Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / America's Hidden Factory Farms EXPOSED

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America's Hidden Factory Farms EXPOSED · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

0:12
80 million animals are trapped in factory farms
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across California, and now there's a way to
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see what's been hidden.
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For the first time, you can explore every
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major factory farm in California.
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See where they are, how many animals they
0:27
confine, the brands they supply, and the pollution
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they cause.
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This data comes from public records, open-source
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research, and on-the-ground investigations connecting the
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dots the industry wants to keep secret.
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Factory farming drives drought, disease, and destruction.
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But now, anyone can find out who's responsible.
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From Proposition 2 to Proposition 12, California has
0:51
always led the fight to challenge factory farming.
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But it's hard to tackle a problem that
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you can't see clearly.
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And with Factory Farm Watch, we can finally
1:00
see the truth and start changing it.
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Explore the map at factoryfarmwatch.org.
1:08
We are so excited at Unshade TV to
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have two of DXC's leaders in this phase
1:17
of DXC's development.
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They're known for protests.
1:20
They're known for all sorts of things.
1:21
Now, they are known for this new factory
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farm map that is extraordinary.
1:28
It is a breakthrough.
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And it is showing, essentially, what's really happening
1:35
behind the curtain.
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When you think of—and welcome, both of you—when
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you think of California, you think of beaches,
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you think of the tech industry, you think,
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of course, more than anything else, of Hollywood.
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Do you think of factory farms?
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But you're pointing out that this state is
1:54
a massive animal agriculture complex.
1:59
Elmira Tanner, lead organizer for DXC, take it
2:01
away.
2:02
What was the impetus behind this and what's
2:04
the importance?
2:06
Yeah, I think you're totally right, Jane.
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I don't think a lot of people think
2:10
of California as having a ton of factory
2:12
farms, partly because they're hidden in rural parts
2:17
that are less populated.
2:18
They're not in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
2:21
And also because I think we have this
2:22
sense that California is more of a progressive
2:25
state with better animal welfare laws.
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And that is true to an extent.
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But doing this research, we see that actually
2:32
there are well over 1,000 factory farms
2:35
in the state.
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It is the number one dairy-producing state
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in the country.
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A lot of people might think that's Wisconsin,
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but no, it's actually California.
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And this project kind of came out of
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Measure J, really, in Sonoma County, which was
2:52
an attempt to end factory farming in Sonoma
2:54
County through a ballot measure.
2:56
And while we were working on that campaign,
2:59
we created a very bare-bones map of
3:02
the factory farms in Sonoma County because we
3:04
were repeatedly hearing from people in that community
3:08
that, yeah, factory farming is bad, I don't
3:10
like it, but we don't have it here
3:12
in Sonoma County.
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So we made this kind of basic map,
3:15
had it on the campaign websites, and showed
3:17
people like, no, there are farms with hundreds
3:19
of thousands of birds right down the street
3:22
from you in some cases.
3:24
And when, I think we all know Measure
3:26
J did not pass, but that kind of
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led us to understand that a lot of
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people just don't know that this is a
3:33
problem in their state.
3:34
And after Measure J, we then embarked on
3:38
the process of making this map statewide, but
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also including way more information about it that
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I think other maps, you know, there are
3:48
other maps that exist, but this one has
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a lot of information about not just the
3:53
specific farms, but also how ordinary people might
3:57
relate to them in the grocery store.
3:59
So you don't pick up an animal product
4:02
package in a grocery store and see the
4:05
farm, you see the brand name.
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And those brand names tend to have a
4:08
lot of pretty images and, you know, I'll
4:12
say just straight up lies or deceptions about
4:14
how those animals are being treated.
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And now you can find that brand name
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and look at the map and then be
4:20
like, oh, that looks like a giant warehouse.
4:23
I didn't think that that's where this, you
4:25
know, happy chicken was coming from.
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So that's just kind of the backstory of
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where this map came from and why we
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made it.
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And it's been a very long work in
4:33
progress.
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Well, I know you, Matthew Zirbel, were very
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involved in the development of this.
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It's extraordinary.
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It really is.
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It blew my mind.
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And we're going to try to go to
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it live in a second.
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But here's you explaining some of the key
4:51
aspects of this map.
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It starts off by showing all the facilities
4:54
that we have listed that have for large
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mammals more than 500 and for birds, chickens
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and ducks more than 5000, just to make
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sure that we're showing just places that really
5:08
are the largest, very clearly factory farms.
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And I think one of the clearest things
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is just when you take a look at
5:15
where animals are, where the density is, zooming
5:20
in on any facility, this one you can
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see by the number here has 16,000
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cows being used for milking.
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And there's a very common thing I hear
5:33
when I talk to people that, you know,
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California's cows are really, you know, all of
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their animals are raised on pastures, is an
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easy idea to believe and very direct to
5:46
dispel by looking here.
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This is where cows live their lives, is
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these rectangular little feedlots.
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Wow, it's so powerful.
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And I want to congratulate you for just
5:58
the technical accomplishment.
6:00
Let me ask you, how did you make
6:02
this happen?
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What is the basis for it?
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It's amazing.
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I mean, you can zoom in and it's
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like the Google Maps, but focusing on these
6:12
factory farms, busting these myths, but not with
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just words, with actual video of the facilities.
6:21
Yeah, we have a long history of people
6:23
who've done direct investigations of factory farms, trying
6:27
to show everybody in California or the world
6:31
just what conditions can be like in factory
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farms.
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And so there's quite a number of drone
6:37
shots on the ground investigative footage that we've
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looped into the map.
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And that's a lot of what we've tried
6:44
to highlight from here.
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But then also just compiling, adding in more
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data from government databases and from our own
6:51
separate investigation to try and find as accurate
6:55
as we can get numbers for each of
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the facilities, as well as what brands they
7:00
sell to.
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So it's been a big effort from investigators,
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for volunteers, and from just work pulling in
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databases to compile and sort all of that
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information all together.
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So on a lot of the facilities, you
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can see very specific investigations that are linked
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there.
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And on a lot of them, you can
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just see the overall overview of the farms
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and you can look and they're the same
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from the outside.
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All the places that have been are generally,
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you know, most of the places that have
7:33
been investigated versus places that don't yet have
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investigations.
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I'm going to do something a little risky
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here and go live to the actual map.
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I was playing around with it.
7:48
It is so extraordinary.
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Everybody, you got to go to factoryfarmwatch.org,
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subscribe on the bottom, which is just putting
7:57
in your email, and then you can go
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in deeper to look at this.
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Look at this.
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It's absolutely amazing.
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And I am not the tech whiz here.
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So we're going to let Matthew tell us
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a little bit more about how this works.
8:19
There's all these filters on the left side.
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I assume you can see that these filters
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on the left side.
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Can you explain these filters?
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It says filter by brand, filter by facility
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type, filter by number of animals, filter by
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size ranking, build your own filter.
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I mean, it's extraordinary.
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And you can also filter by which factory
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farms had outbreaks of bird flu.
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Unbelievable.
8:50
Just tell us a little bit more while
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we're looking at this live.
8:55
Yeah, one of the most vital parts that
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people want to know is, you know, if
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they see something in the grocery store, where
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did that really come from?
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And so we have the majority of our
9:08
facilities are linked up.
9:11
We've been able to find some information about
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what processors they sell to.
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And then by looking further at that, we
9:20
can see what brands, the actual brand name
9:24
that shows up in the store, the companies
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behind those brands sell to.
9:30
And it's often different ones.
9:32
Places will, you know, they'll have some very
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agriculture or agriculture factory sounding name, but they'll
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have a very friendly human name as the
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name of the product.
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And it kind of, for most people, envisions
9:45
one very small facility, you know, a couple
9:50
chickens in a backyard.
9:52
But you can see by filtering through, it's
9:56
a set of factory farms.
9:59
Well, I'm going to jump in and say
10:01
I just put in Sonoma County, California, and
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it immediately jumped to that.
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And then I could get a little closer
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and you can see literally you can get
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right down to the addresses of these facilities.
10:16
So I'm going to just put in, for
10:18
example, just for fun, Riverside, California.
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Let's see.
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And there we go.
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Riverside.
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Now, let's see what happens when I put
10:26
enter.
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Boom.
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Wow.
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And there you see to the left, there's
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a whole bunch of dairy facilities and cattle
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facilities.
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Truly, truly extraordinary.
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A lot of people are asking, when is
10:43
this going to come to other places?
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I'm going to remove that before I make
10:49
a mistake because that was pretty, pretty, pretty
10:53
good that I didn't mess it up there.
10:55
But, you know, Elmira, people are wondering when
10:58
is this coming to their state?
11:02
Well, no promises.
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I know that's a very common question.
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We've already gotten emails from people about different
11:08
states and even different countries.
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And I'll be honest, this took a year.
11:13
Of course, not full time people working on
11:16
this, but it was an incredible amount of
11:18
work to do a lot of the brand
11:21
stuff is where a lot of the work
11:23
came because that involved, in some cases, literally
11:27
parking outside of a facility and following that
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truck sometimes for hours to see where the
11:35
animals are going or where the milk is
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going because they don't disclose this publicly a
11:40
lot of the time.
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And so that's, it's an enormous amount of
11:43
work.
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And our vision is not that we just
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put this map out and then like, okay,
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we put the map out and that's great.
11:50
It's actually almost just a step one because
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it is a launchpad for a lot of
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campaigning to happen.
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People using this map to find places to
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investigate in their facility, I'm sorry, in their
12:01
vicinity and then also kind of adding more
12:04
information and being able to show journalists and
12:07
legislators look at the scale of the problem.
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So now that we're, in a sense, done
12:13
with making the map, and of course, it's
12:15
going to keep getting more stuff added to
12:18
it, updated, et cetera.
12:19
Now we're ready to start the campaign.
12:21
We're a campaigning organization.
12:23
So I don't, we have no, we have
12:25
no plans.
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I know that's not the answer that people
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want to hear, but we do not have
12:28
any plans of making this for any other
12:30
state.
12:30
Our work is very focused in California here.
12:32
We think that this is the place to
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make the next big step forward in the
12:37
fight against factory farming for animals.
12:39
That being said, people like Matthew, who are
12:43
the technical people behind this, are happy to
12:45
talk to folks in their area to provide
12:49
all the things we used to make maps
12:51
in your state.
12:52
And it is very state dependent in the
12:55
sense of how difficult it is to get
12:57
this information.
12:57
My understanding is there are some states that
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make more information available than California.
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So then a lot of it becomes easier
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to do.
13:06
Also states, like for example, the dairy and
13:09
the beef industry are actually a lot more
13:11
complicated to get your head around in terms
13:13
of brand relationships and stuff than more vertically
13:16
integrated industries like poultry industries.
13:20
So it really depends on how much work
13:22
it might be for your state.
13:23
We don't have any concrete plans right now,
13:25
but we're happy to help anybody do it.
13:26
And we're not saying no, just not right
13:29
now.
13:29
Well, Nilofar wants to know, when's it coming
13:31
to Texas?
13:33
All right, Nilofar, email us, we'll tell you
13:36
what to do.
13:37
And by the way, Matthew's gonna pull on
13:39
me.
13:39
I have no idea how the back end
13:40
of this thing works.
13:42
Well, what's interesting is that you would think,
13:44
okay, Texas, that's where all the factory farms
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are.
13:48
No, California is the biggest dairy state.
13:53
And you know, people don't believe it.
13:54
In fact, I was talking to a very
13:56
famous animal activist and he said, no, no,
13:58
it's Vermont or Wisconsin.
13:59
I said, no, double check.
14:01
Let's listen to this and we'll talk about
14:03
it on the other side.
14:04
California voters have passed some of the, or
14:07
the strongest animal welfare laws in the state.
14:10
So Prop 2, Prop 12, but these never
14:14
get enforced because they're unenforceable when animal cruelty
14:18
is really built into the backbone of that
14:20
entire system.
14:22
It's going more into like what factory farming
14:25
in California actually looks like.
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So we actually are the number one dairy
14:29
producing state in the entire country, not Wisconsin
14:34
or some of these other places, but we
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actually produce more dairy than any other state.
14:39
And we have more dairy cows confined across
14:42
factory farms than any other state.
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One of the reasons why I think this
14:46
is so powerful is, yes, you're shattering the
14:49
illusion that so many people have said, well,
14:53
terrible things are happening around the world, but
14:54
not in California.
14:56
We've got Prop 2.
14:58
We've got Prop 12.
14:59
So everything's good.
15:01
And if in fact it's not being enforced,
15:04
then that just gives consumers a false sense
15:07
of security and a feeling of freedom to
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go and buy animal products.
15:11
Amira.
15:13
Yeah, I think beyond Prop 2 and Prop
15:16
12, I think the biggest issue with enforcement
15:18
in California is California's general animal welfare laws.
15:22
On the books, California has really strong animal
15:25
welfare laws.
15:26
And I think it's like Prop 2 and
15:28
Prop 12 are these huge step forwards and
15:30
also just the existing laws in California specifically
15:34
that's under the Section 597.
15:37
So 597B, for example, says it is a
15:40
crime to cause unnecessary suffering to animals.
15:43
And that is happening every day on these
15:47
factory farms.
15:48
But prosecutors have discretion.
15:50
They don't have to prosecute.
15:52
And we see time and time again when
15:54
we report violations of these laws to sheriff's
15:57
office, district attorney, attorney general, nothing is done
16:00
other than maybe prosecuting the activists.
16:03
And I think...
16:04
Go ahead.
16:04
Go ahead.
16:05
Yeah.
16:06
So I think that's one of the biggest
16:08
issues here.
16:08
It's this weird contradiction where I think it
16:10
is true that California is on the forefront.
16:13
We have the best animal welfare laws.
16:15
And that just kind of goes to show
16:16
like how much further we have to go
16:19
because what we have is the best and
16:21
it's nowhere near enough.
16:23
And I really encourage people to look at
16:26
597A and B, for example, and just see
16:30
like, wow, like these are actually really strong
16:33
laws.
16:33
California does not have a livestock exemption like
16:38
some other states does.
16:40
And we need to hold our elected officials,
16:43
for example, district attorneys and the attorney general
16:45
accountable for actually enforcing these laws.
16:49
And there's a very interesting law in this
16:52
animal welfare statute.
16:53
It's 597T that says that anybody who's confining
16:57
an animal must provide them with adequate space
17:00
to exercise.
17:01
And I think in some of these instances,
17:03
some of the things that we've documented, like
17:05
the veal crates that are still being used
17:08
in California, just not for veal.
17:10
I don't know how anybody can make an
17:12
argument that this is adequate space to exercise,
17:15
especially when these animals who are babies are
17:17
kept in these places for two to three
17:19
months.
17:20
And we've reported this and a lot of
17:22
them actually are even smaller than what you're
17:24
showing on the screen.
17:25
This is actually like the luxurious version of
17:28
what this looks like.
17:29
Most of them or most of them in
17:31
California do not have the extended bit where
17:35
the animals can even leave the crate.
17:39
And a lot of them, most of them
17:41
don't have any bedding or straw.
17:44
And we've reported this and we've gotten responses
17:47
from the district attorney in the counties that
17:49
we've reported this saying, well, it's industry standard,
17:51
so it's not a violation of the law.
17:53
And that is a complete misunderstanding of the
17:55
law in California, because California has laws that
17:58
don't require whether the things that are happening
18:00
are industry standard or not.
18:02
And so I think this is just a
18:03
really interesting avenue and one of these campaigns
18:07
that I think can launch from this map
18:09
to address this issue in California, because it's
18:11
happening to hundreds of thousands of baby cows
18:14
every year in the state.
18:15
I spent many, many weeks getting signatures for
18:20
Prop 2 and for Prop 12.
18:22
I actually threw a party for Prop 12
18:24
that was quite the party, hundreds of people.
18:29
And so it really devastates me personally to
18:33
see that despite Prop 2 and Prop 12,
18:37
these laws are not being enforced.
18:39
And I have a question.
18:40
Now, this I got from a public site.
18:46
This is a British crate system or calf
18:51
system, whatever you'd call it, a hutch.
18:54
So this is from England.
18:55
But let's go and just look at the
18:57
details of Prop 12.
18:59
This is a government website that says, basically,
19:05
California regulators require veal calves, breeding pigs, egg
19:08
-laying hens to be housed in systems that
19:10
comply with specific standards for freedom of movement,
19:15
cage-free design, and specific minimum floor space.
19:19
These regulations also prohibit a farm owner or
19:22
operator from knowingly confining these specific animals in
19:25
a cruel manner, as well as prohibits a
19:28
business owner or operator from knowingly engaging in
19:31
the sale of these products from animals housed
19:35
in a cruel manner.
19:36
Now, there are hutches.
19:40
You in this factory farm website that you've
19:46
just launched, Factory Farm Watch, you can zoom
19:49
in and see hundreds of thousands, possibly many
19:52
thousands of these hutches here in California.
19:56
What is the legal argument to question whether
19:59
that is legal or not, Elmira?
20:03
Yeah, so disclaimer, not a lawyer.
20:05
But I think there's two things here.
20:07
So people might be thinking, I thought this
20:09
is illegal under Prop 12.
20:11
But it's not illegal under Prop 12, in
20:13
my understanding, because Prop 12, which I think
20:16
this is the issue that people just don't
20:18
know, Prop 12 only applies to baby cows
20:21
being raised for veal.
20:23
So it's very interesting that you can have
20:26
the exact same critter.
20:29
And if the cow in there is being
20:31
raised for veal, it's illegal.
20:32
And if the cow is being raised for
20:34
beef, i.e. just killing them when they're
20:35
older or to go back into the dairy
20:37
industry, then it's not illegal under Prop 12.
20:40
However, as I was mentioning earlier, Prop 2
20:43
and 12 are these additions to pre-existing
20:46
animal welfare laws in California.
20:49
And there is a law that says, it's
20:52
597T, no brackets or anything around that.
20:54
People can look that up.
20:56
Animals must be provided with adequate space to
20:58
exercise.
20:58
And I know you haven't shown an image
21:01
of some of the crates that we have
21:03
documented in California, but they are approximately 11
21:08
square feet.
21:10
And that's not 11 by 11.
21:11
That is about two and a half feet
21:13
by four and a half feet.
21:17
Multiple instances of filming these calves where they're
21:21
turning around.
21:21
They cannot turn around without touching the edges
21:26
of their crate.
21:27
And they're in there for eight weeks at
21:29
least.
21:31
And I do not know how anybody can
21:33
say that that is not a violation of
21:35
597T.
21:36
So, yeah, I don't think it's a violation
21:38
of Prop 12 because Prop 12 doesn't cover
21:40
those types of animals in the same way
21:44
that Prop 12 doesn't provide space requirements for
21:48
chickens raised for meat.
21:51
It's only for egg laying heads.
21:52
So it's just like Prop 12 is quite
21:54
limited.
21:54
And I think that is just something that
21:56
a lot of people are unaware of.
21:58
And on top of that, though, it's almost
22:00
the whole thing is irrelevant because this is
22:03
illegal.
22:03
I think this law is being violated hundreds
22:06
of thousands of times every year in California.
22:10
Arguably, every single day for each of these
22:11
calves is a different violation.
22:13
And nobody so far is willing to enforce
22:16
it.
22:17
And I think that is something that should
22:18
change and hopefully will change this year.
22:20
Well, the meat industry took Prop 12 all
22:24
the way up to the U.S. Supreme
22:26
Court and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld
22:28
Prop 12.
22:29
Getting back to your issue that you feel
22:32
that these crates, these what have been called
22:36
veal crates but can be used as hutches
22:39
for, let's say, dairy calves are illegal for
22:44
reasons other than Prop 12.
22:46
How about getting one of these animal rights
22:48
law groups to challenge that in court?
22:52
Without specifics, I think we can say that
22:54
that is something that is being discussed.
22:56
Well, excellent.
22:58
I think this is, again, if you're joining
23:00
us, this is FactoryFarmWatch.org, this extraordinary new
23:07
map that is interactive.
23:11
It basically provides a Google Map overview with
23:17
details of every single factory farm in California.
23:23
And you can get as close as you
23:25
need to find the factory farms in your
23:28
area or in some other area and get
23:33
all sorts of information depending on the filters.
23:35
And you can filter it by brand.
23:37
You can filter it by facility type.
23:39
You can filter it by the number of
23:41
animals.
23:42
And what I find fascinating is you can
23:44
also filter it by have these farms suffered
23:48
avian flu and are they getting government payouts?
23:51
Do we have investigative footage, the ranking of
23:55
it?
23:55
You can build your own filter.
23:59
Matthew, how do you envision this being used
24:02
by the general public since you were instrumental
24:06
in designing this?
24:09
I know when I recently took a trip
24:12
out through some parts of California, I was
24:15
looking up.
24:17
Every time as you look left or right,
24:20
sometimes you can see multiple facilities at the
24:23
same time.
24:24
And being able to use it to spot
24:28
my location and say, oh, this facility right
24:31
next to me, I can actually see online
24:34
that they have 10,000 cows in there.
24:37
Does not look like a facility large enough
24:39
to have 10,000 cows or this place
24:42
has 200,000 chickens.
24:44
And I can also see that they sell
24:46
to this brand and that brand.
24:49
That's one of the ways that I find
24:50
very interesting to use it.
24:52
For everybody just in normal conversation, though, to
24:56
be informed for themselves and to be able
24:59
to show other people that they're talking to,
25:02
I think is very good.
25:04
And then also, of course, talking for legislation.
25:07
Our hope is that legislation eventually can bridge
25:12
some of the gaps, the issues that we're
25:14
seeing from the map.
25:16
All right, let's learn a little bit more
25:19
about how this might be utilized.
25:20
It's the first time that any of this
25:22
data has been compiled into a single place
25:25
that is accessible to anyone and everyone.
25:28
And this data was aggregated through multiple different
25:32
data sources, including public records, open source government
25:38
and environmental databases, manual Internet research, and even
25:42
field investigations like following transport trucks and slaughter
25:47
trucks to identify hidden supply chains.
25:50
And the end goal reiterating is just really
25:54
to have us all get together and demand
25:56
change to end factory farming in California.
25:59
So whether you're a policymaker pushing forth policies
26:02
to end factory farming in California or an
26:05
activist or just an everyday concerned citizen, we
26:09
really believe and hope that this is a
26:11
useful tool to join this fight with us.
26:15
So people who see this, what would you
26:17
suggest they do?
26:18
I know, Elmeri, you have this action kit.
26:22
Can you tell us more about that?
26:24
Yeah, so like you've said, the first step
26:28
is just make sure you sign that letter,
26:30
especially if you're in California, because it actually
26:32
automatically sends an email to your specific assembly
26:37
member in the state legislature, depending on what
26:40
your zip code is.
26:41
And it kind of encourages the assembly member
26:44
themselves, as well as the governor and the
26:46
attorney general, Rob Bonta and the Speaker of
26:49
the House and the Senate to look at
26:50
the map and gives them kind of like
26:52
a menu of options of what they could
26:56
do as policy to kind of tackle this
27:00
industry.
27:00
But then, you know, that's really easy to
27:03
put in that information.
27:04
Then there's a lot of other things that
27:06
people can do, including things online.
27:09
Also, if you fill out this form, we'll
27:13
mail you stickers that you can use and
27:15
posters to put up to raise awareness.
27:17
And then also there is kind of some
27:19
online groups that are forming to do what
27:22
we call plant code tracking, which is like
27:25
literally grocery store research.
27:27
You go to a grocery store, you pick
27:29
up a brand, you can see how it's
27:30
being marketed, and then you take a photo
27:32
of the plant code.
27:34
And then from that, we can start to
27:35
that's like kind of how we link a
27:38
slaughterhouse or link a processing plant to what
27:42
is actually being sold in a store.
27:45
So that's very helpful.
27:46
And then there's people doing protests to raise
27:49
awareness, put pressure on companies.
27:52
Just this morning, I'm sure for a lot
27:55
of people probably watching this are in L
27:56
.A. since that's where you are.
27:58
Jane, the bougiest grocery store of them all,
28:02
Air One, which is like just a ridiculous
28:04
grocery store chain, had their big West Hollywood
28:06
grand opening.
28:08
And activists in L.A. have been asking
28:09
Air One if you're such a high end
28:11
grocery store, like why are you supplying from
28:13
factory farms?
28:14
And they, of course, haven't answered them yet.
28:16
And they disrupted their grand opening.
28:18
And we know that they're supplying from factory
28:20
farms because you can go into an Air
28:22
One and pick up a brand and then
28:25
find, OK, what what farms are supplying this
28:28
brand?
28:29
And like, oh, wow.
28:29
Yeah, they're literally just like another farm that
28:32
would sell at Walmart.
28:33
So there's like so many different things that
28:35
people are doing.
28:36
And there's a lot of different options depending
28:38
on, you know, if you're somebody who has
28:40
15 minutes a week or wants to really
28:43
get involved in organizing.
28:45
But ultimately, our goal is to shift public
28:47
opinion in the state of California to get
28:50
enough people willing to vote for a policy
28:54
or support something that would put a really
28:58
big dent in this factory farming industry.
29:00
For example, a moratorium where we don't allow
29:03
any new facilities to be built and no
29:06
expansion so that we can start to dismantle
29:09
the ones that we have or funding for
29:12
transitions to plant based agriculture or enforce like
29:17
actually putting pressure on the attorney general to
29:19
enforce these laws, you know, something something like
29:23
that.
29:23
And I think we do have, in a
29:26
sense, the public on our side to a
29:28
degree.
29:29
I think most people do not like to
29:30
see animals suffer.
29:31
It's just not high enough, I think, up
29:33
on that priority list because there are so
29:35
many pressing issues and showing people just how
29:40
terrible the situation is and how urgent it
29:43
is, I think, is really important.
29:46
We invite Air One on any time.
29:48
We'd love to have you on or any
29:49
companies mentioned or any companies in this map.
29:52
There's 1300 factory farms that are documented in
29:56
this map.
29:57
You know, what I find so interesting about
29:58
direct action everywhere is you're always changing and
30:02
growing.
30:02
Some organizations do the same thing year after
30:04
year.
30:05
Obviously, you're best known for Open Rescue.
30:10
This is one of the most dramatic and
30:13
highly publicized open rescues that have occurred on
30:19
DXC's watch.
30:20
This is Zoe Rosenberg rescuing four chickens from
30:24
a slaughterhouse truck.
30:27
This video went viral around the world because
30:30
she was arrested, prosecuted, convicted and ultimately just
30:39
was released from house arrest.
30:41
She also did some actual jail time.
30:44
So, you know, DXC keeps sort of mixing
30:47
it up and doing one thing after the
30:50
other, trying different things.
30:52
In the wake of this trial, actually, we
30:57
at Unchained TV had a proposal and what
31:01
we called for was cameras, live cameras that
31:08
are broadcast publicly in every factory farm and
31:15
slaughterhouse in California.
31:17
And the reason I said this was when
31:21
it became clear that a lot of the
31:23
videotape that the defense in Zoe Rosenberg's trial
31:27
wanted to use, showing her motive for going
31:29
into the facility, was, well, take a look
31:33
at what's happening in the facilities that are
31:36
raising these animals that are going to slaughter.
31:39
And that was not allowed by the judge
31:41
to be shown.
31:42
And then just Googling it, I saw that
31:44
Spain has slaughterhouse cameras required.
31:49
England has slaughterhouse cameras required.
31:52
And I believe there's at least one or
31:56
two other countries, maybe Israel.
31:58
But even though a California politician expressed interest
32:05
in following that up, it never really went
32:07
anywhere.
32:09
But I guess the idea is always sort
32:11
of poking holes in the system and trying
32:15
to separate the myth of the happy cows
32:18
and the happy hens and the happy animals
32:20
grazing on the fields with the reality of
32:24
factory farming in today's world.
32:27
And the fact that no matter what anybody
32:29
says, 99 percent of all animals, at least
32:33
99 percent come from factory farms.
32:36
So, you know, big picture as the lead
32:38
organizer.
32:41
What does this latest attack say about your
32:43
overall mission and strategy?
32:47
Yeah, I think you're right, Jane, that we
32:50
change things up a lot.
32:51
And that's like one of my favorite things
32:53
about Direct Action Everywhere.
32:54
Obviously, we have the same mission and we
32:57
have our set of five values in terms
33:00
of always being nonviolent in our approach and
33:03
understanding that community is very important and those
33:06
sorts of things.
33:06
But within that, I feel very confident that
33:11
nobody should be super confident on what the
33:13
thing is that's going to be the next
33:19
big, I guess, leap forward in ending animal
33:23
agriculture.
33:23
And I don't think it's going to be
33:25
one thing like it's not going to be,
33:27
oh, there's no factory.
33:28
There's tons of factory farms.
33:29
And then tomorrow there's none.
33:30
Obviously, that's going to take a lot of
33:32
incremental steps and a lot of time to
33:34
transform our food system.
33:36
But and a lot of different approaches and
33:38
we don't know what's going to work.
33:39
And so we do try a lot of
33:41
different things with this ultimate theory of change
33:45
and strategy of putting pressure on systems and
33:49
institutions to make more animal friendly policies.
33:53
And we are certainly not abandoning some of
33:57
the other things that we do.
33:58
Open rescue and investigations are and will continue
34:02
to be a key part of our work.
34:05
And I think work really well together with
34:07
this map, because the more investigations and rescues
34:10
that we do like that can then be
34:12
added to the map and continue to kind
34:15
of show that this is not just one
34:19
bad farm and it's not one bad worker.
34:23
This is just an inherent product of what
34:27
happens when we treat animals like machines and
34:29
when we only look at them in terms
34:31
of economic output, because then there is no
34:34
motivation to provide them with any sort of
34:37
level of veterinary care beyond what their bodies
34:39
are worth on the market and all of
34:41
that.
34:42
So that's kind of where where I think
34:44
we we are in our strategy with this.
34:48
Well, I would personally like to see a
34:51
road tour.
34:52
So many environmentalists have not made the connection
34:55
between animal agriculture and climate change because that
34:59
information is suppressed by the mainstream media.
35:02
You know, look at the advertisers, big meat
35:04
and big pharma for the most part.
35:06
So the mainstream media is not talking about
35:10
the impact of animal agriculture on the environment.
35:13
But obviously, water pollution would be one obvious.
35:15
If you've got more than two million cows
35:18
in California that are putting out cities worth
35:21
of manure, we all know cows produce more
35:23
manure than human beings.
35:25
Where is all that manure going?
35:27
And so, Matthew, maybe you could address this,
35:31
getting this information.
35:33
And the other thing I like about it
35:34
is it's not particularly graphic.
35:37
In other words, so many people don't show
35:39
me I don't want to see.
35:40
Well, you're showing maps, you're showing Google views.
35:45
It's there may be some graphic footage somewhere
35:48
in there, but it's something that I think
35:50
anybody, particularly, let's say, an environmental organization that
35:55
invites a bunch of people to a Zoom
35:58
might be able to watch without saying, oh,
36:01
I can't look at any of this.
36:03
Have you thought about doing that?
36:05
I personally am a member of several environmental
36:07
groups to try to open the door.
36:10
Like when they have events, I'll say I'll
36:13
provide the food and we'll go over there
36:15
with a whole bunch of vegan food so
36:16
that people can see, oh, wow, yeah, this
36:20
tastes OK, because you wouldn't believe what you
36:24
would how many environmentalists and members of environmental
36:27
groups are just chowing down on steak or
36:30
meat, beef, chicken, whatever, and they'll serve it
36:34
at their events.
36:35
So my feeling is, you know, join all
36:39
these groups.
36:41
And it is a lot of work.
36:42
But go in there with just literally carrying
36:44
food, which we've done with several environmental groups.
36:48
And you know what?
36:48
The response is often extremely positive.
36:52
Similarly, have you thought of perhaps doing presentations
36:55
to environmental groups in California?
36:59
Yeah, we absolutely have.
37:00
I think there's a growing consensus in environmental
37:02
groups that animals, you know, an increasing amount
37:07
of understanding of animals being important to environmental
37:10
groups.
37:12
And we have, you know, very publicly numbers
37:15
on our website about how much how many
37:19
emissions each facility emits, as well as the
37:23
total number of emissions.
37:24
And it's been well attested both on our
37:27
website and outside that the dairy industry especially
37:32
makes up about half of California's methane emissions
37:36
or more than half.
37:40
And so, yeah, we're interested in doing more
37:43
outreach.
37:44
We've been talking with groups, trying to discuss,
37:49
especially in the Central Valley, where people are
37:51
very directly impacted by the water.
37:53
They can't drink the water there.
37:55
It's often just kind of taken for granted
37:57
that, yeah, you have to go buy a
38:00
big jug of water routinely, or in some
38:03
places, the government is even paying for that
38:05
as well.
38:07
Because the water is polluted, often by nitrates
38:11
that leach into the ground from animal manure
38:14
and from synthetic fertilizer as well.
38:18
But animal manure does tend to leach more
38:20
nitrates into the ground, my understanding.
38:23
And so reaching out to people who are
38:26
worried directly for the impacts precisely to them,
38:29
as well as people who are concerned about
38:31
the impacts on the environment as a whole,
38:34
is a big part of things that might
38:37
be part of upcoming strategy.
38:39
Well, I think this is incredible.
38:42
I want to thank you both for joining
38:43
us.
38:44
Final thoughts.
38:46
Of course, they're not final, but final thoughts
38:48
for this podcast.
38:50
Matthew, we'll start with you.
38:56
It's great to be on.
38:58
Great to be able to talk to people
38:59
about the real size and scope of factory
39:02
farming.
39:03
And I really hope everybody is able to
39:05
use this, yes, with the tools and everything,
39:07
but also just directly in their life talking
39:10
to people that they know if they need
39:13
to let people know this is what factory
39:16
farming is.
39:17
This is the size of it.
39:18
This is what it looks like.
39:20
All right, Elmira.
39:22
Yeah, like what Matthew said, I think this
39:26
is a platform.
39:27
It's not a final product.
39:29
So we want to keep adding to it.
39:31
People are out there documenting a facility near
39:34
them, then send us the footage and we'll
39:37
add it.
39:38
Or if you want to use it for
39:39
your campaign, a brand that you're really motivated
39:43
by, facilities by your house, places that have
39:48
that we're paying with our tax dollars to
39:50
bail out, even though they don't have to
39:52
make a single change to their operation.
39:54
They have avian flu.
39:55
They don't have to do anything.
39:56
But we give them millions of dollars, like
39:58
whatever it is that you're super motivated by.
40:00
I think we can use this map or
40:01
a launch pad for campaigning.
40:04
And that's our goal with this is that
40:06
it kind of becomes this hub for a
40:09
lot of different things, regardless of what issue
40:11
that you're most motivated by.
40:13
And to sign the letter, if you haven't
40:16
already, so that a lot of politicians are
40:18
getting bombarded with these emails saying that they
40:22
need to do something about factory farming in
40:23
California.
40:24
Well, I'd like to say it's an extraordinary
40:27
technological achievement.
40:29
Kudos to Matthew, Amira and the entire team
40:33
that developed this.
40:34
I personally think that other major animal rights
40:37
organizations should fund it so that it goes
40:39
coast to coast and global, that every single
40:43
state has the power to do this.
40:46
And I certainly hope that environmental groups get
40:49
the opportunity to see this because it takes,
40:53
in a way, it's very emotional when you've
40:56
zoomed in on those feedlots.
40:57
It touched my heart.
40:59
But it's also cold hard facts they can't
41:02
argue with.
41:03
That's what I love about it.
41:04
It's take a look at this.
41:06
This is evidence.
41:07
This is a Google map.
41:10
Here's your myth.
41:11
Here's your fantasy.
41:12
Here's the reality.
41:13
And you decide.
41:16
So I really hope that there's a way
41:18
to get this to environmental groups, conservation groups.
41:24
And just to sum it up, as Karen
41:26
says, bravo.
41:28
We'll leave it at that.
41:30
See you next time.
41:31
More to come on this subject.
41:43
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