We’re so honored to welcome Anita Krajnc and Nicola Harris to help us start off 2022 with dynamic and effective activism for animals and the planet! Anita is the co-founder of Animal Save Movement and Nicola serves as the nonprofit’s Director of Communications. They talk about their decision to establish climate- and health-focused chapters of Animal Save Movement, in addition to the animal rights chapter, in order to connect with a larger audience. They also share why, as part of the climate chapter, Animal Save Movement has launched the Plant Based Treaty, an international movement fighting for a treaty that will center food systems in the fight against climate change. They also tell us how they are currently working to gather grassroots support from communities around the globe so that, ultimately, the treaty can be positioned as a companion to the Paris Agreement. They also share with us their related efforts to end animal-gifting programs that provide communities in developing nations around the world with farmed animals.
Anita Krajnc co-founded Animal Save Movement with the mission of spreading the idea that we all have a moral duty to bear witness, end animal agriculture, and reforest the earth. Animal Save Movement first launched in December 2010. Toronto Pig Save came soon after, after Anita adopted her dog, Mr. Bean. Anita Krajnc is a co-founder of Toronto Pig Save. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto and her doctoral thesis was based on the role of scientific knowledge and public education in building international environmental regimes.
Nicola Harris is a communications director at Animal Save Movement. She became a vegan activist and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) campaigner in 2002. When she took on the role of communications in 2007, Nicola became a victim of state repression and, alongside other campaigners, received a prison sentence for her activism under controversial and undemocratic legislation targeting freedom of expression. Nicola is currently a core participant in a UK Government inquiry into the policing of protests and is listed in the miscarriage of justice category.
“Having something slightly less bad is not an option—this is code red for humanity.” —Nicola Harris
“The root cause of our climate crisis is how we treat other animals. Once we change that, then we’ll move toward a completely different way of living on the planet, where we have forests we co-habitat with other species.” – Anita Krajnc
Highlights for Episode 625:
- The goals and mission of the Plant Based Treaty
- The three principles of the Plant Based Treaty, who needs to sign it, and the strategy for turning the powerful principles into policy
- How the Fossil Fuel Treaty campaign has been a model for how to offer solutions to the life-threatening climate crisis
- The short term solutions that animal agriculture is offering to combat climate change and why they won’t work
- Why everybody should be taking the plant-based treaty to their local representatives and urging them to take action
- How Animal Save Movement is helping people all over the world pressure their politicians
- Suggestions for policies that cities and towns can institute
- Why Anita and Nicole are excited about New York City having a plant-based mayor
- Where people can find out more about the Plant Based Treaty and how to sign it
- The recent UN Climate Change Conference, how they managed to deny science, and why their disappointing conclusions have made grassroots action even more critical
- What the Stop Animal Gifting campaign entails and why they are so passionate about ending the practice
- How Anita and Nicola respond to arguments that plant-based diets undermine the traditions and freedoms of indigenous peoples
- The importance of bearing witness to animals’ suffering by holding vigils
Connect with Anita Krajnc & Nicola Harris:
- Animal Save Movement
- Plant Based Treaty
- Animal Save Movement on Instagram
- Animal Save Movement on Facebook
- Animal Save Movement on Twitter
- Animal Save Movement on TikTok
- Animal Save Movement on YouTube
- Plant Based Treaty on Instagram
- Plant Based Treaty on Facebook
- Plant Based Treaty on Twitter
- Plant Based Treaty on YouTube
Connect with Our Hen House:
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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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