From Pardoning Turkeys to Pushing Milk: What’s Making Big Ag Nervous? | Rising Anxieties

In this irreverent episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan unpacks the latest worries keeping animal agriculture executives up at night—from avian influenza contingency plans to the surprising alliance between premium meat brands and animal advocates. With her trademark wit, Mariann dissects the absurdity of turkey “pardoning” ceremonies, exposes the dairy industry’s push to flood schools with whole milk (while conveniently excluding it from saturated fat calculations), and reveals disturbing labor conditions at poultry plants. The episode wraps with an unexpectedly optimistic note on the global rise of meat alternatives, proving that even in the meat industry’s own publications, the writing on the wall is becoming impossible to ignore.

This episode explores:

• How the dairy industry is scrambling to create contingency plans for disease outbreaks while prioritizing milk supply over animal welfare
• Why some “responsible” meat companies are joining forces with animal advocates to support California’s Proposition 12 standards
• The bipartisan push to reintroduce whole milk in schools with a surprising silver lining for plant-based options
• Shocking labor violations in poultry processing, including children as young as 13 working overnight cleaning shifts
• The growing global acceptance of meat alternatives, with countries outside the US showing double-digit growth in plant-based eating

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

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