Species Unite

 “So, you really want the kids to drink the cow's milk because that's the liquid that's available to them if they're thirsty. And we were also told that yeah, you really should be having the kids open up their cow’s milk. I went down through all the tables and said, “open up your milk, open up your milk.” Or, I was told, we just won't get our funding because this was a school that was a turnaround school, all the kids are on free lunch. And, so this is how we got our funding as a school. – Monica Chen Monica Chen is the executive director of the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, an organization that educates and empowers individuals and communities to support just and sustainable food systems. Meaning they go into schools, colleges and universities and the truth about where their food comes from. By educating young people about factory farming and equipping them with the tools to oppose it, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition builds both an inclusive consumer base as well as an informed citizenry that supports cultural and legislative change for the benefit of all. To date, FFAC has reached over 220,000 students are building an army of kids with a mission to change food systems all over the country.  

“Within a month of our investigation’s release, we had some amazing news. The French government passed legislation to ban fur farms in France. In 2017, it was an issue which was not really on the public agenda, but within four years we have stopped an industry in France. Hundreds of thousands of animals don't have to be killed each year, don’t have to live in these small cages going crazy each year. It's a success and it's something that we feel proud to have been part of.”  - Gemunu de Silva Gem is back! Gemunu de Silva is the co-founder of Tracks Investigations. He is filmmaker and an activist who's been investigating and documenting animal rights abuses since the 1980s. Tracks has just completed over 260 investigative film projects. That is an astonishing number of investigations. 35 animal rights and protection organizations have benefited from their work in 57 countries. Gem has been on the podcast before. I asked him to come back to talk about some of Track's most recent successes. There are many. The work that Gem has done for the past three and a half decades has changed laws, minds and the world for millions of animals.

“I think every time we release a story, there's this sense of like almost like legal danger, the legal implications that can come from releasing stories. We've had times wherea story has been released and we haven't slept that night because we're scared of what the repercussions are going to be.” - Amy Jones, Moving Animals Amy Jones and Paul Healey are the founders of Moving Animals, a photojournalism and media project that connects the world to animals stories through photography, film, and journalism. Amy is a photojournalist and writer. Paul is a journalist and he’s responsible for Moving Animals’ video content. Their work has allowed people to see for themselves animal and human rights injustices that are happening globally. Only when people are made aware of injustice, do they take action to stop it. Amy and Paul have brought massive awareness to the masses who have in turn, fought injustice all over the world. What they do is not only a powerful agent for change, it’s an essential one. Amy and Paul are a very essential part of the team at Species Unite. Paul is our news editor and Amy is a writer, editor, campaign manager, tech person, social media person, and any other person who we need in that moment. She wears many hats. I’m grateful every single day to have Amy and Paul on the team. There are also two of the kindest human beings that I've ever had the privilege to know.

Jane Velez Mitchell the founder of Jane Unchained, a media platform for vegan and animal rights news. Her decades long career as a broadcast journalist has focused on bringing animal rights issues to the forefront. For six years she hosted her own show on CNN Headline News, where she ran a weekly segment on animal issues. Previously, Velez-Mitchell reported for the nationally syndicated Warner Brothers/Telepictures show Celebrity Justice, where she did numerous stories on animal issues championed by celebrities. Jane’s also an author of four books and a producer of the award-winning documentary Countdown to Year Zero and the vegan cooking series New Day, New Chef. Mainstream media has always skirted around animal rights issues and I wanted to hear how Jane brought them mainstream at a time when it wasn’t as popular to do so. And I wanted to know what she thinks about where we’re headed in the future.

“We didn't want to start a Chimp sanctuary. I mean, it's the most extreme really… they're the most, at least in my mind, they're just so socially complex and their needs are so complex and they don't really go back to the wild - ever. And they live, to 50 or 60 years old and they have very complicated social groups. It's a lot. It's a lifetime… So, we were like, that's not what we want to do. So here we are. That's what we did.” Jenny Desmond Jenny’s interest in wildlife rescue and protection was sparked during a trip around the world at an orangutan sanctuary in Indonesia. Since then, she and Jimmy have lived in many countries throughout Africa and Asia and have worked with monkeys, gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees. And, until they lost her this past year, their dog, Princess worked right alongside them. In 2015, the Desmonds got a call from the Humane Society of the US, that 66 former laboratory research chimps had been abandoned on some islands in Liberia — could they help? Soon after they arrived (and helped), it became very clear to them that there was a much bigger chimpanzee problem happening throughout Liberia. Currently the Liberia Chimp Rescue and Protection is home to 73 orphaned chimps and not only are the Desmonds and their incredible team mothering and caring for 73 babies, they are also working to end the bushmeat and pet trades that are creating so many orphans in the first place. Western Chimpanzees are on the critically endangered list. Their population has declined by 80 percent is the past 24 years. At this rate, they will soon be gone. And, it’s not just the bushmeat and pet trades pushing the chimps toward the extinction list – it’s the fact that their habitat is getting smaller by the day. With much grace and humor, Jenny shares what it means to ensure that the chimpanzees in her care thrive, and what we need to do to get behind her so that these animals don’t disappear.

Species Unite will be back with a brand new season next Thursday the 28th. Until then, we are re-sharing one of our favorite episodes, a conversation with Josh Balk. “The time to begin phasing out the intensive confinement systems in which we raise billions of animals is now. We need to accelerate society’s direction of reducing demand for meat from animal factory farms and shift instead to more of an emphasis on healthier — and safer — plant-based foods. As our population grows, plant-based foods are also more sustainable and affordable for societies globally. Unless we — especially legislators and the food industry — make changes immediately, the concerning practices in animal agribusiness will remain. Only in transforming our food system can we eliminate the tinderbox ready to explode in our country. We can’t afford to wait.” - Josh Balk and Dr. Shivam Yoshi, Pandemic on Our Plates Social distancing is the key to slowing the spread of COVID-19. We know this. It has worked and is still working. But, we also know that in this unsettling time, a time where we are fully aware that staying apart does indeed save lives, just the opposite is taking place at factory farms and meat processing plants all across America. Slaughterhouses are being forced to stay open and their workers must remain in close proximity to one another to be able to get their jobs done. And, they are getting sick and they are dying. And, on factory farms, billions of animals are “living” in cramped, filthy, overcrowded spaces with almost no room to move their antibiotic-fueled bodies - conditions that are creating a perfect storm for the next zoonotic disease to emerge and spread. This threat is nothing new, as diseases have already come from factory farms - we’ve just gotten lucky in terms of their spread. But the clock is ticking. Josh Balk has been a global leader in animal protection for the past 20 years. He is the Vice President of Farm Animal Protection for the Humane Society of the United States, and he’s the co-founder of plant-based, food manufacturing company, JUST, as in JUST Mayo and my favorite invention of the 21st century, JUST Egg. Josh has spent a couple of decades focusing on and fighting against extreme confinement on America’s factory farms: confinement practices like cramming many chickens into small battery cages for their entire lives, and days old calves in tiny veal crates where they can barely move, and keeping mother pigs in gestation crates (small metal cages that fit around their bodies like steel coffins). These are some of the cruelest practices on the planet and they are the status quo at factory farms in most American states. Josh and his team have scored huge victories on changing animal welfare policies at some of the world’s largest companies and by changing legislation in many states. But there's still a long way and a lot of states to go. And, there are still billions of animals suffering. And, right now, while we are in the midst of a public health crisis that started because of how we treat animals, we need to demand that our food industry change; otherwise we're setting ourselves up for a much larger crisis. Josh is a hero and a world changer, and many humans and millions of animals are lucky to have this guy in their corner.

Species Unite will be back with a brand new season on October 28th.  For now, we are re-sharing one of our favorite episodes, a conversation with Liza Heavener. “There would be some mornings that the indigenous tribal leaders would take us out into virgin rainforest… [I was] like, “no human has ever stood here before.” And it was alive with, I mean, you name the animal… and it was loud full and of life. And they would take us out the very next day and it was just smoldering because it had been slashed and burned illegally in the middle of the night. And it was just completely quiet except for what was left of the fire.  And that that changes you.” -     Liza Heavener Liza’s story is one of my favorites.  She spent a decade working in federal politics, grassroots and campaign strategy and with the United States Congress. Liza was a healthcare lobbyist for a large membership organization, running their national advocacy program to engage hundreds of thousands of advocates across the country.  Then, she won a contest to work on a documentary and tv series in Borneo. Liza went there for what she thought would be 100 days, but ended up staying for the next year. While she was there, her world turned upside down. And what came out of it is this force of a woman who has dedicated herself to creating a better planet for everyone who lives on it, not just the humans.  Liza is the Chief Operating Officer at NEXUS Global and she chairs the Nexus Working Group on Animal Welfare and Biodiversity Conservation, which is dedicated to educating, empowering and connecting Next-Gen impact investors, philanthropists, and social entrepreneurs.  She also serves as an Advisor to the Millennial Action Project and as a Vice Chair of the Alumni Council for Eastern Mennonite University. Liza had a feature role in the internationally-acclaimed documentary and tv series, “Rise of the Eco-Warrior,” and has spoken at conferences across the country.

Species Unite will be back with a brand new season on October 28th. Today, we are re-sharing one of our favorite episodes, a conversation with Milo Runkle. The only way to help animals is to help people. It’s humans that need to change, not animals. And I think it's the same way when we're talking about other issues in our society. It's about healing those who are causing violence, and it oftentimes can be easy to judge and persecute and sort of push aside people that are causing harm. It's more challenging to love them and to lead by example and to believe that everyone is doing the best that they can with what they have and what they know in that moment. - Milo Runkle  Some humans come out of the womb with a mission imprinted into their very being. Not often, but it happens. Milo Runkle is one of those humans. He was born in rural Ohio, delivered by his veterinarian father, and from the very earliest of his days, he knew he would change the world for animals.  He was one of those kids who had a deep empathy for any creature that he encountered, an empathy that I think most of us have as children, but sadly are talked out of by well-meaning (and very well-conditioned) adults. Instead of being talked out of anything, Milo held on tightly, and rather than experiencing the slow, albeit unconscious, leak of animal-connected compassion that too many humans experience, his only grew. He became vegetarian at 11, and vegan at 15, which was the same year that he founded Mercy for Animals; which would later become the world’s largest farm animal and vegan advocacy organization, an international powerhouse that has indeed changed the world for millions of cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and fish. It all started because of an animal abuse case at his local high school. He saw abuse and injustice, and did something about it.  Milo ran Mercy for Animals for nearly two decades, and is still involved - he is the Board Chair. Since leaving his role as the President, he has started a new chapter: one that involves deep exploration - of the planet, of himself, and of what it means to live a life of service that is rooted in joy, love, and compassion. He is also the cofounder of the Good Food Institute, an organization that works to build a sustainable food system by supporting the development and adoption of plant and cell based proteins.  And, he is the author of Mercy for Animals. One Man's Quest to Inspire Compassion and Improve the Lives of Farm Animals. Milo and I spoke about what it was like to sustain decades of activism on the frontlines, what his life has looked like since, and his ever-widening circle of compassion.

“My family was really suffering from all types of diet related health issues. I had an aunt who had multiple amputations before it took her life because of type two diabetes. I had a 40-year-old uncle who had a heart attack. My grandpa, who helped raise me, died of complications in a triple bypass surgery. All over the place there was suffering and it's really hard to, not feel like you have not the answer, but the direction to go in to reclaim your health, and not be taken seriously.” – Toni Okamoto Species unite is starting our 30 Day Vegan Challenge tomorrow. So, if you haven't signed up for it, sign up (you can actually sign up any time during October and it will start you at day one). It's 30 days of recipes, tips, information on all things plant-based and if you're already vegan sign up anyway, because there’s really good information and recipe ideas. If you have no interest in ever being vegan, sign up and do it for 10 days. See what it's like. To kick off the 30 Day Vegan Challenge, we couldn’t think of a better guest than Toni Okamoto. She is the founder of Plant-Based on a Budget, the website and meal plan that shows you how to save money while eating plant-based. Check it out, there are close to a thousand incredible recipes and delicious weekly meal-plans that will make the Vegan Challenge a whole lot less challenging. Toni is also the author of the Plant-Based on a Budget cookbook and the coauthor of the Friendly Vegan Cookbook with Michelle Kane. She and Michelle also hosts the Plant Powered People Podcast. Toni is a regular on local and national morning shows across the country, where she teaches viewers how to break their meat habit without breaking their budget. She was also featured in the popular documentary What the Health.

“Let me tell you, there were no bounties when wildlife management became a discipline and it's never been a part of wildlife management, but, but these are the crazy kooks at the absolute extreme of the hunting spectrum. And they got together and held fundraisers and started giving out thousand-dollar bounties on wolves.” – Erik Molvar Eric Molvar is the executive director of the Western Watersheds Project. He was on the podcast recently to talk about the wild horse crisis in the American West. Today, he is back to talk about wolves and the wolf wars that are happening in the West, especially in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Eric and the Western watersheds project recently authored a petition to the U S Fish and Wildlife service that was jointly submitted by 70 conservation and wildlife groups, to relist wolves back on the endangered species list. And, it made it through the first pass – meaning Fish and Wildlife will initiate a comprehensive status review, but it could last a year or more. Let’s hope it passes because in the meanwhile its open season on wolves in the West….