Drone Diaries: Mapping the Future of Animal Activism | Rising Anxieties

And I'm not gonna be talking about those because this is where we talk about the animal abuse industries and you know, that's enough. Uh, but I understand that we're all worried about a lot of things right now. So just to nod to that, uh.

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And uh, here we go. Extreme activists launch map of farms and facilities in California. This is from our favorite, Hannah Thompson Weiman. It's on meatingplace.com, and uh, she's talking about DXE. And, you know, we've kind of heard a little bit about this map, and she's upset about it.

So, uh, DXE has launched this new campaign in California. She says, that has raised significant concern and merits attention from animal agriculture stakeholders. Well, always good news when DXE is worrying the folks. Um, so she points out that DXE has announced that it is training investigators across California with the stated goal of mobilizing action against the state's livestock sector.

That doesn't seem like really new news, but I guess it is a new campaign. People are being trained to fly drones. Okay. Film, allegedly poor farm conditions. If they're not poor, why does it worry you if they get filmed? Well anyway... navigate public databases. How dare they? They're navigating public databases and developing plans for local campaigns.

Do you notice that none of these things could be remotely considered illegal? Like, okay, but she didn't like it. Last month, DXE upped the ante by releasing an interactive online map, identifying what it characterizes as, quote, every factory farm and slaughterhouse in California. It probably is, you know, they might have missed a few.

She's really upset about it. She does kind of remember that there was another effort to do this called Project Counter Glow, which I kind of remember, to map all the factory farms in the US. It was, uh, and it kind of didn't go anywhere, but she thinks that they might be, have, like, thought things through more and be more organized.

And also, you know, drones keep getting better. Publishing consolidated facility data in one searchable location lowers the barrier for coordinated activism. Again, not illegal. So, uh, yeah, so I guess, I guess she's not claiming it's illegal, so I shouldn't be so sarcastic. But, you know, I enjoy being sarcastic, and I have to get my pleasures.

Uh, she's just trying to tell the industry that they're in trouble and, you know, obviously that means that they should be contributing more money to the Animal Agriculture Alliance, which I'm sure they already do. Um, the information itself may be drawn from public records. It is aggregation and framing.

Oh my God. They're framing information. that can increase the likelihood of protests, drone activity, harassment... well, harassment could be illegal... or reputational campaigns. Yeah, I bet there are a few reputations that really could get ruined. Uh, and this is especially concerning, she feels, as most farmers live where they work. Do they really?

Is that really still the case? Um, there are family residences being mapped, not simply business operations. Oh my god, families, residences. It's a nightmare. Um, and she does understand that, and she hopes that other producers understand, that operational disruption does not require confirmed violation of law.

IE this is all legal! Even though it should be, should be very upsetting, uh, it's, it, it's legal. Even though, as she says, we have reached out to federal law enforcement contacts regarding this latest effort. And as before, I think pretty much what they got told is, well, this is all legal. The campaign, she concludes, also reflects a broader evolution in activist strategy.

I always love it when she talks about us. Digital mapping tools, coordinated messaging... oh my God, they're coordinating their messaging... organize training efforts, allow campaigns to scale quickly and concentrate pressure on targeted regions. Recognizing that shift allows industry stakeholders to respond strategically, rather than reactively.

Yes, I'm sure they're on it. I'm sure they're on it. Uh, alright. She always amuses me. Um, I dunno why, I dunno why, uh.

Who's going to speak for us? Who's gonna speak for us? You might think that I'm speaking as an animal activist, but I'm actually quoting, uh, this person Maggie Gillis, who's a Kansas dairy farmer. As she attended several dairy specific meetings, she was struck by the shrinking number of dairy farms and the growing need for representation of the issues important to us.

Like what she's really concerned here is that in Kansas, where she dairies, did you know that dairy was a verb? I did not know that. Um, is an interesting microcosm of what the industry is experiencing nationwide and IE there are a lot fewer dairy farmers. There are a lot more cows. You know, they're getting bigger and she's worried that this means there won't be enough of us to fight for us. You know, because dairy, dairy farmers just get, they, they get no attention from the government. It's really hard. Um, if we aren't going to speak up for dairy, who will?

Exactly. Because who else would? Apparently a lot of people. Um, shouldn't, like the customers speak up for dairy, like, isn't that logical? Why would, why would we be relying just on the farmers?

Wouldn't it be the people who they supposedly are raising this food for? Um, but she thinks that the dairy farmers have to get out there and, um, there is a risk that those who have never interacted with a dairy farmer, dairy cow, or stepped foot on a farm, can't understand the impact that regulation, infrastructure, and economic factors can have on a farm.

I think I understand them. I would like them to have a lot more of an effect, and they're not having much of an effect, but I think I understand pretty well, even though I have never interacted with a dairy farmer. I mean, I guess I've never interacted with a dairy cow because all of the dairy, the former dairy cows I've interacted with have been on sanctuaries, and they're no longer dairy cows.

They're, they're just plain cows. Um, and I, I mean, I guess I've stepped foot on a farm at some point, but not necessarily a dairy farm. As much as I dislike, quote, getting political, she says, or disagreeing online or in person with community members, well apparently that's going on, I also recognize how important it's that dairy farmers have a voice in these matters.

For that reason, you'll find me poking my head out into civilization on occasion to stand up for what I believe in. Because if I'm not willing to speak up for dairy, who will be? And she is obviously quite willing to speak up for dairy, and that's why we need to get better at speaking up for cows. Uh, if she, if she can do it, if she can gird her loins and get out there and talk to people and, and become civilized, we should too.

All right. There's a brief article also, um, on Meating Place, that that last article was actually on Hoardes Dairyman, I should have mentioned that. By this Maggie Gillis. Um, but on Meating Place, um, this is by one Tom Johnston, A bitter pill to swallow.

I I, it's kind of interesting, it's about GLP-1. And you know, they don't know whether to be excited about GLP-1 or upset by GLP-1 because GLP-1 is making people eat less food. But they are really, really, really promoting the idea that you have to eat a lot of meat if you're on GLP-1, because meat is of course the only source of protein, and you have to get protein.

So if you don't eat really a lot of meat, you'll, something terrible will happen to you, apparently. Um, but he's worried that they're, they're gonna get too enthusiastic about it. I don't know. Yeah. Meat processors should exercise caution when riding on the coattails of drug bankers. For one thing, it's a limited market.

Yeah. It's not that limited. It's getting bigger every day. For another, it's limited due to its negative side effects. He seems to think that, you know, GLP-1 is not gonna work out. I don't know about that. Meanwhile, the nation's obesity problem isn't improving. I don't know about that either. So are they worried or are they not worried?

The meat industry already has a product, he says, that is good for overall health. Yeah, well. Rather than a segment of the population experimenting with a trend.

What's going on here? I wonder. Meat already has a far larger population, increasingly attuned to animal proteins' finer attributes, and one that is looking to the industry to deliver on the goods.

I think they might be worried about it being maybe like if they push too hard on the fact that you should eat it when you take GLP-1, people will think that maybe it's like a specialty, like, like it's not as good if you're... I, I don't know. I don't know. That was, that was not very useful, I guess. But I thought it was interesting.

Um, pasteurization 1 0 1, the debate is literally heating up. This is from Michelle Miller, The Farm Babe, on Ag Daily. And, um, you know, there's a reason they're talking about pasteurization is 'cause of the popularity of, of raw milk and the increasing implication that pasteurization does something really harmful to milk, and they need to, they need to get people to keep using pasteurized milk and counter the idea that pasteurization ruins milk.

While the raw milk people are publicizing this idea that pasteurization ruins milk. This is a really kinda little dangerous piece for them. Um, and she points out that most bacteria and organisms in milk are harmless. As long as the animals are healthy and the milk is kept clean throughout the milking and the transportation process.

Uh, yeah. So, but that doesn't happen very often, so that's why you have to pasteurize it. It doesn't take much for milk to be accidentally contaminated and at some point, at some point along the way, and it can be difficult to ensure milk is kept clean and safe. Yeah, this is a very delicate product, and obviously it's a kind of tricky situation that this product actually has to be processed.

Really processed, like heated to a high temperature in order to be not dangerous. It's tricky 'cause they like to present milk as like, you know, the wholesome natural food. She does point out, in 1938, 25% of all disease outbreaks attributed to food and contaminated water were caused by milk. I'm like, why did people keep drinking it? It's so weird.

Today, less than 1% of disease outbreaks from food and water are caused by milk because they pasteurize it, IE process it. And you know, this processed is now a bad word. Um. Some pasteurization critics, she says, claim that the nutritional content of milk is decreased during pasteurization. This is technically true.

So I guess claim would be they just actually state it because it's actually technically, technically true, but the nutritional content that is decreased is an extremely minimal amount. Uh, that's what she says. I bet that's not what they say. Though I admit, I don't follow them.

You still get lots of great nutrients from milk of all types. Well, that's not exactly saying the same thing. Um, another myth about pasteurized milk is that all of the good bacteria is killed. This might also be true. Uh, yeah. All right, so apparently it's true. But only because the entire point of pasteurizing is to kill the harmful bacteria and organisms in the milk.

And apparently, she's conceding... I personally have no position on this and I don't know... but she seems to be conceding that it also kills all this good bacteria. So IIE milk is just not a good food, and we shouldn't be drinking it. That's, that's what I draw from this. Uh, it either has to be pasteurized, in which case nutrients are lost, or it has to be not pasteurized, in which case it's dangerous.

It has to be processed, it has to be a processed food. It's unbelievable how they try to get away with this shit. Um, all right, this is just a brief article, but annoyed me, so I figured I might as well annoy you with it. This is also from Meating Place by Sharon Biels, Women in the meat industry, a moment worth noticing.

Is that sad or what? Like that's the big transition that's going on in the meat industry, that there's more women working in it. You know, boy, women, they're just not as good as you would hope they would be, are they?

Did you know that 2026 is the international year of the woman farmer? I did not know that. Which is fine with me. I am more than fine with there being women farmers. Um, and she's talking about, uh, the annual meat conference in Oxen Hill, Maryland. Aren't you sorry you missed it? Among the, uh, meetings, there will be the Women's Meat Industry Network, and she's just talking about how it's growing and it's great.

There's all these women who wanna be in meat, and they're, they're, they've got this organization that's focused on attracting and retaining female talent. That emphasis on retaining indicates to me that maybe women aren't as likely to stay in the meat industry as others. I don't know. Um.

We have come a long way from the days when butchers banged knives on tables when a woman stepped onto the processing floor. Really? What assholes. That's hilarious. Or heaven forbid, the slaughter floor. Yeah, I bet a lot of women really wanted to jump into the slaughter floor, just like a lot of men. Really not the most appealing place to be. Oh, like I said, I don't have that much to say about it, but it annoyed me.

All right. This is more, uh, our tradition in Rising Anxieties. This is from Ag Daily. Um. No specific reporter. Um, many documentaries target animal rights groups over anti farming agenda, and apparently there's this outfit called the Center for the Environment and Welfare. Guess what, guess what They're promoting. Oh God. Um, the Center for the Environment and Welfare, they've released the second installment of a three-part mini documentary series examining the activities of several prominent animal charities and their role in shaping agricultural policy debates.

Wouldn't you love it if, if animal charities had a, a real role in agricultural policy debates? that would be delightful. Alright. The first installment was Fat Cats and Dead Dogs, which explored how major animal advocacy organizations raised millions in donations while only directing a small portion of those funds to local pet shelters.

Yeah, they've been saying that for years. It's like, uh, maybe people who donate to these organizations are fine with that. Could be. Um, according to the CEW, that's the Center for the Environment and Welfare, this second video in the also, um, also focuses on the same groups. They're really going after the ASPCA and Humane World for Animals, formerly HSUS, which, you know, they're the big dogs.

Um, they're also pursuing campaigns that affect American animal agriculture. And, uh, among the three of, well, among the two of them, and then they add PETA in, collectively raise hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Oh my God. Compared to the, to the 50 or $60 that the meat industry makes every year.

It's just, they're so outgunned. The organization says only a small fraction of those funds are directed to local shelters through grants. Isn't that, didn't we already cover that? Other resources are going toward policy advocacy and campaigns against farm production practices. Um, according to Jack Hubbard, who's the Executive Director of the CEW, this isn't about animal welfare. It's a war on American farmers.

They always forget the fact that there are farmers who don't raise animals. Activists are pushing mandates that intentionally inflate production costs and restrict how farmers operate. Their goal? To put farmers out of business and drive up animal protein prices. Um, you know, it costs more money to take good care of animals.

So is the intention to increase the cost of, uh, meat, or is the intention to increase the welfare that is provided to animals? And if those things collide, how do you know which one it is, Jack? How do you know Jack? Um, one example cited in the video is The ASPCA's... it's a weird choice. This indicates something that they're worried about, I think.

Um, the ASPCA's farm conversion program. Supporting proposals that would, that would supply funding for, um, livestock producers to choose to transition to, uh, plant-based crops. I mean, how is that anti farmer exactly? Um, the documentary also covers increased use of corporate pressure campaigns that will result in higher production.

I mean, ultimately, they're right. This is their whole thing. This will cost more, and ultimately we're right. You have to spend more money to treat animals well. I mean, those are just facts. Like the goal isn't to raise prices. I don't have a problem with them raising prices, but the goal is to treat the animals better, at least for these welfare campaigns. Um, they also, of course, attack California's Prop 12. Um, and, uh, sounds like, sounds like a fun day at the movies.

The movie I wanna see is this one on the, um, is it Hooper? Is that what it's called? Anyway, maybe we'll talk about If, if, if Jasmin and I get to see that by, um, Wednesday, we'll talk about it on Thursdays, um, Hen Report. I really hope so.

All right. This one's bad. This is by Jack Hubbard, who was just mentioned in the last, uh, in the last story. And, uh, this is from Meating Place where he writes a column. Europeans tell animal activists to pound sand. And he starts out by saying, American family, farmers, family farmers, they all have a family, so they're family farmers, sometimes look to Europe to see what might be coming down the pipeline in terms of animal activism. The latest news is encouraging. That is I, I don't actually know what they look to, but I really doubt that that's true. I think the American farming community could not care less about what's happening in Europe.

Um, and they're talking about the better chicken commitment. And this is a real, uh, this is a real failure. KFC, Popeye's, Nando's and other major brands in the UK have abandoned the better chicken commitment. And this is, you know, where, uh, broiler broilers, as they call them, have to be, um, they have to use breeds that, that don't grow so fast in order to, you know, somewhat reduce the suffering and some other, uh, reforms.

And, you know, they got all these companies to agree. And, um, numerous food brands signed up, often pre COVID, with implementation dates in 2026. By design, these corporate campaigns make it easy for companies to make a pledge. The harassing activists go away today, while the pledge wouldn't come due for years down the road.

I think that's, that's true. And um, and the, he says alternative chicken costs significantly more. I'm sure there're debates about that, but it probably... I mean, treating animals better costs money. That's like the whole problem. And companies have figured out that animal rights extremists are not honest brokers. Several groups behind the commitment reject raising poultry all together.

So apparently if you're vegan, you can't like ever tell anybody that they should treat animals better than they're treating because that makes you a not honest broker. Mercy for Animals, Humane League, and the Humane Society of the United States, these vegans wouldn't endorse anyone eating, quote, better chicken or any chicken?

Well, you know, it's kind of true. It also points out it's less sustainable, which is also true. It's less sustainable because it takes longer for the chickens to grow. So you produce less meat per chicken, well, not less meat per chicken, but you know, a less meat per period of time. It's just all depressing, you know?

It's just the right thing to do, but it doesn't mean that these things, these problems with it, uh, aren't true. These problems with it. It doesn't work, that's the problem. They're pointing out that this doesn't work, and they're right, it doesn't work. You can't treat animals better and, and produce food. You can't.

It, it doesn't work. Food companies have figured out that the PETAs of the world don't represent the average consumer. I hope that that's a lie. I don't think that the meat industry represents the average consumer either. I think the average consumer is, you know, not taking a position on this 'cause they're not paying attention. People want affordable animal protein, and the customer is always right.

People want affordable food, and they want it to taste good. Um. So even though it's depressing, I think it's good to, uh, to think about what they're saying and face the fact that, you know, sometimes they're right, and it's because the answers aren't easy.

That doesn't mean that we're not getting somewhere because sometimes they're really nervous about us as, as we showed with the, the first story about DXE, uh, campaigns and how even though they're completely legal, they're worrying everybody. Anyway, I'll stop now. You'll be glad to hear.

Um, thank you for joining me, uh, today. It's always a joy. And, you know, don't forget to subscribe, like, comment, whatever, it all helps. I'll see you soon.

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