How I Learned to Love Shrimp

Nikunj Sharma, CEO of Mercy for Animals India, discusses animal advocacy in India, expanding globally, and the influence of religion. They also mention the importance of policy changes, media campaigns, and sustainable farming practices.

Carolina is the ​​founder and Executive Director of Sinergia Animal, an Animal Charity Evaluators’ StandOut charity working in nine countries of The Global South.Carolina has twenty years of experience in advocacy, fundraising, strategic planning, management, and campaigning. Before founding Sinergia, she worked in more than thirty countries as an investigative journalist for various animal welfare, environmental and social justice organisations.In this episode Carolina talks us through the growth of Sinergia, their current programmes and the importance of diversifying tactics across the movement. Relevant links to things mentioned throughout the show:Sinergia Animal’s WebsiteFinancial Institutions CampaignMeat Reduction CampaignJob BoardDonate to Sinergia AnimalBrazil Bans Live Cattle Exports articleManaging to change the world - Alison Green, Jerry HauserSelf Compassion - Dr Kristen NeffWith thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing! If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - we would really appreciate it! Likewise, feel free to share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it. You can send us feedback and guest recommendations via Twitter or email us at hello@howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com. Enjoy!

karol is the Content Director for Faunalytics who are dedicated to helping animal advocates improve the effectiveness and impact of their work through research and data. In this episode karol - a long-time animal advocate with a background in media, filmmaking, and investigative work - talks through Faunalytics most interesting research, and his responsibility for curating the research in the Faunalytics Research Library and some handy tips for digesting and communicating data to a wide audience.Relevant links to things mentioned throughout the show:Research LibraryOriginal StudiesResearch PrioritizationFaunalytics 2014 study on vegetarians regressions2023 version on vegetarian regression (Three Parts: I, II, III)Other 2023 reportsWork on subsidiesWelfare ReformsMuch more hereChina report?SCL SHAC research Faunalytics new piece on invertebratesWith thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing! If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - we would really appreciate it! Likewise, feel free to share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it. You can send us feedback and guest recommendations via Twitter or email us at hello@howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com. Enjoy!

Emre Kaplan, Executive Director at Farmed Animal Protection Association in Turkey, shares insights on starting an animal advocacy organization in Turkey, challenges faced, growth strategies, and empowering animal activism. Topics include cage-free campaigns, corporate campaigning, farmer protests, Brazil's live export ban, and media recommendations for advocacy work.

Edie is the Managing Director and a Solicitor at Advocates for Animals, the first UK law firm dedicated to animal protection.In this episode, we chat to Edie about representing The Humane League UK in the up and coming court case challenging DEFRA. The judicial review case will see Advocates for Animals argue that fast-growing chicken breeds are illegal under current animal welfare laws. We also talk through their enforcement work with Animal Equality, another first-of-its-kind case in the UK. Edie talks to us about how using the law to protect animals is a neglected area of work and why she wants to see more advocates utilising this tool as an effective tool for animal advocacy.Relevant links to things mentioned throughout the show:Advocates for Animals websiteAnimal Law Foundation websiteEnforcement problem report in collaboration with Animal EqualityThe Humane League’s legal battle against DEFRAGuardian article on THL’s legal case against DEFRAWith thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing! If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - we would really appreciate it! Likewise, feel free to share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it. You can send us feedback and guest recommendations via Twitter or email us at hello@howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com. Enjoy!

Eva is a co-founder and Operations Lead of Pax Fauna, a nonprofit that seeks to revitalize the grassroots animal advocacy movement through conducting original research on messaging, strategy, and culture. In this episode, we discuss Pax Fauna’s 18-month narrative research project where they conducted over 100 hours of interviews with 200 meat-eating Americans, along with analysing hundreds of academic papers and running their own large-scale public opinion polling.  In addition, we also speak about the importance of work to shift societal norms,  Eva’s experience within Direct Action Everywhere and Pax Fauna’s upcoming work on ballot initiatives.Relevant links to things mentioned throughout the show:Pax Fauna's narrative researchPax Fauna's two-part blog on "Welfare vs Abolitionism" is obsolete - Part 1 and Part 2An overview (by Pax Fauna) on Direct Action Everywhere's recent acquittal of animal rights activists who rescued pigs (see also coverage in The Intercept).A Vox article on another open-rescue acquittal, who rescued factory-farmed chickens from Foster Farms.With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing! If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - we would really appreciate it! Likewise, feel free to share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it. You can send us feedback and guest recommendations via Twitter or email us at hello@howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com. Enjoy!

Silvano Lieger is the Co-Managing Director of Sentience, a political animal rights and animal welfare organisation based in Switzerland. In September 2022, they ran a nationwide ballot initiative where all citizens of Switzerland could vote on one of the most important questions for animals: Should we ban factory farming?In this episode, we discuss the results of the ballot initiative, how these large-scale campaigns might lead to crucial shifts in how society thinks about animals, the nuts and bolts of running a campaign on this scale as well as the importance of working in coalitions.With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing! If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - we would really appreciate it! Likewise, feel free to share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it. You can send us feedback and guest recommendations via Twitter or email us at hello@howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com. Enjoy!

David Coman-Hidy is former President of The Humane League, one of the largest farm animal advocacy organisations in the world. He now works as a Partner at Sharpen Strategy working to coach animal advocacy organisations.In this episode, we discuss the age-old debate facing animal advocates: Should we pursue incremental approaches to improve welfare or should we only advocate for the total abolition of animal exploitation. Additionally, David also shares some approaches he would like to see more of within the animal advocacy movement, as well as what we could learn from other social movements. With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing! If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - we would really appreciate it! Likewise, feel free to share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it. You can send us feedback and guest recommendations via Twitter or email us at hello@howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com. Enjoy!

Welcome to How I Learned to Love Shrimp, a podcast about (potentially) effective ways to help animals!In the episode, we (Amy and James) introduce the podcast, why we wanted to start it, things we want to cover and some of our views on important topics within animal advocacy. If you enjoy this episode, please share this with your friends, family and anyone who might be interested! With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing! If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - we would really appreciate it! Likewise, feel free to share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it. You can send us feedback and guest recommendations via Twitter or email us at hello@howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com. Enjoy!