The Diane Rehm Show

I loved the show..........

Jenny was asked to tell HER story and did, she told the roll that PETA had played in her journey, she wasn't advocating for or against them, simply telling HER story.

I loved the way she didn't entertain the "happy meat" questions as if it's any real alternative to veganism, it isn't, there simply is no way to call the breeding, raising and killing of billions of animals (killed years before the end of their natural lifespan) for something we can all live fine without "Humane" in any way, shape or form, whether it be on a huge "factory farm" or a small "family farm" and it should never be labeled as such. "Humane slaughter" is only a marketing ploy devised to give some consumers a false sense of moral high ground to stand on and an excuse to justify keeping doing what they've always done, namely killing and eating animals when they don't have to to survive and be healthy.

If your argument really is "Plants have feelings too" you'd save a lot more plant lives by consuming them directly.

As for the caller who spoke about animal fats and the evolution of the human brain, it is my assertion that the next evolution of humankind is compassion, and looking toward a future in which no humans go hungry or can't find clean air to breathe just because some of the population practices short sighted gluttony, we CAN live today without intentionally harming animals, we can grow plants and consume them directly for food instead of wasting most of their nutrients by running them through animals first and then eating the animals. Animal farming is a bigger contributor to greenhouse gasses worldwide than is ALL of transportation combined, it is cruel, it is inefficient, it is bad for the planet and we don't have to do it, so let's NOT.

Keep up the good work Jenny Brown, we vegans are just getting started.

Thank you for this wonderful interview. Most people agree that it's wrong to cause animals needless harm, yet most people cause animals needless harm every time they choose to buy meat, dairy, eggs, fish, etc. It just doesn't make sense.

I've looked into it extensively and discovered that there is simply no sustainable or ethical way to "humanely" use and kill animals for our enjoyment. Local, family farms (although well-intentioned) aren't the answer to this problem. Believe me, I pursued that route only to discover that they also sell the dairy calves for veal and "destroy" male chicks (or pass that dirty job off to egg hatcheries by buying only female chicks). And of course all the animals are eventually violently slaughtered for no good reason whether they are raised on a family farm or a factory one.

With regards to "humane" farming, I think we need to ask ourselves: Why keep looking for the right way to do the wrong thing? And why do we think it's somehow preferable to take the life of a "happy" animal than a miserable one?

We don't need to consume animal products to live a healthful life. So if we don't *need* to harm and kill animals, why keep doing it? Out of habit? For profit? For "taste"? Are any of those reasons really ethically-justifiable when we consider the suffering we're causing (not to mention the environmental problems)?

I decided they weren't. And I have to say that despite my misgivings and silly preconceived ideas of what a vegan diet would entail, it was the best decision I've ever made. I've been exposed to marvelous new foods. I'm healthier, my conscience is clear and best of all, I'm no longer wrangling with the cognitive dissonance that comes from claiming to "love" animals while causing them harm for no good reason.

EFCBrown wrote:
"I would like to know what Jenny feeds her animals. I would love to have an alternative to canned cat food (meat) for our cat. Thank you."

If you are interested in feeding your cat cruelty-free food that is nutritionally complete, the easiest recommendation I have is to order it online from a merchant like Vegan Essentials. (Google it.) I order kibble from them. My cat likes Ami, but will eat Evolution Diet. He likes any canned food, so that isn't a problem. Both those brands I mentioned are the only ones I know of that contain taurine. There is also a product they sell for people who want to make homemade pet food -- "Vege Cat" (and "Vege Dog").

Thank you, Diane, for another wonderful show. I have been a longtime fan. After deciding to try a vegan diet at age 40, and finding it to be one of the best choices I've ever made(the reasons are too numerous to list here) I am constantly baffled and saddened by the often angry and frequently uninformed comments in threads like these. Why such hostility? We each must find our own path in this life. Hopefully that path will be one born of compassion for our aching planet and all those that inhabit it. After much thought, difficult introspection and research into the subject, I chose to explore the path of veganism. I am not perfect. This is not about perfection. I know that what I choose to participate in (or not participate in) is just a drop in the bucket and that I cannot remove myself completely from participating in cruelty. But my goal is to be a conscious participant, to live simply and to reduce harm and suffering of others when possible. This is one meaningful way i have found to move towards this goal. It is my path. If others have found different paths towards similarly peaceful goals, I applaud them. The main thing is to remain open minded and live every moment as consciously as possible. I believe that if we were all to do this, whether we eat meat or not, the world would be a much gentler, safer and more sustainable place. Just some thoughts.. And please, folks, do your research on how much land, water and pollution are involved in current animal agriculture, and what would be involved if the whole world ate as much meat as we in the U.S. do. Could small family farms and small scale grass-fed cattle ranches truly sustain those desires? It seems to me that at least lowering our consumption of animal based foods has to be PART of the answer. It is truly a complex topic, but one we must tackle (along with population explosion) if we want to have a viable planet left to stand on.

Yes - vegan organic is the way to go!

It is important to be aware of the cruelty to animals in the big farms. I was upset that Jenny gave no credit to the small farmers raising cage free chickens and practicing humane methods. I was also disappointed that Diane Rehm wasn't more educated on the subject herself so she could interject on behalf of "cage free" and "certified humane" labels.
I believe that the practices on big farms are completely inhumane. I think those practices should be abolished and I wish deeply for that. However, we still need not ostracize our fellow human beings that wish to eat meat. Killing for survival is a part of nature. Early man may have learned to hunt themselves by watching other animals. There are humane ways to end an animal's life.
I feel that by taking such an extreme and limited viewpoint, Jenny alientes people who would otherwise learn and benefit from the discussion. Certainly people can be re-educated to eat less meat and this would be better for us all. However to say the whole planet should be vegan: this is an idealogical fantasy of a perfect world. It is still questionable how good soy is for the body for instance. If all the farmers started raising soy instead of animals some problem certainly would arise from that as well. It would have been interesting to hear from someone from the World Food Organization for instance. Feeding the whole world a vegan diet may strain the earth's resources in other ways.

Thank you for your comments and I liked your personal share. I do think that you and Jenny would benefit however from giving credit to the the farmers who are attempting to better the animal's situations and lives. Isn't a beginning? Give credit where credit is due. To say "why do we think it is preferable to take the life of "happy" animal than a miserable one?" Well I believe there is a difference and so do a lot of others. I feel your comment (and hers) touches on the sentiment: "why should we live if we know we are going to die?"
The whole point is to be humane.
Also, if guilt free is your goal good luck. The nuts you are eating may be roasted in coconut or palm oil which comes from plants grown in non-indigenous lands where it is destroying the natural plant and fauna. Good luck on being "guilt free."

I understand where you're coming from. I used to believe local animal products were acceptable, too. But then I asked my local farmers what they did with the male chicks and male calves. And I learned that even "humane" labels are highly misleading. http://www.humanemyth.org/

The truth is, there is simply no ethical way to use and kill animals just for our own enjoyment. We don't need to eat animal products to survive, so we're causing all this harm to animals and to our earth why? Just for our taste buds? It really doesn't make sense. As Jonathan Safran Foer remarked, “Just how destructive does a culinary preference have to be before we decide to eat something else?"

As Jenny said in this interview organic does not mean humane. Free range means little or nothing. There is nothing humane about slaughter. It's killing. And someone else is doing the killing for our taste buds. Someone else goes home to his or her children after killing live sentient beings all day long. Meat is not "reared well", meat is the flesh of an individual who feels the full range of feelings and emotions that our dogs, cats and probably even we feel.

I find it interesting that Pearl V is concerned with the extinction of farm animals should we stop eating them. Most of these animals have been genetically altered by us to be commodities of maximum flesh and fluids. They barely resemble their wild ancestors. If you visit a farm sanctuary you can see how these poor animals suffer with excess weight such that their legs can't even support their bodies. Remember the ads for "Pork: the new white meat"? Pink pigs get sunburned without sunscreen. (Of course most of them never see the out-of-doors.)

It is true that harvesting plants results in the loss of life for small animals. But more plants are raised to feed livestock than to feed people. Many animals have gone extinct around the world as a direct result of animal agriculture. Deforestation to raise animal feed is a prime cause of animal extinction. We have enough land to feed everyone a plant-based diet. We will have worsening massive starvation if we continue to eat an animal based diet. We humans do cause harm just by living, and yet there are ways we can minimize that harm. Going vegan is an easy one.

This show was very inspiring. Jenny Brown explains her personal reasons for veganism and seems truly passionate about animals, without sounding close-minded. Since going vegan (I was vegetarian for many, many years until I found out more about the factory farming process involving egg-laying hens and dairy cows), I've enjoyed getting creative with my cooking and eating good food that I also can feel really good about. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of your listeners.

I am a small scale farmer, mostly for my family's own benefit, and just happened to hear Dianne's interview of Mrs. Brown while in the car. The topic had my attention at the beginning with the problem of inhumane, or at the best, unnatural conditions of the majority of our nations large scale meat/egg/dairy producing facilities. I was disappointed that Mrs. Brown's only solution to the problem was to adopt her practice of being a vegan. Multiple callers had questions and one after another the only thing Mrs brown resorted to was not eating meat, eggs, or dairy at all. It is absurd to think that everyone should try to adopt this practice to solve a problem that is fixable and able to bring healthy and safe animal products to our communities while providing a natural and humane environment for the animals. I understand if people have a personal conviction that they deal with by becoming vegan or vegetarian, but this is not the solution to the problem. There are many farmers adopting practices such as pasture raised cattle, free range chickens, and humane slaughter processes. Yes we are part of the food chain and meat is part of our diet (hence our canine teeth) as it is for many other animals who have never been domesticated. I thought Mrs. Brown did not give justice to those who have done great work for the better of our animals, farmers, and consumers. I look forward to adjusting my practices for the better of my animals, family, and neighbors.