Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

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Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Social Media:

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube 

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Social Media:

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube 

Hope is right at home this episode talking about one of her favorite subjects, humanewashing. Activist Lia Wilbourn joins Hope for a conversation about their mutual frustration with the humane hoax and the deceptive marketing and cover-up tactics employed by the animal farming industry. They explore the detrimental impact of continuing to use the term “factory farming” and argue that the animal advocacy movement should phase it out. Lia and Hope also discuss the cage-free egg industry transition, challenging the notion that this industry shift is a positive development for animals. They also address the criticism of using the word “vegan” and how some people are saying that we shouldn’t use the word as it has too many negative connotations. There are lots of strong opinions on advocacy in this one, we unpack it all for you!

Lia Wilbourn has been active in a wide range of animal rights activism, including street outreach, demonstrations, writing, social media, speeches and art as activism. She is currently the Farmed Animals Campaign Coordinator at In Defense of Animals, advocating via articles, petitions, videos, etc. and co-hosting a monthly online Vegan Mentor Support Group. She also works with Allied Scholars for Animal Protection, is a volunteer on the Humane Hoax Project team, and is certified in Plant-Based Nutrition through Cornell University.

Resources:

Lia’s Contact/Instagram: @liaforanimals

The Humane Hoax Project

Article: Fixating on Factory Farms…

Article: Stop (Saying) Factory Farming

The Ahimsa Living Circle monthly online gathering: info and registration

EPISODE 124: TRANSCRIPT

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Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

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On this episode, we switch things up and our host, Hope Bohanec, is interviewed by Michele Granberg of Animal Activism Collective, AAC. Today we are sharing with you a recording of Hope being interviewed by Michele for the Animal Liberation Hour Podcast where they talk about Hope’s activist origin story, why she started her nonprofit Compassionate Living, and her thoughts on exposing humanewashing and speciesism. Hope also gets into the spiritual aspect of veganism and nonviolence revealing parallels to Dharma traditions and she talks about Ahimsa, a Sanskrit term meaning non-harming.

Resources:

Animal Activism Collective

The Animal Liberation Hour Podcast 

Humane Hoax Project Online Panel Discussion, July 19, More info and registration here.

Hope’s books:

The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat?

The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs

Support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

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On today’s show,  author and host Hope Bohanec is flying solo and offering a new analysis of the Humane Hoax. She will break down some new humane meat marketing jargon, unpack and categorize the harms of the humane hoax, and talk about language, labeling, speciesism, and more.

Resources:

BOOK:
The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs by Hope Bohanec

The Humane Hoax Project

Support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

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Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

In this presentation, Hope will explore the recent trajectory of the animal advocacy movement toward encouraging industries to transition to cage-free systems and other animal welfare campaigns. Cage-free eggs are now 40% of the US egg market and both the industry and animal advocates are promoting this as a major victory…but is this something to celebrate? Hope talks about social justice strategy, Effective Altruism, incremental change, and propose that our movement’s focus is out of balance. She cautions that we are relying too heavily on impractical strategies and fragile legislation that may not lead us to farmed animal freedom.

Resources:

(Book) The Good it Promises, the Harm It Does: Critical Essays on Effective Altruism

(Podcast) Episode 76– Measuring Our Movement with Krista Hiddema, podcast focused on Effective Altruism

(Podcast) Reason for Vegan Series #3- Cage-Free and Free-Range Explained with Hope Bohanec

(Article) Which Eggs Are Ethical to Eat? By Hope Bohanec

Bite Size Vegan, Emily Moran-Barwick

How We Will Win Animal Freedom, Laila Kassam, Animal Think Tank

Please support this podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Do you want to know the truth about grass-fed beef? Regenerative grazing? Free-range eggs? This episode is jam packed with the jaw-dropping reality of greenwashing. Vasile Stanescu is an Associate Professor and Chair of Communication at Mercer University. He received his Ph.D. in the program of Modern Thought and Literature (MTL) at Stanford University. Vasile’s research focuses on greenwashing in animal agribusiness, critiques of humane meat, in vitro meat, and consumerist options for social change. He is the author of numerous publications on the study of animals and the environment including in the Journal of American Culture, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, the American Behavioral Scientist, and Animal Studies Journal. Vasile is also the co-founder of the North American Association for Critical Animal Studies (NAACAS).

Vas talks about what is really behind regenerative grazing and the false messaging around supposedly “new” methods of animal farming. We also talk about the detriment of chicken farming, how beef is so often cited as the worst culprit for the environment, and the myth that if you just switch to chicken, it’s so much better. Vas dives deep into how interconnected all animal farming industries are and how the supposed “green” meat movement is just another marketing tool for industrial agribusiness. He also shares how he feels that it is critical to eliminate the stigma on veganism and have Vegan Pride.

Resources:

Humane Hoax Online Conference details and free registration

Learn more and support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Studies cited in this episode:

Joseph Poore, University of Oxford

Tara Garnett, Food Climate Research Network at Oxford University

Lisa Barca is a lecturer in the Honors College at Arizona State University, where she teaches humanities, writing courses, and seminars on the ethics of humans’ relationships with other animals. Her current research centers on critical animal studies, media ethics, rhetoric and ideology, and the intersections of feminism and animal rights. She holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures and is a contributing author to the volume Meatsplaining: The Meat Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial and also to The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs.

Lisa and Hope talk about how animal farmers are treated favorably in media and how stories of farmers using alternative and “better” farming methods are featured and praised without question or an opposing view. Lisa explores the “absent referent,” or the erasing or hiding of animal’s identities and how it relates to the humane hoax. She also talks about how the new “humane” do-it-yourself slaughter normalizes violence toward animals and she offers advice to journalists, and to us all, on language that helps the animals to be seen and heard in media stories about them. We also hear about Lisa’s band Scarlet Rescue and her musical outlet for the vegan message. BONUS: We end the episode with one of Scarlet Rescue’s songs, BBQ Protest.

Resources:

Order the Book! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs

Lisa’s Music Videos:

BBQ Protest

Keycard to Hell (Monkey experimentation at Arizona State University)

Sign the petition: Change.org petition for the monkeys

Hope’s Upcoming Events:

June 8, 2023- Online Presentation about the book for Animal Activist Mentorship. Register here.

June 10, 2023- In Person Book Release Presentation for The Humane Hoax in Eugene, Oregon. Info here.

On this episode we have our second session of the Humane Hoax Book Club with two of Compassionate Living’s Humane Hoax Team volunteers Marian Erikson and Fireweed. We talked about a few of the chapters from the new anthology, The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs. A fascinating chapter we examine is called “Murder She Wrote” about the memoirs of Femivores, women who own farms and dominate and kill animals in an attempt to gain equality in the male dominated spaces of farming, hunting, and butchery. We explore other chapters that focus on speciesist language, the cognitive dissonance of consuming animals, and we expose foodie culture for its celebration of violence.

Resources:

Order the Book! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs

Humane Hoax Online Conference, May 20: Register here

Marian Erikson’s Plant Based Briefing podcast

The wait is over! Hope Bohanec’s book is finally out! Our host of the Hope for the Animals Podcast, Hope Bohanec, has released an anthology called The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs published by Lantern Publishing and Media. As humanewashing and greenwashing become more prevalent and pervasive, this volume, with 18 contributing authors, activists and academics, exposes the humane hoax from every angle.

We have two guests on the podcast today for our first session of the Humane Hoax Book Club to discuss the book. Alastor Van Kleeck has a Ph.D. in English and co-founded the Triangle Chicken Advocates Sanctuary as well as The Microsanctuary Movement. Alastor also co-founded The Humane Hoax Project with Hope and wrote a chapter for the new book. Much of Alastor’s writing is available at strivingwithsystems.com. Also joining us is Sena Crutchley. Sena is an associate professor and long-time animal rights and environmental activist. She is a founder and board member of Piedmont Area Vegan Educators and also founded and runs Ruby’s Refuge, a microsanctuary for chickens and fishes. Sena is a volunteer on the Humane Hoax Team.

Resources:

ORDER THE BOOK! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs.

Register: Virtual Book Launch Party, April 29

The Humane Hoax Project

(Please note: the audio in the interview has some “Zoom twang.” Apologies for the audio quality.) Our guest this episode is Emily Moran Barwick, who will also be presenting at the Humane Hoax Online Conference on Saturday, February 26, 2022. Emily is an animal-liberation activist, educator, writer, artist, and international speaker. She founded Bite Size Vegan where she provides free educational videos, essays, eCourses, and resources on all aspects of veganism. Communication has never come easily to Emily as she is Autistic, but she credits her Autism for her deep and empathetic connection with nonhuman animals, and believes that by seeing the world differently, she’s better able to help others begin to think differently. Hope and Emily dig deep into the humane myth and Emily’s unique perspective on the issue. They discuss the contradictory nature of humane labeling and how even well-meaning animal and vegan advocates can fall victim to its allure.

Resources:

BiteSizeVegan.org

Humane Hoax Online Conference (2/26/22)

We wrap up our Earth Day themed podcasts for April with a conversation with Dr. Tushar Mehta. Dr. Mehta is a practicing emergency medicine physician and co-founder of Plant Based Data, an online database that collects and organizes the most important academic and institutional literature regarding the impacts of a plant-based diet on health, the environment, and food security. Hope and Tushar have an in-depth conversation about the deception of regenerative grazing, how ranchers are manipulating the science, and the extensive inefficiencies of animal products, no matter how they are produced. 

Resources:

Another Industry Attempt to Greenwash Beef

Plant-Based Data

In honor of Earth Day, this episode exposes the environmental impact of animal agriculture and the new “sustainable” labels that are becoming more prevalent on meat, dairy, and egg products. On the podcast today, Hope will be flying solo and sharing her knowledge about this issue. She has written a book on humane-washing and greenwashing called The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat? Hope will reveal the truth about labels like local, organic, free-range, and grass-fed.

Resources:

Countdown to Year Zero

EndGame 2050

Reason for Vegan Series 10: The Environmental Impact of Animal Agriculture

The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat?

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 25

In the latest episode of the Hope for the Animals Podcast, Hope will answer the question, “Can there be ethical eggs?” Some people are learning that humane labels like “cage-free” and “free-range” are misleading consumers about the treatment of the animals, yet they believe there are still other ways to find “ethical” eggs. Some think they can find a “better” egg at a farmer’s market, a small farm, or from a neighbor. But are those eggs truly ethical?

Next we have an informative interview with the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Kelsey Eberly. Kelsey is a Staff Attorney with the ALDF who will share her experience exposing humane-washing in animal agriculture. On behalf of ALDF, Kelsey files false advertising lawsuits that uncover cruel farming practices hidden behind humane labels. Hope and Kelsey explore the fascinating world of animals and the law, new plant-food product label restrictions, and ag-gag laws.

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 9

In this series of short shows, Hope will focus in on specific aspects of animal agriculture and answer the question of why are we vegan. In this third Reason for Vegan Series she will expose the truth behind egg industry labels like “cage-free” and “free-range.” These labels are gaining in popularity, but are they really better for the birds? To understand these labels, we must first look at the standard battery cage system and the multiple cruelties that all hens endure in the egg industry. These labels suggest that the hens are “happy,” but does cage-free really mean cruelty-free?

The Reason for Vegan Series is supplemental to our regular episodes and is perfect for pre-vegans who want to learn more about animal agriculture and veganism. This series is also great for new and existing vegans to get in-depth information about the animal farming industry so they will be excellent advocates for all farmed animals.

TRANSCRIPT: Reason for Vegan Series 3: “Cage-Free” and “Free-Range” Explained