We wanted to take some time on today’s show to look back at 2011 with the hope that it will help inspire an even better year of activism in 2012 as we work toward earth, animal, and human liberation. The Live Free Collective put it really well when reflecting on their first year of activism in 2011 when they wrote:
“Oppression is a collective process that surrounds us. It is easy to despair in response. It is our hope that this will provide perspective and motivate. Too often we lose sight of the important work that does get done and the end of a calendar year – and our first year – offers a great time to regroup and renew.”
So in keeping with The Live Free Collective’s hope to provide perspective and motivate, today’s show is a special 2011 in review episode. Tune in to hear highlights from interviews with Jonathan Balcombe, Jason Hribal, Will Potter, Jenny Bundock, lauren Ornelas, and of course, we hear from Kevin Tillman who re-introduces us to the Vegan Hip-Hop anthem, “Hood Diet” by Loer Velocity featuring and produced by Donnan Linkz.
“A vegan diet is an effective and meaningful way to put your beliefs into practice,” say Virginia Messina and Jack Norris, authors of Vegan for life: Everything you need to know to be Healthy and fit on a Plant-Based Diet. But putting your beliefs into practice isn’t always easy with so many myths circulating about protein, iron, calcium, omega’s and B12. So for this week’s show we asked you to write in and share your vegan diet related questions. To answer your questions, we are joined by Virginia Messina, a registered dietitian and public health nutritionist specializing in vegan nutrition. All of the questions discussed in this interview along with information on everything from the Vegan Food Guide, raising vegan children, vegan diets for people over fifty, sports nutrition, managing wieght, heart disease and diabetes, as well as so much more can all be found in the book, Vegan for Life.
We are joined by Joëlle Verdier, founder of CLAM and one of the 95 activists who occupied a bullfighting ring on October 8, 2011, in Rodilhan, France. The activists’ goal was to prevent apprentice Toreros from killing six calves by peacefully occupying the arena. As shown in the video below, the activists endured a violent beating from the crowd of spectators. Joëlle tells us about the bullfighting industry and reflects on the experience of using civil disobedience as a tactic to stop bullfighting in France.
This week, we speak with Anita Krajnc from the Toronto Pig Save and Patti Blersch of the newly-created Burlington Pig Save. The Toronto Pig Save is a collective of artists, activists and writers based right here in Toronto; the group’s almost weekly protests bear witness to the suffering of pigs en route to Toronto’s biggest slaughterhouse, Quality Meat Packers. The protests have become something of a hub for Southern Ontario animal activists, drawing in many important figures from various other Toronto-based groups including ARK II, the University of Toronto Animal Rights Group, The Love and Rage Liberation Collective and the newly-created Stop York Animal Testing.
This week we are joined by Juliana Machado Ferreira, Biologist and Ph.D. candidate at University of São Paulo, to talk about her work with SOS Fauna. SOS Fauna is a non-profit organization that combats wildlife trafficking and rehabilitates the victims of illegal trade. Check out Ferreira’s TED talk to see some incredible images of the animals she works to protect.
Welcome to a jam-packed show inspired by a week of victories for animals after Toronto city council voted to both ban shark fin and send the surviving elephants at the Toronto Zoo to PAWS sanctuary in California.
First, we’re joined by Julie Woodyer, campaigns director at Zoocheck Canada who tells us about the struggle to send Iringa, Toka, and Thika to a sanctuary and not another zoo. Woodyer also discusses the potential for this decision to have positive implications for Lucy, who is still living alone in the Edmonton Valley Zoo. (click here to listen to our interview about the ongoing case of Lucy the elephant)
Second, Nicholas Wright, Toronto based attorney and founding director of Lawyers for Animal Welfare helps us make sense of Toronto’s new bylaw which bans possession, sale, trade and distribution of shark fins or their derivative products. Wright tells us about the details of ban and the how the issue of municipal jurisdiction threatened to thwart attempts to ban shark fins.
Finally, Claudia Li, founder of Shark Truth joins us to talk about the traditional significance of shark fin in Chinese culture and why she argues the practice of shark finning no longer fits with Chinese values. Li addresses the concern that it is cultural discrimination to ban shark fin and also responds to claims made by the Toronto Chinese Business Association that the ban is unfair and irresponsible. To learn more about Shark Truth’s work visit them on Facebook and Twitter, or check out their 無翅溫市 Fin Free Vancouver campaign and Happy Hearts Love Sharks contest!
Today we talk with Joyce Tischler, co-founder of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. As one and of the visionaries who has shaped the field of animal law, Tischler’s work has pushed the boundaries of the law to protect the lives and interests of animals. With unique insight into the creative legal strategies that attorneys have developed to protect animals, Tischler tells us about the challenges animal lawyers are faced with while working within a legal system entrenched with the belief that human interests should always trump the interests of animals.
In 2009, subway passengers from across Toronto were greeted with a provocative ad campaign that challenged them with a simple question: Why Love One But Eat The Other? The ads were put together and distributed by a dedicated Toronto team with the help of Mercy For Animals, and offered viewers information about factory farming in Canada, as well as some ethological facts about the chickens, pigs and cows that end up on their plate every day as food. This year, the ad campaign returns with the same dedicated team of volunteers making it happen, but a far expanded reach. Launched on October 11th, the campaign will see 1,000 ads across the Toronto subway system, sure to generate discussion and debate among the riders. Join us as we speak with Lisa Kramer and Kimberly Carroll, the minds behind the campaign as they discuss their motivation, their process, and even show some of the ads to a small early audience of subway riders. The campaign will continue until the end of December.
Rod Coronado. Just mentioning his name in animal rights circles is enough to generate discussion and debate about the ALF, about direct action more generally, and about the use of arson as a tactic specifically. Behind the name is a history spanning decades, from the cold waters of Iceland to the misty hills of Oregon, with many lessons to be learned along the way. Dean Kuipers, author and journalist based in California, documented the life and times of Rod Coronado for nearly two decades, earning his trust and the trust of his peers to be able to give a dispassionate insider’s account of a segment of the animal and environmental movements that rarely opens itself up to outsiders. Throughout his work he paints a heartfelt but not uncomplicated portrait of a man driven to action by his passionate beliefs and love of animals and the earth; in our conversation we discuss access, the complicated nature of direct action campaigns, and what makes someone like Rod Coronado such a compelling figure, many years after his most prominent AR work.
This week we are joined by 
