Episode 90: Interview with Lee Hall about the connections between veganism, animal liberation, and environmentalism

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with the author and public speaker Lee Hall, who has been a vegan advocate since 1983. Lee is the author of On Their Own Terms: Animal Liberation for the 21st Century, the creator of the blog Vegan Place, and a writer for CounterPunch. Lee previously taught immigration and animal law at Rutgers University in New Jersey and now holds a Master of Laws in environmental law with a focus on climate change.

In this interview, Lee speaks about vegan ethics, the history of the Vegan Society in the UK, the connections between animal liberation and environmentalism, ethical concerns with using violent imagery in our advocacy, and why domestication is inherently unfair. We also discuss the importance of integrity in our activism and the issue of whether chocolate is truly vegan-friendly. (You can learn more about cocoa production here.)

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/59365.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-february-8-2023.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 84: Interview with Bob Linden about why veganism needs to be the moral baseline of the animal rights movement

Image by Vegan Sidekick

This week, I am pleased to present my second interview with Bob Linden, the host of Go Vegan Radio. Bob became a vegan in 1984. Since he started Go Vegan Radio in 2001, the show has been broadcast on a variety of radio networks and stations in the United States. Bob is also an event organizer who has put together a number of highly successful vegan festivals and summits. I previously interviewed Bob on Episode 73 of my show.

In this interview, Bob speaks about his experiences as a long-time vegan activist. We discuss how animal exploitation is the foundational injustice in our society; why we, as vegans, should focus our efforts on vegan advocacy instead of welfare reforms or other single-issue campaigns; and why veganism should be the moral baseline of the animal rights movement. Bob also highlights the best thing about being vegan.

At the end of the show, we'll listen to the piano song, "Benediction of Light", by the vegan author and musician Will Tuttle.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/57711.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-september-21-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 76: Interview with veganic farmer, researcher, and activist Jimmy Videle of La Ferme de l'Aube, Québec

This week, I am very happy to present my interview with the veganic farmer and activist Jimmy Videle. In 2014, Jimmy and his wife, Mélanie Bernier, started a vegan organic market farm, La Ferme de l’Aube, in Boileau, Québec, where they now live with their five rescued cats. In the past, Jimmy worked and consulted on eleven vegan, organic, and permaculture farms in Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, South America and Québec. He is currently a consultant and volunteer with A.U.M. Films & Media (the producers of the documentaries Cowspiracy, What the Health, and others) and the Animal Protection Party of Canada.

In this interview, Jimmy speaks about veganic farming and the practices that he and Mélanie use at La Ferme de l’Aube. He tells his story of becoming vegan, describes the importance of farming veganically, and discusses what needs to be done to help spread veganic farming methods across North America and around the world.

In research that Jimmy conducted for the Humane Party of the United States in 2018, he found that vegan organic farming was 2.2% more productive per acre when compared to growing crops using conventional methods. However, in a study published in 2019, Jimmy wrote that vegan organic agriculture can be 4198% more productive per acre than animal agriculture. This is due to the fact that animal agriculture uses a vast amount of land for grazing and growing feed crops to feed the animals who are exploited and killed by that industry. With a global shift to veganic farming, we could rewild much of the land that is currently used for agriculture.

This was such an inspiring interview. Thanks to Jimmy for being a guest on the show!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/55876.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-april-13-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Yes, Being Vegan Does Make a Difference

Today I am happy to let you know about a new article that I wrote, which was published on the website of a wonderful vegan education group called Gentle World. In the article, I explain that the vegan ethic is about non-violence and non-exploitation, and then I describe how being vegan, as an individual, has the power to influence society towards veganism and make a real difference for nonhuman animals.

You can read the article on Gentle World's website. Thanks to Gentle World for publishing it!

Vegan Business Spotlight: Interview with Stéphanie, owner of the vegan bakery Pastel x Coco

Raw brownies from Pastel & Coco.

This week, I am publishing a bonus episode that features an interview with Stéphanie Gervais, who is the owner of a gluten-free vegan bakery and café called Pastel & Coco based in Gatineau, Quebec.

In this interview, Stéphanie tells me about her bakery and some of the products she sells. She also explains what led her to start her business and how the local community has responded to her café's vegan baked goods and other vegan foods. This interview was originally recorded in November 2020.

Pastel & Coco's menu, including their current holiday menu, can be found at https://www.pastelxcoco.com/. You can also find Pastel & Coco on Instagram, Facebook, and Uber Eats. Christmas logs and other holiday-themed items are available for pre-order until December 20th. Please note that Pastel & Coco is open for takeout only at this time.

Thanks to Stéphanie for being a guest on the show!

How to listen to this episode

1. You can find this bonus episode on Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-vegan-business-spotlight.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 42: Interview with Greg McFarlane about the vegan movement in Australia

Thank you very much to everyone who donated to CKCU FM’s funding drive this year! As of today, CKCU has raised over $140,000, which will help to keep the station on the airwaves for another year.

This week's episode of Always for Animal Rights features my recent interview with Greg McFarlane. Greg is the director of Vegan Australia, which is an Australian non-profit organization that promotes veganism.

In this interview, Greg tells me about the state of the vegan movement in Australia and the ways that vegans are represented by the media. He also discusses Vegan Australia's research into what would happen to Australia's economy and the environment if the country went vegan, and he tells me about his experience speaking to politicians about veganism.

By the way, if you're wondering about the birds chirping in the background, they are Australian wild birds who were singing outside. Greg tells me that rainbow lorikeets, noisy miners, magpies, currawongs, wattle birds, and eastern koels live nearby.

It's a very interesting interview, and I hope you'll listen in! At the end of the show is Gad Hakimi's song "Corona Trap".

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/49834.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-november-18-2020.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 41: Interview with Gad Hakimi about veganism and animal advocacy in Israel and the recent sightings of the International Vegan Flag

A light show depicting the vegan flag on a fountain in Zagreb, Croatia.

Happy World Vegan Month, everyone!

This week, I am pleased to present my second interview with Gad Hakimi. Gad Hakimi, who lives in Israel, is a vegan activist and the designer of the International Vegan Flag. You might remember that I previously interviewed Gad on Episode 2 of this show, back in 2019.

In this week's interview, Gad describes the progress of animal advocacy and veganism in Israel, and he tells me about some of the places that the vegan flag has been used recently. He also tells me about his family's adopted dog, Sophie. It's a great interview, and I hope you'll listen in!

Please note that this interview was recorded on October 31st, which is one day before World Vegan Day (World Vegan Day is on November 1st).

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/49654.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-november-4-2020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Vegan flags in Zagreb, Croatia.

 

Episode 40: Kriti Sachdeva discusses the connections between the philosophy of yoga and the vegan ethic

This week's episode of Always for Animal Rights features an interview with Kriti Sachdeva. Kriti is the founder of Yogific, an organization that hosts yoga and vegan festivals in the UK and Europe and educates yogis and yoga teachers about veganism.

In this interview, Kriti tells me about the following topics:

• how the ancient text studied by yoga teachers, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, requires practitioners to practice ahimsa (non-violence) and other principles that logically lead to veganism
• how studying human rights led Kriti to veganism, and why she started holding vegan yoga events
• why more yoga teachers aren't vegan (yet!) and how we can change that.

 

This interview is great to share with yoga practitioners or anyone else who needs a reminder of why they should go vegan. :)

After the interview, we hear the song "Ocean" by the vegan singer-songwriter Rebecca Shelley. You can watch the animated music video for this song here.

 

You might also like to check out the article "Why All Yogis and Yoga Gurus Should be Vegan", which is on Yogific's website.

 
How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/49557.html.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-october-28-2020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site. 

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

 

Episode 39: Tim Thorpe of the Vegan Society speaks about the environment, farming, and food policy in the UK and Europe

Welcome to Episode 39 of Always for Animal Rights!

This week's episode features my interview with Tim Thorpe, Campaigns and Policy Officer of the Vegan Society in the UK. With a background in environmental science, Tim takes the lead on the Vegan Society's Grow Green campaign.

In this interview, Tim tells me about the Vegan Society’s advocacy work to change government policies related to food and agriculture in the UK and Europe. He also explains how a global shift to a vegan diet is essential if we are to address the serious environmental problems that the world faces today, including species extinction and land degradation.

In addition to the Grow Green initiative, Tim also spoke about the following of the Vegan Society's campaigns: Catering for Everyone, Future Normal, and Plate Up for the Planet. And, I mentioned the results of the survey that I conducted with Vegan Option Canada.

This is a thought-provoking interview for those of us who are curious about whether policy changes could help animals by promoting a shift to plant-based food and farming.

I hope you'll listen in!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/49479.html.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-october-21-2020.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site. 

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 29: Roger Yates speaks about the history of the vegan social movement

(Update: Since this episode was released, sociologists Matthew Cole and Kate Stewart, lead researchers of the Donald Watson Archive Research Project, found that the word vegan was coined by Dorothy Morgan and Donald Watson in 1944, according to an unpublished letter written by Donald Watson in 1994.)

Welcome to Episode 29 of Always for Animal Rights! For this episode, the vegan sociologist Dr. Roger Yates returns to the show to speak about the founding and history of the vegan social movement.

A long-term vegan, Roger is a co-founder and organizer of the Vegan Information Project in Ireland. His 2005 PhD dissertation focuses on the social construction of speciesism, and in the 1980's, he was a Press Officer for the Animal Liberation Front. His blog is called On Human Relations with Other Sentient Beings.

In this interview, Roger tells me about how the vegan social movement began in 1944, what values the first vegans stood for, and why it's important for us to educate ourselves about our movement's history. He also discusses the Movement for Compassionate Living, the 1976 BBC "Open Door" television program about the Vegan Society, and one of the world's first vegan plantmilk companies. This blog series, written by Roger about the history of the vegan movement, is what inspired this discussion.

This is a fascinating interview, and I hope you'll listen in!

Excerpt from Issue 1 of "The Vegan News", 1944
(the entire issue can be read for free at https://issuu.com/vegan_society/docs/the_vegan_news_1944)

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/48185.html.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-june-24-2020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site. 

Until next week :)

Episode 25: Why vegans should never promote lab-grown "meat"

Photo credit: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

Welcome to Episode 25 of Always for Animal Rights!

This week's episode features an interview with the professors Vasile Stanescu, PhD, and John Sanbonmatsu, PhD, who explain why animal advocates should not promote lab-grown "meat" (a.k.a. animal flesh).

In 2019, John and Vasile participated in a debate in which they pointed out that lab "meat" harms animals directly and serves to further entrench animal exploitation in our culture. This is what we discuss on this week's show.

This is a very important topic that animal advocates need to be aware of. I hope you'll tune in!

You can learn more about this issue at CleanMeat-Hoax.com. You can also read Vasile's blog post (which he mentioned in the interview) in which he makes the case that vegan advocacy is, and has been, effective.

You may also wish to read my blog post in which I argue that vegan advocacy is the most essential part of the animal rights movement.

About today's guests:

Vasile Stanescu is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and the director of the Program in Speech and Debate at Mercer University. He is the co-Senior editor of the Critical Animal Studies book series and former co-editor of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies. He has written more than twenty peer-reviewed publications about Critical Animal Studies and the environment. You can find some of his articles on his Academia.edu page.

John Sanbonmatsu is an Associate Professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is the founder and main designer of CleanMeat-Hoax.com. He is the editor of the book Critical Theory and Animal Liberation and the author of The Postmodern Prince: Critical Theory, Left Strategy, And The Making Of A New Political Subject.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/47786.html.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-may-13-2020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. 

Until next week!

Episode 24: Chas Newkey-Burden discusses why vegan activism needs to focus on animal rights rather than plant-based consumerism

For Episode 24 of Always for Animal Rights, I am pleased to share my recent interview with the professional writer Chas Newkey-Burden. As part of his animal rights activism, Chas writes articles about animal rights and animal cruelty for mainstream media publications in the UK, including the Independent, the Guardian, and others.

In this interview, Chas speaks about his experiences writing about animal issues for the mainstream media, how people have responded to his articles, and how receptive the media is to publishing nonhuman-centric stories. He also tells me about why he went vegan and why he opposes "Ahimsa dairy".

This interview also covers why vegan activism that focuses on animal rights and liberation, rather than the promotion of plant-based products, is the proper way forward for the animal rights movement. This is very important for us to remember, especially since we’re seeing a surge in the popularity of "plant-based" products nowadays (which, as discussed in the interview, are often not truly vegan anyway). Animal liberation cannot be achieved through capitalism, and Chas provides compelling arguments as to why this is the case. Remember that veganism isn't about buying the latest plant-based consumer products; rather, veganism is an ethical philosophy and corresponding way of living that opposes animal exploitation.

It's a very thought-provoking interview. Here are some of Chas's articles that are discussed in this episode:

• "Burger King’s not so vegan whopper shows what happens when we believe big corporate shares our values" (The Independent, 15 April 2020)
• "Sorry vegans, Burger King's Impossible Whopper won't do anything to save animals" (The Independent, 4 April 2019)
• "If you're a vegan who wants to try a 'bleeding' burger, I'm suspicious – what's appetising about animal slaughter?" (The Independent, 12 November 2018)
• "We always believed Cheltenham Festival put profit before safety. Now we’re seeing the true moral consequences" (The Independent, 22 April 2020)
• "Dairy is scary. The public are waking up to the darkest part of farming" (The Guardian, 30 March 2017)
• "Dairy Is Scared: More People Are Discovering Its Disgraceful Truth" (Plant Based News, 8 February 2019)

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/47680.html.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-april-29-2020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram.

Until next time :)

Episode 22: Elizabeth Collins explains the Abolitionist Approach to animal rights and the problems with single-issue campaigning

Welcome to Episode 22 of Always for Animal Rights! On today's show is my interview with the vegan educator Elizabeth Collins.

Elizabeth, who lives in New Zealand, has been running street stalls to educate the public about veganism since 2009, and she is also the host of the NZ Vegan Podcast. (You can find her main website at nzvegan.com). Her activism is based on the principles of Gary Francione's Abolitionist Approach to animal rights.

In this interview, Elizabeth tells me about the Abolitionist Approach, and we discuss some of the problems with single-issue campaigning. She also offers her advice to anyone who wants to start their own abolitionist vegan street stall or other advocacy initiative. As well, she tells me about what is happening with the animal advocacy movement and vegan movement in New Zealand.

I think this episode will be especially useful for those who aren't sure whether they should engage in single-issue campaigns. I hope you'll listen in!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can hear this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/47548.html.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afarapril82020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram.

Until next week!

Episode 15: Vegan Business, Veganism in Australia, Social Justice Connections, and Anti-Speciesist Language

Australian vegans protest against animal exploitation and
tell passersby to watch the documentary Dominion

For this week's episode of Always for Animal Rights, I interviewed the journalist Katrina Fox. Katrina is the founder of VeganBusinessMedia.com, host of the Vegan Business Talk podcast, and author of Vegan Ventures: Start and Grow an Ethical Business. She has been a vegan since 1996, and she teaches vegan business owners about getting media coverage for their brands.

In our interview, Katrina spoke about her work, what to keep in mind when starting a vegan business, and how the vegan movement in Australia has been going.

After the interview, we’ll hear from the sociologist Corey Lee Wrenn, who will share her perspective on how animal rights and other social justice issues are connected.

Then, in an audio clip from one of Challenge Speciesism's videos, the founder of Challenge Speciesism will explain why we need to avoid euphemistic language when speaking about the violence that is committed against non-human animals.

Finally, at the end of the show we'll hear the song "One Species" by xTRUE NATUREx. It's an amazing song.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1.  Listen to the episode on Archive.org or download the MP3 file at https://archive.org/details/afarjanuary222020.
2. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/46669.html.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram!

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will be broadcast on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, February 5th, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.