Episode 68- Animals For Food: A Horror Story (Part 1 of 3)
This is the first part of a series on a topic which could be the most important and urgent ever covered on this podcast. There's no doubt that the research, including lots of video footage, has been the most upsetting and harrowing, but there has been a strangely cathartic quality to it as well.
In this part, Antony talks about his relationship with animals, the video that was the final trigger (or final straw) for these episodes, and then begins to go through the content of the film 'Land of Hope and Glory'. This documentary is known as a UK version of the well-known animal rights/use & abuse film 'Earthlings', which will be covered later in the series.
General series notes
We all know it's happening. We all know it's horrific but try to tell ourselves it's not that bad and if we just buy free-range eggs we can square it with our conscience and sleep peacefully. However, research and just a small sample of the copious amounts of truly heartbreaking video footage available makes it clear that it is far, far worse than we think (note- the information in this podcast series is actually quite sanitised compared to other testimonies and footage out there).
Who is to blame? The consumer or the industry? It seems to be a chicken-and-egg situation that could be improved greatly by the average consumer deciding to invest time in discovering what is behind some of the shameful (and shameless) propaganda techniques employed by the food industry. As should be clear in the series, the animals are the biggest victims but not the only ones, which is obvious when you research the state of meat, eggs and dairy that is routinely passed as 'safe to consume'.
To gain a better industry of how and why this nasty business is allowed to happen, a recommended companion piece is the excellent documentary 'The Corporation' and indeed the previous LALO episode on it (see show notes for both). We really owe it to ourselves and the animals who largely live miserable, hellish lives before suffering painful and brutal deaths, to make the effort in the ultimate information age to inform ourselves of the real situation. Unfettered capitalism cannot be allowed to run riot without resistance.
Do I recommend watching the documentaries and other video footage available? I'm going to say yes but please proceed with caution and I would actively discourage viewing them if you feel in a vulnerable or depressive state because they have the power to make you question whether true humanity exists and how we can possibly behave in this kind of way to innocent, defenceless beings (once again, I would also include some humans in this).
As the saying goes, 'once you've seen it, you can't unsee it', and as Ed Winters aka Earthling Ed says at the end of 'Land of Hope And Glory', 'you can never again say you didn't know'. While listening, consider/research the following; normalisation, desensitisation, disassociation, cultural reinforcement, cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias, power(lessness), exploitation, deception, isolation, (relative) value of life, respect, compassion, sympathy, mercy, humanity.
We hope you find this of interest
Thanks for listening!
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Series links
Shaun Monson (maker of ‘Earthlings’)
Earthlings film (2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrY2TP0ZyU
20th anniversary interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EGAFYWAwQE
Shaun’s TEDx talk (‘No Separation Based On Form’)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P7eopjN92c
Unity (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4cMqtiTC6k
How do you get people to watch Earthlings (2 approaches)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Zh810bznk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J8pdru1TOc
Ed Winters aka ‘Earthling Ed’
Land of Hope and Glory (the UK ‘Earthlings’, made by Surge in 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvtVkNofcq8&t=2s
Surge’s website
https://www.surgeactivism.org/ourmission
Ed’s TED talk about veganism
https://www.ted.com/talks/ed_winters_every_argument_against_veganism
An eye-opening speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3u7hXpOm58
Ed’s most recent published books
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58093554-this-is-vegan-propaganda
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124846667-how-to-argue-with-a-meat-eater
Ed debates (schools) a dairy farmer on the BBC
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124846667-how-to-argue-with-a-meat-eater
Jack Hancock
Jack’s film ‘The Dying Trade’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qb-9Q0YhVA
Jack’s channel
https://www.youtube.com/@HumaneHancock
The video that inspired this podcast series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX4_fFjw3Ag
Slaughterhouse worker Tom talks to Jack (very disturbing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSbhLL2CF9o
Gail Eisnitz
Gail’s books
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220160974-out-of-sight
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31474.Slaughterhouse
Gail on the ‘Our Hen House’ podcast
https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep858
Joey Carbstrong
Joey’s short film ‘Gaslit’ (what routinely happens to pigs in the UK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql_L4JD0Fpc
Joey appears on the Jeremy Vine show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya76fJiAWU8
Joey Carbstrong exposes ‘premium turkey’ farming (please tell Jamie Oliver if you see him)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FMxd67zeXE
Hens in gas chambers (watch if you dare)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w81NRCt6Z2I
Other links
1 Vegan vs 20 Meat Eaters with Dr Jack Symes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsNBKKRXqI4
Jack talks to Joe Rogan about veganism and hunting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0mB_MStUsk
Chris Delforce’s films ‘Lucent’ and ‘Dominion’ (very graphic!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KArL5YjaL5U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQRAfJyEsko
‘Un-Australian’ activists shut down the Melbourne central business district, inspired by ‘Dominion’
https://veganrising.org.au/melbourne-city-centre-shut-down-for-animals/
Chris Delforce speaks at the Perth Vegan Expo 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ydDkUNlewU
Humanemyth.org (deconstructing the myths of animal agriculture)
https://humanemyth.org/
Roasting the Planet (2025 report on animal agriculture and the climate)
https://foe.org/resources/heating-the-planet-big-meat-and-dairys-big-emissions/
Vegan TV ads (very effective!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psdtyJ2aizI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6PMX30PViA
Recommended books ‘Dominion’ and ’ The Jungle’
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7260.Dominion
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41681.The_Jungle
Simon Amstell’s ‘Carnage’ (2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfUSdrSS4ms
Activist and ex-Slaughterhouse worker talks to ‘Vegan Gaze’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4mRK1gQ_m8
The truth about supermarket eggs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KUGRLaz-2s
‘The Corporation’ film and previous LALO episode about it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhixR6h5RSI
https://lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com/e/episode-33-the-corporation/
The heartwarming story of Dolly (videos in reverse order on playlist, watch from bottom to top)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6VPBMQoGl0&list=PLKk60gBKlu0aYiHq_mKBw7ZflwCJDLUR-&index=4
The history and ending of public executions
https://capitalpunishmentuk.org/the-ending-of-public-executions-in-the-19th-century/
TED talk about the bees disappearing
https://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing