Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / UnchainedTV: Will Huge Animal Factories Be Banned?
Transcript
- 0:00And we have breaking news to tell you
- 0:04about today.
- 0:05It is making headlines all across the nation.
- 0:09These are the experts who will be talking
- 0:11about it.
- 0:12You could call it the showdown in Sonoma.
- 0:14There are just some of the headlines and
- 0:18wow, it will be a showdown.
- 0:21An historic ballot measure is coming up after
- 0:25more than 37,000 signatures were collected in
- 0:28this rural northern California county to ban large
- 0:31CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations.
- 0:34The coalition to end factory farming has handed
- 0:37in the votes and now it is up
- 0:41to the voters to decide.
- 0:42So let's go straight out to Samantha Fay.
- 0:45You are one of the leaders of this.
- 0:48First of all, 37,000 signatures.
- 0:51Wow, that's a lot to collect.
- 0:52Tell us how you did it and what
- 0:54is this ballot measure for those who have
- 0:56no idea?
- 0:58This ballot measure is to ban CAFOs in
- 1:01Sonoma County.
- 1:03So there are about two dozen CAFOs in
- 1:06Sonoma County and we plan to phase them
- 1:09out through this ballot measure.
- 1:11The only way that we got all of
- 1:14these signatures, the 37,000 signatures, is simply
- 1:17through the power of volunteers.
- 1:19A lot of other measures and political organisations
- 1:22will hire people to collect signatures, but every
- 1:25single one of our 150 volunteers was unpaid
- 1:29and came of their own accord to Sonoma
- 1:32County and from Sonoma County to collect these
- 1:35signatures.
- 1:36Now, you have done a lot of social
- 1:38media promotion on this.
- 1:41Let's take a look at one of your
- 1:43promos and then we'll dissect it.
- 1:46Maybe not a good choice of words.
- 1:49Again, this is the showdown in Sonoma, an
- 1:52historic ballot measure.
- 1:54We are getting ready to ban factory farms
- 1:56in Sonoma County.
- 1:58Despite the local Farm Bureau spreading misinformation to
- 2:01turn the public against this effort, we are
- 2:03turning in over 37,000 signatures from Sonoma
- 2:07County residents to get this factory farm ban
- 2:09on the ballot.
- 2:10If this historic initiative succeeds, it would stop
- 2:13the exploitation and abuse for hundreds of thousands
- 2:16of animals and have potentially national implications.
- 2:19So let's do this.
- 2:21So Cassie King, you are the lead communications
- 2:25person for Direct Action Everywhere.
- 2:28A lot of the Farm Bureau spokespeople are
- 2:32saying this is going to put a lot
- 2:33of people out of work.
- 2:35What is your response to that?
- 2:37Thanks so much for having us on, Jane.
- 2:39We are DXCS of Bay Area is one
- 2:41of the founding members of the Coalition to
- 2:43End Factory Farming, which is the ballot committee
- 2:45leading this initiative, just for some context.
- 2:48And like Samantha said, there are an estimated
- 2:51two dozen CAFOs in Sonoma County, and that
- 2:54is an overestimation because we want to be
- 2:57transparent and we want to give an understanding
- 3:01of the maximum impact that this initiative could
- 3:04have.
- 3:04So it's possibly closer to 20 or so
- 3:07facilities that actually meet the EPA's definition of
- 3:10a CAFO.
- 3:11And while these are the facilities that have
- 3:13the most animals, because that's what makes them
- 3:16a CAFO, is the number of animals that
- 3:18they have, the large CAFO category specifically, which
- 3:21is what we see in Sonoma County, is
- 3:23purely based on the number of animals.
- 3:25You might think that they have the most
- 3:27employees as well, but actually factory farming is
- 3:31quite mechanised.
- 3:32The feed comes in, the water comes in
- 3:34automated.
- 3:36The manure is falling through cages or falling
- 3:38through wire floors and going out of these
- 3:41chicken and duck facilities.
- 3:43So even though there are far more animals
- 3:46confined inside CAFOs in Sonoma County than the
- 3:49small animal farms that exist there, they actually
- 3:52have far fewer workers.
- 3:54And also Sonoma County, the vast majority of
- 3:57workers in agriculture are actually working in vineyards.
- 4:00Sonoma County is quite well known for grapes,
- 4:03for wine and the wine production there.
- 4:05And that's not impacted at all because we're
- 4:07specifically looking at animal operations, concentrated animal feeding
- 4:11operations.
- 4:12And by the way, we're happy to have
- 4:14anybody on from the other side.
- 4:16We would love to sponsor a debate here
- 4:19on Unchained TV.
- 4:20So consider it an invitation.
- 4:23We've got some callers lining up.
- 4:24Paige in Los Angeles, your question and thought
- 4:27for our team under the banner Coalition to
- 4:30Ban Factory Farming.
- 4:32Thank you for taking my call.
- 4:35Here's what I'm curious about.
- 4:36In your outreach, what were some of the
- 4:42responses from the citizens in the area in
- 4:46regards to knowing that animals were in these
- 4:50factory farms that were their burgers and their
- 4:53hot dogs and so forth?
- 4:55What was the response you were getting and
- 4:57how did they get a connection to sign
- 5:00that paper?
- 5:01Well, it's an excellent question, Sarah.
- 5:03You're from the area.
- 5:05When signatures were being collected, what was the
- 5:09response amongst the people?
- 5:11Because those opposing say, well, it's going to
- 5:14be bad for the county.
- 5:15But you got 37,000, more than 37
- 5:17,000 people who live in that county, as
- 5:20I believe you do, to sign.
- 5:22So what were their reasons for signing?
- 5:24What do you think the mood of the
- 5:26county is?
- 5:28Well, thanks for the great question.
- 5:31Yeah.
- 5:31In my experience with voters, one of the
- 5:34first things that I noted is that folks
- 5:37weren't really even aware that we had factory
- 5:39farms here in Sonoma County.
- 5:41And I think that was the same thing
- 5:43was true for myself even just three years
- 5:45ago.
- 5:45So people are shocked because most people have
- 5:49this kind of idea of what a factory
- 5:51farm is.
- 5:52They picture something in their mind.
- 5:54And they definitely don't associate that with Sonoma
- 5:57County because we have so many, you know,
- 5:59fields and lovely scenes around here, rolling fields
- 6:03of green and you see cows dotting the
- 6:06fields.
- 6:07And it's kind of a shock.
- 6:08So first people are in a Yeah, I
- 6:17do remember seeing some of those, those buildings,
- 6:20those long buildings, you know, where how the
- 6:22animals are, and then it all starts to
- 6:25click.
- 6:25And there's this moment that I witnessed and
- 6:27so many people when it clicked, and they're
- 6:30like, Oh, my gosh, yes, that is what's
- 6:33happening here.
- 6:34I can't stand factory farms.
- 6:35I've heard that so many times.
- 6:37I hate factory farms.
- 6:38I can't stand factory farms.
- 6:40They're awful.
- 6:41Yes, I support this.
- 6:42So that was kind of a general theme
- 6:44is just, you know, when people realise what
- 6:47it is you're talking about.
- 6:48They are on board because they care about
- 6:51animal welfare and our environment here.
- 6:54So the stereotypical description of people who support
- 6:59this by the opponents is you're extremists, but
- 7:0237,000 people living in your county can't
- 7:05be extremists.
- 7:07What you're saying is that when they start
- 7:10thinking about what this really is, these giant
- 7:12concentrated animal feeding operations that house collectively, there's
- 7:18two dozen of them approximately about what I
- 7:22believe you'd say 9 million animals in a
- 7:27dozen farms.
- 7:28Is that correct, Samantha?
- 7:31Um, actually, Cassie would be able to answer
- 7:33that question a little bit better than I
- 7:35would.
- 7:35Go ahead.
- 7:36Sure.
- 7:37So like I said, the estimation is around
- 7:39two dozen, but we are overestimating.
- 7:42So it's possible that some of those facilities
- 7:44are are have downsized since the most recent
- 7:48report to the USDA or the water boards.
- 7:51But yes, about 2.9 million animals across
- 7:54just two dozen facilities, which is far more
- 7:57than, you know, the next 50 farms below
- 8:00them have because they're just such outliers with
- 8:02the number of animals that are confined.
- 8:04So yeah, 2.9 million animals, including chickens,
- 8:08ducks and cows across just about two dozen
- 8:12facilities.
- 8:13And in some of the articles I read,
- 8:14there were small farmers who were in favour
- 8:16of this saying that the big CAFOs are
- 8:18pushing them out of business.
- 8:20We've got so many callers lined up.
- 8:23Let's hit them now.
- 8:25Michael in Los Angeles, your question or thought
- 8:27for our panel.
- 8:29Oh, hi.
- 8:30First of all, I want to thank everyone,
- 8:31all the volunteers that got the signatures because
- 8:33I know how hard that is to get
- 8:35people to sign things.
- 8:37So I was wondering, what do you guys
- 8:39think about the general mood of the like
- 8:42the local politicians that represent your area?
- 8:45Do you think that they'll be responsive to
- 8:47this, you know, this proposition and you'd be
- 8:51able to get maybe endorsements for it?
- 8:52Thank you.
- 8:54Samantha, what are your thoughts?
- 8:56Yeah, absolutely.
- 8:57I think that personally and privately, there is
- 9:00probably a majority of local politicians and elected
- 9:03officials that do, in fact, agree with this
- 9:05measure.
- 9:06Unfortunately, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau does have
- 9:10a lot of sway within the local governmental
- 9:14system.
- 9:15But I think that the Farm Bureau's extremist
- 9:18reaction to our measure is absolutely driving a
- 9:22wedge between them and the local politicians.
- 9:25We're really looking forward to getting endorsements.
- 9:28And we have been privately thanked and congratulated
- 9:31by specific elected officials within Sonoma County.
- 9:35But once we start to address a little
- 9:37bit more of the Farm Bureau's concerns, and
- 9:40we're very excited to have some events like
- 9:41that coming up.
- 9:42Once we address the Farm Bureau's concerns, I
- 9:45absolutely believe that more elected officials will come
- 9:47out in support of this ballot measure due
- 9:49to the almost outright falsehoods that the Farm
- 9:52Bureau has been spreading.
- 9:54And if I can add one update to
- 9:56that.
- 9:57Yeah, because just yesterday, the Sonoma County Board
- 10:00of Supervisors had this on their agenda for
- 10:02their meeting, because that's the process that the
- 10:05signatures are verified by the registrar of voters.
- 10:07And then they head to the Board of
- 10:09Supervisors to decide either about enacting it immediately,
- 10:12which would be great.
- 10:13It would save a lot of time for
- 10:15everybody and the cost of the election.
- 10:16But they're not going to be doing that.
- 10:19It is controversial, and they're going to put
- 10:20it to a vote.
- 10:22But they also have the option of commissioning
- 10:24a study from county agencies on the impact
- 10:26of this initiative, which they have decided to
- 10:29do.
- 10:29That's what they decided at their meeting yesterday,
- 10:31which you might think that that's not great
- 10:34news.
- 10:34But I'm actually hopeful that that will be
- 10:36helpful, because there's a lot of confusion with
- 10:38the misinformation the Farm Bureau is spreading about
- 10:41how many facilities there are in Sonoma County
- 10:43that meet the definition of a CAFO and
- 10:45what exactly, you know, all the great questions
- 10:47about how many animals this will impact, how
- 10:49many workers this will impact.
- 10:51And I think the information is important for
- 10:53people to know and will ultimately be helpful.
- 10:56I mean, there's a lot of great conversations
- 10:58to be had.
- 10:59There's also an important part in the CAFO
- 11:02initiative text about funding the transition for workers.
- 11:06And that should be mentioned in this study.
- 11:07And there should be more transparency around what
- 11:10this will actually look like if it passes.
- 11:12So we'll keep people posted.
- 11:14This study is not going to preempt it
- 11:16being on the ballot, though.
- 11:18No, definitely not.
- 11:19It's still going to be on the ballot.
- 11:20Okay, that's important.
- 11:22And I think it's very important to find
- 11:24out exactly how many workers would be affected.
- 11:27Because you're saying that, hey, they have these
- 11:29hundreds of thousands of animals, collectively, approximately two
- 11:33dozen or less concentrated animal feeding operations with
- 11:37almost 3 million animals.
- 11:39How many people are watching them?
- 11:41If it turns out that it's not very
- 11:43many, that says a lot in itself.
- 11:45I've got two dogs and a cat, and
- 11:46it's a full time job.
- 11:47Can you imagine hundreds of thousands of animals?
- 11:50And that is one of the major reasons
- 11:52why critics say these animals start suffering if
- 11:56they can't reach the water, if they break
- 11:59a limb, if they're on their backs, they
- 12:01can't turn around.
- 12:03Because who's there to pick them up?
- 12:05Who's there to give them the water?
- 12:06These are important questions that need to be
- 12:08decided.
- 12:09We've got more callers lined up, Nilo Farr
- 12:12in Dallas, Texas.
- 12:13Your question or thought for our panel.
- 12:17Hi, you needed 30,000 or 6%
- 12:21signatures of registered voters in Sonoma County, assuming
- 12:25a population of half a million.
- 12:27However, you got 7%, 37,000, which is
- 12:32huge.
- 12:33Was the support primarily from urban centres or
- 12:37rural areas?
- 12:39Yeah, tell us about the people who signed,
- 12:41Samantha.
- 12:41What were your observations?
- 12:44Yeah, absolutely.
- 12:45Thank you for your question.
- 12:47We were definitely based in more urban centres,
- 12:52but as a resident of Sonoma County, I
- 12:55can tell you that the definition of urban
- 12:57centre is not necessarily what people would be
- 12:59thinking.
- 13:00We posted up mainly at grocery stores and
- 13:03other places that there would be community gatherings.
- 13:06And it was the places that there were
- 13:08small community gatherings outside of the metropolitan area
- 13:11of Santa Rosa and Petaluma that were actually
- 13:14super supportive.
- 13:15People in the rural areas wanted to have
- 13:17a conversation with us.
- 13:19People in the rural areas wanted to find
- 13:21out more about us as an individual, as
- 13:23opposed to an organisation.
- 13:25And so there was a lot of support
- 13:28from the people in the population centres.
- 13:30They would come up and ask just a
- 13:32few questions about the measure and things like
- 13:34that.
- 13:34But the people in the more rural areas
- 13:37were definitely more interested in developing a relationship
- 13:40and staying in touch with us.
- 13:42Oh, wow.
- 13:43Okay.
- 13:44I will say, just looking at some of
- 13:46the comments, it made me realise that just
- 13:49having these conversations with 37,000 people is
- 13:53a tremendous victory in itself.
- 13:57As I believe you mentioned, Sarah, a lot
- 13:59of these people weren't even aware that there
- 14:01were factory farms in the area.
- 14:04They're not like right out on the corner.
- 14:06And you yourself said you were not aware.
- 14:10Tell us about your personal evolution, Sarah, as
- 14:12somebody who lives there, who said just a
- 14:15few years ago, you had no idea any
- 14:17of this was going on.
- 14:19Yeah.
- 14:19So it's kind of a funny story.
- 14:21I was actually a little bit hypervigilant about
- 14:24wildfires back in the years that we were
- 14:27having back-to-back wildfires from about 2017
- 14:30to 2020.
- 14:31And I saw a plume of smoke on
- 14:33the horizon.
- 14:33So I went on a wildfire camera to
- 14:35try to figure out where it is.
- 14:37And somehow, looking at the satellite view, I
- 14:40noticed it was across the field from something
- 14:43called a Riker, oh, sorry, a duck farm.
- 14:46So I don't want to name any names,
- 14:48but I just did.
- 14:49I apologise.
- 14:50But I wondered what it was.
- 14:52And so I started looking it up and
- 14:54I thought, well, hmm, that looks like something
- 14:57kind of unusual.
- 14:58It was a lot of long, thin buildings
- 15:02that I could see from the satellite view,
- 15:03but I didn't see any animals outside.
- 15:05So I thought that kind of looks like
- 15:07what in my mind, I thought a factory
- 15:09farm would look like.
- 15:10And so I started searching online for that.
- 15:12And in the process, what I found were
- 15:14the videos you're actually broadcasting right now.
- 15:17And I just want to say these videos
- 15:19are courtesy of Direct Action Everywhere.
- 15:22There is a legal case that is a
- 15:24backstory to this as well, which we'll get
- 15:26to in a second.
- 15:27But these are some of the undercover videos
- 15:30that were taken by Direct Action Everywhere, which
- 15:34correct me if I'm wrong, Cassie, were handed
- 15:36in to the Sonoma County prosecutor demanding prosecution.
- 15:42And there was a refusal to prosecute what
- 15:47this video shows as evidence of animal cruelty.
- 15:54Go ahead.
- 15:54And by the way, I will say we
- 15:57invite anybody from any factory farm, anybody who
- 16:02wants to talk about this in Sonoma County,
- 16:04you are invited on Shane TV, we'd love
- 16:06to dialogue with you.
- 16:07Continue on.
- 16:08Sarah.
- 16:10Yeah, so in my search, I found those
- 16:12videos.
- 16:13And then I found DxE.
- 16:15And I was just really, really intrigued.
- 16:18And that sort of began my journey on
- 16:23animal rights activism.
- 16:25I'd had an experience back in the early
- 16:2790s, where I had found a duck that
- 16:29was tangled in fishing wire at Stinson Beach
- 16:33in here in Northern California.
- 16:34And I couldn't help the duck.
- 16:37And I didn't know about animal rescue and
- 16:39things like that.
- 16:40Then I really just had no clue what
- 16:42to do.
- 16:42And it haunted me all these years that
- 16:44I couldn't help this poor duck that was
- 16:46clearly dying.
- 16:47And I'm sure it did perish.
- 16:49Its beak was ripped off.
- 16:51And anyway, so it was just one of
- 16:54those moments where you have a pivotal moment
- 16:57in your life.
- 16:58And the path became clear.
- 17:01And so I started getting more involved.
- 17:04And now I'm the co-founder of a
- 17:07local organisation called FACES of Sonoma County.
- 17:11And that stands for Farm, Animal, Climate, and
- 17:14Environmental Stewards.
- 17:15And we're basically trying to raise awareness about
- 17:19the impacts of factory farming on the animals,
- 17:23the environment, and the climate.
- 17:24That's our main thing.
- 17:26And also public health and safety.
- 17:28We have a lot of issues going on
- 17:29around that.
- 17:31And worker safety.
- 17:33But one of our main focusses right now
- 17:35is supporting this ballot measure as a founding
- 17:40partner of the coalition.
- 17:42So when opponents of this measure say, oh,
- 17:44it's a bunch of extremists, and you're one
- 17:47of the leaders, would you consider yourself an
- 17:49extremist?
- 17:51I am extremely compassionate.
- 17:55I love that.
- 17:57Okay.
- 17:58Yeah.
- 17:59All right.
- 17:59I want to get to a comment that
- 18:01was made on social media here.
- 18:03And I'm going to look for it right
- 18:05now.
- 18:06I'm going to hit Cassie with this one.
- 18:09Is DXC promoting reduce and buy local humane
- 18:11free range instead?
- 18:13What would they say when people ask, where
- 18:15should we buy from?
- 18:17I'll just let you take that one, Cassie.
- 18:19Yeah, thanks, Leah.
- 18:20That's a great question.
- 18:21It's really interesting to be working with so
- 18:23many different groups in the coalition, because we
- 18:27all are coming to this point of wanting
- 18:29to oppose CAFOs for various different reasons.
- 18:33There are environmental law firms and labour rights
- 18:37groups and local businesses in Sonoma County, restaurants
- 18:41and small animal producers who are signed on
- 18:44to the coalition to end factory farming.
- 18:46So we certainly don't all agree on what
- 18:49exactly the vision is of 10 years from
- 18:52now, 20 years from now in Sonoma County,
- 18:54in California and the world.
- 18:56But we do all agree.
- 18:58And I think that shows that this isn't
- 19:00an extreme ask.
- 19:01It's something most people agree with when they
- 19:03are given the facts on stopping large CAFOs,
- 19:07on stopping these facilities that disproportionately harm our
- 19:10environment, pollute the water and the air, harm
- 19:13animals, harm workers, and pose a huge risk
- 19:16to public health.
- 19:17So we're really focussing on those facts, on
- 19:20those statistics and examples within the county right
- 19:25now, because that's something we all agree on.
- 19:27I think if you were to reach out
- 19:28to different members of the coalition, you'd get
- 19:30some different answers on what they would suggest
- 19:32we replace those facilities with.
- 19:35But honestly, there are small animal producers on
- 19:37the coalition because they think that they're doing
- 19:40it better and they want the opportunity to
- 19:42compete.
- 19:43And right now they really struggle to compete
- 19:45when there are a few small players that
- 19:47dominate the industry.
- 19:48We've got, sorry to cover you down there,
- 19:50but we've got this, Curtis Anthony.
- 19:52The fact that there is this much controversy
- 19:55and press on the measure already is a
- 19:56win in and of itself.
- 19:58This is said to be the single most
- 19:59politically charged ballot measure in the history of
- 20:01the county and has the opportunity to draw
- 20:04national attention, time to knock on doors and
- 20:06hit the phones.
- 20:07Let's get after it.
- 20:08Your thoughts on that comment by Curtis Anthony,
- 20:12Samantha Faye.
- 20:13Thank you, Curtis, for your comment.
- 20:15I absolutely agree with you.
- 20:18The amount of press and the amount of
- 20:21attention that this ballot measure has gained clearly
- 20:24shows that the opposition is afraid of the
- 20:27impact of this ballot measure, even while not
- 20:30understanding, truly not understanding the impact of this
- 20:33ballot measure.
- 20:34And I completely echo your sentiments that it's
- 20:36time to get on the phones.
- 20:38It's time to knock doors.
- 20:39It's time to join community events and really
- 20:42get the word out about this ballot measure
- 20:44because there has been so much controversy that
- 20:47is led entirely by falsehoods from the Farm
- 20:49Bureau.
- 20:49So follow up, what is your promotion plan
- 20:53to get voters on board with this?
- 20:57What kind of campaign are you planning?
- 21:01And I think that goes back to Samantha,
- 21:03right?
- 21:04Sure.
- 21:05Yeah, absolutely.
- 21:06We have a very traditional campaign that's being
- 21:11run right now.
- 21:12We're really looking into getting door knockers.
- 21:15We're looking into getting yard signs and all
- 21:17of these other things.
- 21:18But we also are running an untraditional campaign
- 21:21in the way that we're reaching out individually
- 21:23on a one-to-one level with organisations
- 21:26that actually would, in another world, be opposed
- 21:31to our ballot measure.
- 21:31Like Cassie was saying, and like Sarah was
- 21:33saying, we have small animal farmers on our
- 21:35coalition with us, which I think is honestly
- 21:39really incredible.
- 21:39When we're trying to pass legislation about banning
- 21:43fracking and stuff, we don't get other oil
- 21:46companies to sign on to these ballot measures,
- 21:48or yeah, to sign on to these measures.
- 21:50So I think that it's traditional in some
- 21:53ways and untraditional in others.
- 21:55Yeah.
- 21:56And we've got Leah saying, that's a disappointing
- 21:59answer.
- 21:59Small animal farmers are better.
- 22:00No, they're not.
- 22:03What I will say to that is everything
- 22:06in life is a process.
- 22:08Few big changes are events.
- 22:11And a process is a whole bunch of
- 22:14steps.
- 22:15And so it's sometimes magical thinking to think
- 22:20that everything is just going to change like
- 22:21that at once.
- 22:23And also, just speaking in general for the
- 22:27movement of Compassionate Animals, we don't want to
- 22:28be an exclusive club.
- 22:30We want to get as many people in
- 22:31and give them the opportunity to evolve on
- 22:36this subject.
- 22:38That's just my personal opinion.
- 22:41But I want to talk a little bit
- 22:43about the backstory that certainly this is breaking
- 22:49news, it's making headlines.
- 22:52CBS News, a lot of other major publications
- 22:56are talking about the measure seeking to limit
- 22:58the size of Sonoma County livestock and poultry
- 23:01farms qualifying for the ballot to be decided
- 23:05by the voters in November.
- 23:08There was a trial in this same county
- 23:12and the co-founder of Direct Action Everywhere,
- 23:17the leader in the Open Rescue Movement, Wayne
- 23:20Chung, was prosecuted and convicted.
- 23:23And I just want to play a little
- 23:26clip of him talking about just some aspects
- 23:31of the case.
- 23:32He was gagged, but he did speak into
- 23:34a camera sometimes in the back of a
- 23:37car to try to get his position out
- 23:39during the trial.
- 23:40Hundreds of activists walked into factory farms and
- 23:43slaughterhouses, gave aid to animals, even locked their
- 23:45necks in the slaughter line to prevent animals
- 23:47from drowning in scalded water.
- 23:49But I personally did not touch a single
- 23:51animal.
- 23:51I personally did not touch a single part
- 23:54of the slaughterhouse machinery.
- 23:56Instead, I'm being charged for conspiring with others
- 23:58who allegedly did.
- 24:00But all the prosecution's evidence involves speech.
- 24:02They've asked questions of our witnesses, such as,
- 24:04are you vegan?
- 24:05Are you Wayne Chung's friend?
- 24:06Have you organised vigils for Wayne Chung?
- 24:08But all those things are crimes.
- 24:10There are multiple cases in California recently, including
- 24:12a case called People vs.
- 24:14Berziceana and another case called People vs.
- 24:16Aware.
- 24:16Only that you do not know that what
- 24:19you're doing is a crime.
- 24:20So, for example, if you're live streaming and
- 24:22engaging in first amendment activity, and if your
- 24:24involvement in a crime is just cheerleading, for
- 24:27example, giving a speech or a multi-individual,
- 24:29you can't be liable for a felony conspiracy.
- 24:31So we'll be testing in court tomorrow.
- 24:33It's not just animal rights, a free speech.
- 24:36All right, but he was convicted.
- 24:38So let's put this ballot measure in the
- 24:42context of what's been happening in Sonoma County.
- 24:45He was convicted.
- 24:46He served a very short time.
- 24:48He was then released.
- 24:50Happy to say that Unchained TV covered all
- 24:53of it.
- 24:54We were the only news organisation to be
- 24:56live from the beginning to the end of
- 25:00the trial and his release after serving time.
- 25:04So Cassie, as a lead communications for Direct
- 25:08Action Everywhere, put this into perspective.
- 25:13There is a lot happening in the animal
- 25:16rights movement in Sonoma County.
- 25:17There are a lot of groups.
- 25:19There are a lot of strategies.
- 25:21This is part of it.
- 25:22And I will say the first thing that
- 25:23Wayne did after he was released from spending
- 25:26several weeks in jail was go out and
- 25:28collect signatures to get this factory farm ban
- 25:30on the ballot.
- 25:32So, you know, we can be members of
- 25:35different groups and support in different ways.
- 25:37And while Wayne participates in Open Rescue, he
- 25:39can also collect signatures.
- 25:41And I've helped collect some of these signatures
- 25:43myself and definitely had on some occasions, people
- 25:46ask, you know, is this related to the
- 25:49trial that just happened?
- 25:50And I could talk to people and say,
- 25:52well, in some ways it's related because that,
- 25:55you know, those people, including myself, who was
- 25:57originally in the case and they dismissed my
- 26:00charges at the last minute on the first
- 26:02day of trial, you know, we're facing prosecution
- 26:06for bringing public attention to what's happening in
- 26:09these CAFOs, like the facilities that were involved
- 26:12in this trial, which again, you're playing footage
- 26:15from one of them.
- 26:16This footage wouldn't have even made its way
- 26:19to people like Sarah and Sam if Direct
- 26:22Action Everywhere investigators hadn't released it.
- 26:25So it's part of the puzzle of what's
- 26:27happening.
- 26:28And it's one important part is getting the
- 26:30investigatory footage out there and the stories of
- 26:32rescued animals.
- 26:33And I'm hopeful that that part of what's
- 26:36unfolding in Sonoma can assist the ballot measure.
- 26:39I think it can certainly go both ways
- 26:41if people want to call it extreme or
- 26:44radical.
- 26:44But I also think that when they see
- 26:46this footage and when they recognise what's happening
- 26:48behind the closed doors of these facilities that
- 26:50they might not even realise exist in their
- 26:52county, that they're going to think that what's
- 26:55happening to animals is pretty extreme as well.
- 26:58And, you know, I just want to do
- 27:02the timeline so that people understand who are
- 27:04watching.
- 27:05There was these undercover investigations.
- 27:09There are laws in California, anti-cruelty laws,
- 27:12and Direct Action Everywhere maintains that they're being
- 27:15violated because, well, the condition of some of
- 27:19these animals speaks for itself.
- 27:21And they took the video, they went in,
- 27:24undercover investigation, took video, and then took the
- 27:27video to prosecutors and said, prosecute this.
- 27:30And the prosecutors in this county refused to
- 27:33prosecute.
- 27:35Then after that, and correct me if I'm
- 27:38wrong, if I have the timeline wrong, there
- 27:40was something called a mass open rescue at
- 27:43several of these facilities.
- 27:44And I'm going to show you some video.
- 27:47Large numbers of activists go to a facility.
- 27:52They're holding flowers.
- 27:54They're singing songs.
- 27:55Some of them are chaining themselves to the
- 27:56front.
- 27:57Some of them are going in and taking
- 27:58out a select number of injured animals, animals
- 28:02that appear in distress.
- 28:04But look at the turnout by law enforcement.
- 28:08Now, I'm personally just speaking as a California
- 28:10taxpayer.
- 28:12Just where I live, we had somebody shooting
- 28:14off a whole bunch of gunfire a couple
- 28:17of nights ago, terrifying the whole community.
- 28:21And I was scared to walk my dogs.
- 28:24I would love to see this kind of
- 28:27police presence protecting me and protecting other taxpayers
- 28:30from violent crime that is going on in
- 28:33the community.
- 28:35But look at this turnout of law enforcement.
- 28:40I mean, that is a huge turnout.
- 28:42So this is some of the backstory of
- 28:45what's happening in Sonoma County.
- 28:47And I want to ask Samantha Faye, why
- 28:50Sonoma County?
- 28:51Is it because it's a very agricultural county
- 28:56in California?
- 28:58It might be called...
- 28:59Remember, California arguably is either one of or
- 29:02the most important state of the union.
- 29:04It's about to become...
- 29:05It's already the fifth largest economy in the
- 29:07nation.
- 29:08It's about to become the fourth largest economy
- 29:10in the nation.
- 29:11So what happens here in California is super,
- 29:15super important to what's going to happen in
- 29:18the rest of the United States and the
- 29:20world.
- 29:21Absolutely.
- 29:22So just a little bit more backstory.
- 29:25I was there at that mass open rescue
- 29:27that you just broadcast.
- 29:30And even more so than the police, the
- 29:32police on the ground on foot that you
- 29:34can see, there was four different municipality helicopters.
- 29:38So Sonoma County has a sheriff's helicopter.
- 29:42Marin has a sheriff's helicopter.
- 29:44And there was even helicopters that came in
- 29:47from Napa and from San Francisco County.
- 29:49So even though it's extreme, the amount of
- 29:51police presence that's on the ground, there were
- 29:54even more that you can't even see in
- 29:56that shot.
- 29:57And then up on one side of the
- 29:59street and down on the other side of
- 30:00the street, they had paddy waggons that were
- 30:02also full of police officers.
- 30:05So it was really important to me as
- 30:07a Sonoma County resident and an animal rights
- 30:09activist that we do this in Sonoma because...
- 30:12And I know that we've had a little
- 30:13bit of discussion just on air right now
- 30:15about small animal farmers.
- 30:17But it was really important to me because
- 30:19these large CAFOs are actually riding on the
- 30:23reputation that small animal farmers feel as though
- 30:25they've built for Sonoma County.
- 30:27So people in Sonoma County, the consumers absolutely
- 30:31believe that they're purchasing from these small animal
- 30:34producers when they are in fact not.
- 30:36They almost never are because these small animal
- 30:39producers don't even have the ability to sell
- 30:42their animal products in stores.
- 30:46But the large CAFOs and all of these
- 30:49things that people assume only exist in places
- 30:52like Livingston, California and Modesto absolutely exist in
- 30:56Sonoma County.
- 30:57And so we chose Sonoma County specifically because
- 31:00I wanted it.
- 31:01But we also chose Sonoma County specifically because
- 31:04of the surprise in which people receive this
- 31:12information.
- 31:12Everybody knows about the animal facilities that are
- 31:15in Central California.
- 31:17Everybody drives by Harris Ranch and all of
- 31:19those things and they think that they're terrible.
- 31:21And of course they want to do something
- 31:22about it.
- 31:24Let's leave the names of various ranches out.
- 31:27We invite anybody mentioned on at any time.
- 31:29Sorry about that.
- 31:31But the animal facilities that you drive through
- 31:34in Southern California, people want to stop those.
- 31:37People want to see that phased out.
- 31:40But what they don't see is that when
- 31:42you have like at the Mass Open Rescue
- 31:46that you just broadcast, you can see that
- 31:48all the grass is green around the facility.
- 31:50And so people legitimately think that when they
- 31:52see green grass, that there's no way it
- 31:55can be a concentrated animal feeding operation.
- 31:57And so therefore, I think it's even more
- 31:59sinister in Sonoma County that these facilities exist
- 32:03on the same level as they do in
- 32:05Central California, but they're hiding behind basically just
- 32:09the weather that we have here.
- 32:11So fascinating.
- 32:13So again, we're going to go to a
- 32:16caller, Tiffany in Los Angeles, your question or
- 32:19thought for our panel.
- 32:22Hi, Jane, thank you for taking my call.
- 32:24And I want to give a shout out
- 32:26to Unchained TV.
- 32:27This is how I learned about DxD.
- 32:30And I was actually able to go to
- 32:32the right to rescue trial for Wayne.
- 32:35And I got to see all three, Casey,
- 32:39Samantha, and Sarah in action getting the ballot,
- 32:43getting signatures and working so hard to get
- 32:45this on the ballot.
- 32:47So congratulations.
- 32:48And I wanted to know what we can
- 32:51do if we don't live in the area
- 32:53to support this to help get it passed.
- 32:56And also if you're planning any big rallies
- 32:58or something we could put on the calendar
- 33:01to come up for.
- 33:02So thank you.
- 33:03Thank you all.
- 33:04Hi, Tiffany.
- 33:06So that's amazing to hear.
- 33:08This is how you learned about what's going
- 33:09on in Sonoma County and that you made
- 33:11the trip up for the trial.
- 33:12And since you're not that far to somebody
- 33:15who is out of the county, but able
- 33:17to travel in a day's drive up there,
- 33:19I definitely would say keep an eye out
- 33:21for some of big events that are coming
- 33:23up.
- 33:23I believe the coalition's planning a launch party
- 33:26for Saturday, May 11th, and I'm sure that
- 33:28there will be other events.
- 33:30I think it would be great to do
- 33:31a town hall or some kind of public
- 33:34debate, have different coalition members speak, have the
- 33:37Farm Bureau speak if they're willing to.
- 33:40And yeah, just get the word out with
- 33:43more events.
- 33:44But also there will be door knocking and
- 33:46phone banking and phone banking, obviously, because it's
- 33:48done with phone can be done from outside
- 33:51of the county.
- 33:52So stay tuned for information about that, because
- 33:54that's the way that you could help from
- 33:56your own home.
- 33:57Tom says that we're more security at the
- 33:59chicken factory than the Capitol on January 6th.
- 34:03I don't know if that's true, but we
- 34:04get the point.
- 34:05What is the URL for people to go
- 34:10to if they want to get involved in
- 34:11this and learn exactly what's happening and when
- 34:13the events are?
- 34:15Great question.
- 34:16It's EndFactoryFarming.vote. EndFactoryFarming.vote is the website
- 34:21for the Coalition to End Factory Farming, which
- 34:23is the ballot committee behind the whole campaign.
- 34:26And you can actually see a lot of
- 34:28useful information on there, including you can find
- 34:30the link to the text of the initiative.
- 34:33You can find the supporters who are listed
- 34:35on there and click through and check out
- 34:37their websites.
- 34:38You can volunteer or just subscribe to the
- 34:41email list to stay up to date.
- 34:43So I just want to go over sort
- 34:47of the mechanics of all this because ballot
- 34:49measures are complicated.
- 34:51So Samantha, there's a lot of nuances on
- 34:55how this is going to unfold, what the
- 34:57actual wording will say, how do people vote,
- 35:00yay or nay?
- 35:02Tell us about it because, you know, I
- 35:06always vote, but I vote at home and
- 35:09it's complicated.
- 35:10Then I have like a little packet that
- 35:11someone sends me and I read, is this
- 35:13yay or nay?
- 35:15Are you going to be in those packets?
- 35:16And if so, who's sending them out?
- 35:18What are the deets?
- 35:20Yeah, absolutely.
- 35:21We fully plan on having a voter guide
- 35:24and being in other organisations' voter guides as
- 35:27well.
- 35:27Our coalition partners will be emailing their email
- 35:31lists on getting people out, getting people to
- 35:34vote.
- 35:34We don't have the text that is actually
- 35:36going on the ballot right now.
- 35:41There was a while ago like Prop 6,
- 35:45I believe, that had their ballot measure information
- 35:50worded really poorly within the ballot measure in
- 35:53order to trick people to voting yes or
- 35:56voting no on a specific issue.
- 35:59So we're looking forward to having extremely clear
- 36:02and transparent language in the ballot.
- 36:04And we're looking forward to having extremely clear
- 36:07and transparent language in our voter guides as
- 36:10well.
- 36:10And thank you for always voting.
- 36:12I also always vote as well.
- 36:14It's very important.
- 36:15All right.
- 36:16We've got another caller, Christina in Los Angeles.
- 36:18Your question or thought?
- 36:20Hi, everyone.
- 36:23You're all so intelligent and articulate.
- 36:26It's really a joy to listen and watch
- 36:29you all, first of all.
- 36:31So my, I guess, question or comment is,
- 36:35would it be contemplated to also add to
- 36:38this movement?
- 36:40The ballot measure, sure, would talk about factory
- 36:44farms and so forth.
- 36:45But to add to the whole bigger picture
- 36:48of instead of factory farms, and I'm sure
- 36:50people and companies are in fear of losing
- 36:54profits and jobs, is to say, listen, we've
- 36:57got companies coming in lined up.
- 37:01They would love to open up produce and
- 37:03fruit organic farms that would increase in profits
- 37:08for everyone and create jobs.
- 37:10And so sort of coupling those two ideas
- 37:13together.
- 37:14It's not just a loss to their county
- 37:17when folks are concerned about the economy, but
- 37:19it's a plus when you can substitute it
- 37:21with growing and thriving industries.
- 37:25Wow.
- 37:26Excellent.
- 37:27Who wants to take that?
- 37:29Samantha, you're nodding your head.
- 37:31Isn't there something in your proposal that says
- 37:33that there has to be sort of a
- 37:36whole system for getting anybody who's lost their
- 37:39job as a result of the closure of
- 37:41these two dozen facilities to get other jobs?
- 37:45Absolutely.
- 37:46So there is a provision in the measure
- 37:48that states that there is already federal funding
- 37:52for farm workers to transition into other agricultural
- 37:57jobs.
- 37:58And I know that there is actually a
- 38:01dairy farm in Humboldt County where my husband's
- 38:04family is from that was successfully transitioned into
- 38:07a quinoa farm.
- 38:09And so they were even able to keep
- 38:10the same exact irrigation facilities that they had.
- 38:14They were able to completely redesign the creamery
- 38:17and the milking parlour basically into somewhere that
- 38:22plant protein is being processed now.
- 38:24And it is an extremely successful business venture.
- 38:28They sell actually to Lundberg, one of my
- 38:31favourite brands.
- 38:32So when you're buying that brand, you can
- 38:34also be supporting the transition of farm workers.
- 38:38It's so amazing how many people are involved
- 38:42in this.
- 38:42You know, I've collected signatures over the years.
- 38:45I went out and collected signatures for Prop
- 38:472 many years ago that went into effect
- 38:49in 2015, I believe.
- 38:52That was an anti-cruelty measure.
- 38:54I also collected signatures for Prop 12.
- 38:57It's hard.
- 38:58I stood outside the farmer's market.
- 39:00People brush by you, you know, later.
- 39:03And so how many people do you have
- 39:05involved in all of this?
- 39:08And how do you coordinate all this?
- 39:11Who wants to take that?
- 39:14I can start.
- 39:16I probably won't give all of the information,
- 39:19but I don't know all the information.
- 39:21But there were roughly 150 volunteers that all
- 39:26worked hard to collect the signatures.
- 39:29And so that's a huge part of it,
- 39:32right?
- 39:32You have to have the numbers.
- 39:35I guess, well, I think that's about as
- 39:38much as I want to say.
- 39:39All right.
- 39:40Well, Sarah, take it away.
- 39:45Yeah.
- 39:45So we have about 150 volunteers, like Sarah
- 39:48said.
- 39:49We really appreciate them.
- 39:51And I hope that some of them are
- 39:53watching right now.
- 39:53Thank you so much for everything that you've
- 39:55done for the campaign.
- 39:57Moving forward, we really want people to get
- 40:00their friends involved.
- 40:01So that's kind of how our organisation is
- 40:05sort of, and I know it's a charged
- 40:06term, trickle down, basically, that we have people
- 40:10who are really super passionate about the measure
- 40:13and about factory farming.
- 40:14And they'll go out and they'll get two
- 40:16or three friends to come with them to
- 40:17Signature Gather.
- 40:19And it's very low pressure.
- 40:21I know that a lot of people are
- 40:22really afraid of it.
- 40:23I personally really dislike being brushed past, and
- 40:26I wish that people would say, no, thank
- 40:28you.
- 40:29But it can be very emotionally draining work.
- 40:33And so we're so, so, so thankful to
- 40:36all of the volunteers that have helped us
- 40:37and to all of the volunteers who have
- 40:39brought even more volunteers in.
- 40:41I just have one funny anecdote.
- 40:43I remember many years ago, I was collecting
- 40:46outside the farmer's market and there was my
- 40:49yoga teacher brush past me and was like,
- 40:52later.
- 40:52And I was like, wait a second, you're
- 40:55not being the same person you are on
- 40:58that yoga mat.
- 40:59It was a hilarious moment.
- 41:02Well, so Cassie, how does the after it's
- 41:07on the ballot effort differ from getting it
- 41:10on the ballot?
- 41:11Those are two totally different things.
- 41:14Right.
- 41:14It's a lot more.
- 41:16I think the campaign needs to increase 10x
- 41:20because we need to knock on so many
- 41:23doors.
- 41:24We didn't need every we didn't need a
- 41:27majority of voters in Sonoma County to sign
- 41:29the petition to get this on the ballot.
- 41:31We needed a small percentage of the number
- 41:34of people who had voted in a recent
- 41:36election.
- 41:37And we exceeded that, which is great.
- 41:39But in this case, what we'll need for
- 41:40this measure to pass is a majority is
- 41:43over 50 percent of people who vote on
- 41:45it to vote in support of it.
- 41:48And that means we need to get the
- 41:49word out to a much larger pool of
- 41:51people.
- 41:52And we also, at the same time, have
- 41:54more to explain, because it's pretty simple to
- 41:57let people know the very basic what this
- 42:01is and the timeline for it and that
- 42:03we need them to sign to get it
- 42:04on the ballot.
- 42:05But now we're getting to convincing people to
- 42:08vote for it.
- 42:08And some people, they're already convinced.
- 42:11You definitely run into people who are like,
- 42:13thank you for doing this.
- 42:14And how do I get involved?
- 42:16Which is great, because they're already excited to
- 42:19volunteer.
- 42:20Like Sam said, people have jumped into the
- 42:22campaign just from signing and now they're volunteers.
- 42:25But there's also people who have a lot
- 42:27of questions, understandably, because if you don't even
- 42:30know what a CAFO is or what exactly
- 42:32a factory farm is, then you probably don't
- 42:35know all these other facts about the ways
- 42:38that they're harming our community, the impacts that
- 42:42they have on air quality and water quality
- 42:44and workers and just how hidden they are
- 42:47and what's happening to animals.
- 42:49So there's a lot of questions that people
- 42:51have, and it will take more time to
- 42:53have these conversations than the conversations getting people
- 42:56to sign.
- 42:57So, yeah, we need more help if people
- 42:59want to come up and volunteer.
- 43:00If anybody watching is in Sonoma County, we
- 43:02would love to have you sign up at
- 43:05nfactoryfarming.vote and become a volunteer.
- 43:07All right, we got a caller.
- 43:09Annie in Sherman Oaks, your question or thought?
- 43:13Hi, yes, thank you, Jane, for taking my
- 43:15call.
- 43:16Thank you all for all you do.
- 43:17I love you all, Kate, Cassie, Sarah, Wayne,
- 43:21every single one of you are incredible heroes,
- 43:24really.
- 43:25I want to know, what is the specific
- 43:29lines that you could give, and is there
- 43:32a way we can make flyers, something that
- 43:34everyone can use, even those of us if
- 43:37we cannot make it to Sonoma County, to
- 43:40expand and, you know, your message so that
- 43:44it reaches out bigger population?
- 43:47Good point.
- 43:47Good question, Samantha.
- 43:51What can people do who are not in
- 43:52Sonoma County?
- 43:54Yeah, so thank you for your question.
- 43:57There is a lot of going to be
- 43:59a lot of phone banking available.
- 44:01If you can't make it up to Sonoma
- 44:02County at all, that's definitely one of the
- 44:04ways that you can participate remotely.
- 44:07I highly recommend going out and seeing if
- 44:11you do already support businesses that operate in
- 44:14Sonoma County.
- 44:14I know that Sherman Oaks is a little
- 44:15far away, but I'm down in Southern California
- 44:18a lot, and I go to a lot
- 44:20of the vegan restaurants that are down there.
- 44:22And so if you've been to a vegan
- 44:23restaurant in Sonoma County, I recommend emailing them
- 44:27very nicely and saying, thank you for providing
- 44:30plant-based options in Sonoma County, and I
- 44:32hope that you will look forward to voting
- 44:36yes on this measure.
- 44:38Also, additionally, there is going to be a
- 44:41lot of materials that are coming out.
- 44:43Just within the next couple of weeks, we
- 44:45are printing out a bunch of leaflets.
- 44:49Most of our literature is going to be
- 44:51printed.
- 44:52And so if you have the ability to
- 44:54get a hold of some of that literature
- 44:56from us, you can find our email at
- 45:00our website at nfactoryfarming.vote. Go ahead and
- 45:06get your hands on some of that literature
- 45:07and bring it to your favourite vegan restaurants
- 45:09and all of the restaurants that offer plant
- 45:11-based options, because those are the places where
- 45:15our community really is being built.
- 45:17Community is built over food.
- 45:19So when we have that literature out, please
- 45:22go ahead, bring that around.
- 45:24And you know what?
- 45:25Your individual influence might bring this measure to
- 45:29your town as well.
- 45:30Can I jump in?
- 45:31Oh, we have to talk about that.
- 45:33Yes.
- 45:34Go ahead, Sarah.
- 45:35Oh, thanks.
- 45:36So I just wanted to add to that
- 45:37a couple of things, and I do want
- 45:38to rewind for a second also, but we
- 45:40do have a couple of upcoming events for
- 45:42folks that are here in Sonoma County or
- 45:44that might be visiting Sonoma County for Earth
- 45:46Day weekend.
- 45:47FACES, the organisation that I represent, one of
- 45:50the coalition partners, is going to be having
- 45:52a booth at the Santa Rosa Earth Day
- 45:54Festival.
- 45:55And one of the main things we're going
- 45:57to be doing there is to be campaigning
- 45:58for the ballot measure.
- 45:59So we will have lots of literature and
- 46:01materials.
- 46:02We will have leaflets.
- 46:03I just saw that comment.
- 46:04So that's one of the things I really
- 46:05wanted to emphasise is the leaflets that are
- 46:08probably being printed as I speak, or one
- 46:11day this week anyway, very soon.
- 46:14So we will have those, and hopefully those
- 46:16will be made available for folks online who
- 46:19are not local, something that you, you know,
- 46:21are local, so that you can have that
- 46:23and download it and pass those out to
- 46:25your friends, family, other folks, or restaurants.
- 46:29But the one thing that I wanted to,
- 46:31oh, and then the second event is Healdsburg
- 46:33Climate Action Festival.
- 46:35We will be, the campaign to end factory
- 46:38farming will actually be at the Healdsburg Climate
- 46:41Festival on Sunday.
- 46:43Did I say the date?
- 46:44So Earth Day Santa Rosa is this Saturday,
- 46:47April 20th.
- 46:48Then the Climate Fest in Healdsburg is Sunday,
- 46:51April 21st.
- 46:52So we'll be at both of those events.
- 46:54Yeah.
- 46:54And let me just say, because this is
- 46:56going to be on, you know, as an
- 46:58evergreen, there are those kinds of events coming
- 47:01up all the time.
- 47:02I have two key questions.
- 47:04One is...
- 47:05Jane, I have to jump off a little
- 47:08bit early, like I mentioned, but just another
- 47:10thing is people, people can also donate to
- 47:12support the campaign at the website as well
- 47:14and factoryfarming.vote. Okay.
- 47:17Very good point.
- 47:18Thank you so much.
- 47:19So let me ask you, Samantha, a question
- 47:23here.
- 47:24What is the timeline for farmers to transition
- 47:27if this passes?
- 47:28That's a really great question.
- 47:30So our timeline for phase-out is a
- 47:32three-year period.
- 47:34And then after that three-year period, there
- 47:36becomes some legal consequences like fines, et cetera,
- 47:41for those facilities that refuse to phase out
- 47:43or for the facilities that refuse to limit
- 47:47their size and limit their environmental footprint into
- 47:52a specific range.
- 47:54So our measure is only going to affect
- 47:56concentrated animal feeding operations.
- 47:59And so once you reduce your herd size
- 48:01or reduce your environmental footprint to a place
- 48:04where the EPA no longer considers you a
- 48:07factory farm, that will become another situation for
- 48:12those farmers.
- 48:13But the transition phase is three years.
- 48:16And I know that there was a specific
- 48:19facility in Sonoma County that transitioned into a
- 48:22mushroom farm.
- 48:23And that was a comment that we got
- 48:25earlier.
- 48:26So I believe that that transition period only
- 48:28took about two years.
- 48:29It wasn't very long at all.
- 48:31And I know that the transition period for
- 48:33the quinoa farm in Humboldt County was actually
- 48:36less than a year.
- 48:38So all of these resources are available to
- 48:41the people who own these types of facilities
- 48:42and the people who work at these types
- 48:44of facilities who no longer want to work
- 48:47at these types of facilities.
- 48:49So the phase-out...
- 48:50Samantha, I read that animals are counted as
- 48:54units in the industry.
- 48:57And, you know, I find that offensive just
- 48:59personally.
- 49:01But how does that factor in?
- 49:04A chicken is not an entire unit?
- 49:08Or a cow is an entire unit?
- 49:10What the heck?
- 49:12Yeah, it's very confusing.
- 49:14And I know that the director of the
- 49:17Sonoma County Farm Bureau was the one who
- 49:19perpetuated that misinformation.
- 49:23But that is a USDA and FDA definition
- 49:27is animal units.
- 49:29But the EPA definition, which is the only
- 49:31definition that we're working on, and the only
- 49:33definitions that matters for the ballot measure are
- 49:38individual animals.
- 49:39So the FDA and the USDA will judge
- 49:42animals in animal units, and the EPA will
- 49:45judge animals in individual animals.
- 49:48So again, that was just another really great
- 49:50example of pure disinformation and pure misunderstanding perpetuated
- 49:56by individuals that are involved with the Sonoma
- 49:58County Farm Bureau.
- 50:00I just want to say, I cannot independently
- 50:04confirm all of this.
- 50:06This is a lot of technical stuff.
- 50:08But we do invite the Farm Bureau on
- 50:11any time.
- 50:12Again, we would love to dialogue with you.
- 50:15You have an open invitation.
- 50:17I want to ask you about the big
- 50:18picture here.
- 50:20If this passes, could this spread to other
- 50:24parts of the country?
- 50:26And Sarah, what are your thoughts on that?
- 50:29Oh, absolutely.
- 50:30I think that's one of the biggest reasons
- 50:32that this is becoming such a hot topic,
- 50:34and it's being talked about on news channels
- 50:37and on media outlets in other states, because
- 50:40the industry is so concerned that if we
- 50:45do have success, or maybe even if we
- 50:47don't have success, if we just raise enough
- 50:50awareness that other people are going to take
- 50:52the baton and run with it, I think
- 50:55they absolutely will.
- 50:57And it's about time.
- 51:00So let me ask you, we only have
- 51:03a couple of minutes.
- 51:05We'll get final thoughts from each of you.
- 51:06But what about advertising?
- 51:08What about social media advertising and television advertising?
- 51:13I am very, very excited to get into
- 51:16the advertising period of our campaign.
- 51:20It is going to be an incredible creative
- 51:22process to work with a team that we've
- 51:24already been working with.
- 51:27I'm very, very excited to get our message
- 51:31out to everyone and to clear up some
- 51:34of the, like I said earlier, the extreme
- 51:37misunderstandings or the intentional misinformation that's being spread
- 51:41by our opponents.
- 51:42There will be many different ways of advertising.
- 51:49We're going to most likely be using television,
- 51:52print, billboards, all of these other things.
- 51:55We're definitely going to take advantage of every
- 51:57single opportunity that we have available to us.
- 52:00So I'll definitely make sure that if we
- 52:01do have a television commercial or something like
- 52:06that, that we will send it to you,
- 52:09Jane, and you can send it to all
- 52:10of your followers as well.
- 52:12Well, let's put this in history with final
- 52:15thoughts.
- 52:15Where is this?
- 52:17One minute each.
- 52:18So let's start with Sarah.
- 52:20In the history of movements, where does this
- 52:23stand?
- 52:26I personally perceive this as the new frontier
- 52:30of social justice movements.
- 52:33We've seen throughout history that there have been
- 52:35many great movements that have served to ultimately
- 52:39liberate and elevate various groups and gender in
- 52:47our society to establish rights and personhood.
- 52:52I believe that that's where we're at now,
- 52:54that there's this idea of speciesism that is
- 52:57starting to come to the surface.
- 53:00People are aware that animals are being treated
- 53:04very differently simply because they inhabit different body
- 53:07types than the human animal, and that they've
- 53:10been exploited and oppressed.
- 53:12And I believe that we're really following that
- 53:17same trajectory and using a lot of the
- 53:20same strategies for social change and social movement
- 53:24that will elevate this issue and lift the
- 53:29animals up and change it so that they
- 53:31have rights and have personhood.
- 53:33All right.
- 53:34Samantha, your final thought.
- 53:37Yeah, absolutely.
- 53:38I feel like this ballot measure and all
- 53:40of the things that are happening in Sonoma
- 53:41County is really the dawn of a new
- 53:44era of this movement.
- 53:45We're looking at a time of truly unprecedented
- 53:48government and industry collusion.
- 53:51We're looking at a time of deep unrest
- 53:55within the people of not only just Sonoma
- 53:58County, but the people of the world.
- 54:00We're tired of being lied to by large
- 54:04industries that are being protected by our government.
- 54:06We're tired of understanding that, especially in Sonoma
- 54:10County, we do not have the ability to
- 54:12influence our elected officials like the district attorney
- 54:16and the judge that actually presided over Wayne's
- 54:19trial is an elected official in Sonoma County.
- 54:22So we no longer have the ability to
- 54:24influence the judiciary system to take advantage of
- 54:27the laws that already exist in California.
- 54:30So this is going to be the absolute
- 54:32dawn of a movement where we're working, like
- 54:34Sarah said, with people who are perpetuating this
- 54:37idea that speciesism is wrong and perpetuating this
- 54:40idea that we have the right and the
- 54:42responsibility to take advantage of our judiciary system
- 54:46to actually make it work for the people.
- 54:49We are out of time.
- 54:51Incredible guests, incredible panel.
- 54:53I'm going to leave you this final thought.
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