NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 67 - Reflections, updates and the repressed memory of my first animal-use-showing video!

LISTEN HERE

Revelations!   Now I am wondering if that WAS indeed my first exposure to a video showing animal use, or have I repressed other memories from my specieisist past...?

Here is a link to the article I mentioned from the UK abolitionists that made the Aberdeen Voice

Here is a link to the article I mentioned on the Vegan Salt blog: Guest Post

Thanks for listening!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 66 - Update on Duffy the cat plus my elevator experience and other stories

LISTEN HERE

here is a photo of Duffy in his hopefully new and permanent home:

This is the link to Professor Gary Francione's latest commentary where he gives great advice about talking to non vegans about veganism: Five Principles

This is a link to Barbara DeGrande's latest podcast about personal relationships as a vegan: Dating While Vegan

Here is a link to Mylène Ouellet's latest article: What's Sometimes Hardest

Here is a link to Adam Kochanowicz's Vegan Help Bot I mentioned: http://twitter.com/veganhelp
and to his website: Vegan FM

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 65 - Domestication (homage to Duffy the cat)

LISTEN HERE

This podcast is dedicated to Duffy

This week I talk about a situation I personally dealt with and how I chose to deal with it, and I ask everyone to comment if there are anything someone feels needs to be said.

I also quote from one of my favourite websites, Quotes on Slavery and this is the quote I chose to read:
"I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice"

Thanks for listening

 

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 63 - Interview with Professor Gary L. Francione Part 1

LISTEN HERE

I have the absolute pleasure of having Professor Gary L. Francione as a guest.  This is part 1 of the interview.  Enjoy!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 64 - Interview with Professor Gary L. Francione Part 2

LISTEN HERE

This is Part 2 of the interview.   with Professor Gary L. Francione.
Enjoy!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 62 - Uniformity in the message of truth

Listen HERE

This week I speak of an email I received, special thanks to Doug Hines, and I speak of a wonderful concept that was given to me by Randy Sandberg.

Please visit the wonderful Quotes on Slavery website: http://quotesonslavery.org/

Here is a quote I think relevant to the theme of this podcast:

"A common criticism is that the time is not yet ripe for our reform. Can time ever be ripe for any reform unless it is ripened by human determination? Did Wilberforce wait for the ripening of time before he commenced his fight against slavery? Did Edwin Chadwick, Lord Shaftesbury, and Charles Kingsley wait for such a non-existent moment before trying to convince the great dead weight of public opinion that clean water and bathrooms would be an improvement? If they had declared their intention to poison everybody the opposition they met could hardly have been greater. There is an obvious danger in leaving the fulfilment of our ideals to posterity, for posterity may not have our ideal. Evolution can be retrogressive as well as progressive, indeed there seems always to be a strong gravitation the wrong way unless existing standards are guarded and new visions honoured. For this reason we have formed our [Vegan] Group, the first of its kind, we believe, in this or any other country.
~ Donald Watson (November, 1944)"

 http://quotesonslavery.org/a-common-criticism-is-that-the-time-is-not-yet-ripe-for-our-reform/

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 61 - The sociology of posting "meat" pictures on animal rights threads

Listen HERE

Analysing the sociology behind the posting of pictures of flesh and animal products on Animal Rights internet forums. 

Special guests Roger Yates from On Human Nonhuman Relations, and wonderful abolitionist advocate Timothy E. Putnam!

Enjoy

I forgot to add that in honour of Dr. Yates this is a BELLS podcast.
(Bells courtesy of Zsebi the kitten)

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 60 - Special Guest Diane Ellis, spokesperson for Vegecat vegan cat food

Listen HERE

This episode it was a pleasure and a joy to feature Diane Ellis who was referred to me by James Peden from Harbingers of a New Age, creators of Vegecat and Vegedog.  Diane is their spokesperson, and is among other things an expert on feline nutrition, who has successfully raised three cats (and two dogs - of course!) on diets free from animal products, which is a success story I wish we could hear more of.

She has very positive experiences and lots of great knowledge to share, for those who are interested in the issue, those who have tried to implement a dietary change for their felines (such as myself) and were not successful, or for those who are considering doing so now or in the future, in order for them to make an informed decision and hear positive and helpful information.

We talk about Diane's wonderful cats Tomato, Razzie and Coconut, and I hope to have photos and videos soon.  We talk about how the Vegecat food was created, and how important it is to follow the recipes provided by Harbingers of a New Age, as they were specially formulated with the help of a veterinarian Andrew Knight.  We mention the horrors of commercial pet food and talk about the fear that many vegans have that they will harm their feline refugees if they attempt to feed them anything but a meat based diet, and discuss why some cats have not thrived on other vegan diet foods.

You can contact Diane for advice and help through: leadwithyourheart@msn.com
The following websites were mentioned in the podcast and are the links to the information about commercial diets, and also to the website containing information about Vegecat vegan cat food from Harbingers of a New Age.

(Note and disclaimer: I am providing any links listed below due to the pertinent information to the issues and products discussed in this podcast episode.   I do not necessarily endorse or agree with absolutely everything stated on these sites.  Additionally I do not necessarily endorse links that are provided on these sites.)
http://www.vegepet.com/forcats.html
http://www.vegepets.info/pages/meat_based_commercial_diets.htm


 Thanks Diane for coming on the show!

UPDATE:
Diane has asked me to post this update, because she wants people to be aware that although she loves the fact that people are interested and need advice, she does have to make a living, and cannot answer every single email!  You can also go to her website to reference advice on this matter also: http://www.leadwithyourheart.net/Homemade_Vege_Meals.php where there is listed a limited time discounted price list for consultations in case you are able:
$75.00 per a 1 hour session for all pets and humans in the same household.
$45.00 per a 30 minute session per one household.
These reduced prices will expire on December 31st, 2010.

If you get some Vegecat remember that the creator of the product James Peden is very knowledgeable and helpful also, and their website has tons of FAQs.

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 59 - Notes from the Stall: Learning from criticism

Listen  HERE

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 58 - Interview with Emmy James from the Vegan For Life Podcast!

Listen HERE

This week I have the absolute pleasure of interviewing new NZ abolitionist podcaster and animator Emmy James from the Vegan For Life Podcast.  We talk about her journey to veganism, her animation and podcast, and her plans for the future as a vegan in this world.

Enjoy!  Thanks to Emmy for coming on the show, please listen to her podcast!

Here is a link to the Vegan For Live Blog: http://vegan-for-life.blogspot.com/
To access the podcast on iTunes click HERE
This is a link to Emmy's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/veggiegirl142

PLEASE VOTE for Emmy's design: Corel Digital Art Competition Emmy James

We mentioned Sam from Food for Though Radio
And Jordan Wyatt from Coexisting With Nonhuman Animals

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 57 - the key word is UNEQUIVOCAL

Listen HERE

This week I talk about too much stuff to write about here, but the following are all the relevant links:
The NEW NZ ABOLITIONIST VEGAN PODCAST from Vegan For Life
Now available in iTunes

Mylène Ouellet's podcast is also on iTunes
Veganacious' Barbara DeGrande new podcast episode is here oo and here is an interview she did with Mylène!  Darn, I knew I had missed something out! >:(

Sam Tucker's latest episode can be accessed through this page
LiveVegan's podcast can be accessed through their You Tube channel here
*Gasp* I hope I didn't miss something out.

OOPS I did it again.  Oh dear.   I said Four thousand eight hunded animals were killed by PETA in 2009 but according to the article it was 2, 352.  However, that doesn't change my point,  still  I apologise for again getting my figures wrong:
8 Animals on Opposing Views by Gary Francione

That link is to an opposing views page that linked to an Abolitionist Approach blog entry related to the story.  Have a look at the comments and you will see what I mean.  For example, the comment by Heidi Parker, Mail Coordinator, PETA Foundation and the comment immediately following her comment, for that matter.

Here is a link to the Vegan Examiner Adam Kochanowicz's article on the Mercy For Animals video: My Thoughts on MFA's video

Here is a link to the article about the UN: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet

Finally, here is a link to Vegan Poet M. Butterflies Katz's blog where she has the articles: The Vegan Truth

I hope I remembered everything!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 56 - Veganism is not a diet, also I re-visit and clarify some things I said in the last episode, plus my updated job profile!

 Listen HERE

This week I talk about a Veganism is not a diet, and I also just want to clarify some of the things I said last time, just to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding.  Also, I have a new update about my profile from my job, there is a permanent entry and they have put a link to this website, for which I am very surprised and pleased :)

Here is a link to the new profile:
http://www.vetcare.net.nz/elizabeth.html

This is the link to the CNN article that I mention:
Global bake sale is 'sweet' activism

And this is the link to the article I mention from My Face is on Fire :
Flirting With Hypocrisy -- A 'Kinda" Diet

Thanks for listening!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 55 - Domestication, Abortion and some topics for future episode

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

This week I talk about my new job, the new member of my family, domestication and why I am more and more opposed to it every day, and I talk about the irrelevancy of the abortion issue to animal rights.
Here is a link to the "Elizabeth Collins cont'd" part of my "profile" from my new job (scroll down):
http://www.vetcare.net.nz/about_us.html

This is the link to the debate on Michael Medved's radio show between Gary L.  Francione and Wesley J.Smith:
http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/media/mp3/michael-medved-20100416.mp3
This is a link to the article requesting people to call in next time:
http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/live-call-in-on-michael-medveds-radio-program/

These are the links to the discussion about promoting veganism: FIrstly the original article by Stephanie Ernst that started the discussion off:
http://challengeoppression.com/2010/04/15/a-vegan-but-not-an-activist-sure-an-animal-lover-but-not-a-vegan-nope/
Then Mylène's article:
http://my-face-is-on-fire.blogspot.com/2010/04/on-doing-more-than-bare-minimum.html
Gary Francione's twitlonger:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/livevegan/are-we-morally-obligated-as-individuals-to-promote-veganism-beyond-our-being-veg/383405213859 - (You have to belong to LiveVegan on facebook to read this) or you can read it here: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/u06pr
Ditto this one, Dave Langlois twitlonger: http://www.facebook.com/notes/livevegan/duties-narrow-and-wide-twitlonger-by-david-langlois/383376633859 - or you can read it here: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/u047j
Here is a link to LiveVegan's new PODCAST on YouTube where this is also discussed:
http://www.youtube.com/livevegan#p/a/u/2/H5UjOpU8hj8
And Vincent Guihan discusses it here also: http://weotheranimals.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-activism-obligation-some-thoughts.html

Finally, meet Zsebi (she put herself there, she is looking for comfort always, because normally she would be surrounded by furry, purring momma and brothers and sisters).

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 54 - New podcasts and blogs coming out and notes from the stall

Listen HERE

This week I relate some experiences from the street stall in the hopes that it will help anyone else who is promoting veganism to people.  Big shout out to William Paul for all his help and for being such a wonderful street stall colleague.

I also mention some new developments:
Barbara De Grande from Veganacious is doing a podcast!!!  Please subscribe on iTunes here and you can also listen to the first episode here.
Props to Jordan Wyatt from Coexisting with Nonhuman Animals for helping to make this happen.

OOO I just went to the blog to post the link and there is a NEW EPISODE UP!  You can access it here or I recommend subscribing on iTunes.

I also talk about singer-songwriter Ben Frost who is writing music in support of Animal Rights and posting the videos on YouTube
The first song is called I Am Someone - A Call for Veganism and the second one is called Killed for Taste, Loved for Companionship - The Notes of Moral Schizophrenia
Please subscribe to Ben on YouTube here

I mention a great new blog called Full Irish Vegan.  This is the bread I made: Wheaten Loaf Masquerading as Soda Bread.  It was so easy and delicious, especially with vegan butter and jam.

I talk about Professor Francione new commentary number 16.  Please listen here or even better, subscribe to the commentary on iTunes.

I mention Colleen Patrick Goudreau's podcast episode where she talks about personal choice.  You can hear it here

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 53 - Joint Statement by a Group of Abolitionist Vegan Feminists for International Women's Day

Listen HERE


This week I read a statement from a group of Abolitionist Vegan Feminists, including myself, voicing our objection to sexism in the animal movement.  You can also read the statement as iit is posted in various blogs whose links are below, also Porolita has read it on her YouTube channel, in English and in Spanish, and I hope to read it in Spanish also for my NZ Vegano Podcast.  I hope you enjoy and I REALLY hope you agree with it :-)


Thanks for listening. 

The essay has been signed by the following advocates:

Jo Charlebois - http://thestartingpointisveganism.blogspot.com/
Vera Cristofani
Kerry Wyler
Mylène Ouellet - http://my-face-is-on-fire.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Collins - http://nzveganpodcast.blogspot.com/
Trisha Roberts - http://lobsa.org/
Ana María Aboglio - http://anima.org.ar/
Paola Aldano de Meoño - http://www.youtube.com/porolita22

Karin Hilpisch  - http://abolitionismusabschaffungdertiers.blogspot.com/

Renata Peters  

Here are the sites featuring the essay:

My Face is on Fire
The Starting Point
Porolita22

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 52 - How I personally deal with the "you don't care about animals who are suffering NOW" accusation. (Also, please read Rain Without Thunder!)

Listen HERE

This week I talk about how I personally deal with the accusation that advocates of the abolitionist approach "don't care about animals who are suffering NOW!"  For starters, I strongly recommend listening to this debate (there is a link to the audio in the post itself. Please listen):
http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/my-dinner-at-eriks-happy-meat-diner/


and I strongly STRONGLY recommend reading Rain Without Thunder.  Please please read this book.

I also talk about how the focus of all our interactions with each other and anyone with whom we are engaging with this issue should remain on the real issue leaving ego and personality out of it. Whether or not you like me is unimportant, it is what I am saying that matters.  If you don't like what I am saying, let's talk about that not about whether or not you like my personality.  That conversation is an unforgivable waste of both our time.  As a wonderful advocate @VeraVeganA said yesterday:
"When ppl call me names & I feel sad, I rapidly focus on nonhumans again & keep on track"

Now that is what I'm talking about Vera! 


I also talk about Professor Gary Steiner who did this great interview on Animal World:
Animal World Doctor Gary Steiner: A Vegan Diet is a Moral Obligation
You can download both parts 1 and 2 (scroll down to the bottom of the screen)



Finally I talk about my revamped AUT University Club, here is the website, please let me know what you think (it is still not finished yet). A million thanks to William Paul for all the help.
http://autanimalrights.weebly.com/

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 51 - Special Guest Sam Tucker from Food for Thought Radio

Listen HERE

This week I speak to fellow NZ abolitionist and podcaster Sam Tucker about single issue campaigns, welfarist thinking and what the future may hold for a 14 year old vegan.  We also speak a little bit about living in a farming community and advocating for veganism at a school where many of the students actually live on farms themselves.

In this episode we talk about Sam's radio show and podcast, which can be accessed from the following site:
http://fftradio.wordpress.com/

We mention the last fft radio episode (which will be available in iTunes soon):
Johnny Weir and Single Issue Campaigns

Here is the article profiling Sam on Veganacious
Fierce at Fourteen


Follow Sam on Twitter:
@fftradio

And we also discuss another recent single issue campaign in New Zealand, you can read a local newspaper article about it here:
Auckland SPCA to destroy catch-a-cray games

Thanks Sam for coming on the show!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 50 - The new era has begun

Listen HERE

This week I talk about Victor Schonfeld's article in the Guardian newspaper and Ingrid Newkirk's response in the same paper.  Please go on there and comment, please help us spread the vegan message.  It is really happening, I can feel it in my bones.

These are the links

Five Fatal Flaws of Animal Activism
(Victor Schonfeld)

A pragmatic fight for animal rights
(Ingrid Newkirk)

Please read this latest blog post (and then go on to read the entire site of course) by Vincent Guihan of We Other Animals which really nicely illustrates some of the things I am bumbling on about today.
Hegemonic Tendancies


Thanks for listening!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 49 - Special Guest Jordan Wyatt from Coexisting with Nonhuman Animals

Listen HERE

This week I welcome back to the show my first ever podcast listener Jordan Wyatt from the Coexisting with Nonhuman Animals podcast, and we discuss his podcast about veganism and animal rights, what it is like to be vegan in Southland, talking to NZ farmers about veganism, the economy, the issue of sterilization, the counter movement of industry advertising and other things.

You can find Jordan's blog here:
Coexisting with Nonhuman Animals

You can subscribe to his podcast via iTunes here


Follow Jordan on twitter:
jaywontdart

and on Facebook:
#/jaywontdart

Thanks Jordan for coming back on the show!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 48 - Interview with Porolita!!

Listen HERE

This week I talk to Pao Aldana AKA Porolita, who lives in Guatemala and is spreading the vegan message on YouTube in English and in Spanish, plus educating people in her local community about veganism and abolition.  We talk about Porolita's journey to veganism, the ease and necessity of abolitionist advocacy, the usefulness of social networking sites like YouTube to spread ideas, and what it is like to be vegan in Guatemala.   Please check out Porolita's great videos on her YouTube channel:


Porolita22

and here is the video featuring her Mom, talking about her experience with illness and her doctor's advice that she immediately switch to a vegan diet in order to save her health, and what happened after:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePc0m24aDVQ&feature=email

This is the link to Porolita's vegan cooking blog (in Spanish) which she uses to educate members of her community or the surrounding regions on how easy and cheap it is to sustain a vegan diet in Guatemala and therefore other countries with similar climates and food types:

La Lonchera de Un Vegan

This is the link to the BBC World One Planet documentary that we discussed on the podcast:
Animals and Us Part 1
Animals and Us Part 2

I would like to thank Porolita for coming on my podcast!  Enjoy!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 47 - Three NZ abolitionists hit the streets!

Listen HERE

I have had a wonderful week hanging out with my fellow NZ abolitionists William and Vish, and we had a chance to do the street stall together!  This epidsode we talk about our experiences on Queen Street in our first street stall event of 2010.

We also mention Part 1 of the BBC Documentary Animals and Us which is archived here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005k2zy

Thanks Vish for coming up to Auckland to visit us and thanks to both William and Vish for helping with the street stall and for coming on the podcast.

Enjoy!

And remember; THE WORLD IS VEGAN!  If we want it.

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 46 - Interview with William Paul about nonviolence, the NZ Vegan Society, The World is Vegan if you want it and other things...

Listen HERE

This week I am very pleased to have back as my guest William Paul.  We talk about his experience as a peaceful activist and how about an occurrence where he was challenged on his nonviolence stance while speaking out against violence.  We also talk about the NZ Vegan Society's Big Book of Vegan Products which is a fantastic new resource by this great new NZ Vegan Society.  We discuss the up-and-coming (we hope) SAFE vegan campaign and whether it will actually happen, how it will happen and whether it will it actually be a vegan campaign that we can get behind, among other things.

Also as both William and I have unfortunately been without internet access for a week, coincidentally, we came back online to discover the recent development of a wonderful new resource for vegan advocacy by Gary Francione and the team at The Abolitionist Approach which is based on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "War is Over if you want it" Times Square Billboard:
The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Links:
theworldisvegan.com

William Paul on Facebook
William Paul on Twitter
The NZ Vegan Society on Facebook (please join and show your support!)


Please look at all the resources for The World is Vegan! if you want it resources from:
Vincent Guihan at We Other Animals
Adam Kochanowicz at The Vegan News
John Colvin

Please also read this NOTE from Professor Francione about the billboard:


Thanks everyone for all this great work and thanks to William for coming back on the show!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 45 - the responsibility for the individual lies with the individual

Listen HERE

Just articulating some things that I have been trying to come to terms with lately, specifically this desire to see "results" and to claim responsibility for things we really have no right to claim responsibility for.

When someone takes animal rights seriously and goes vegan, it's their "victory" and no one else's.  The benefit is for all, but the credit for that is given to the individual who takes that action.  And alternatively if people resist and turn away, that also lies with them.  Let us pay closer attention to our own actions as individuals and if more of us do that, advocates especially, then I think there will be some wonderful "results".

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 44 - Continuing my conversation with Adam Kochanowicz from The Vegan News

Listen HERE

The second half of my conversation with Adam Kochanowicz where we talk about issues and opinions and share experiences as two advocates for abolitionist veganism in this speciesist, welfarist world! Enjoy!

Please check out the interview with Gary Francione at The Vegan News:
All Episodes
Subscribe to The Vegan News Video
Subscribe to The Vegan News Audio
Or watch on YouTube

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 43 - Conversation between myself and Adam Kochanowicz of The Vegan News

Listen HERE

This week I was chatting with Adam Kochanowicz, as we often do, and we thought it would be an interesting experiment to post our conversations about events and about what we think and what we are

doing, and see if anyone else can relate!

Please check out the interview with Gary Francione at The Vegan News:
All Episodes
Subscribe to The Vegan News Video
Subscribe to The Vegan News Audio
Or watch on YouTube

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 42 - How it is the opposite of manly to consume animal products and partake in violence on innocents

Listen HERE

This week I address the silliness of thinking that it is "manly" to consume animal products, specifically "eating meat" because that is one of the most touted myths and one of the biggest misunderstandings of our times, and is another paradigm shift in thinking that we must dismantle and redirect towards obvious truth. Thanks for listening!

Please check out these quotes at Atheist Vegan:
Pro Slavery
Anti Slavery

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 41 - Special guest Corey Wrenn! PhD Student in Sociology at Colorado State University and also the writer for the Roanoke Vegan Examiner

Listen HERE

This week I have a long awaited and well worth the wait interview with Corey Wrenn from the Roanoke Vegan Examiner.  We talk about Professor of Philosophy Bernie Rollins with whom Corey is taking an animal "rights" seminar, and the many challenges involved in being the only actual rights advocate in the room, and that includes the lecturer.  We also discuss student advocacy, the absence of animal issues from the environmental movement. sociology and academia in general,  and discuss what will be involved in Corey's PhD.


Enjoy!  Thanks so much to Corey Wrenn for coming on the show.   You can follow her on Twitter at this link.


Major apologies from me for not checking my SKYPE input and using the built-in mic rather than the headphone mic.

You can play 'guess the frequency!' every time my mic comes in.  Sorry for the hummmmmmmmmm and whhhhhhirrrrrrr. :-)
(lucky I am not getting paid to do this, if I were my boss I would fire me)

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 40 - How to be a vegan in a capitalist society? Just kidding, I know nothing about politics

Listen HERE

This week I talk about how as a vegan consumer in a capitalist society I am trying to work as best as I can in the system, as a consumer in my daily life, aside from the main focus of advocating to individuals for a paradigm shift, and opening people's minds up to a fundamentally different way of thinking about all other animals and life on the planet by promoting the abolitionist approach and veganism. I admit I am very uneducated about politics, history, agriculture, sociology, and a myriad of other extremely important subject matters related to vegan advocacy, so I will do my best to educate myself as best I can for the rest of my life, and in the meantime lean heavily on my colleagues and fellow advocates who ARE educated in these things :-)

So this podcast is just some of my personal thoughts, as always, and I do appreciate any advice and constructive criticism. One of the things I touch on is how we can avoid buying from companies that are direct exploiters of animals and their products, i.e non vegan restaurants for example. The truth is, most of us can't. I mean, we can easily choose to avoid some of them (non vegan restaurants for example) but what about the supermarket? What about where we buy our clothing? What about where we buy our fruit and vegetables? My fruit and vege place sells eggs and ice cream bars. Some people are lucky enough to have access and money to buy all their products from purely vegan online suppliers, but I am not one of them.

That is why I always affirm that I personally am part of the problem, which is one of the many reasons I feel such a strong urge to rectify the problem and why make it my personal responsibility to do so as best I can. Please keep in mind, this is nothing at all like some "Vegan Outreach" advocacy that says "oh don't make a fuss and try to be pure, just eat the egg product every now and then so people don't think we are too fanatical". No no no. I am an ethical vegan. I am, however, a human being, an active consumer, and I live in a speciesist society, and whether I like it or not, I am contributing to industries that exploit animals, even when I buy my fruit and veges from the fruit and vege store. BUT we must let the producers know we vegans exist—that there is a legitimate and lucritive demand for vegan products. I am not a supporter of capitalism, I would like to see a better system, but I also live in reality and face truths. Right now, today, I live in a capitalist society and am an active member and consumer in that society whether I like it or not. So in the meantime too, while we are still working for change, we must have a voice. It will grow to a thunderous roar, right now it is a whisper in the grand scheme of things. But that will change. Until it does; don't be shy! Demand vegan! Ask for vegan products. Enquire about vegan products. MENTION vegan products at the very least. Educate sellers and producers about the vegan consumer. Tell them it's a guaranteed sale. That'll prick up their greedy little ears.

Note: I don't consider "prick up their ears" to be a bad animal metaphor. That is because the way I look at it; noting that some lovely animals have ears that can prick up and using it metaphorically for human animals whose ears don't prick up doesn't have anything to do with exploiting the animals whose ears do prick up, so I think this is an acceptable animal metaphor. Thoughts?

There is SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT it is just an inexhaustible subject this animal exploitation, unfortunately. I wish we didn't have to talk about it, but we DO.

This week I mentioned some other podcasts and blogs and I would like to provide those links here, but they are also in my blog link list too.
Firstly I mentioned Gary Francione's latest episode from his Abolitionist Approach Commentary:
A Discussion of Abolitionist Principals

Roger Yates from his On Human Nonhuman Relations podcast:
Dehumanization Processes Part One
Dehumanization Processes Part Two

Vincent Guihan from We Other Animals and Animal Emancipation:
We Other Animals Radio
I must make a correction - the podcast is called We Other Animals Radio not Animal Emancipation. I am sorry!

Sam Tucker from Food for Thought Radio
fftradio podcast on iTunes

And Jordan Wyatt from Jaywontdart's Podcast has a new blog and vegan podcast:
Coexisting With Nonhuman Animals

And this is the link to my favourite vegan restaurant in the whole world (especially since it is right here in Auckland NZ)
Golden Age Vegan Restaurant

This is the video that Randy Sandberg posted:
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood. It is blood chilling, but watch it! Knowledge is power! This is all part of it too. Thanks Randy, this is a great find.

Finally, I was wrong (in a good way) there ARE other actual physical vegan stores in the world. Here is one:
The Pangea Store in Rockville Maryland.  I am sure there must be others.   Awesome!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 39 - Just another moment in the life of a vegan animal rights advocate in a speciesist society

Listen HERE

Just having a little whine today. Things have just GOT to change!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 38-Why are we blaming the farmers?

Listen HERE

This week I comment on a breaking story by Greenpeace NZ which has everyone up in arms about how the dairy farmers are importing palm kernels to NZ by the millions of tonnes in order to supplement the feed of the dairy cows.
Thing is, nobody is vegan, so they all eat dairy products. Ummmmm?

These are the articles by the NZ Herald about the story:
Greenpeace Moves Palm Kernel Protest to Port
Greenpeace Defiant over Palm Oil Protest

Here is a link to my Indymedia NZ article (PLEASE feel free to comment! Help! :-)
Why are we blaming the farmers?

This is a link to the BRAND NEW AUCKLAND VEGAN RESTAURANT! YAY!
Golden Age Vegan Restaurant

This are to Adam Kochanowicz's fantastic resource on Vegan FM:
Vegan FM/Is it Vegan?
Golden Age on Vegan FM listing
you can also see things like ingredients listings , animal testers, alcohols that are vegan etc.

This is a link to Vegan Help on Twitter - if you are on Twitter, join in! It is helping people go vegan!
Twitter/VeganHelp

Finally this is a link to the youtube entry that Stan uploaded for me to use to practise for our next performance (there is a little mistake in there on my part but you will get the idea)
Cows

Thanks for listening

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 37 - In support of Non Violence

Listen HERE

This episode I talk about my support of non violence and of the abolitionist approach and peaceful non violent vegan education. I give my reasons why, based on my own personal experience and non-expert opinion, and my core beliefs, which is all I can do. In this episode I am specifically talking about some of the things that I have read over the last few weeks in which proponents of violent tactics in the name of animal rights have been getting a lot of attention, and I have read some things that I thought were not only misguided and tactically wrong, but also deeply immoral. Not all those involved are supporters of the extreme physical violence that a couple of writings and advocates are proposing, however it was very distressing to see support of these advocates by anyone at all. I realise that a lot of the really extreme positions come from people who are deeply disturbed by what is going on in our world and are perhaps totally overwhelmed with everything, the horrific amount animal exploitation and who feel desperate. I say they need to snap out of it and help us create a peaceful vegan movement, but of course they don't agree with that, nevertheless I stand firmly in my beliefs, as always.

I also object to people who are trying to confuse the issue by dragging things like Open Rescues into the debate about violence, I think that is muddying the waters and taking the focus of the debate off where it originally began and where it should remain, which was an objection to the hate mongering, propositions of actual physical violence and an escalation in violence in general by some advocates.

Finally I think we must realise that it is important for us to be there for new vegans who may be overwhelmed by their new knowledge, and help them stay sane and positive, because they are our ethical vegan movement and we need them to not lose control, we need them to help us get the ethical vegan movement going, and that is not going to happen if they spiral down into despair and hate.

And now for the good news! These are the podcasts I mentioned in the episode:
Professor Gary L. Francione from Abolitionist Approach:
Abolitionist Approach Commentary
at the iTunes store

Vincent Guihan from We Other Animals:
animalemancipation.com - We Other Animals Radio
at the iTunes store: We Other Animals Radio

And Dr. Roger Yates from On Human-Nonhuman Relations:
On Human-Nonhuman Relations Podcast
at the iTunes store

This is the link to Barbara DeGrande's Veganacious blog
http://veganacious.com/

and this is to Corey Wrenn's Vegan Examiner articles, I hope to have Corey on as a guest very soon.
Roanoke Vegan Examiner

Thanks for listening.

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 36 - Follow-up interview with Francis Glass from Animal Liberation Youth Victoria in response to some great listener feedback

Listen HERE

I am very pleased to welcome back Francis Glass, coordinator of Animal Liberation Youth, from Animal Liberation Victoria. In our last interview we talked about non-vegan volunteers handing out literature, and this episode we would like to respond to the comments and concerns that raised about this subject, as it is definitely something that needs to be discussed. Thank you to Karin Hilpisch for your comments!

We also talk about young people who are going vegan and how important they are to our future, and what it is like for a young person who is still living with their parents to go vegan, the resistance some kids get from their families and 13 and 14 year olds dealing with parents who are hostile to veganism and actively try to prevent their children from being vegan. We discuss the different reasons why the parents may be reacting in this way and try to come up with more ideas on ways to help them and their children through that. This is something us independent, adult vegans can't relate to as we control our own home environments and the products that we buy, so I am very grateful to Francis for offering us some insight into that, and for reminding us that it is not so easy for young people living in controlled environments as it is for independent adults.

We also go on to talk about why we promote ethical reasons to go vegan above all other reasons such as health, environment etc, while still stressing that knowledge of these other aspects is essential too.

In my next interview with Francis we will discuss further comments raised about protesting in front of KFC and the like with regard to promoting veganism and not single issue campaigns. We didn't get a chance to cover that this time as we went off to talk about other things (as often happens on this podcast) however please be assured we will be talking about that, as it is also very relevant and valid topic for discussion. Thanks again to listeners for the great feedback and insight and suggestions and thanks to Francis for coming back on the show!

Here is the link to the Vegan Easy Challenge mentioned on the show: link here
This is what ALL the animal groups should be doing.

I mentioned a book written by a teenage vegan called Claire Askew, who I heard interviewed on Vegan Freak Radio. Claire wrote a book for teenage vegans called Generation V, and it is a fantastic resource for teenagers. Listen to the Vegan Freaks interview with Claire here

I also mentioned a quote by Marin Luther King, Jr. which in my usual style I had not committed to memory and so totally screwed up. Please forgive me as always. I will work on that! Here is the quote:

"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
- Marin Luther King, Jr.

UPDATE: If anyone's audio is messed up about halfway through, please re-download. I am so sorry for making anyone download this twice. I totally messed up, and there is some audio from the last interview mixed in by accident. I loaded up the correct file. Please delete the messed up audio and re-download. Sorry!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 35 - Part 2 of my interview with special guest Francis Glass, abolitionist vegan coordinator of Animal Liberation Youth

Listen HERE

Part two of my interview with Francis Glass from Animal Liberation Youth, of Animal Liberation Victoria. We talk about the social conditioning we are up against, the deep rooted moral schizophrenia in our lives as human beings and the profound effect on our psyche and our peace of mind. We talk about young men, or all men, in many cultures who are terribly depressed and repressed because of being pressured into being so unreasonably "tough" and expected to be violent in order to prove their "toughness" (i.e. eat meat etc), and relate this to the violence we tolerate in our lives on a daily basis, violence we can end if we so choose! We emphasize how damaging this perpetual violence is to our world and ourselves, and discuss different methods to open people's minds to the knowledge that they no longer have to struggle with the guilt and the fear and the violence, and they can go vegan. Thank you Francis for coming on the show!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 34 - Part 1 of my interview with special guest Francis Glass, abolitionist vegan coordinator of Animal Liberation Youth

Listen HERE

Part one of my interview with special guest Francis Glass, an 18 year old abolitionist vegan from Australia,and coordinator of Animal Liberation Youth, which is part of the abolitionist vegan advocacy group Animal Liberation Victoria. We talk about activism, vegan education, the counterproductiveness and elitism of welfare reform, and emphasize the fact that the abolitionist movement is part of the peace movement. You can find information about this abolitionist activism in Australia by going to http://www.alv.org.au/ and http://www.animalliberationyouth.org.au/
Stay tuned for part two...

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 33 - "Pests": Special guest Dr. Roger Yates, who helps me tackle the huge problem of ecological issues caused by our species

Listen HERE

I am very pleased to welcome back to the show Dr. Roger Yates. This is a topic I have been wanting to tackle for the longest time, and I am very glad Dr. Yates agreed to help me. The article we refer to in the the podcast is the following:
Independant.co.uk/world/australasia/australia-gets-the-hump

Please contact me if you have any comments or questions, this is an extremely complicated subject and I would love some feedback, as always, and I am happy to revisit this in the future.

I am, as always, very grateful to Dr. Yates for his insight and input and help. Thank you Dr. Yates!

Giving the slaughterhouse glass walls

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 32- Professor Gary L. Francione - why we insist that the abolitionist approach is the right approach.

Listen HERE

I am honoured to have again as my guest Professor Gary L. Francione of The Abolitionist Approach. We talk about the abolitionist approach and why it is fundamentally different from the welfare reformist approach, and we refer to the frequent discussions that occur between the two separate groups of thinkers, which is wonderfully illustrated on the blog My Face is on Fire, in a recent blog post. Please read the post and the ensuing comments to see what Professor Francione is talking about in this interview.

I also very strongly urge everyone to read this wonderful essay A Revolution of the Heart at The Abolitionist Approach which, as well as being wonderful in itself, is pertinent to the aforementioned article and commentary.

Also keep an eye out for "The Animal Rights Debate—Abolition or Regulation?" written by Gary L Francione and R. Garner - to be released from Columbia Press in the coming weeks...A MUST read for ALL involved in non human animal advocacy/activism, no matter what your position on strategy.

Thanks for coming on the show again Professor Francione!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 31 -Part two of my interview with Adam Kochanowicz from The Vegan News!

Listen HERE

Part two of my interview with Adam Kochanowicz from The Vegan News, The National Vegan Examiner and abolitionistvegans.org.

We continue our talk about activism, abolition versus welfare, and the best news of all - there are vegans EVERYWHERE!

And remember to check out http://abolitionistvegans.org/ where you can get all you need to make your own Vegan Kiosk! If you have new ideas and modifications to suit different places and needs - please do it, and update us and share this with us too!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 30 - Special guest Adam Kochanowicz from The Vegan News!

Listen HERE

This week I interview Adam Kochanowicz from The Vegan News! We talk about what Adam found out after he discovered veganism, packed his bags and went to Europe, looking for the animal rights movement, and looking to find out what people meant when they called themselves "animal rights activists" to see what kind of action they were taking. We talk about veganism, abolition, and all that good stuff.
Check out Adam's bio at the National Vegan Examiner, I recommend reading the great articles already written and keeping up with future articles, and please leave comments! Also check out http://abolitionistvegans.org/ where you can get all you need to make your own Vegan Kiosk!

NZ Vegan Podcast Episode 29 - "Why Veganism?" by Eva Batt - published in 1964. Wonderful article to give to friends

Listen HERE

This week I read an essay written by Eva Batt, long standing member of the UK Vegan society. It is so well written, I am going to print it out and hand it around as part of my activism. Thanks to Nathan Schneider who has it available on his blog Vegan Abolitionist and to Randy Sandberg who added it to the text page here at Abolitionist Approach

One of the things I loved about the article was this point:
"...veganism has no connection with any political party or system, national or international. Similarly, individual vegans may be deeply religious, perhaps devout Christians or disciples of one of many other faiths and creeds in this world, but this is not a requisite of veganism, which is an everyday, fundamental way of life concerned with living without hurting others. The hereafter may, or may not, solve all our problems; but what we do now certainly affects all those around us..."

That is a wonderful statement is it not? There are many more gems like this in the article. It is worth a read or a listen, and I will be passing it along.

Enjoy!

Cool! - as I was uploading the audio, I watched Episode 7 of The Vegan News hosted by Adam Kochanowicz, and the show featured this very same article! Check out the coverage at Vegan FM

UPDATE: Professor Roger Yates left the following comment, and we were trying to get the links to become hyperlinks but I can't figure that out in the comments section either so I am posting the comment here, so you can access the links here:

Hi Elizabeth,

There are a couple of things I’d like to say on this important issue. First, we should remember that we are also vegan pioneers but in different and better circumstances. For example, we have the advantages of the internet and need never feel as isolated as the first vegans probably often did. Being a vegan is easier now than in the 1940s and 1950s (even compared to the 1970s when I became vegan). However, some new vegans are going to find it harder than others and we should help these new pioneers as much as possible, for mainstream animal advocacy neglects the fact that there is a vegan moral baseline to animal rights advocacy.

This brings me to the second point: what are we campaigning for. It seems to me that campaigning to grow the ethical vegan community (the surest means by which we can help other animals at this time) is campaigning for what we WANT as opposed to campaigning for what we DO NOT WANT in the name of politics, or pragmatics, or ‘living in the real world.’

For example, look at this 3-min video (just released this very week) about a cage-free system: http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/video-special-layer-aviary-system-4066.html Do we want to campaign FOR this sort of thing as many do, or do we want to campaign against by growing the numbers of ethical vegans?

Look at the pictures here: http://www.ciwf.ie/farminfo/farmfacts_egghens.html We could say, ‘spot the difference,’ but the picture on the left is an ‘enriched’ battery cage and the other is a standard one. The first will probably have a perch in the back and maybe some ‘nesting material.’ Leaving aside the issue of who is going to monitor this new way of regulating atrocities, do we want to campaign FOR this sort of thing as many do, or do we want to campaign against by increasing the numbers of ethical vegans until we have enough numbers to make some real changes for nonhuman animals?

The real question is where do we put our energy, commitment, time and money. Do we concentrate on what we actually want, or on something else - which we then have to campaign against anew later on. The advocates of ‘cage-free’ (or one big horrible cage) must assume that, later, they will be campaigning against the system they helped to put in place in the first place.

Roger Yates