Episode 605: Berkeley Shuns Meat! ft. Almira Tanner

We couldn’t be more excited to welcome animal activist and Direct Action Everywhere organizer Almira Tanner onto the podcast this week to discuss the groundbreaking legislation recently passed in Berkeley, CA drastically limiting the amount of animal-based products the city purchases, with a long-term goal of phasing out all animal products. Almira shares a behind-the-scenes look into Direct Action Everywhere’s first-of-its-kind campaign. She explains how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic made their work all the more urgent while presenting new outreach challenges. Almira also discusses her veganism and the felony charges she is facing for rescuing animals, and gives listeners advice on how they can start a campaign similar to the one waged in Berkeley in their own communities.
Almira Tanner is a lead organizer with Direct Action Everywhere, a grassroots network of animal-rights activists working to achieve revolutionary social and political change for animals in one generation. The organization has mobilized thousands of people to take action in cities across the globe and has rescued hundreds of animals from slaughterhouses, laboratories, and other places of violence since 2013.

“Being vegan is a very powerful expression of anti-speciesism, and it’s one of the ways I think that we can express our values in our day-to-day actions.” – Almira Tanner

Highlights:

• Why Direct Action Everywhere had to switch up some of its campaign tactics in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Almira’s goal of total divestment from animal agriculture in Berkeley and how the campaign played out
• Direction Action Everywhere’s central focus on preventing harm to animals and how that key goal intersects with convincing stakeholders that animal agriculture is a climate disaster
• Why Almira believes that local activism is an essential strategy for the movement
• How listeners who want to become politically active within their communities can advocate for divesting from animal cruelty
• Why symbolic victories can help spread the word and make legislative victories even more meaningful
• Direct Action Everywhere’s No More Factory Farms campaign and how they are hoping to persuade the state of California to place an immediate moratorium on the expansion of or construction of slaughterhouses or factory farms

Connect with Almira Tanner:

• Direct Action Everywhere Website
• Almira Tanner on Facebook

Connect with Our Hen House:

• Our Hen House Website
• Our Hen House on Facebook
• Our Hen House on Instagram
• Our Hen House on Twitter

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This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

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Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.
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