

In today’s episode, we tell you about an 8-course vegan popup restaurant that we attended here in New York City, and we’ll chat with the dynamite 20-year-old chef, Jay Astafa. Find out what ingredient caused him to appropriately name one of his dishes “dragon’s breath.” We’ll also talk about animal rights poet Gretchen Primack, whose new book, Kind, gives us shivers, and hope. Jasmin will tell you about Kind’s book launch party which she attended. And, inspired by a documentary we saw at the Tribeca Film Festival called Out of Print, we’ll ruminate on digital books versus three-dimensional ones, and what implications the future of publishing have for animal rights and veganism. And we’ll discuss the role that animal exploitation plays in religion, and why things aren’t different in that regard. (Read more about that in our recent article for Elephant Journal, “Do Religious Traditions Condone Animal Suffering?“)

Speaking of which, today we’ll be joined by Iris Ho, the person who heads up Humane Society International’s campaign to end mercy release and educate the public about this cruel practice, which, ironically, was originally motivated by compassion for animals. Iris will tell us all about mercy release and her efforts to bring lasting change to animals.

For our review, we’ll be joined by Our Hen House reviewer Ari Solomon, who will give us his take on the new HBO documentary, An Apology to Elephants. Don’t miss Ari’s eye-opening take on this film. His review might just surprise you.

All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.

For a list of the news items we discuss in today’s episode, and then some, take a look at the breaking news ticker at the top of ourhenhouse.org, and also check out our list of archived news items.

You can listen to our podcast directly on our blog (below!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Don’t forget – we’re reader and listener supported. Plus, we offer some fantastic thank you gifts for your donations. Thank you for helping us to create quality content, and for helping us to bring you a new, hour-long (and then some) podcast episode each week!

“This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” -George Bernard Shaw

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Poetry Book Review: Kind by Gretchen Primack

Review by Ashlee Piper

Kind by Gretchen Primack. Cover design by Susan Siegel.

Activism takes on many forms. And while advocates often get caught up in quibbling about which is the most effective form of activism, there are those whose crusade is cloaked in art, art that delicately broaches topics that sometimes even the most overt activism cannot.

In her most recent book, Kind, award-winning author Gretchen Primack demonstrates that even the smallest of stanzas can wield an everlasting wallop of consciousness. Kind is exactly the sort of art that changes people.

And when I say “people,” I don’t just mean the select folks who identify as vegan. I mean the collective us – the us riding the subway, the us waiting in line at the store, the us who sometimes need a message that we know is true to be wrapped in a beautiful poem, so it feels safe enough for us to allow it through the door of our heart.

You might remember Primack from her featured video on Our Hen House’s Art of the Animal Series (in which she reads several of the poems featured in Kind), or from her previous works, The Slow Creaking of Planets and The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight for Farm Animals (which she coauthored with Jenny Brown). Much like Audre Lorde or Wilfred Owen, Primack is a master of crafting infinitely readable literature with a message.

Kind is a slim compendium of poems encased in the most charming, coffee table-worthy cover you’ve ever seen. Inside the book, cover artist Susan Siegel’s moving sketches add depth to Primack’s words. By all appearances, this is the type of book you could give as a gift to your omnivorous aunt, and she’d delight in its glossy beauty and sumptuous verse.

But this collection of poems is just as bewitching as its art. Each piece rings with what I imagine is Primack’s real voice and personality: The poems seem casual and welcoming (so it’s not a struggle to dive right in), but also substantive and honest enough to keep you interested. Stories in selections like “Love This” – a gut-wrenching account of the dreary life of a maternal dairy cow – are related with such remarkable tenderness that when you read them, you feel forever changed, as if you had witnessed the scene firsthand.

The body floods with chemicals saying, Love This,

and she does, and births it; it is a boy

she begins to clean and nose, but he is dragged

away by his back feet. She will never touch him

again, though she hears him howl and calls back

for days.

After only a few pages, you realize that Primack is not just talking about non-human animals. She deftly covers issues like the perverted hierarchy of human versus non-human motherhood and the shared semantics of animal and human exploitation. Her poems gently but effectively address that unspoken and often twisted relationship that humankind has with other creatures. That juxtaposition makes us as readers think, and more importantly, it creeps up and makes us feel, in a tangible way, the scenes Primack describes.

Poems such as “Big Pig” and “The Workers” lend imagery to factory farming that is so palpable that you can almost feel the fetid, humid air of the slaughterhouse as exploited workers and tortured animals fight for their lives.

Primack’s raw prose also addresses the pesky inner dialogue that many animal activists encounter because we tend to see so much and feel so deeply. “Garden,” for instance, touches on wanting to make valuable contributions to social justice, while “Matter” seems to grapple with the all-too-familiar quandary of feeling small and helpless.

In “The Dogs and I Walked Our Woods” – where Primack recounts a day she and her dogs happened upon two slaughtered coyotes – she closes with a resonant statement about her feelings on procreating in such a violent world, feelings that many of us wrestle with:

and if I bore a child who suffered to see this

or if I bore a child who gladdened to see this, or if

I bore a child who kept walking, I could not bear

it, so I will not bear one.

Ultimately, the poems in Kind have an underlying feeling of love – love of companion animals, love for nature, love for her husband (who truly seems to embody the spirit of Kind), and admiration for beings whom the author may have unwittingly exploited in the past. It’s the type of awkward, but deep, love so many of us can relate to, because we feel it when we pass by a chained dog, or see the eye of a sensitive pig through the slats of a transport truck barreling down the highway, bound for misery.

Love is not the only theme, though. Primack is not afraid to use the succinct form and musical language of a poem to direct the conversation to animal rights, as she does in “Ringling.”

Maybe someday you will trick

for me.

Maybe I will find value in you

on one foot.

 

I will take you from family,

home,

so I can watch you

balance.

 

Will you bore me? I bore myself

now, reduced

to your conditions, cut off

from my life

 

and language. None of me

is left; still

you found something

to waste.

Kind is many things, but propaganda isn’t one of them. This is literature with a message, and there is a distinct difference. For one, Kind is a beautiful read that does what good poetry aims to do – it alters you. And because of Primack’s abundant talent, the reader never feels preached to or duped.

Gretchen Primack at the NYC launch of Kind.

Therein lies the magic of Kind – its universal appeal. You can put this book in the hands of anyone who appreciates solid prose and they will be changed without even suspecting it. Not every author can master this, but because Primack’s style is so inviting, readers go on this transformative journey willingly.

In addition to being an enjoyable read, Kind also lends itself to being spoken. In fact, these poems should be spoken, shouted, and sung to the masses. There’s something special about hearing the words in the author’s own voice, and folks in the Woodstock, N.Y. area have the rare opportunity to do just that at The Golden Notebook on May 11 at 6:30 p.m.

This is the sort of book you buy three copies of (a portion of the book sales will go to benefit Mercy For Animals): one to keep at home, one to give to a friend who loves animals (but might not be quite there yet), and one to give to someone who would never otherwise want to hear about animal issues. Primack’s poetry is tenacious like that – it has the ability to reach unexpected people and seep into their consciousness. It is my hope that Kind gets the exposure to do just that.

Poetry excerpts reprinted with permission from Gretchen Primack.

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Ashlee Piper

Ashlee Piper is a governmental strategist, writer, and wellness coach living in Chicago. She owns All Is Wellness, a boutique plant-based lifestyle consultancy, and manages the Vegucated Schoolhouse Online Community, a free space that offers expert advice and support to thousands of people in transition to veganism. Her writing can be found in Ecorazzi, Reader’s Digest, and Girlie Girl Army, and on her own vegan food and style website, The Little Foxes. A former adviser to two Massachusetts governors, Ashlee holds a master of social work degree from the University of Oxford and a bachelor of arts degree from Brown University. She enjoys watching her two rescue dogs zip along the beach, whipping up vegan feasts, and falling prey to the siren songs of infomercials (no joke).

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Bonus! Below you’ll find the original Art of the Animal feature that Our Hen House produced in 2011,  featuring poet Gretchen Primack!

For those of you with more of a theatrical flair, you might want to pay close attention. If your hero is David Mamet, Tennessee Williams, or Eric Bogosian (three of my favorite playwrights), your life’s mission is to change the world for animals, and your closeted talent is writing plays, then Ashland Creek Press is about to be your new best friend. In addition to creating the aforementioned fiction anthology, they are seeking full-length plays with animal rights themes. “We’re looking for plays that explore the human/animal relationship, particularly in regard to animal protection,” states their website. “Previously produced plays are fine; however, the works must not be currently published in book or e-book form, and authors must retain all rights.” A little birdie told me that ACP eventually hopes to make these plays available as a source of fundraising and activism. Their hope is to help shed some light on the AR-themed plays that may already be out there — as well as to encourage more writers to take the theatrical plunge. So, are you ready to submit your original dramatic work?

Here at Our Hen House, we’ve covered animal rights themed plays in the past, and — perhaps because my BFA is in Acting — each time a new one pops up, I do a little shim sham of happiness. Perhaps my fave was Katya Lidsky’s one-woman show, I’m Sorry: How An Apologist Became an Activist. (Katya wrote about the process of creating this manifesto in her OHH feature, “I Am a Haunted House.”) And activist Zoe Weill recently brought her Ongoing Problems With Kindness to NYC, where she shed light on the plight of animals and the importance of humane education. Mariann and I also headed to Chicago a couple years ago where we reviewed the play Dead Pile, which followed the story of an undercover investigator inside a factory farm (we also published an interview with the playwright, Laura Jacqmin, and the director, Megan Shuchman). And Mariann spoke on a panel following the NYC premiere of The Tragical-Comical Trial of Madame P and Other 4-Legged and Winged Creatures, a play about the medieval animal trials. More recently, a newer play that has successfully wooed us is The Veg Monologues, which, as we recently reported, is a collection of monologues — mostly based on true accounts — centering around vegan “coming out” stories. So the theatre bug is out there amongst activists for sure, and those dedicated to speaking up for animals are using theatre as one medium to spread the good word — and with fabulous diction, to boot!

But still. Shakespeare wrote something like thirty-seven plays. And he was just one dude. I just named a mere five animal rights themed plays. As a community full of creative and talented people — many of whom, like me, have a background in theatre or another aspect of the arts — we can do better! Let’s change the world for animals, one “curtain up” at a time.

The 269 campaign is in the news again, this time for scattering decapitated animal heads in urban public places, such as fountains (where, in some cases, activists also dyed the water red). Behind these dismembered body parts is graffiti, saying things such as “The slaughterhouses’ walls have become transparent.”

None of the news sources mention where the activists obtained the animal heads, though I’d bet the (factory) farm that they were obtained in a way that did not benefit in any way those who killed the animals. Murder and waste are the name of the game when it comes to animal exploitation, the industry that 269 is working so hard to obliterate. I’d also bet that the vast majority of you reading this are offended by this latest tactic, and though ultimately I don’t think I agree with you, I get why you would be.

There are so many angles to ponder here: For one thing, is it wrong to exploit the already dead bodies of animals? Moreover, is this really exploitation, or is the protest a subversive way of actually honoring their bodies (and souls)? Whether or not it’s morally acceptable for the heads of dead animals to be used as part of the installation may depend, for me, on how they were acquired. Maybe the possibility of many thousands of animals’ lives being spared as a result of what this campaign could reveal outweighs the issues inherent in using dead animals for part of the installation (assuming they were already considered “throwaways”).

Was this campaign a form of grassroots outreach, a way to traumatize passersby into changing their ways? Or was it solely a media campaign, an opportunity to get press to cover animal rights issues? I’d say it was probably a little of both, and I’d even go so far as to call this a type of performance art. Still, I can see why some people would be offended. The assumption of the organizers is obviously that the public would be shocked into rethinking what’s on their plate when exposed to the visceral reality in front of them. Presumably, the 269 folks weighed out the costs of such a campaign and leapt into it with their eyes open. They’re not idiots; they knew the risks. And they’ve since been arrested — 10 of them, ages 25 to 65 (none of them had criminal records).

But I don’t want to overly harp on that aspect of this campaign. The point is, 269 Life is effectively rabble-rousing, and I agree with Sasha that there is just no time to waste. We need a multi-pronged approach if we’re going to truly change the world for animals, and we can all agree that this decapitated heads campaign was certainly, well, a prong. And before those of you who are going to be critical do just that, let me remind you that it’s a lot easier to criticize others’ techniques rather than implement your own campaign. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t evaluate one another’s work. On the contrary, other social justice movements throughout history managed to “iron out” their tactics partly because of inside criticism from those who had the same goals, but different approaches. So, criticize if you want to. But then do something, too — something proactive and creative and groundbreaking, and something that you feel will work — all with the overarching goal to change the world for animals.

Might I remind you that there are literally thousands of ideas and opportunities for how to change the world for animals right here on the pages of Our Hen House? You need not get arrested. You need not involve carcasses. That’s the beauty of changing the world. There are countless inroads to do it, as long as we don’t get in our own way, and don’t allow others (friends and opposition alike) to stymie us.

This is a photo of The Cinnamon Snail, the NYC and NJ-based vegan food truck. Imagine a vegan food truck in Vegas?

Thanks to VegNews for bringing our attention to a new vegan dessert truck in Las Vegas. But this isn’t just any vegan food truck …

Frozendipity is set to arrive this summer, and is part of a class assignment for the lucky students at the University of Iowa who are about to get a “vegucation” about plant-based goodness.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that the students, who were enrolled in the class “Reimagining Downtown,” taught by Professor David Gould, were assigned to create a project that would help revitalize downtown Vegas. This very cool assignment was a result of a cooperative arrangement with Downtown Project, an organization which describes itself as devoted to “transforming Downtown Las Vegas into the most community-focused large city in the world.”

According to the article, the Project committed $50,000 to the class, and Frozendipity — which the student project’s Facebook page describes as “a charming, nostalgia-inducing, renovated ice cream truck serving raw, vegan treats while inconspicuously showcasing an introduction to healthy foods” — was born.

Well, wow. When Mariann and I visited Vegas a few years ago, while en route to Best Friends Animal Society, the vegan food was slim pickins (with the exception, of course, of the famed — and rightfully so — Ronald’s Doughnuts). Nowadays, thanks to American business mogul Steve Wynn’s recent vegan awakening (he subsequently bought 10,000 copies of the documentary Eating for each of his staff and made it required viewing), vegan dining in the City of Sin has never been more delicious (and less sinful). Wynn, who owns several widely-recognized resorts on the Strip, made sure each of them had their share of cruelty-free fare. Just when I’d finally decided to not throw any more money away, once and for all, these student entrepreneurs have given me yet another reason to brush up on my blackjack. It seems another visit to Las Vegan — I mean Vegas — might be in order.

Admittedly, we can’t all start vegan businesses such as this one — but there are ways of learning a thing or two from these students. When it comes to what we at Our Hen House like to call “for-profit activism,” the sky is the limit, really, for what can be accomplished. I admire these students for “Reimagining Downtown” — a place that is marred by poverty — in the direction of reimagining healthy, plant-based cuisine. I see the lesson here as twofold:

1. If you’re a student, try very hard to swing your class assignments in the direction of animal rights and veganism, whenever and however possible. You can angle it from the vantage point of compassion to all, or world hunger, or health, or the environment, or, well, insert-the-blank. There is literally a way in with this issue, every which way you look at it. Find the way in. This can include your personal assignments, and, like these Vegas dreamers, group or class assignments, too. Don’t be afraid of speaking up. If you won’t, who will?
2. Regardless of whether or not you’re a student, perhaps your next career should be in creating a for-profit venture that helps animals? This can include a restaurant or food truck enterprise, a store, a service, an online business, you name it.

Oh, and whichever student came up with the name “Frozendipity” deserves extra credit. They got the name right; let’s just hope that these kids hit the jackpot.

So when OHH columnist Keri Cronin emailed me asking if I’d heard of “Run Cow Run,” the new video game being billed as “the game the meat industry doesn’t want you to know about,” I paid attention. Keri’s email went on to say, “I downloaded it for my phone but had to stop playing it because I really suck at video games and, as such, the ‘evil farmer’ kept catching the poor cow who was trying to escape. I couldn’t live with the guilt!” And, with that, I was addicted (even if I was one of the last “animal people” on the planet to have heard of it).

The game’s producer, Bengigi, describes the story of Run Cow Run as such: “One day, the little cow realizes what happens to all of the farm animals and makes an escape for her life! While being chased by the vicious farmer, she rescues other farm animals from their cages and tries not to end up as a steak in the farm’s slaughterhouse.”

True to form, Run Cow Run is like a modern-day take on Super Mario I, complete with a jump button, a slide button, and an insatiable desire to play it over and over without stopping. As you rescue little cows from cages, your next step is to bring them to a sanctuary. You get points by collecting coins, and these points allow you to buy various powers. These include “Udder Power,” which lets you “squirt milk to drive away the angry farmer”; antibiotics, making you “unaffected by stabs from the farmer’s pitchfork”; and — for 5,000 points, the most you’re able to spend on one thing — the “Almighty Bull,” which is described simply as “a hell of a ride.” I personally haven’t yet gotten 5,000 points, so I can only surmise at what the bull does to the farmer.

I completely understand why Keri felt guilty. Any animal advocate playing Run Cow Run will be destined for at least a little failure, but hopefully only after liberating some other animals. So, if you die — which you will — at least you won’t have done so completely in vain.

Needless to say, I’m officially obsessed, and thrilled that this game is out there. Though I’m not sure if it’s going to change the world per se, the more we can penetrate the mainstream with subversive, pro-animal tools like this, the better. I gotta hand it to the creators of Run Cow Run, too. They went there — to the place so many entrepreneurs won’t touch with a ten foot pitchfork. What if more creative types, designers, and business moguls followed suit?

And as I become nostalgic for that big tan box with red lettering — my first Nintendo — I cannot help but wonder, too: If Super Mario were trying to rescue a captive farmed animal, rather than Princess Toadstool, would my trajectory to becoming an animal activist have been speedier? You never know.

Welcome to the 172^nd 

In today’s episode, we get you up to speed on our disappointing choice of films at the Tribeca Film Festival, a Broadway show we saw starring Jasmin’s childhood idol, our latest Netflix obsession, and our gallivant to a country-like neighborhood right here in New York City. Then, onto the nitty gritty — we have a hearty discussion about how even in the current climate, it’s still inexplicably challenging to get environmentalists on board with the animal message.

Joining us today is #1 New York Times bestselling author Rory Freedman, whose new book, Beg: A Radical New Way of Regarding Animals, is coming out this week, on April 30. Rory, a modeling agent turned animal activist, will let us in on how her meditation practice caused her to rethink the language she uses in her outreach, and she’ll tell us what’s changed vis a vis her activism techniques ever since she wrote Skinny Bitch. She’ll also offer her two cents on how to handle some common pickles that we vegans find ourselves in, and she’ll let us in on the constant evolution of her activism.

For our review, Mariann and I will give you the skinny on the 1973 sci-fi dystopian fantasy, Soylent Green – from an animal rights perspective.

All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.

For a list of the news items we discuss in today’s episode, and then some, take a look at the breaking news ticker at the top of ourhenhouse.org, and also check out our list of archived news items.

You can listen to our podcast directly on our blog (below!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Don’t forget – we’re reader and listener supported. Plus, we offer some fantastic thank you gifts for your donations. Thank you for helping us to create quality content, and for helping us to bring you a new, hour-long (and then some) podcast episode each week!

“In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.” -Gandhi

Photo on previous page of Rory Freedman via RoryFreedman.com.

via WOLF Foundation

Last year around this time, we encouraged you to write for the environment and win $1500. Many of you took notice, proving to me that you’re either a prolific writer seeking any opportunity to strengthen that muscle, or you’re a poor environmentalist who needs money for your tofu fund. Who knows? Maybe you’re both.

Either way, this incredible opportunity has reared its head again, and since we animal activists need to latch onto any chance we can to speak up for our (sometimes) four-footed and feathered friends — especially in circles that tend to ignore the obvious overlaps (like amongst some environmentalists) — we’re telling you about it once again.

The Web of Life Foundation — or WOLF — is seeking essays or stories for a competition focused on socio-environmental issues, and speaking directly to this year’s theme of “An Aspirational Future.” I know what my aspirational future would look like …

The rules state that “You can submit essays or short stories, factual commentary or fiction – whichever way and whichever writing style you choose to communicate your ideas. Just make it compelling.” There is no charge for submitting (and you may do so up to three times), and the deadline is September 30. Ah, yes. And the winner receives $1,500 — which, last time I checked, can buy a lot of tofu.

Furthermore, there’s significant value in these kinds of conferences for animal rights activists, too, by opening us to new issues, and new ways of seeing old issues, that we hadn’t previously considered.

First, there’s Resistance Ecology, happening from May 31-June 2 at Portland State University:

The Student Animal Liberation Coalition is pleased to announce the first annual Resistance Ecology Conference in Portland, Oregon, May 31st to June 2nd 2013, at Portland State University (PSU). This conference is a cooperative effort between the Student Animal Liberation Coalition (PSU), the Jericho Movement, and a new movement organization: Resistance Ecology. The conference advocates for a movement of resistance that is multi-layered, unified, diverse and intersectional. Previously, the organizers of this conference have helped to organize the Let Live and Law and Disorder Conferences in Portland, Oregon as well as the Portland Anarchist Bookfair. There will be speakers, panels, and workshops occurring all three days. Resistance Ecology is about movement building. It is about cultivating an ecology of resistance that can adapt to the circumstances of domination. For us, this work begins with scrutinizing the state of the animal liberation and radical ecology movements of North America by addressing previous shortcomings and providing remedies. The most novel way that we can achieve this is by creating a movement-wide discourse that is accessible to everyone involved. Resistance Ecology Conference 2013 is a free and public event.

For those of you planning your schedules for later this year, you might want to bookmark December 6-8, 2013. Those are the dates of Personhood Beyond the Human, which will be held at Yale University, and will feature Peter Singer and Steven M. Wise. BioEdge has published an article about this groundbreaking conference. According to BioEdge:

A conference to be held at Yale University in December brings together animal rights activists and fans of human enhancement who are interested in the rights of robots and aliens. “Personhood Beyond the Human” is sponsored by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, a think tank for enhancement, the Nonhuman Rights Project, and Yale’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. The keynote speakers will be utilitarian ethicist Peter Singer and a leading animal rights legal theorist, Steven M. Wise. The event will focus on personhood for nonhuman animals, including great apes, cetaceans, and elephants, and will explore evolving notions of personhood by analyzing them through the frameworks of neuroscience, behavioral science, philosophy, ethics, and law.

BioEdge has also published a video discussion highlighting some of the issues that have inspired this conference, featuring Dr. James Hughes, of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.

Judie, Melody, and Anastasia, as reported on the blog for My Dog is My Home

My Dog is My Home: The Experience of Human-Animal Homelessness in Theory & Practice is a breathtaking new exhibit, still in production (and due this August), focusing on the bond between homeless individuals and their companion animals. The unique exhibit, which will be displayed both online and in a yet-to-be-secured space in Los Angeles, already boasts an afternoon’s worth of viewing and reading material via its blog. A project of the National Museum of Animals & Society, My Dog is My Home examines the human-animal bond from the vantage point of homeless humans coping with living on the streets, and also looks at the struggles these folks face in finding housing and getting access to social services.

Brigitte & Nubia, as reported on the blog for My Dog is My Home

The exhibit’s Research Intern, Emma Newton, explained to me some of the challenges that the subjects of this exhibit undergo. “Because it is difficult for social services to accommodate the unique needs of these families, homeless inter-species families are often excluded from receiving services such as housing,” she said. “We have collected interviews from homeless individuals with companion animals living in L.A. to obtain an understanding of the lived experience of these individuals.”

Though the stories being collected center around L.A., there is a national context to My Dog is My Home, too. NMAS is collaborating with organizations that work with the homeless — such as the ASPCA, The Rose Brooks Domestic Violence Shelter, Lifelines, and The Stewpot — to collect artwork, photographs, and videos that people have created telling the story of their companion animals. Emma went on to explain, “We are also taking a national view by discussing [...] the difficulty in accessing shelter in the context of natural disasters and domestic violence.”

As an extension of the exhibit, NMAS is also working on a literature review of the same topic, which will be presented at conferences around the country this summer.

Though it’s still being created, My Dog is My Home is already causing quite a stir, concurrently awakening people to compassion for animals and humans, and reminding each of us of the inexplicable and powerful bond created between dog and human. Among NMAS’ calendar of events includes several presentations throughout California focusing on the exhibit.

There’s even a Hip Hop/Punk/Hardcore Music Show benefiting My Dog is My Home coming to NYC on May 11 at 8 p.m. “The benefit concert is also raising funds to create a service fair for homeless individuals and companion animals,” said Emma, “to connect them with social services that have the capacity and ability to service these families’ unique needs.”

According to the Facebook invite:

All too often it is the people in most dire need of understanding and companionship who are ignored — scorned by their fellow humans. Many homeless people turn to nonhuman companions for what is likely their first stable and positive interaction. This mutually beneficial relationship not only has therapeutic effects, but it also offers both of them a real sense of family. Sadly, people in these relationships are commonly denied access to the few services that are available precisely because of their unwillingness to abandon their loved ones. The money raised at this benefit goes to some of the only researchers in the country who are on the ground examining these cross-species relationships, and improving the lives of all involved. This money will help fund an exhibit to bring attention to, advocate for, and provide direct services to homeless people in L.A., one of the cities with the largest homeless populations in the U.S. The fact is that animals often treat our society’s outcasts far more humanely than most of us do.

For more information about My Dog is My Home and the NYC fundraiser, don’t miss Emma Newton’s interview on Dispatches from the Underground.

The Animal Legal & Historical Center is offering five $1,000 summer research grants, thanks to funding from the Animal Legal Defense Fund. According to ALDF, “Under our grant program, students are assigned topics and they draft a paper for posting on the website along with relevant primary legal materials. The commitment is to a minimum of 100 hours to be completed before August 15, 2012.” Huge bonus? Students are able to do the work remotely (but must be enrolled in a US or Canadian-based law school). Here’s a PDF with the nitty gritty.

Or, here’s another idea. How about a Call for Papers on the subject “Animals & Issues of Law and Justice” for a special issue of Contemporary Justice Review? Titles and abstracts are due July 1, 2013. This is my favorite part of the CFP: “Contemporary Justice Review prefers articles written in accessible prose which avoids academic jargon and offers insights fostering justice in daily life …” Accessible prose? Avoiding academic jargon? Are you sure we’re talking about the field of law?  It goes on, “In this context, daily life involves the range of non-human animals and non-human animal companions. The proposed issue seeks papers placing non-human animals in academic, practical, research, and other areas of interests and contexts.”

Finally, I’m gobsmacked about the next opportunity. It seems like serendipity that this should present itself (at least to me) on the same week as Earth Day, a time when I’m left wondering how the heck so many so-called “environmentalists” can so easily ignore the grave impacts that factory farming has on climate change. Well, this new project from Pace Law School gives me hope for the future and lessens the despair that sometimes creeps in for me. The Pace Environmental Law Review is devoting an entire issue to the topic of animal law! Yowsa! Specifically, the issue will be focusing on the intersection between animal rights and environmental protection. This might be the first time an environmental journal of this nature has taken on the issue of animal rights.

Since there’s little information about this on the internet machine, I’m publishing below the entire Call for Papers, as well as a bit more on the vision for this groundbreaking project:

At what point do animal rights and environmental protection overlap? Many traditional environmentalists argue against conflating the two, while animal rights activists often present them as part and parcel of the same movement.  Nowhere are the two issues more interconnected than in the industrial agriculture context. Big Ag has created an environment rife with animal rights abuses, which lay at the heart of more conventionally understood environmental issues such as food safety and pollution regulation. In an effort to keep these abuses under wraps, states are increasingly passing “ag-gag” laws to prohibit the making and distribution of video footage, photographs, or audio recordings of the incidents. These laws are troubling for animal rights activists, journalists, whistleblowers, and anyone concerned with food safety.

Pace Environmental Law Review (PELR) is interested in publishing articles related to the intersection between animal rights and environmental protection, particularly but not necessarily in the agribusiness context. PELR believes this to be an important topic that is both under-explored and under-covered in traditional environmental journals. We are interested in presenting a broad range of perspectives that will help facilitate increased dialogue and greater awareness of the overlapping issues, and thus are seeking the assistance of scholars and professionals in the field. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Those interested in more information should contact Megan Hopper-Rebegea, at mhopper [at] law [dot] pace [dot] edu, or Lisa Weinstein at lweinstein [at] law [dot] pace [dot] edu. I’ve been told that there is a deadline of June 30 for article abstracts and a deadline of August 31 for articles. And here’s more on their general Guidelines for Submissions.

Now get going, chickens! It’s time to change the world for animals, and law is most certainly one way in to do just that.

Photo by Chris Taylor of Wild Love Photography

Are vegans just childish dreamers?

I wonder sometimes. I work so hard to stamp out animal suffering, but who am I kidding? Animals in the wild are still suffering and always will. I strive to protect animals from being eaten, but come on – just turn on the National Geographic Channel. Animals are food for each other.

I just watched a 60 Minutes segment about a mother lion and her three cubs. An alligator eats one of them. A second baby’s back is broken in another species’ stampede. His mother has to abandon him as he cries and pulls himself along after her with his front paws.

“That’s nature,” my friend reasons.

Nature is a bitch.

I have always struggled against that truth, despite the Buddhist wisdom that by rejecting reality I injure myself. If I could just accept nature as it is, calmly and with tranquility, I would not suffer. But I can’t do that. Instead, my heart hurts. I don’t want to live in a world where lion cubs are left alone, crying, in agony, to die of starvation or to be eaten – or a world where the only alternative is that the cub grows up and kills and eats countless animals himself.

There is no exit. Behind every door wait suffering and death. That is our reality.

The best solution I have come up with is to avoid those television shows. I don’t watch the lions take down the antelope, because I can’t do a thing about it. No one can. No good comes from watching. To me it’s slaughter voyeurism, saddening and pointless.

But am I just doing the same thing that omnivores do when they turn away from information about factory farming, and that fur-wearers do when, without a glance, they throw away the leaflets activists hand them? I don’t think so, because those forms of outreach are meant to change people’s behavior in order to save animals. Watching a wildlife snuff film isn’t going to make me shape up and stop attacking antelopes.

A lot of people like to say that the indisputable cruelty of nature demonstrates that vegans are, in fact, childish dreamers, wasting their time trying to change how the world works. I disagree. We know we can’t save everyone. We aren’t going to convert wild animals to nonviolence and plant-based diets. But we can save some animals – the ones our species is oppressing. We focus on changing the minds and actions of our fellow humans. That is doable, and it will make a difference, an enormous difference, even if it won’t make the world perfect.

For that reason, unlike my cowering before wildlife programs, I can immerse myself in information about and pictures of slaughterhouses and abused elephants (with occasional particularly excruciating exceptions) because I feel like I can do something about those abuses, and that by learning and writing about them I can help other people do something about them, too. Together we can make a dent, maybe even more than a dent. When we – humans – are the problem, we are also able to be the solution. We aren’t children dreaming as long as we stay focused on our goal: to stop the suffering and death that humans inflict on other animals.

So it’s clear: I have to give up on the lion cub with the broken back. Activist ethical vegans aren’t trying to and can’t affect all non-human animals. But we are trying to affect all humans. And while we tend to think of it as trying to save animals from people, we can help the people themselves at the same time.

People who are mired in a culture of violence and domination, who eat and wear corpses … well, let’s say there is room for improvement in their relationships with our planet and its residents. To me, room for improvement means there is room to dream: what if people stopped exploiting animals because they did not want to cause non-humans suffering? They would be more aware of the effects of their actions and of the experience of beings around them, and less likely to cause other humans to suffer. Nonviolence multiplies itself.

Yes, I dreamed there. It was kind of a John Lennon thing – “Imagine all the people living life in peace.” And, so what? Ethical vegans are dreamers. But not childish ones. There is nothing childish about wanting to make life better as long as we are realistic about what is possible. Saving every wild lion cub is not possible. Reducing human violence, on the other hand, is within human control.

In fact, I would say that if anything, we are more mature because of our dreams. We have thought consciously about the state of the world and its potential, things most people take for granted. We have the courage not to embrace comfortable, complacent oblivion, but to open our eyes to both suffering and to possible solutions – and then to commit ourselves to advancing those solutions.

I may be too soft to watch the National Geographic channel, but I like to think I am tough about the things that I can actually influence, and consistent about doing what I can to exercise that influence. That isn’t childish. That is having the courage of my convictions, inspired by dreams.