Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / UnchainedTV: Peru's Plant-Based Legal Battle
Transcript
- 0:00Unchained TV free streaming network, Jane Velez Mitchell.
- 0:04You're about to hear a secret solution to
- 0:06the problems that plague our world.
- 0:08If you want to revolutionise your health, get
- 0:11truly joyful and jump to the next phase
- 0:13of human evolution, all it takes is one
- 0:16simple choice.
- 0:18Now here's your host, Jane Velez Mitchell.
- 0:21And we've got breaking news for you.
- 0:24A lawsuit in Peru filed by two students
- 0:28demanding vegan options.
- 0:31And this could be a precedent that could
- 0:34reverberate across Latin America.
- 0:37You know, how hard is it for schools
- 0:39to provide vegan options?
- 0:41Here are the two students who have taken
- 0:44a stand.
- 0:45One, the young woman on the left is
- 0:48a law student.
- 0:49The other is an anthropology student.
- 0:51They said they were asking for five months,
- 0:54five months begging for substantial vegan options at
- 0:58their school and were met with just silence
- 1:02or dismissal.
- 1:04So finally they hired an attorney and they
- 1:06went to court.
- 1:08And essentially they are making some demands.
- 1:13They're saying, hey, the dining hall must provide
- 1:16plant-based alternatives that are approved by a
- 1:18nutrition specialist in vegan nutrition.
- 1:21The students at this university must establish a
- 1:26registry of vegan students and veganism must be
- 1:29recognised as an ethical principle protected by the
- 1:33fundamental right to freedom of conscience.
- 1:36So we're very excited.
- 1:38We think that some of these students may
- 1:41actually be joining us today, but here we
- 1:44are with some of the principals and these
- 1:47are folks joining from around the world.
- 1:49Now I wanna start with Yennifer.
- 1:52Yennifer, you are a translator who has been
- 1:56in court.
- 1:57You have followed this from the beginning.
- 2:00Why don't you give us the basic story
- 2:03of what happened?
- 2:04There are students at this university, one of
- 2:07the oldest universities in Mexico, and all of
- 2:12a sudden they say, look, we're vegans.
- 2:14We wanna be able to eat food at
- 2:16our university and crickets.
- 2:18So tell us the story from the beginning,
- 2:21Yennifer.
- 2:23Oh, well, hello everyone.
- 2:26So this is basically really concerning for us
- 2:30because this university is such a big university
- 2:34in Peru.
- 2:36The San Marcos is really big, it's a
- 2:39public university and I felt really upset when
- 2:44these two students, and there's more than just
- 2:47two, right?
- 2:49And they were just being discriminated somehow because
- 2:54the only thing they could eat in the
- 2:58university was taking the, let's say, the meat
- 3:02out of the plate.
- 3:04So they must be eating rice, pasta, and
- 3:09that was it.
- 3:10And we're talking about these students are living
- 3:14there in the university, you know?
- 3:17They're studying there and most of them, they
- 3:21don't have a lot of money, so they
- 3:24totally need this nutrition food from the university
- 3:33and the university just don't see it, don't
- 3:36see a problem.
- 3:37They even say, this is absurd, this is
- 3:40totally nonsense.
- 3:42So I was really concerned when Alexander contacted
- 3:45me to be the interpreter of the hearing
- 3:48for this group, for Yemucus, Dr. Neil Bernard,
- 3:54Dr. Rowley, and Dr. Celia Shroud, I was
- 3:58really happy to help them because this is
- 4:02a big deal.
- 4:04If the university actually give vegan options, this
- 4:10is gonna be great news for the vegan
- 4:14society in Peru because it's gonna be a
- 4:18start.
- 4:19First, it's gonna be this public university, San
- 4:22Marcos, and then we can be to other
- 4:26universities, maybe schools, and then this is gonna
- 4:30be just a great deal if these two
- 4:34students, they are demanding the university win.
- 4:38Let me now go out to Alison Panjay.
- 4:43There's a lot of people involved in here,
- 4:45so thank you for your patience.
- 4:47Alison, what I was particularly taken by, and
- 4:51we invite this university on at any time,
- 4:55I was taken in the news reports I've
- 4:57read by the fact that they thought this
- 4:59was stupid and elitist.
- 5:03That's what's so bizarre to me that all
- 5:06of a sudden vegetables have become elitist and
- 5:10serving people meat is considered of the earth
- 5:15when obviously the indigenous peoples of Mexico were
- 5:19not eating at fast food restaurants over the
- 5:22course of centuries.
- 5:24Right, as a matter of fact, Peru traditionally
- 5:27is a potatoes and quinoa and squash.
- 5:36Peru is the origin of some of those
- 5:38foods.
- 5:39And so in the universities, which are in
- 5:43the cities where things tend to move toward
- 5:45the modern way, the US actually introduced the
- 5:51modern chicken.
- 5:53When I say modern chicken, I'm talking about
- 5:55the type of chicken that's been genetically improved,
- 6:00quote-unquote, to produce more meat at a
- 6:05more rapid pace.
- 6:06So the US introduced that type of chicken
- 6:08like 50 years ago and that kind of
- 6:10changed everything here in Peru.
- 6:12It became a thing.
- 6:14Before that meat was largely guinea pigs is
- 6:22what people ate here.
- 6:24And they still eat guinea pigs here, but
- 6:27it was only on a special occasion.
- 6:30And Monday through Friday, it would be rice,
- 6:34excuse me, it would be beans and potatoes.
- 6:38And that was more traditional here in Peru.
- 6:43So that was introduced to Peru.
- 6:45The chicken, the modern chicken was introduced by
- 6:47Purdue here about 50 years ago.
- 6:50And I don't know if people are aware
- 6:53of this, but Peru is home to the
- 6:58second largest portion of the Amazon jungle after
- 7:02Brazil.
- 7:05Peru has about 12% of the Amazon
- 7:08jungle.
- 7:09And most people are not aware of that.
- 7:14And Peru has an area that's the size
- 7:18of Texas.
- 7:20And in the Amazon jungle.
- 7:24And Peru is the source of 30%
- 7:27of the water that flows into the Amazon
- 7:29river across the continent and goes into the
- 7:32Atlantic ocean.
- 7:33So it's an important thing here to take
- 7:37care, to halt the deforestation.
- 7:40And that's part of the issue.
- 7:42Yes, Jane.
- 7:42Let me jump in.
- 7:44I wanna understand really what the lawsuit is
- 7:48about.
- 7:49Now, the attorney is here, the gentleman who
- 7:53is joining us.
- 7:55And we understand that Gabriela, who is one
- 7:58of the plaintiffs has just shown up, but
- 8:00she has not revealed her face.
- 8:02Gabriela, can you put your face on camera,
- 8:05please?
- 8:07So let me ask this.
- 8:10And getting back to the translator, what happened
- 8:17in the hearing?
- 8:18I wanna go over the essential facts of
- 8:22this case before we get to some of
- 8:25the deeper issues.
- 8:26But the basic facts of this case are
- 8:30that you're making some demands to provide significant
- 8:35plant-based alternatives, establish a registry of vegan
- 8:40students and have veganism recognised as an ethical
- 8:45principle protected by the fundamental right to freedom
- 8:49of conscience.
- 8:51Your complaint is that this university failed to
- 8:54offer any plant-based options in the dining
- 8:57hall, thereby violating the right to freedom of
- 9:01conscience, equality and non-discrimination, personal identity, free
- 9:05development of personality and essentially putting the health
- 9:10and sustenance of the students at risk.
- 9:13So let me ask you, how did this
- 9:17get to the point that there was a
- 9:19lawsuit?
- 9:20I mean, the students went in there, they
- 9:22said, hey, we can't eat any of this
- 9:24stuff.
- 9:25It's drenched in meat and dairy.
- 9:28We've all been there.
- 9:29I've worked in the corporate world where every
- 9:31time you wanted to have vegetables, it was
- 9:34with lard and I couldn't eat any of
- 9:36it.
- 9:36I've been in that situation.
- 9:38But you're saying the university simply laughed at
- 9:42this or stopped at it?
- 9:46Yes.
- 9:47I've talked with Gabriela and with Luis and
- 9:51they just said that the university gave them
- 9:54food, right?
- 9:55For free, free food for all the students
- 9:58because all day they don't have this support
- 10:03of their, let's say their parents.
- 10:07And I talked to them and they told
- 10:10me that sometimes their main lunch was rice,
- 10:16meat and then potatoes.
- 10:21And that would save a juice maybe.
- 10:24And in order to eat, because they were
- 10:27hungry, they could just eat the rice and
- 10:30the potatoes.
- 10:31And that's so bad for their health because
- 10:35they live in the university.
- 10:37They study there most of the time.
- 10:40So this is really a big concern.
- 10:43So I'm pretty sure that the university, for
- 10:49them, when they say that that was nonsense
- 10:52and nonsense demand and stupid demand, they totally
- 10:56feel discriminated.
- 10:58They felt left behind.
- 11:01So what happened in the hearing?
- 11:03There was a hearing and we're gonna find
- 11:06out about that but we've got a lot
- 11:07of callers.
- 11:08The people are really upset about this.
- 11:10Let's start with Paige in Los Angeles.
- 11:12Your question or thought for our panel, most
- 11:16of whom are coming from Peru.
- 11:17So this is quite a technological miracle considering
- 11:23that we're getting all these people from Peru
- 11:26to talk.
- 11:29Hi, can you hear me?
- 11:30Yes.
- 11:31Hello?
- 11:32Great, terrific.
- 11:33I think it's so essential that we're feeding
- 11:36the bright minds of the future now, healthy,
- 11:41delicious food.
- 11:41I'm curious, does the university recognise that we
- 11:46are in a climate crisis and that the
- 11:48Amazon is being burned down for this crop
- 11:52for animals?
- 11:53Is that something that's recognised?
- 11:55One piece of the puzzle here, I'm curious
- 11:57about, and in the United States, we're also
- 12:01working on bringing plant-based options to universities
- 12:04with the plants.
- 12:05So this is definitely a groundbreaking win, let's
- 12:12say.
- 12:13And I'm looking forward to hearing the responses.
- 12:16Thank you so much for taking my call.
- 12:18Thank you.
- 12:18So Alison, let's focus in on that.
- 12:21I mean, obviously it's not just a personal
- 12:23choice.
- 12:23It's an environmental choice.
- 12:25It's a compassionate choice.
- 12:26But particularly when we are in the throes
- 12:30of a growing climate crisis that is no
- 12:33longer hypothetical, that is real.
- 12:35I mean, we see it here in Los
- 12:37Angeles, fires, floods, all sorts of problems to
- 12:40the point where it's hard to get insurance
- 12:42sometimes for one's home.
- 12:44It's obviously even more extreme in Latin America,
- 12:50which is a hotter climate from the get
- 12:53-go.
- 12:54Isn't, is there any understanding of the climate
- 12:57aspect of this by the university?
- 13:01I would say there's very little understanding of
- 13:03the climate implications of our food systems.
- 13:07There are several different faculties within the university.
- 13:11There's a veterinary school.
- 13:12There is a school, it's a branch of
- 13:15engineering that deals with environment.
- 13:18But the question of the implication of what
- 13:22we eat is not really recognised here in
- 13:25Peru.
- 13:25And I think part of it is that
- 13:27unlike Brazil, where the primary cause of deforestation
- 13:32is animal agriculture, here in Peru, that's not
- 13:36true.
- 13:37Peru is not a large consumer or producer
- 13:39of beef.
- 13:41There is dairy production, but there's not the
- 13:45awareness here in Peru about the implications of
- 13:47our food systems.
- 13:48And so, interestingly enough, this is a large
- 13:53university, over 40,000 students, and yes.
- 13:58And there doesn't seem to be an integrated
- 14:02awareness.
- 14:03There may be isolated awareness within the university,
- 14:06but the administration seems to be totally unaware
- 14:12of the environmental implications of our food systems.
- 14:16So sad, I mean, the New York Times
- 14:19reported on an Oxford University study that said
- 14:23that vegans are responsible for 75% less
- 14:26in greenhouse gases than meat eaters.
- 14:29Right there, that shows you the solution of
- 14:31the climate crisis.
- 14:33And to think that students at this university
- 14:35in Peru have to sue to get vegan
- 14:40options, it's really shocking.
- 14:43We invite the university on any time.
- 14:45I would love to dialogue with you.
- 14:47Let's go to our callers again.
- 14:49Tiffany in Los Angeles, your question or thought
- 14:51for our panel.
- 14:53Thank you, Jane.
- 14:55And this is for Gabriela and Louis.
- 14:58I'm so impressed by both of them doing
- 15:02the right thing for the animals, the environment,
- 15:04and health.
- 15:04What was the final straw that led you
- 15:07to decide to file a lawsuit?
- 15:09What's the story behind the lawsuit?
- 15:12Thank you.
- 15:13We do have the attorney for the two
- 15:16plaintiffs here.
- 15:17And I think we have Gabriela.
- 15:20Let's see if she's popping up.
- 15:22You know, she's in Peru, so it can
- 15:23be very difficult for folks to join.
- 15:27These students are not in a situation where
- 15:29there's excellent wifi.
- 15:31You can see the little circle, she's having
- 15:33trouble.
- 15:34Maybe you could answer.
- 15:35You can answer in Spanish, and then Yennefer
- 15:38can translate.
- 15:40Oh, here's Gabriela, hold on.
- 15:42Gabriela, let's get you up.
- 15:45All right.
- 15:46I'm gonna try to unmute you.
- 15:48Can you unmute yourself, please?
- 15:51Unmute yourself, Gabriela.
- 15:54Gabriela.
- 15:56Unmute yourself so we can hear you.
- 16:01Hello.
- 16:02Okay, well, there she is.
- 16:04There's Gabriela.
- 16:05And very, very...
- 16:07There she is.
- 16:08Can you unmute yourself, Gabriela?
- 16:11I can't unmute you.
- 16:14Gabriela, can you...
- 16:15Can you speak, Gabriela?
- 16:17We can't hear you because you're muted.
- 16:22You're here, now.
- 16:23Please start describing what happened, why you did
- 16:28this.
- 16:32Speak, please, Gabriela.
- 16:35Okay, I'm going to speak in Spanish, and
- 16:37Yennefer will translate.
- 16:38You can speak.
- 16:40Can you hear me?
- 16:41Yes.
- 16:42Yes.
- 16:45Start speaking, please, Gabriela.
- 16:51Okay.
- 16:52Well, about why I decided to make this
- 16:56claim, it's because the university doesn't provide food
- 16:59based on plants.
- 17:01And, well, as students, we don't have the
- 17:03economic and time possibilities.
- 17:07Yeah, because the university doesn't offer that.
- 17:10Even if we were, I don't know, omnivores,
- 17:12it's quite...
- 17:15Go on.
- 17:16Continue up, continue up.
- 17:20Continue.
- 17:22It's quite complicated because we work and study.
- 17:27In my case, I live alone, and I
- 17:29have to see how to solve my expenses
- 17:31and so on.
- 17:32And besides that, the university has a dining
- 17:35room.
- 17:35So that's why we asked the administration to
- 17:39provide us with an option based on plants,
- 17:41but they didn't answer us.
- 17:43Until now, they haven't answered us.
- 17:45And it's been about a year and a
- 17:48half since we got an answer.
- 17:50And, well, many students in San Marcos don't
- 17:52have the possibility, I don't know, to buy
- 17:54a menu every day.
- 17:56And that's why it's a necessity.
- 17:59Okay.
- 18:00So what I'm hearing, and you could translate
- 18:03further, is that it wasn't just five months,
- 18:06it was over a year.
- 18:08And she is essentially saying there's a lot
- 18:11of students that agree with her.
- 18:13It's not just her and her friend that
- 18:16she's speaking for a whole bunch of students.
- 18:19Can you elaborate on that, Allison?
- 18:22And obviously you're in Peru.
- 18:24Everybody here is talking from Peru.
- 18:26So thank you for giving us some of
- 18:29the technical issues.
- 18:30Go ahead.
- 18:32Yes.
- 18:32So the request was made actually last year.
- 18:37And so it's been a year and a
- 18:39half now that the request has been made.
- 18:45And there's been no answer, no reply, other
- 18:48than when the rector of the university spoke
- 18:52publicly and said that the request was absurd.
- 18:55And so taking the legal path now, being
- 19:00headed up by these two students, as well
- 19:04as Isaac Lobato, who is on screen, we
- 19:09are moving forward and using this avenue.
- 19:14And we've had the first hearing, and we're
- 19:18now waiting for the judge to respond based
- 19:21on the information that she was given, including
- 19:24three reports, one from Dr. Silas Rao, one
- 19:28from Dr. Raleigh from the Vegan Society, and
- 19:31one from Dr. Bernard from the PCR on
- 19:34the Physicians Committee for Responsible Health.
- 19:36And we're also working with the University of
- 19:37California on the issue of the use of
- 19:37medical medicine.
- 19:38So it's a case that's very well presented
- 19:42and supported, and we are on our way
- 19:45with this.
- 19:47Excellent.
- 19:48All right, well, if you're just joining us,
- 19:51I wanna say that we have an entire
- 19:55panel from Peru.
- 19:57This has been quite a deal to get
- 19:58this all together.
- 20:00Thanks to modern technology, we're able to talk
- 20:03to all of them.
- 20:05And you have one of the plaintiffs, one
- 20:08of the two plaintiffs is here, Gabriella, who
- 20:12just basically said they asked for a year
- 20:14nicely, and then when they got no response
- 20:17except dismissal, they finally had to file suit.
- 20:21And the good news here is that this
- 20:23is an opportunity to educate not only the
- 20:27students and the administration, but also possibly set
- 20:30a precedent that could reverberate around Latin America
- 20:34or even the world.
- 20:35Let's go to our next caller, Nilo Farr
- 20:37in Dallas, Texas, your question or thought for
- 20:41our panel.
- 20:43Hi.
- 20:44First, I signed the petition.
- 20:46It was very easy to do.
- 20:49Second, it's quite fascinating that Peru has a
- 20:52nascent veganism movement.
- 20:54It's even more fascinating that the issue has
- 20:58now gone to court.
- 21:00Question, are there any risks involved in doing
- 21:04vegan and environmental activism in Peru?
- 21:09What do you mean by risk?
- 21:11Are you saying you think people are going
- 21:12to come after them with a sledgehammer or
- 21:14something?
- 21:16Well, there's a record of environmental activists in
- 21:21South America being assassinated.
- 21:24Oh, my gosh.
- 21:25Geez.
- 21:26Well, let's go to the attorney on that.
- 21:28I don't know if you heard the question,
- 21:30but can you answer and feel free to
- 21:33answer in Spanish and then we'll translate.
- 21:35And we're going to unmute you.
- 21:37So unmute yourself.
- 21:39You have to unmute yourself.
- 21:40Go ahead.
- 21:42Thanks, Jen.
- 21:44It's a thankful invitation and it's an honour
- 21:47to be here in your programme.
- 21:50And thanks also for the question.
- 21:52I find it very important because about veganism,
- 21:58there is no personal or integrity or risk.
- 22:04However, environmental activism is at risk.
- 22:10And that's a very, very sad.
- 22:14This is a very sad situation here in
- 22:16Peru because overall, indigenous environmental defenders.
- 22:22Until this year, there has been 35 deaths,
- 22:29murders to indigenous defenders of their territory and
- 22:35their environment.
- 22:37And that's a very sad situation here in
- 22:43Peru.
- 22:43And the government, their mechanism to protect their
- 22:47life are inefficient overall.
- 22:50Wow.
- 22:51Well, that's terrifying.
- 22:53I want to go back to Allison and
- 22:56ask you your reaction to that because I
- 23:00frankly was unaware.
- 23:01He's saying a lot of environmental activists in
- 23:04Peru have been murdered?
- 23:05Yes.
- 23:06That's scary.
- 23:08Tell us.
- 23:08Yeah.
- 23:10Peru is half jungle.
- 23:11Half of the Peruvian territory is jungle.
- 23:14And that's where these deaths are occurring, where
- 23:16people do not speak English.
- 23:18They do not speak Spanish.
- 23:20Although some of their key leaders do speak
- 23:24Spanish.
- 23:25But in any case, they're defending their rights
- 23:30to their land and they get murdered because
- 23:36they're a nuisance to those who want to
- 23:38carry out other activities.
- 23:40So, for instance, in Peru, there's a lot
- 23:43of deforestation because of production of coca, which
- 23:47is used to make cocaine.
- 23:48So the coca leaf is very hard to
- 23:52control.
- 23:53Obviously, there are strong illegal forces behind it.
- 23:57There is some legal coca production in Peru,
- 24:00which is used for, I'm not sure, medicinal
- 24:04purposes, I believe.
- 24:05But the majority of it is cocaine production,
- 24:09which is illegal, or coca production, which is
- 24:11illegal.
- 24:12And it's causing deforestation.
- 24:14And so these illegal producers enter the indigenous
- 24:21lands in the Amazon forest.
- 24:24And when the indigenous people go to protect
- 24:26their property and their rights, they often are
- 24:30killed by these narco traffickers.
- 24:32I don't know how you say it in
- 24:33English, but the traffickers.
- 24:35Yeah.
- 24:36Yeah.
- 24:37Well, that's very sad.
- 24:38I certainly, certainly hope that the plaintiffs in
- 24:42this lawsuit, I don't think there's crossover.
- 24:47Demanding vegan options is not the same.
- 24:50But stay safe.
- 24:52Stay safe.
- 24:53It's kind of scary.
- 24:55I want to go back to Gabriela.
- 24:58And we're going to ask you to unmute.
- 25:00Unmute so you can talk.
- 25:08Quiero que hablas, Gabriela.
- 25:12Okay.
- 25:13Dime.
- 25:13Okay.
- 25:14Yes.
- 25:16¿Puedes hablar más sobre la reacción en su
- 25:22universidad entre los estudiantes?
- 25:27Los estudiantes, ¿cómo piensan ellos?
- 25:34Okay.
- 25:36Bueno.
- 25:38Okay.
- 25:39Bueno.
- 25:40Quienes me conocen en realidad, o son cercanos
- 25:42a mí, me han apoyado bastante.
- 25:45Pero quienes no saben, digamos que de la
- 25:47lucha que se está siguiendo, pues se burlan
- 25:50o intentan minimizar nuestra lucha.
- 25:53Especialmente por las declaraciones que hubieron, ¿no?
- 25:56Sin sustento.
- 25:57Que solo buscaban desinformar de parte de la
- 26:00rectora.
- 26:02Bueno.
- 26:03Ahí justo un medio de comunicación le pidió
- 26:05una entrevista sobre el presupuesto de la universidad.
- 26:08Pero ella, para desviar el tema, mencionó nuestra
- 26:11demanda y la tildó de absurda.
- 26:14Y, bueno, que esta es una universidad del
- 26:16pueblo.
- 26:17Y la verdad es bastante indignante que minimice
- 26:20e instrumentalice de esa manera nuestra demanda.
- 26:24Especialmente porque quienes hemos demandado somos parte del
- 26:27pueblo del que hablan, ¿no?
- 26:32Entonces, algunos alumnos se empezaron a burlar por
- 26:35esta situación.
- 26:36Empezaron a mandar mis datos a un grupo
- 26:39de más de 400 personas para burlarse.
- 26:41Y por otro grupo de mi universidad, unos
- 26:44chicos empezaron a dirigirse a mi persona despectivamente.
- 26:48Me decían requítica, mantenida, parásito del estado, entre
- 26:51más cosas, ¿no?
- 26:53Luego, fuimos víctima de los comentarios malintencionados por
- 26:56parte de un medio, de un reportero que
- 27:00es bastante cuestionado en nuestro país, el cual
- 27:03difundió mi imagen de perfil y mi usuario
- 27:06de Facebook.
- 27:07Después de esto, me empezaron a llegar mensajes
- 27:10de hombres quienes criticaban mi cuerpo.
- 27:13Y, pues, de cierta manera me insultaron diciéndome
- 27:15que soy, o sea, lo mismo, ¿no?
- 27:16De mantener el estado y demás.
- 27:22Translator, I was, you know, my Spanish is
- 27:25not great, but my understanding, oh, and we've
- 27:27got Dr. Silas Frau joining.
- 27:30Wow, what an incredible honour.
- 27:33But if you could just translate what the
- 27:35plaintiff Gabriela said, my understanding is she said
- 27:37she's Yennefer, she's getting harassed, people are attacking
- 27:42her.
- 27:42There's also unspoken media.
- 27:46Tell us, tell us what she said in
- 27:48a nutshell.
- 27:48Oh, well, they were bullying her.
- 27:53But those who don't know about the struggle
- 27:56that was going on, the two plaintiffs make
- 28:00fun of trying to minimise their struggle, especially
- 28:03because of the un-sustainability, the statement made
- 28:07by the rector, right, which only sort of
- 28:11misinformed.
- 28:13A media outlet asked her to interview on
- 28:16the university budget, but in order to defer
- 28:19the subject that she mentioned are the demand
- 28:22and call it absurd nonsense, and that is
- 28:27a university of the people, but these two
- 28:30plaintiffs, they are part of the university.
- 28:32They are people.
- 28:33And it is outrageous for her and for
- 28:36Luis that the rector minimises their feelings and
- 28:42their demand, especially because those two demands, these
- 28:47two plans, they are part of the people,
- 28:49they are students.
- 28:51And, yeah, they were harassing her.
- 28:53They were bullying her.
- 28:54They were calling skinny.
- 28:57They were body shaming her.
- 28:59They were saying that she is a rat,
- 29:03really, really bad.
- 29:05Wow.
- 29:06Thank you.
- 29:07I want to bring in Dr. Rao.
- 29:09Thank you for joining us, Dr. Rao.
- 29:11Everybody else is joining us from Peru, and
- 29:14so this is pretty extraordinary that we even
- 29:16have this conversation going.
- 29:18But, Dr. Rao, as the founder of Climate
- 29:21Healers, can you tell us what the bigger
- 29:24significance of this entire lawsuit is?
- 29:30Yeah, the significance here is that these students
- 29:32are asking for an option that would not
- 29:37only, you know, address their conscientious objections to
- 29:42eating meat, but also give them a sustainable
- 29:45future.
- 29:47And the university, which is a place of
- 29:49education, which should be a place of research
- 29:52and new beginnings, is basically saying no.
- 29:58How could that, you know, I mean, to
- 30:00me, how could that stand?
- 30:04This university has no leg to stand on
- 30:06because they are supposed to be leading in
- 30:09this effort towards sustainability.
- 30:12And the students are basically saying, give us
- 30:15a future.
- 30:18This is why I was struck when this
- 30:20lawsuit came to my attention.
- 30:21And I told Alison I would love to
- 30:23help by writing a legal brief on behalf
- 30:28of the students.
- 30:28And explaining why this is such an important
- 30:34issue from an environmental perspective.
- 30:37I was really struck by how, I hate
- 30:42to say it, backward the university is on
- 30:46this issue, when I know that there are
- 30:48other places in Latin America that are leading
- 30:51in the vegan and plant based movement.
- 30:55Mexico City has something like 80 vegan restaurants.
- 31:01It is a vegan Mecca.
- 31:03Costa Rica is very forward thinking when it
- 31:06comes to veganism.
- 31:09It was really shocking to me that Peru,
- 31:13which when I think of Peru, of course,
- 31:15this is, I've never been to Peru, but
- 31:17I think of a tropical forest.
- 31:19I think of fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains.
- 31:21I don't think of steak.
- 31:23I was very shocked, Dr. Rao, by how
- 31:28it's almost like a colonialist attitude toward diet.
- 31:34Right.
- 31:35It is based on, you know, colonialism is
- 31:38about imposing our, you know, the coloniser's culture
- 31:43on the colonised.
- 31:45I'm sure the indigenous people of Peru are
- 31:48not eating chicken and steak.
- 31:50They were eating what is available to them,
- 31:53which is, you know, it's growing in plenty
- 31:55around the plants and primarily plants is what
- 32:00they would be eating.
- 32:01So it's imposing our culture on them, saying
- 32:04you need to be eating McDonald's.
- 32:06You need to be eating, you know, Purdue
- 32:08chicken.
- 32:10That to me is a form of colonialism,
- 32:14right, in the food.
- 32:16Well, indeed, it's food colonialism.
- 32:20And I think it's something that what always
- 32:23strikes me as so frustrating is when people
- 32:28co-sign their own oppression.
- 32:30And this is what I think this university,
- 32:33respectfully, we invite them on any time, but
- 32:37I think that's what's happening.
- 32:38It's almost like we want to adopt the
- 32:43Western diet to prove whatever, when indeed a
- 32:50true reflexion of Peru, if you go back
- 32:54millennia, would be almost entirely plant-based or
- 32:58certainly primarily plant-based.
- 33:00I have to go back to Alison on
- 33:05that.
- 33:05You know, you're there, Alison, in Peru.
- 33:09Is there discussion about this at all?
- 33:13Or is this something that we're seeing from
- 33:15afar, but the folks there are too close
- 33:18to see it?
- 33:21Well, certainly there's a lot of discussion within
- 33:23the vegan community here in Peru.
- 33:26The majority of Peruvians who are vegan are
- 33:29vegan because of ethical reasons.
- 33:33And one of the ethical reasons is environmental.
- 33:38But also they're very concerned about the well
- 33:42-being of animals.
- 33:44And it's a substantial movement.
- 33:48And we do have a dozen vegan restaurants
- 33:55in Lima.
- 33:56So it's not something that's unknown, but there's
- 34:00a lot of resistance.
- 34:01Peru is, I would say, having lived here
- 34:04for nearly 40 years, there's a conservative aspect
- 34:08of Peru that maybe comes from Catholicism.
- 34:12And so there's always a conservative push to
- 34:19embracing new things.
- 34:21Now, if it's shown that you can make
- 34:24money with veganism, then there are thousands and
- 34:31millions of entrepreneurs waiting to take advantage.
- 34:34And so we do have a lot of
- 34:36new companies that have started up.
- 34:39One of them is called Peruvian VEF, V
- 34:41-E-E-F.
- 34:43So we have organic supermarkets.
- 34:48And it's more than a budding industry.
- 34:51Things are changing.
- 34:53And this lawsuit is key, pulling people together
- 34:58from all of the universities and bringing it
- 35:01into the public dialogue.
- 35:04So, yeah, it's not like Mexico.
- 35:11There's been more of a transformation due to
- 35:15this colonialist attitude of the wealthy who have
- 35:21changed the way of eating, particularly in the
- 35:25cities, from the traditional food to this elitist
- 35:30type of consumption of animals.
- 35:33And if you go into the rural areas,
- 35:36you will not find people eating nearly as
- 35:40much chicken as they do in the urban
- 35:44areas.
- 35:45But it's a product of colonialism, absolutely.
- 35:49Well, if you are joining us, we're bringing
- 35:52you a breaking news about this lawsuit that
- 35:56was filed against a major university in Peru
- 35:59by these two students, one of whom has
- 36:01joined us, and they simply want plant-based
- 36:06options, significant plant-based options, not just bread
- 36:10and pasta and rice, which is not sustainable
- 36:14for them health-wise.
- 36:16So they've made demands in this lawsuit.
- 36:19The dining hall must provide plant-based alternatives
- 36:22that are approved by a nutritionist specialising in
- 36:24vegan nutrition.
- 36:25The university must establish a registry of vegan
- 36:28students, and veganism must be recognised as an
- 36:31ethical principle protected by the fundamental right to
- 36:34freedom of conscience.
- 36:35So where does this lawsuit stand?
- 36:40There was a hearing.
- 36:42What was the outcome of the hearing in
- 36:44a nutshell?
- 36:45And what's the next step?
- 36:47And let's go back to Alison on that.
- 36:50Okay.
- 36:50I think Isaac, the attorney, would be a
- 36:53better one to answer.
- 36:54Well, sure.
- 36:55Okay.
- 36:57We're going to go to you.
- 36:59Unmute yourself, sir, and tell us what happened
- 37:02in court.
- 37:05Yes.
- 37:07We had the hearing on September 9th, and
- 37:12then there will be the judgement, because we
- 37:16are in a constitutional process, and it means
- 37:19that it's very short if we compare with
- 37:23other kinds of uses of judgement.
- 37:29So, yeah, in that case, I don't know
- 37:33if maybe until the last of the year,
- 37:36at the end of the year, we finally
- 37:38get a judgement, and we hope so.
- 37:40But it will depend on the judge, principally.
- 37:45So it's a judge, a single judge, making
- 37:47this decision.
- 37:48It's not a jury.
- 37:51It's one judge who hears this?
- 37:54Yeah, because we are on the first instance,
- 37:57and in the first instance, it's only one
- 38:00judge.
- 38:01Then after it, independent of the decision, of
- 38:06the judgement, if it's in favour to us
- 38:08or against to us, the part who is
- 38:12not beneficent for it will appear, the judgement,
- 38:16and now will be a jury.
- 38:19There will be the second instance where three
- 38:22judges, not only one, will solve the case.
- 38:25And if we go in the second instance,
- 38:30the process is over, and there will be
- 38:34all these requests, right?
- 38:38However, if we don't win in the second
- 38:44instance, we could go to the constitutional court.
- 38:48In that case, the most important court to
- 38:53interpret the constitution in our country.
- 38:56Let me ask you this question.
- 38:59Did the university show up at the hearing,
- 39:01and what exactly did they say in their
- 39:04own defence in front of the judge?
- 39:07It's a very important question.
- 39:11The defence, the other lawyers said that basically
- 39:16formal arguments that say that there is, we
- 39:21pretend a right to beginnings, and that right
- 39:24to beginnings doesn't exist.
- 39:26But that's false, because we are not pretending
- 39:29to recognise a new right.
- 39:33This right actually exists, and this is the
- 39:35freedom of consciousness, and we only want to,
- 39:38beginnings, consider as a protected belief, right?
- 39:42And then the other argument is that beginnings,
- 39:46there is not a conscience about how beginnings
- 39:51will impact our health, and we need a
- 39:54new, a whole other process when you can
- 39:58discuss even more with a lot of specialists
- 40:01about this beginnings, why it's good for our
- 40:05health, or their health is not in risk
- 40:09if you are vegan, right?
- 40:11And in that case, we thank Dr. Barnard,
- 40:18because he's absolutely authority in this topic, and
- 40:22said that there are a lot of international
- 40:25organisations, a lot of experts that said, even
- 40:30if they are not vegans, but beginnings is
- 40:32perfect.
- 40:34I'm going to jump in and say, okay,
- 40:37so the attorneys for the school argued against,
- 40:41in court, this all happened on September 9th,
- 40:44I want to talk a little bit about
- 40:45the implications, because, for example, there was a
- 40:50gentleman who happens to be a writer at
- 40:52Unchained TV, Jordi Casamejana, who went to court
- 40:55in England, and said that he had a
- 41:00basic right as a vegan, and it's a
- 41:03very complicated lawsuit, it's not exactly similar to
- 41:05this, but the bottom line was that that
- 41:08lawsuit ultimately established veganism as a protected class
- 41:13akin to religion in the United Kingdom, and
- 41:17that had huge implications for, let's say, a
- 41:21company having a holiday party, they provide vegan
- 41:24options, so this was a huge development.
- 41:27I want to ask Dr. Rao, what are
- 41:29the legal implications, in your opinion, let's say
- 41:32they were to win, ultimately, in terms of
- 41:35what schools around Latin America and other institutions
- 41:39would have to do to avoid also being
- 41:42sued?
- 41:44Yeah, I think this has tremendous implications.
- 41:48If we win the lawsuit, then it establishes
- 41:52this as a right to conscience, which is
- 41:56not just about food, but also, I mean,
- 41:59as the attorney was telling us about, you
- 42:05know, veterinary students don't have to learn how
- 42:09to disassemble animals, which is what they're taught
- 42:12to do, right?
- 42:13How to kill them.
- 42:15They're taught, because their conscience is to protect
- 42:17the animals, so they want to do that.
- 42:20So I think it has tremendous implications for
- 42:22all educational institutions, in Peru especially, and probably
- 42:27throughout the world.
- 42:30People can cite that as a precedent.
- 42:33So when you really think about it, it
- 42:36could be the best thing that ever happened
- 42:38for veganism, for the school to have been
- 42:42so intransigent and absolutely not flexible and not
- 42:49embracing of students who were saying, this is
- 42:52against our belief system to eat the body
- 42:55parts of animals or their byproducts.
- 42:57Please provide us with something healthy to eat
- 43:00that is vegan, something substantial, not just bread
- 43:03and pasta.
- 43:05And ultimately, those students filed suit.
- 43:09I think it's really interesting, Yennefer, to think
- 43:13about the unintended consequences.
- 43:16I mean, if they had decided, yeah, okay,
- 43:18we're going to give you some fruits and
- 43:20vegetables every day, it might have just gone
- 43:23away.
- 43:24But now there's this opportunity to really make
- 43:27a change culturally in Peru and beyond.
- 43:30Can you give us your feelings on that?
- 43:34Yes.
- 43:36When I talked with Gabriel and Luis, they
- 43:40told me that some of the students, this
- 43:42is really important, well, they were not food
- 43:49to eat more than bread and pasta.
- 43:51And Luis told me that for a second
- 43:54he doubted about still going vegan, still being
- 43:59vegan, and that was really, really sad.
- 44:03And just Gabriela, she was suffering a lot
- 44:07of bullying and that affected her mental health.
- 44:13It's really upsetting.
- 44:15Yeah, but I mean, in a way, their
- 44:18courage has given this voice to this whole
- 44:21issue.
- 44:23Is it something everybody's talking about?
- 44:26Is it getting a lot of conversation?
- 44:31Well, not that much.
- 44:33After the hearing, there were some friends that
- 44:37supported, some students that supported.
- 44:40It's just a minimal group, maybe 10 to
- 44:4520 people.
- 44:47But after that, the university did give them
- 44:51the support they should.
- 44:52And after the hearing, that changed a little
- 44:58bit.
- 44:58Now they have a little bit more support
- 45:00of their professors, some other students.
- 45:06Let me ask, Alison, let me ask you
- 45:11this.
- 45:12Is there media coverage of this issue in
- 45:17Peru?
- 45:17I would think this would be a pretty
- 45:19good story.
- 45:23Actually, there has not been a lot of
- 45:25media coverage.
- 45:27You know how timing is everything.
- 45:29And right now we're experiencing a lot of
- 45:31forest fires in the Amazon jungle.
- 45:33And a lot of the protesting, there's been
- 45:36daily protesting throughout the country in defence of
- 45:42the Amazon forest.
- 45:44So that's been drawing attention away from this.
- 45:50But that's why we're here today speaking with
- 45:54you and why we're spreading the word through
- 45:57the plant-based treaty website and the petition
- 46:01that they put out.
- 46:03And doing everything that we can to raise
- 46:06awareness about what's happening.
- 46:09And so it's still early on in the
- 46:12process.
- 46:14But it's very, very important that we push
- 46:17through now and get this into the public
- 46:19awareness.
- 46:20Were you in court?
- 46:22The hearing was virtual.
- 46:24Did you attend the hearing?
- 46:27Yes, I did.
- 46:28Okay, so how do you think it went?
- 46:31I was shocked how unprepared the other attorney
- 46:36was.
- 46:36He was basically trying to dismiss the case
- 46:40right up front.
- 46:41And beyond that, he was unprepared.
- 46:43He didn't even realise that there were going
- 46:46to be three international speakers defending.
- 46:50So he was unprepared in that way.
- 46:54Tell us about the three international speakers defending.
- 46:57Yes, we reached out early on to Dr.
- 47:03Rao at Climate Healers.
- 47:05We reached out to plant-based universities where
- 47:10Alistair Stewart supported us in giving us ideas
- 47:15on how to get international support.
- 47:19We reached out then at his recommendation to
- 47:23the Vegan Society.
- 47:24And they responded immediately.
- 47:26Dr. Jeanette Rowley, who represents the legal department
- 47:29of the Vegan Society, stepped out.
- 47:33I want to jump in.
- 47:35So, Dr. Rao, and sorry to interrupt, what
- 47:39was your pitch?
- 47:40What did you say?
- 47:42Yeah, I provided them with why going vegan
- 47:47is important for the environment, not just for
- 47:49climate change, but for all six planetary boundaries
- 47:53that we have transgressed in the life support
- 47:56systems of the planet.
- 47:57It's as if the planet has like six
- 47:59different fires going on in different aspects of
- 48:02the life support system.
- 48:04And if the world goes vegan, we can
- 48:06quench all of them.
- 48:07I mean, it's like it's a no-brainer,
- 48:09right?
- 48:09Today, I was speaking at the University of
- 48:11Iowa.
- 48:12I'm in Iowa right now.
- 48:14And I was speaking to students.
- 48:16And I just presented them the data on
- 48:18land use and, you know, how much land
- 48:22is being used for animal agriculture, how much
- 48:25food is it providing.
- 48:26So I gave them all the data, and
- 48:27then I asked them, how would you solve
- 48:30this problem?
- 48:30And they immediately said, they all immediately said,
- 48:32we should go vegan.
- 48:34It's that obvious, okay?
- 48:36If it's so obvious to students who are
- 48:38seeing the data for the first time, why
- 48:40isn't it obvious to an academic institution like
- 48:44the University of San Marcos?
- 48:48Why don't they make the same connexions that
- 48:50the students just made?
- 48:52So I say that it's something that we
- 48:55are all pretending not to see, and it
- 48:58is so self-evident, and it's time to
- 49:00stop pretending and time to get serious about
- 49:03addressing these environmental issues.
- 49:05And there is one way to do it,
- 49:07which is to go vegan as quickly as
- 49:09possible.
- 49:10And I've been saying this for so long.
- 49:12It's so obvious to me, too.
- 49:14Do we still have Steve in Dallas, Texas?
- 49:18No, all the colours have dropped off, sorry.
- 49:20Well, this is what I find so completely
- 49:24just horrifying, is that the students are protesting
- 49:28against the environmental destruction that's happening, but they're
- 49:32not connecting the dots to their own diet.
- 49:35So they're not paying attention to the demand
- 49:39for vegan options in the university as much
- 49:42as they should because they're busy protesting the
- 49:45fires that are the result of the meat
- 49:48industry's destruction of the land, and it's very
- 49:51hard to get anybody.
- 49:53You know, when people's so-called self-interest
- 49:59depends on them not understanding something, it's very
- 50:02hard to explain it to them.
- 50:05That's really the fundamental thing.
- 50:07People don't want to know.
- 50:09They don't want to see the obvious.
- 50:11Just like people who are alcoholics don't want
- 50:15to see that the solution isn't drinking alcohol,
- 50:18it's the problem.
- 50:20And so this is where we're at.
- 50:23We only have a couple of seconds left.
- 50:25I want to thank everybody for being on
- 50:27this panel.
- 50:28It's been a wild ride, but please understand,
- 50:30people, that these folks are coming from all
- 50:32over the world, from Peru, and they're making
- 50:38do as best they can in terms of
- 50:40Internet, Wi-Fi, and other technologies.
- 50:42So we're very grateful to have them.
- 50:46Yennefer, what would you say?
- 50:48If you could say one thing for 30
- 50:50seconds to the judge, what would you say?
- 50:54I would tell the judge that if the
- 50:59university gives vegan options, it would be a
- 51:02great step for the vegan society in Peru.
- 51:06I actually do think that because the San
- 51:11Marcos, this university is huge.
- 51:14Everyone in Peru knows the San Marcos, so
- 51:17it's going to pop up in news and
- 51:19in papers.
- 51:21Everyone is going to be talking about that.
- 51:23So as I said, all of other institutions
- 51:26are going to follow that step.
- 51:28So it's a really big deal.
- 51:31So I hope the judge understands that, that
- 51:35this is a good point of changing the
- 51:39things how we know in Peru and start
- 51:41helping our planet, helping our health, and especially
- 51:45for the animals, right?
- 51:47I want to thank everybody who participated.
- 51:49Thank you so much for jumping on, Dr.
- 51:52Rao.
- 51:52I know you're a very busy man, and
- 51:54I appreciate you being here.
- 51:56And to everybody watching, please download Unchained TV.
- 52:02We are the world's only vegan nonprofit streaming
- 52:05television network.
- 52:07So it's a vegan Netflix.
- 52:08Okay, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
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