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UnchainedTV: Will the Farm Bill Battle Decide Our Future? · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

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Author, TV journalist and the founder of the
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Unchained TV free streaming network, Jane Velez Mitchell.
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You're about to hear a secret solution to
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the problems that plague our world.
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If you want to revolutionise your health, get
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truly joyful and jump to the next phase
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of human evolution, all it takes is one
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simple choice.
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Now here's your host, Jane Velez Mitchell.
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Take a look at this people.
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Well, New York Times, a cruel way to
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control bird flu, poultry, giants cull and cash
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in.
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Big poultry farms have received millions of dollars
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for their losses.
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Animal welfare groups contend that aid reinforces inhumane
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cullings of birds exposed to the virus.
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So I am with people who have disrupted,
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repeatedly disrupted hearings that are designed to get
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this farm bill passed.
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This farm bill that is going to determine
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quite possibly the future of our planet.
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There you see Robert Grillo, the head of
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free from harm being arrested, led out of
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a congressional hearing as he tries to make
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the case that this farm bill could spell
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doom for planet earth.
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If you consider that animal agriculture is a
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leading cause of climate change and that our
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government is actually subsidising animal agriculture, thereby accelerating
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climate change at the very time that it
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purports to want to solve climate change, at
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the very time that we are headed toward
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extinction, at the very time when we are
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killing many, many tens of millions of birds
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because they're getting bird flu and a lot
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of the birds being killed, indeed, the vast
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majority don't even have bird flu.
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It's just let's control it and kill what,
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a hundred million birds at taxpayer expense.
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So it's a very complicated subject, but breaking
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it down for us is a man who
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knows so much about it, as well as
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Natalie Fulton, who spoke truth to power.
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Both of these individuals have spoken truth to
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power at recent hearings.
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Robert, bring us up to date.
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What are we facing as a nation and
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a world as we grapple with the farm
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bill that is coming up for renewal and
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being debated in the houses of Congress right
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now?
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So right now, thank you, Jane.
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Thank you for having us on and for
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caring about this issue because it's just not
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being covered enough in our movement and in
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general, right?
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We see a lot of news headlines, but
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so right now, Congress is in recess through
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the month of August and to our knowledge,
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they're not planning any hearings on the farm
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bill until they come back.
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But there's also a very good chance that
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they might just both sides stall because the
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Republicans are like, hey, if Trump gets elected,
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then we can get this through and maybe
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we'll get more Republican Congress and we can
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get our version of the farm bill passed.
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And the Democrats are calculating the same thing
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and saying, hey, if Kamala Harris gets elected
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and we defeat Trump and we get some
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of those Republican seats, maybe we can get
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our version of the farm bill passed through.
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But for us, the big picture here is
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that both versions of these farm bills provide
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a massive and I mean massive bailout to
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animal agriculture while giving a mere pittance to
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what they call speciality crops.
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You know what speciality crops are?
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All the crops that are grown for human
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consumption, nuts, seeds, grains, fruits, vegetables, all of
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those things are considered speciality crops.
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Isn't that sad that the majority of crops
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are actually raised to feed the animals that
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we consume?
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And they're the ones that are benefiting from
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this farm bill through a crop insurance programme
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that the Democrats are actually spearheading a trillion
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and a half dollars in a seven trillion
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dollar U.S. budget.
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That's how much is at stake here.
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And a lot of it is going to
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animal agriculture.
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And we say, no, enough is enough.
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We need a change.
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We need to transition subsidy programme because if
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we can just transition the subsidy programme towards
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plant based agriculture and plant based proteins, that's
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a first huge milestone in the direction of
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transitioning to a plant based food system.
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Now, we also have Natalie Fulton here.
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I'm going to play her speaking truth to
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power at a recent hearing.
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And that concerns drought, which obviously we're all
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dealing with.
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We're in these incredible heat waves.
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I was just recently in Calabasas, California.
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And I have to tell you, walking from
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my car to the restaurant where I was
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meeting people, I almost passed out.
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It's it's gotten to the point of being
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almost unlivable.
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And this is just the beginning.
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And, of course, drought is a huge part
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of that.
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So let's play this clip of you, Natalie,
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speaking truth to power.
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And then we're going to break it down
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on the other side.
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This is a climate crisis.
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We need to end the causes, not thwart
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them.
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Animal ag is causing the climate crisis and
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cannot solve it.
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No more money for planet killers.
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No more money for animal killers.
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Plant based food systems now.
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Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes
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of climate change.
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Fifty four percent of the water in the
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Colorado Basin goes toward animal farming.
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Drought is caused by animal agriculture.
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And we will keep disrupting until we switch
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to a plant based food system.
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Your system is outdated and tradition is no
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excuse for animal abuse.
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Wow, Natalie, powerful.
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Where were you and what was your message?
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Thank you so much.
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So we were actually in Burlington, Colorado, which
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is a very small town.
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And they mentioned at one point that the
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reason they had that hearing in Burlington was
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because the ones in D.C. had been
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disrupted so often.
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So they were hoping that they would avoid
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the types of interruptions that they've been experiencing.
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So when we showed up, we had three
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people and I didn't actually know I was
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going to be disrupting.
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I thought I was driving and filming and
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then two people disrupted before me.
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And then I found the courage to go
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and do it myself.
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And the entire room was filled with animal
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ag people, farmers, ranchers from the surrounding states.
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And, you know, the drought is caused by
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animal agriculture.
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It's insane how much water we use just
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to grow alfalfa and hay, which is then
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fed to cows.
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So they're the ones causing the drought, but
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they're also getting money for the drought.
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And it just doesn't make any sense.
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So I'm really happy we had the chance
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to disrupt that particular meeting because they were
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not expecting us at all.
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That's for sure.
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Did you get a sense that anybody heard
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you?
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I mean, because I've been to similar events
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for various issues.
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And a lot of times, you know, you
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can't get somebody to listen to something when
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their livelihood depends on them not understanding that.
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That's an old saying, right?
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So did you break through with anybody, any
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indication that you might have been effective in
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terms of reaching the people in the room?
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Sure.
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So I love that saying.
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I think that actually comes from Upton Sinclair.
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And, you know, he wrote that excellent book,
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The Jungle, about the Chicago stockyards.
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And as far as if people heard us,
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I mean, they definitely heard us.
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And then I was actually lucky because I
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did the last disruption.
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So I could hear the kinds of murmurs
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after my two friends had disrupted previously.
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And they always seem to say the same
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things right after the first disruption.
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They say, oh, we're so happy that democracy
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exists and stuff like that.
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But no, they're absolutely in complete denial.
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Whenever we say anything about climate change, they
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say, oh, we're not causing climate change.
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It's absolutely ridiculous.
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And then they go and they use industry,
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meat industry funded research at universities and then
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perpetuate that.
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So absolutely, I don't think we changed any
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minds of the people who have been ranching
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for generations there.
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But at least we were able to make
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them uncomfortable and show them that we are
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going to fight back and we are going
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to continue to target them until we have
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achieved a plant based food system.
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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Very powerful.
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And I want to say for those who
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say, well, you know, meat and dairy have
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nothing to do with climate change.
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OK, here's The New York Times again.
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Save the planet.
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Put down that hamburger.
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Researchers examined the diets of fifty five thousand
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five hundred people and found that vegans are
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responsible for seventy five percent less in greenhouse
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gases than meat eaters.
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Put another way, if everybody went plant based,
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we could collectively reduce our greenhouse gas emissions
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by seventy five percent.
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Put another way, if everybody went plant based,
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we could solve the climate crisis.
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And check this out.
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This didn't get a lot of coverage in
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mainstream media, but the World Bank, the World
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Bank, which is a massively important, powerful institution
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that controls a lot of money, is now
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batting for alternative proteins, calling for a shift
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away from meat and dairy subsidies and saying
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that changes in farm and food production can
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cut greenhouse gas emissions by a third.
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So there's one headline, the World Bank tiptoes
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into fire debate over meat emissions.
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Last one I want to show you is
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that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
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Change wanted to recommend a transition to a
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plant based diet.
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But the meat industry blocked the IPCC's attempt
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to recommend a plant based diet.
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A leaked draft revealed how the meat industry
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is obstructing efforts to curb climate change.
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So while the U.S. government says it
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wants to solve the climate crisis and is
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spending billions of our tax dollars purportedly to
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do that, they are also subsidising the meat
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and dairy industry, which is a leading cause
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of the climate crisis.
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So I have to go back to Robert
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Grillo before we play another one of your
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exciting clips of you disrupting one of these
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hearings.
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I mean, at a certain point, I think
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it's just a question of, are we a
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stupid species?
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We are experiencing the impacts of climate change
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in real time.
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Swaths of the world are very rapidly becoming
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unlivable.
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I'm talking to people who have homes in
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Nevada and Arizona who say they don't know
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how much longer they can live there because
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it's so damn hot.
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And I think that applies to California, too,
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because I was just 20 miles inland and
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it was I was frying.
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How is it possible that the government continues
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to ignore the big elephant in the room?
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Well, you know, there's some really bad actors
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in Congress right now.
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And Senator Michael Bennett of Colorado is a
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perfect example.
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And but by the way, he was the
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target.
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We are not necessarily targeting ranchers and farmers.
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We're targeting people like Senator Bennett, who have
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a tremendous amount of power, who are controlling
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a seven trillion dollar budget.
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And a trillion and a half of that
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is probably going to be allocated to the
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Farm Bill and to bail out various forms
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of agriculture.
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So, yes, it was effective to target Senator
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Bennett.
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We need to be holding accountable the most
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powerful people in this country that are shaping
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agriculture policy.
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And we achieved that here and in many
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other cases.
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Now, let me also say that when you
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you put up on the screen at the
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very beginning, the New York Times article that
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that said exactly what we have been saying
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at these disruptions and getting pulled out of
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rooms and arrested for.
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That is it does it really make sense
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to kill millions of birds and have the
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industry pay nothing while working Americans pay for
12:56
everything and they still can't control it?
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It's completely out of control because in reality,
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the industry just keeps growing and growing.
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Does this really make sense?
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Now, when we see that message getting through
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to mainstream media, we know we're being effective
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because it wasn't happening even a year ago,
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six months ago.
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We were not seeing mainstream media looking at
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this critically.
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They were just saying, oh, isn't it terrible?
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All the farmers losses, nothing about the tremendous
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cost to animal suffering or the planet, or
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could this be a threat?
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And now we're seeing critical views in the
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media.
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We consider that a huge milestone in the
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right direction.
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And it doesn't matter whether they credit free
13:39
from harm or pro animal future or PETA
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or whoever, because the point is, even though
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we're the catalyst behind this change in messaging,
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the media is picking it up.
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And we want to see more of that.
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Absolutely.
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We've got a caller, Nilo Farr from Dallas,
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Texas.
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Your question or thought for our panel on
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the Farm Bill.
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Could it determine the fate of our planet?
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Hi, I think it's very effective to get
14:09
in the faces of of the Farm Bureau,
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as you know, as you've talked about it,
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they're extremely powerful.
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Let's say that we are in Texas and
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we are contemplating doing similar actions.
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Would the first step be to, you know,
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make an appointment with the with the staff
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member of a U.S. senator, sit down
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with them, talk to them about the ethics
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and environmental impact of the Farm Bill and
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then give them some time to respond?
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We can expect what their response will be.
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And then the next step is to try
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to figure out when the next hearing is
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and try to do a similar approach with
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speaking, going into a meeting, a hearing and
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speaking out.
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OK, thank you.
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Excellent question, Robert.
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Well, I would you know, I'm so glad
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you're on the call, Nilo Farr.
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Nilo Farr was on our Action Hours last
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week and we were brainstorming, which is a
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brainstorming session to help people develop their own
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actions.
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And so we're going to continue with you
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and help you map this out and plan
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it out.
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And so you can, you know, you can
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count on us to to be there to
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help you develop this.
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So I'm sorry we haven't been on it
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right right away after the call, but we
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will certainly be following up and we will
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help you through it.
15:50
I want to play another example of speaking
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truth to power.
15:58
The Farm Bill is a product of dark
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money that comes from the meat, dairy and
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egg industries who have bought your vote through
16:06
millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
16:09
You have betrayed hardworking Americans, but we refuse
16:12
to pay for disease outbreaks that come from
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confining and slaughtering billions of animals, not another
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penny for cooking millions of birds alive.
16:21
It's time to find a slaughter free plant
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based food system.
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Stop the animal ad bailout, stop the animal
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ad bailout.
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Stop the animal ad bailout, stop the animal
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ad bailout.
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Now, if you think this is no big
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deal, for those listening, just take my word
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for it.
16:58
A hundred, up to a hundred million birds
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have been killed just as a prevention.
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Like, well, let's make sure it doesn't spread.
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What we're showing to those watching, but take
17:12
my word for it, it's grim, is one
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chicken dying of ventilation shutdown.
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And more than 2000 veterinarians have signed a
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petition saying this is an incredibly cruel way
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to kill animals.
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It's called VSD Plus.
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And essentially, these animals are baked alive.
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They shut off the air, they turn up
17:37
the heat, and they just let them bake
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to death.
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It's something that I would not wish on
17:44
any living being.
17:46
My worst enemy, not that I have any
17:49
really enemies, but I can't even imagine a
17:53
society where this is considered okay, to let
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these animals bake to death, die a slow
18:00
death by sealing off these horrible barns that
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they've been subjected to living in, and then
18:07
turning up the heat.
18:09
It's sick, I'm gonna say it right now.
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It makes me embarrassed to be a human
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being.
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And what makes me even more upset is
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that my tax dollars and yours are forced
18:19
to go into this.
18:21
And why is that?
18:23
Because we are at a situation now where
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we, having just come through a pandemic, are
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facing the potential of another one because of
18:32
bird flu.
18:33
So let me ask you, if I may,
18:36
Natalie, as a taxpayer, as somebody who is
18:39
pro-animal future, what do you say to
18:44
people who may try to defend the way
18:48
the government is handling this?
18:51
Yeah, absolutely.
18:52
So obviously, this is a huge problem.
18:56
And as vegans, we like to think that
18:58
we're making a huge difference in terms of
19:01
saving animals, making the world a better place.
19:03
And while we are making a big difference
19:05
in that area, the unfortunate reality is that
19:08
our tax dollars go toward funding this horrible
19:11
industry, whether we like it or not.
19:13
So that's why it drives me crazy when
19:15
the meat industry pushes back against our ballot
19:18
initiatives or any of this legislation and says,
19:20
oh, you should just give people the choice.
19:23
If they don't wanna support slaughter, then they
19:26
just shouldn't eat meat.
19:27
And I think that's so divorced from reality
19:30
because the government is so heavily involved with
19:33
the choices that people make at the grocery
19:35
store.
19:36
Animal products get 800 times more government subsidies
19:40
than plant-based products.
19:41
And if it weren't for these subsidies, then
19:43
animal products would cost two to four times
19:45
more than they currently do.
19:47
So I would just ask people, and whenever
19:50
we talk about changing the meat industry or
19:52
switching to a plant-based food system, one
19:55
of the main arguments they use is economic,
19:57
that it would be so bad for our
19:58
economy.
19:59
It would be terrible.
20:00
We would lose all this money.
20:02
But if they are such the economic powerhouse
20:04
they say that they are, then why are
20:06
they so heavily subsidised by taxpayer money?
20:10
They shouldn't need any of those subsidies if
20:12
they were as profitable as they said they
20:14
were.
20:14
So I would just ask anyone, why do
20:17
we allow this industry to violate the free
20:19
market whereas we let other industries play by
20:22
the same rules?
20:23
We've got another caller.
20:25
Matt in Franklin, Indiana.
20:27
Your question or thought?
20:30
Yes.
20:31
Hi.
20:31
First of all, I would just like to
20:34
give a huge thanks to Robert Grillo, Natalie
20:37
Fulton, and every activist that exposed Congressman Thompson.
20:42
What I'd like to say is that according
20:44
to the data, Dr. Silas Schro stated that
20:48
by the year 2026, 100% of wild
20:53
vertebrates will be gone.
20:55
Now, if the Farm Bill does not pass
20:58
in favour of subsidising higher plant-based alternatives,
21:03
should humans continue to procreate as they will
21:06
be taking valuable resources away from the animals?
21:12
All right.
21:13
Well, that's a mouthful.
21:15
Thank you for calling.
21:17
I think the bottom line question there is
21:20
that we're living in an age of diminished
21:22
resources.
21:24
And so everybody's talking about, well, the earth's
21:30
getting hotter.
21:32
Prices are getting higher.
21:34
We've got all sorts of problems.
21:37
We're facing another pandemic.
21:38
We just got through a pandemic.
21:41
There is a solution to every single problem
21:44
I just mentioned.
21:45
And that is into a plant-based culture.
21:49
It would reverse climate change.
21:52
We could take the climate back to where
21:54
it was in pre-industrial times 200 years
21:57
ago.
21:58
We could reforest the earth.
22:00
Wildlife would grow.
22:02
So we would end the wildlife extinction crisis
22:06
we're experiencing now.
22:08
We would have plenty of food to feed
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all the hungry people, millions of people as
22:13
we speak.
22:13
Are threatened with hunger and malnutrition because animals
22:18
are eating so much of the food that
22:19
we're producing.
22:20
And it's an inefficient food source.
22:23
I mean, I could go on and on
22:25
and on.
22:26
All the problems that would be solved, not
22:29
to mention preventable lifestyle diseases like heart disease,
22:33
cancer, obesity, type two diabetes.
22:35
This is what we have on Unchained TV.
22:39
Hundreds of videos that outline exactly how society
22:43
could heal itself by switching to a plant
22:46
-based culture.
22:48
And nevertheless, Robert, it seems like all the
22:54
pillars of our democracy are controlled by the
22:57
meat and dairy industry.
22:59
You've got Congress, you've got the executive branch,
23:03
you've got the media.
23:04
The media, with few exceptions, is controlled by
23:08
the meat and dairy industry because look at
23:09
all the fast food commercials.
23:12
That's right.
23:13
And how much resistance do you really see
23:16
to this?
23:18
You don't see very much or you don't
23:20
hear too much about it either.
23:22
Groups that are making an orchestrated effort to
23:26
expose and hold accountable Congress and lobbyists, the
23:30
industry lobbyists who are using Citizens United to
23:34
their advantage.
23:36
Citizens United, which made it possible for private
23:40
investors to make huge investments in political campaigns
23:46
of our elected Congress people and to therefore
23:50
shape them into their puppets so that they
23:53
can pass policies that are favourable to their
23:56
industries.
23:57
This is hugely damaging to democracy in general,
24:02
but also to all different areas of life,
24:06
whether it be healthcare, agriculture, the environment, fossil
24:11
fuels versus renewable.
24:13
So we have a huge problem and until
24:17
Citizens United gets revoked, we have to deal
24:20
with this and we have to expose it
24:23
and hold accountable the people involved.
24:26
Like Senator Debbie Stabenow, who was the target
24:30
of the last video that you showed.
24:32
She cowered back in the corner and wouldn't
24:34
speak to anybody.
24:35
That's how out of touch these people are.
24:38
They're not talking to their constituents.
24:40
They go into a room with a bunch
24:42
of lobbyists and they talk about how they're
24:45
gonna bail out the dairy industry because they're
24:48
experiencing all of these losses due to bird
24:51
flu.
24:52
They're cowering- Speaking of the dairy industry,
24:55
speaking of the dairy industry, I wanna play
24:56
a clip where you disrupted a dairy industry
25:00
event.
25:01
Let's play it and we'll discuss on the
25:03
other side.
25:04
Hi, it's Robert with Free From Harm and
25:06
today we're here at the Sheraton Grand Riverwalk
25:09
Hotel in Chicago where there's a huge international
25:12
dairy industry conference taking place.
25:15
And we're going into a climate session that
25:17
should be attended by several hundred industry people
25:20
where they will try to greenwash their way
25:23
through the future of dairy and we will
25:25
be there to disrupt that narrative.
25:28
How can you greenwash dairy?
25:30
How can you sit up there and pretend
25:32
that the dairy industry is anything but cruel
25:36
and inhumane and unsustainable?
25:40
Experts have been warning about a potential bird
25:42
flu pandemic for years.
25:45
But now the worst part of this is
25:47
that Congress is bailing this industry out with
25:50
our hardworking tax dollars.
25:53
It's burning down the Amazon rainforest to raise
25:57
cows and crops to feed those cows.
26:00
Shame on you for sitting up there and
26:02
talking big about sustainability.
26:04
I commend your husband to speak to this
26:09
group today.
26:10
Unfortunately, we live in a country where everybody
26:13
gets to give their point of views and
26:15
I respectfully disagree with those.
26:18
The only way people like you actually can
26:20
do that is to shut up.
26:26
By the way, we invite any corporation or
26:28
agency or representative of any corporation or representative
26:32
agency on any time.
26:34
We would love to dialogue with you about
26:36
this issue.
26:39
Robert, you're saying this is absolutely vital, your
26:43
efforts and you get in there and you
26:46
disrupt and you make your point.
26:48
But let me just ask a provocative question.
26:51
If they're not listening, if they're just completely
26:55
shut off, where's the benefit?
26:57
The job of an activist is to make
27:03
people listen to about an issue that they
27:07
don't care about and impress upon them why
27:11
they should care.
27:12
This was the basis of any successful social
27:15
movement.
27:16
We should be under no illusions that people
27:20
care and just like in the ACT UP
27:23
movement or the suffragette movement or the civil
27:25
rights movement or the Black Lives Matter movement
27:28
or anyone that you can mention that has
27:30
had any progress started out with people not
27:33
caring.
27:34
Well, guess what the job of activism is?
27:37
To get people to care, to make the
27:39
case, to create the spark for change and
27:43
to make people question the status quo and
27:46
say maybe there is a better way forward.
27:50
Yeah, and this gentleman says, US House of
27:54
Representatives passed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids
27:57
Act of 2023, a bill that would allow
27:59
for whole milk to once again be served
28:01
in schools.
28:02
I didn't even know whole milk went away
28:04
because we've covered stories where people have had
28:09
to sue, parents and their children have had
28:11
to sue school districts in order to get
28:14
plant-based milk served to them, which is
28:17
crazy when you consider that the National Institutes
28:20
of Health on its own website, which I
28:22
have access, says that 67% at least
28:25
of people experience lactose malabsorption, which is another
28:30
fancy way of saying most people are allergic
28:32
to dairy products.
28:34
At a certain point, there seems to be
28:37
almost a level of, not just denial, but
28:42
self-destructiveness.
28:44
We know that humans can be very self
28:46
-destructive.
28:47
When people are addicts, they can do things
28:50
that are incredibly self-destructive, but can institutions,
28:54
Natalie, be self-destructive in the same way?
28:59
Because we are on a track to a
29:03
climate apocalypse as we speak, and the farm
29:07
bill could easily determine how much in the
29:11
billions of subsidies animal ag, big ag will
29:15
get, thereby perpetuating big ag, thereby ensuring our
29:21
collective demise, or at least living in a
29:25
dystopian world.
29:27
Totally, even just speaking about milk in schools,
29:31
one of my memories from being in elementary
29:33
school was that I couldn't even go to
29:35
recess until I finished my gross milk carton
29:38
that tasted rancid, and I would drink it,
29:41
and I wouldn't feel good, and I wouldn't
29:43
know that it was the milk because they
29:45
didn't talk to us about that.
29:47
So it's absolutely ridiculous that kids have to
29:49
drink milk in schools, and they have to
29:51
have doctor's notes in a lot of cases
29:53
in order to get the plant-based milk
29:55
option.
29:55
As far as if the industries are self
29:58
-destructive, I am not sure if they would
30:01
think of themselves in that way.
30:04
They think that they are vital to human
30:07
health.
30:08
They think that they're saving the world.
30:10
They're denying the climate science.
30:12
They have scientists they work with, like Frank
30:15
Mitloehner at UC Davis, and he creates these
30:19
studies and then uses it to legitimise their
30:22
talking points.
30:23
So they say that they're actually not causing
30:26
that much climate damage, that methane isn't really
30:29
this big problem, and that they can use
30:31
technology to solve the methane issue instead of
30:34
reducing the number of animals.
30:37
So I think it's more just a complete
30:39
denial surrounding the situation, and it is very
30:43
ironic because their industry is one of the
30:45
industries that's the most dependent on having a
30:48
healthy climate, and they're the ones who are
30:51
destroying the climate.
30:52
But we see similar things with fossil fuels
30:54
and tobacco.
30:55
I think it's just a huge amount of
30:58
denial that they can't face the truth because
31:00
earlier that quote you used about how their
31:04
profit depends on them, not seeing the truth.
31:07
So I think that's what- I do
31:09
wanna say, we invite any individual, including the
31:12
person you mentioned on, anytime we would love
31:14
to dialogue with any individuals, agencies, corporations, universities,
31:20
you have an open invitation.
31:21
I would love nothing more.
31:24
Paige, in Los Angeles, your question or thought
31:26
for our panel on the front lines of
31:29
the Farm Bill battle.
31:32
I think about when I learned about the
31:35
vote for larger cages for the pigs, and
31:42
I remember people who were not vegan were
31:45
telling me they were gonna be voting for
31:48
larger cages.
31:49
How do we get the general public to
31:52
realise how essential this is to shift?
31:57
How do we do that?
31:58
Because I think common sense for people to
32:01
actually put two and two together, like having
32:05
larger cages, whether they're gonna be drinking the
32:07
plant milk or not, that their tax dollars
32:10
are going to be the wasted milk in
32:13
schools, for example, right?
32:15
Most people are aware they don't really wanna
32:18
have the wasted food.
32:20
That's kind of mainstream information.
32:25
Let's not waste food.
32:26
So how do we get this information into
32:29
the hands and to the minds of the
32:31
general public who are not paying attention, per
32:34
se?
32:35
Great question.
32:37
As we get the answer from Robert, let's
32:40
watch him do his thing at a congressional
32:43
hearing on the Farm Bill.
32:44
He is walked out while shouting that this
32:50
is a corrupt process where people who want
32:55
alternatives don't get a chance to really weigh
32:59
in.
32:59
I mean, even though some of these politicians
33:03
say they're going on listening tours, those are
33:06
all prearranged, as you showed in one instance
33:09
where when you really ask an honest question,
33:12
they really shut you down.
33:13
They do not wanna hear the honest questions.
33:16
They've got all the prearranged orchestrated questions and
33:19
you have literally gotten arrested, Robert, trying to
33:24
speak truth to power.
33:26
So what would you say to Paige's question?
33:28
So Paige, I think we need to have
33:32
a populist message that resonates with the public,
33:35
that builds popular support, rather than an over
33:40
-professionalised message.
33:41
Because the more we professionalise our movement, and
33:44
that's not to take anything away from the
33:46
doctors and the scientists and the nutritionists and
33:48
the veterinarians and all of those people that
33:51
do such fantastic work, but the bottom line
33:54
is we need a popular, emotive message that
33:58
appeals to the average working American.
34:01
And if we want to broaden our base,
34:04
and they are going to be non-vegans.
34:06
They're people that we're gonna target that hopefully
34:09
will one day become vegan, but in the
34:11
meantime, we need them to back our movement
34:14
for a plant-based food system.
34:16
And groups like Pro Animal Future, of which
34:19
Natalie belongs, and others, are doing research and
34:23
finding, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong,
34:26
but I think they're finding that most people
34:28
see the reason, the common sense in transitioning
34:32
to a plant-based, soda-free food system.
34:35
They might not be vegan yet, but they
34:37
definitely see the rationale in doing that.
34:40
So we already have a tremendous amount of
34:44
support.
34:45
And then you add to that our populist
34:47
message at Free From Harm, that hardworking Americans
34:50
should not be paying for problems that the
34:52
industry created, like spreading diseases like bird flu,
34:56
and costing us an immense fortune to try
35:00
to clean up.
35:01
Most Americans across the political spectrum believe that
35:04
it's wrong for corporate welfare like that.
35:08
So there you go.
35:10
There's a populist message that we could work
35:12
with, and we're finding that it's resonating.
35:14
Well, I hope you're right.
35:17
All I hear about is people talking about,
35:19
this is, I think, the conundrum.
35:21
People are complaining about the high price of
35:23
food.
35:24
It is a major issue in electoral politics.
35:28
And so in order to basically counteract meat
35:38
and dairy, we would have to let it
35:40
go to the price it would be if
35:42
it wasn't subsidised by the government.
35:45
So I've heard the average hamburger could be
35:48
$25, $30.
35:50
So these dollar burgers that you see, the
35:53
only reason they're dollar burgers is that our
35:56
tax dollars are being funnelled to prop up
35:58
this industry.
36:00
So what we would have to do is
36:03
not just reduce those subsidies, but redirect subsidies
36:08
to healthy food so that that food isn't
36:11
as expensive.
36:12
And that's a tall order.
36:15
And that's why this farm bill is so
36:17
very important, is that potentially, if they all
36:21
had a moment, an epiphany, all these people
36:24
who are in these powerful positions had an
36:27
epiphany and realised, oh my gosh, we could
36:30
be literally signing the planet's death warrant.
36:33
Of course, the planet will survive us.
36:35
We're talking about the living beings on the
36:37
planet.
36:38
We have to make a switch.
36:40
It's just gotten to be too much.
36:42
Like hit bottom, just like addicts hit bottom
36:46
when they've had a really bad night and
36:48
they wake up the next morning and they
36:50
say, I can't live like this anymore.
36:52
I mean, our government needs to hit bottom
36:54
on subsidising animal agriculture and wake up and
36:58
start subsidising healthy food.
37:00
Is there any chance, is there a snowball's
37:03
chance?
37:04
What do they say?
37:05
A snowball's chance in hell of that happening,
37:09
Robert?
37:11
Well, yes, but we have to be smart
37:14
about what we leverage.
37:16
So bird flu is an Achilles heel for
37:18
the industry.
37:19
If things keep going bad, this is really
37:21
going to be a problem for the chicken,
37:23
egg and turkey and dairy industries.
37:26
And we need to leverage that.
37:28
There's not enough of us demanding change in
37:32
the places of power where change can be
37:34
made.
37:36
People, consumers will follow changes based on what
37:41
our food system provides and markets to them.
37:45
Unfortunately, most people are followers in this way.
37:49
We're social animals and we go with trends.
37:52
We go with marketing.
37:53
We're very much seduced by the propaganda of
37:56
the food industry.
37:57
So that could actually, we could turn that
37:59
into, instead of trying to addict them with
38:03
animal products, we could try to actually, like
38:06
you said, subsidise healthy foods.
38:09
We're not against subsidies.
38:10
We just think the subsidies should be changed.
38:12
But we need to have more people focussing
38:15
on those who actually have the power to
38:18
change the system, not the consumers, because they
38:20
have no power over this.
38:22
And just for the record, what is the
38:26
amount that the Farm Bill and the US
38:29
government is subsidising animal agriculture versus how much
38:34
our government is subsidising foods that human beings
38:37
eat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and legumes?
38:41
My understanding is it's completely, utterly lopsided.
38:46
Can you elaborate, Robert?
38:48
According to the Environmental Working Group's recent study,
38:51
which is the best thing we have so
38:53
far, the government has subsidised animal agriculture 59
38:59
billion since 1994 and only 124 million for
39:04
alternative plant proteins.
39:06
And that's all I'll say because I don't
39:07
wanna take up too much room so Natalie
39:09
can talk too.
39:11
That's right, but I mean, that's crucial, Natalie.
39:14
I mean, look at that.
39:15
That basically, yeah, you know, game, set, match.
39:23
Yeah, absolutely.
39:24
It's crazy how much more attention animal products
39:27
get.
39:27
And I've heard different numbers in different places.
39:31
The one that I heard was that we
39:32
subsidise animal products 800 times more than plant
39:35
products.
39:36
I've also heard that only 4% of
39:38
subsidies go toward plants grown directly for human
39:41
consumption.
39:42
A lot of plants get subsidies when they're
39:45
used to feed farmed animals like corn and
39:47
soy.
39:48
But absolutely, we need to subsidise these speciality
39:51
crops as they're called, which is just really
39:53
crops that humans can eat.
39:56
What I see over and over again is
39:59
that nobody is connecting the dots.
40:03
For example, I just read an article that
40:07
the sea lions and the seals are suffering
40:11
again from another tide that is toxic and
40:16
they're getting poisoned.
40:17
And all these people are rushing to pull
40:20
them out and to go to a rehab
40:22
centre and then re-release them.
40:25
And I went to a re-release recently,
40:27
not far from where I live, several were
40:30
being released.
40:31
Nobody's talking about what is causing the algae
40:33
bloom.
40:35
What's causing the algae bloom is that California
40:38
is America's largest dairy state with millions of
40:41
cows.
40:42
And all those cows are producing cities worth
40:44
of manure that is going into our streams,
40:49
our rivers, and ultimately into our oceans.
40:51
This did come to a head at Point
40:53
Reyes National Seashore, where in defence of animals
40:57
has been fighting a battle to at least
41:00
allow the Thule elk who are on the
41:03
national property to get water.
41:06
The dairy industry wants to keep that water
41:08
for itself and is literally trying to deprive
41:12
these animals of even water.
41:14
Right.
41:15
And the dairy runoff is going into the
41:20
waters off Point Reyes National Seashore.
41:23
And the activists say they did tests and
41:25
they're saying the water's polluted.
41:27
And millions of people come there to experience
41:30
not dairy industry, but experience the Thule elk
41:33
and go swimming in clean water.
41:36
So nobody's connecting the dots.
41:39
And when I talk about drought, the first
41:41
thing people say is, oh, those almonds.
41:43
But they don't talk about the fact that
41:44
the cows, National Geographic says a vegan diet
41:47
saves 600 gallons of water per day per
41:50
person.
41:51
It's like the truth that dare not speak
41:55
its name over and over again.
41:57
This is the big problem.
41:59
How do we burst through this wilful denial,
42:02
Robert?
42:03
I think we may not, but like I
42:07
said, I think the strategy that is going
42:09
to work and really have the kind of
42:11
sweeping kind of change that we want is
42:15
by focussing on those in charge of the
42:18
food system and making the change happen there
42:21
because consumers I think will follow and they
42:26
don't know what to think and they don't
42:27
think they have any power.
42:29
So we have to show people, even those
42:32
that aren't activists, just everyday working people, that
42:36
this is how you can get involved.
42:38
This is how you can become civically involved
42:40
in this process.
42:42
And it does matter because the collective voices
42:45
is what changes things.
42:47
They might come back and say, well, if
42:50
I go vegan or if I go plant
42:51
-based, that's not gonna change the world.
42:54
And it's gonna make a small change relative
42:58
to the huge problem we're dealing with.
43:00
But if they become civically involved and realise
43:03
that they have an important role to play,
43:05
which is what we want to convince people
43:07
of, then that's the path to the kind
43:09
of change we want.
43:11
And if we take cues from other successful
43:14
social movements, that's how it's done.
43:17
But our focus has to be on the
43:19
powerful.
43:20
And I'm afraid we just haven't arrived there
43:23
yet.
43:23
We just don't have enough groups working on
43:26
the power holders of the food system.
43:28
Let's take a look at another speak truth
43:32
to power moment.
43:33
Bailing out the chicken and egg industry for
43:36
a bird flu nightmare that they created.
43:39
The USDA's mission is to create safe and
43:42
nutritious foods.
43:43
Yet instead, you are the chicken industry's puppet,
43:48
protecting an industry, making record profits and betraying
43:52
America's health and safety.
43:55
This industry forces billions of birds to live
43:58
in squalid confinement, perfect conditions for new pandemics
44:03
with a constant supply of new hosts.
44:07
As I said on an earlier occasion.
44:09
Defund factory farms.
44:12
Defund factory farms.
44:14
Stop the bird flu bailout.
44:16
Stop the bird flu bailout.
44:18
Please don't touch me, that's assault.
44:20
Stop the bird flu bailout.
44:24
Stop the bird flu bailout.
44:26
Where are we going?
44:28
Okay.
44:32
Stop the bird flu bailout.
44:42
Not another penny.
44:44
Where are we going?
44:51
Stop the bird flu, I'm sorry.
45:00
So where was that, Robert?
45:02
That was at the National Press Club with
45:04
Tom Vilsack's speech.
45:07
You may have heard that he mentioned what
45:10
a great thing democracy is and that people
45:13
can speak their voice.
45:15
I don't think we necessarily live in a
45:17
democracy.
45:18
A true one.
45:19
But it's ironic, it couldn't be more ironic
45:23
that he is a championing democracy when he
45:27
is presiding over one of the most corrupt
45:31
food systems in the world in which animal
45:34
agriculture money pours in and controls policy.
45:40
And he used to be- By the
45:41
way, Tom Vilsack is the USPA, the head
45:45
of the United States Department of Agriculture for
45:49
those who do not know.
45:51
Yes, and he was a dairy industry trade
45:53
group leader.
45:54
So that's another issue, is that the people
45:58
who are in power in the government used
46:01
to work for the very industry they're supposed
46:04
to regulate.
46:07
The revolving door.
46:09
It's a revolving door.
46:11
And he served twice.
46:13
This is the second time that he is
46:15
serving as the head of the USDA.
46:18
It's just, it's really bizarre.
46:21
You see this with other issues that are
46:23
in the animal rights sphere, like vivisection.
46:27
The people who are running the National Institutes
46:29
of Health are to a large degree vivisectors
46:32
who came up torturing animals in laboratories.
46:35
So of course they're gonna think that that's
46:38
a good idea to continue when obviously we
46:41
live in the 21st century and there are
46:43
many high-tech methods to determine the safety
46:47
or lack of safety of a particular product,
46:50
other than sticking it in the eye of
46:52
a monkey or a mouse.
46:54
But they like to do it their way
46:57
because that's how they've been doing it.
46:59
And so you have the revolving door.
47:02
And I just, I just very, very, very
47:07
concerned about what could happen with this farm
47:11
bill.
47:11
So, you know, I have to go back
47:14
to you, Robert.
47:15
Where does it stand?
47:16
When is it likely to be passed?
47:18
And what is likely to be in it?
47:21
Right.
47:22
So in a nutshell, I'm just gonna say,
47:25
we don't have high expectations for making any
47:28
big meaningful change in this farm bill.
47:31
But what we can do is get the
47:33
narrative chain, starting to change the narrative and
47:37
getting the media to report on the farm
47:39
bill and bird flu and other issues related
47:42
to agriculture policy in a more critical light,
47:46
infusing it with our message.
47:48
That's a first big step.
47:50
And maybe the next farm bill will see
47:52
something a little bit different.
47:54
This farm bill unfortunately is corrupted on both
47:58
sides of the aisle.
48:00
The Democrats are just as bad as the
48:02
Republicans, even though I guess you could say
48:04
the Republicans take more private money.
48:06
But in terms of the massive bailout, it's
48:10
the same in both sides.
48:12
And right now we just need to get
48:15
the message out that we can't stand for
48:18
this anymore, that there needs to be a
48:21
change.
48:22
And so we're not gonna see any big
48:26
policy change, but what our hope is, is
48:29
that we can inspire people to join us
48:33
and we can start getting the public's attention
48:38
that there is another path forward.
48:41
And when they see activists doing things highly
48:44
publicised like this, it makes them realise that
48:47
there's a desperate need, urgent need for change.
48:52
How much publicity did that disruption get in
48:54
front of the USDA secretary?
48:57
I mean, it's hard to measure, right?
48:59
Because there's a lot of social media posts
49:01
from the different reporters that were there.
49:05
And there were some stories published in Bloomberg,
49:08
not stories, but newsletter mentions in Bloomberg and
49:11
Politico.
49:12
So it's really hard to measure that.
49:16
Because one of the reasons we started Unchained
49:19
TV is that the news media is not
49:22
reporting on these things.
49:24
I mean, look, we went through a pandemic
49:27
and it really doesn't matter whether you thought
49:31
it started in the Wuhan market in China,
49:33
where they were keeping thousands and thousands of
49:37
animals of many different species in cramped conditions
49:40
and slaughtering them with blood and guts and
49:42
faeces and everything else, or whether you think
49:44
it started in the lab where they were
49:46
torturing bats.
49:48
It's a zoonotic illness.
49:50
And the pandemic that people fear now with
49:53
the bird flu would be a zoonotic illness.
49:57
That did not get people's attention.
50:01
That's what worries me.
50:02
Even a pandemic that shut down the entire
50:05
world for several years did not get the
50:08
attention because the news media did not connect
50:11
the dots.
50:12
They showed the Wuhan market in the very
50:15
first days of the pandemic and then, right?
50:19
Just like Michelle Obama tried to get people
50:24
hooked on veggies when she did her garden
50:27
in the White House with the vegetables, and
50:31
what happened?
50:31
Suddenly it was turned into let's move.
50:35
I don't wanna sound like a conspiracy theorist,
50:37
but it switched to exercise.
50:40
So there is, I think, a conspiracy of
50:44
silence about these issues.
50:47
And I'm not saying that everybody gets together
50:49
and has a meeting, but it's a cultural
50:51
thing.
50:52
I mean, it reminds me of LGBT, right?
50:57
The love that dare not speak its name.
50:59
And now we have the truth that dare
51:01
not speak its name about animal agriculture's horrific
51:04
impact on a wide range of issues.
51:08
And so that's a big problem.
51:12
That's, can I just say something real quick
51:14
is that if you, how other social movements
51:18
got the media's attention is very interesting to
51:20
look at.
51:22
They did bold, creative actions that compelled the
51:25
media to cover it, that they couldn't ignore
51:29
it because it was either interesting or created
51:31
enough controversy that the media glammed onto it.
51:35
But they're not gonna cover us standing on
51:37
a street corner.
51:38
They're not gonna cover us doing routine things.
51:41
They've gotta be extraordinarily different or things that
51:45
they just can't avoid covering.
51:46
So like, that's why we stopped complaining about
51:49
the media not covering our previous events.
51:53
And we said, we're just gonna go where
51:54
the media is going.
51:55
They're gonna be in this Farm Bill hearing.
51:57
Every single major media outlet is going to
52:00
be at this Farm Bill hearing.
52:01
And we are gonna get right in front
52:02
of the cameras with our message, with our
52:05
voices and our signs and get covered.
52:09
So that's what we, if we want media
52:11
attention, we have to get in front of
52:12
them.
52:13
Yeah, well, you know what they say, if
52:15
we wanna get attention in our movement, we
52:18
have to either get arrested or get naked.
52:21
And then when you get arrested as you
52:23
have, Robert, they say, well, you know, they're
52:26
disruptive.
52:27
And then when you get naked, they make
52:29
fun of you.
52:29
So they try to put you in a
52:31
situation, a context where there's no win, just
52:35
like with the vegan movement in general, where
52:38
people would say, what do you eat, grass?
52:43
So we created all these alternatives where there's
52:46
veggie burgers and even veggie ribs and veggie
52:49
eggs and veggie cheese.
52:50
And then they say, oh, it's processed.
52:52
So they try to put you in a
52:54
situation where you can't win.
52:56
And guess who is the real loser?
52:59
They are, because when we go down, we're
53:01
all gonna go down, okay?
53:03
So certainly people in certain climes are gonna
53:07
suffer more severely and sooner.
53:11
I mean, large swaths of Latin America and
53:14
large swaths of Africa are already suffering, but
53:18
it's affecting everybody.
53:20
And we have here in California, they don't
53:22
wanna give insurance to some homes because of
53:24
climate crisis.
53:26
We have situation where it's people, delivery people
53:29
are collapsing on the street from the heat
53:31
and still nothing gets through to the media,
53:36
to the government, to members of Congress.
53:41
It's a scary situation.
53:44
I do believe in the law of unintended
53:46
consequences.
53:47
I believe personally that big thinkers, the very
53:52
smart people, whether they're in Silicon Valley or
53:55
wherever they may be are gonna realise, woo,
53:58
it doesn't matter how much money I have.
54:00
If we have a completely unlivable planet, my
54:05
money isn't gonna mean that much.
54:07
Maybe they, maybe they will decide that they've
54:12
gotta take action and change the system.
54:15
I wanna thank both of you so much
54:17
for being here.
54:19
We are gonna stay on top of this
54:20
farm bill because I honestly believe it is
54:22
perhaps the most important issue of our time
54:26
because all of those fast food restaurants you
54:30
see in every Miracle Mile across the country,
54:32
nobody would be walking into them if the
54:35
burgers and the chicken wings cost what the
54:38
market would bear, which would be exponentially higher.
54:42
The only reason those items are as cheap
54:44
as they are is because your tax dollars
54:46
are being forced to subsidise them.
54:49
Think about that.
54:50
And please think about your food choices because
54:53
ultimately this is a consumer issue.
54:57
All of this would go away overnight if
55:00
people started switching to vegan plant-based options.
55:06
And no, vegan is not a dirty word.
55:08
So that's why we do what we do
55:10
at Unchained TV.
55:12
I wanna thank you again and urge everybody
55:15
to download Unchained TV, whether you download it
55:18
on your phone, very easy to do so,
55:21
right on your phone, completely free, or whether
55:25
you download it on your TV, behind me,
55:27
or on a tablet, it doesn't matter.
55:30
Download Unchained TV and become part of the
55:33
solution.
55:34
Discover Unchained TV and transform your life for
55:37
free.
55:42
Unchained TV is a nonprofit organisation producing plant
55:46
-based content built with tips and tricks to
55:49
spice up those healthy veggies, grains, and legumes.
55:54
For more information on Unchained TV productions, just
55:57
visit unchainedtv.com.