Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / Inside the Capitol: Activists Confront Senetors

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Inside the Capitol: Activists Confront Senetors · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

0:03
Can we talk?
0:06
Apparently, either not at all or not very
0:10
much when it comes to talking with our
0:14
representatives, members of Congress, Senators, who are at
0:19
a major convention regarding animal agriculture.
0:24
There is the guy from Free From Harm
0:27
who tried to have interactions along with his
0:31
associate Ariana, the two of them really trying
0:37
to reach Congress and talk about animal agriculture.
0:41
So you had this opportunity at this convention.
0:46
And let's talk about how it went, because
0:50
these people work for us, hypothetically.
0:54
And you were asking some very specific questions
0:58
about, hey, why not promote plant-based foods
1:01
for human health?
1:02
What was the general response you got, Robert?
1:08
Well, you know, from what I could see
1:11
in the videos, the general response was either,
1:14
hey, we're not partial to animal ag.
1:17
We support all forms of agriculture.
1:20
But the reality is, is that, you know,
1:24
animal ag receives, what Cory Booker once said,
1:29
about 93% of the subsidies support that
1:33
industry, and only 7% go to all
1:36
the other crops that are grown for human
1:38
consumption.
1:39
So you tell me, is that equitable?
1:42
I don't think so.
1:43
I don't think anyone in their right mind
1:45
would think that that was equitable.
1:47
The reason why animal ag is such a
1:49
subsidy horde is that it costs a lot
1:53
of money and resources to raise huge animals
1:56
and millions of them.
1:58
And they have a lot of disease, and
2:01
they have a lot of external costs that
2:04
they can't afford.
2:06
So they, you know, Congress is essentially helping
2:10
them by using our tax dollars to cover
2:14
a lot of the costs that they want
2:16
to externalize.
2:18
So you, your team, Free From Harm, went
2:22
to the American Farm Bureau Convention to essentially
2:27
try to talk to members of Congress.
2:29
And we've got the clips, we're going to
2:31
play them for you right now, of you
2:34
really attempting to talk to these members of
2:38
Congress about animal agriculture.
2:40
Let's see how it goes.
2:42
We're going to start with the person who
2:46
is the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
2:50
I just want to ask, do you believe
2:52
more support is needed for producers of healthy,
2:54
plant-based food?
2:58
Yeah, I mean, whether it's, I don't discriminate
3:03
as, personally, as chairman of the House Agriculture
3:06
Committee on the size of farms, or quite
3:10
frankly, the commodities.
3:12
And so whether it's plants or livestock, it's
3:16
all important and all has a place on
3:19
the American dinner plate.
3:20
Right, okay.
3:22
So why are you advocating for billions of
3:24
our tax dollars to bail out animal ag
3:26
and the commodity crops?
3:28
We're not bailing anybody out.
3:30
We're, quite frankly, those folks who grow plants,
3:35
soybeans, corn, specialty crops, and there's over a
3:38
thousand different specialty crops, which are all plants,
3:42
and not the nearest many livestock.
3:44
They're all hurting right now.
3:46
Thank you.
3:55
All right.
3:58
Well, first of all, we invite the American
4:02
Farm Bureau Federation, any members of Congress, and
4:04
any members of the agriculture industry on to
4:09
comment at any time.
4:11
We would love to dialogue with you.
4:13
But Robert, I got to go back to
4:15
you.
4:15
He says here, we don't discriminate.
4:20
We are for any kind of agriculture commodity.
4:25
But that flies in the face of the
4:27
fact that when you talk about soybeans, the
4:31
overwhelming majority of soybeans produced are fed to
4:34
farmed animals.
4:36
A lot of the commodity crops that are
4:38
technically plants, yes, you're producing plants, but they're
4:42
fed to farmed animals.
4:44
That's right.
4:45
So, as the head of the Agriculture Committee,
4:48
he has to know that, right?
4:51
Oh, sure.
4:52
Yeah.
4:52
He knows full well what we're getting at.
4:56
And we've approached him several other times on
4:59
the same issue.
5:00
And this is the first time we actually
5:02
got some kind of a response out of
5:04
him, which was kind of shocking to us
5:06
to begin with.
5:08
But, I mean, the bottom line is that,
5:11
yeah, the commodity crops that he's talking about,
5:15
they're used to feed livestock, corn and soybean,
5:18
namely.
5:20
Alfalfa is another one.
5:21
But yeah, and only 7% of the
5:25
overall support from the government for plant crops
5:31
raised for human consumption.
5:33
It's around 7%.
5:35
And the numbers just don't lie.
5:38
He knows that.
5:39
He's legislated that in the past.
5:42
And that's what's continuing here in this current
5:45
farm bill that they're proposing.
5:47
So, there should be no confusion over this,
5:52
right?
5:53
And I think he's obfuscating.
5:56
And he's trying to say, oh, we support
5:58
everyone equally.
6:00
And of course, that's not true.
6:02
Not only is that not true by agriculture
6:04
sector, it's also not true in terms of
6:07
scale.
6:07
The larger farms get most of the subsidies.
6:11
The smaller farms get much less.
6:14
But I have to say, and Arianna, I
6:17
believe you were the person asking the questions.
6:20
And I think you did a great job.
6:22
Because with all of the interactions you had
6:26
with members of Congress, you stayed cool.
6:28
You stayed polite.
6:30
Nobody can accuse you of being abrasive.
6:32
Um, he actually was the best response in
6:36
terms of numbers of words uttered.
6:38
So, we're going to get to the ones
6:41
that did not say a word and just
6:42
walked away from you.
6:44
But what was your response?
6:47
What was your gut reaction to this idea
6:50
that he's saying, oh, you know, we don't
6:52
discriminate.
6:53
We love plants.
6:54
We love animal agriculture.
6:56
We love it all.
6:56
What was your gut reaction to that?
6:59
Yeah.
7:00
I did appreciate that he actually answered the
7:03
question.
7:04
But it's known that we can live healthfully
7:09
on a plant-based diet.
7:10
And like Robert was saying, majority of these
7:12
crops being grown are being fed to animals.
7:15
And you just imagine, like, how much land
7:18
we could save, how much water usage we
7:21
could prevent a ton of animal suffering if
7:24
we started supporting plant-based farmers.
7:27
So, in my head, I was like, I
7:29
don't agree with that.
7:30
But I wanted him to keep talking.
7:31
So, I was like, yeah.
7:34
But I 100%, I don't agree.
7:37
So, if you're just joining us, the folks
7:40
from Free From Harm went to the American
7:42
Farm Bureau Convention here in Southern California, I
7:46
believe.
7:47
And basically, they tried to confront members of
7:51
Congress politely and ask them tough questions.
7:55
We know that, you know, the number of
7:58
animals being killed for food continues to skyrocket.
8:01
It is in the many, many billions.
8:05
In 2022, it was 75 billion.
8:08
It's now jumped to something like 85 billion.
8:12
We have a health crisis in this country
8:15
with two-thirds of Americans overweight or obese,
8:18
heart disease a leading killer, skyrocketing colorectal cancer,
8:23
skyrocketing cases of early onset dementia.
8:26
A lot of that can be traced to
8:29
diet.
8:30
We've got a great film on Unchained TV
8:32
called How Not to Die that dives into
8:35
the connection between eating meat, which is packed
8:40
with cholesterol, which clogs up the arteries, and
8:43
the connection to meat because plants do not
8:48
produce cholesterol.
8:49
There's only cholesterol in animal products.
8:51
So, you've got the health issue.
8:53
You've got the environmental issue.
8:56
New York Times reported that heavy meat eaters
8:58
can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 75
9:02
% by switching to a plant-based diet.
9:05
You've got the compassion to animals issue, 75
9:09
-85.
9:10
This is just land animals being raised in
9:13
industrialized conditions and killed every year.
9:16
So, the thing that gets me is that
9:19
this is the most important issue we could
9:23
discuss.
9:23
It concerns health.
9:24
It concerns the environment.
9:26
It concerns ethical issues.
9:28
And yet, it's almost as if you're being
9:31
rude to want to talk about it.
9:33
So, let's go to another member of Congress.
9:38
This one is Senator Boozman.
9:42
We're going to hear this interaction that you
9:44
had, Ariana, with him.
9:46
And you can see somebody running interference literally
9:48
blocking the camera.
9:50
And we invite all of them on.
9:52
But let's watch this and dissect.
9:54
I shouldn't use the word dissect.
9:56
Analyze on the other side.
9:59
Do you believe more support is needed for
10:01
producers of healthy plant-based foods?
10:04
So, do you believe more support is needed
10:07
for producers of healthy plant-based foods?
10:13
Right on.
10:14
Okay.
10:15
Just one more.
10:18
I'm so sorry.
10:19
Why are you advocating for billions of our
10:21
tax dollars to bail out animal ag and
10:23
the commodity crops that support animal agriculture?
10:28
No comment, you said?
10:30
Why is that?
10:32
If your position is to make Americans healthier,
10:35
why aren't you supporting healthy and sustainable plant
10:37
-based options and food production?
10:42
Why should taxpayers carry the burden for animal
10:45
ag industry's problems like bird flu, my friend?
10:52
Don't you think that these outbreaks like bird
10:55
flu and screw worm are an inevitable outcome
10:57
of the extreme conditions under which the industry
11:00
raises and slaughters billions of animals?
11:04
Wow.
11:05
So, that was another interesting interaction.
11:10
I want to go to Ariana.
11:11
What was your gut take on that?
11:14
At least Representative Thompson did talk to you
11:20
and answer your questions, albeit briefly, but he
11:25
did give you the respect of answering your
11:27
question.
11:27
This was just basically the cold shoulder.
11:30
Right.
11:33
I was kind of, I mean, I was
11:35
expecting it, but I was also kind of
11:37
shocked because these are people who are supposed
11:39
to be representing us.
11:41
And as humans, we're like, trying to evolve
11:44
or hopefully want to evolve.
11:47
And if I'm just like an everyday person,
11:51
yes, I'm an animal rights activist, but I'm
11:52
just a person like I am asking very
11:56
valid questions to the people who represent us
11:59
and use our taxpayer dollars to fund this
12:01
industry.
12:02
So, I feel like they're very reasonable questions
12:05
and it's kind of sad that we can't
12:08
even have a conversation with these people who
12:11
represent us.
12:13
Yeah.
12:14
And let's go to some of the comments
12:16
that are coming in about this.
12:17
First of all, love this, says Tiffany.
12:20
And it takes gumption and guts to do
12:23
this, to basically speak truth or question truth
12:28
to power.
12:29
Not an easy thing to do.
12:32
Raping children, slaughtering factory farm, warehousing, this is
12:36
one and the same for them.
12:38
These are comments that are coming up.
12:41
I am not filtering them or censoring them.
12:45
So, this is what people have to say.
12:47
Nilofar says, isn't it interesting how they think
12:50
they can ignore taxpayers when polite activists approach
12:54
them?
12:55
Ari, so well-spoken.
12:58
Karen LaCava says, this administration obviously does not
13:01
care about the health of the American population.
13:03
They only care about money and power.
13:05
And basically, taxpayers are paying for the animal
13:08
ag lobbies and this re-election campaign on
13:12
top of money in their own pockets.
13:15
All right.
13:16
Well, let's see if there's one more.
13:20
Here we go.
13:20
Sloan, thank you.
13:21
These people are morally bankrupt, hence ag gag
13:24
laws.
13:25
Hopefully, they will die off some.
13:26
Well, we don't wish that on anybody.
13:28
I'll jump in and say that, Ariana.
13:34
Robert, put this in context.
13:35
Tell us about this conference and how important
13:39
it is and how, basically, the deals are
13:43
made, not in front of the cameras, not
13:46
when the cameras are rolling or when the
13:48
legislature, state or federal, is in function, but
13:53
at these kind of get-togethers.
13:56
Tell us about this.
13:58
Right.
13:59
Yeah.
13:59
So, this is the big annual convention of
14:04
the American Farm Bureau Federation, which is arguably
14:08
the most important animal ag lobbying front in
14:14
the country and perhaps even the world.
14:16
It shapes food policy.
14:19
It has a very heavy hand behind the
14:22
scenes in shaping the farm bill.
14:25
And the influence of the CEO, Zippy Duvall,
14:29
cannot be underestimated.
14:31
He's one of the most influential people in
14:33
our food system that no one's ever heard
14:35
of.
14:36
And the fact that they can bring in
14:38
the top brass in Congress, working on farm
14:43
and food policy, that they fly in from
14:47
D.C. to L.A. just to come
14:49
in and do their speeches and make their
14:53
promises, that just tells you the power and
14:56
influence that we're dealing with.
14:58
So, there were thousands of people at this
15:00
conference, and it was a great opportunity for
15:05
us at Free From Harm to get in
15:09
front of them, because our simple belief is
15:12
this.
15:13
We believe that in a democracy or any
15:17
kind of representative government, that the average working
15:20
person should be able to access the most
15:23
powerful people making decisions on their behalf.
15:27
And when we do this, we're showing our
15:30
supporters, we're showing the public that it is
15:32
possible to access them.
15:34
And not only is it possible, but it's
15:37
absolutely imperative, because if we want to protect
15:40
our rights, if we want to protect a
15:42
democracy, we have to do this work.
15:46
It's not even an option.
15:47
We have to be out there.
15:49
We have to be in front of them,
15:50
holding them accountable.
15:52
All right.
15:53
We have yet another interaction with Ariana, and
15:58
this one, well, let's just play it.
16:01
This is Representative Angie Craig, who I looked
16:05
up.
16:05
She used to be a journalist.
16:07
So, she knows that whole system of walk
16:11
and talk, asking questions while you're walking.
16:13
Let's listen to what happened here.
16:15
Hi.
16:16
Sorry, we're on our way to another thing.
16:19
Sorry about that.
16:19
I apologize.
16:20
It's okay.
16:21
It's just a quick one.
16:22
Do you believe more support is needed for
16:24
producers of healthy, plant-based foods to mail
16:33
out animal ads and the commodity somewhere?
16:43
We've got to get to another event really
16:46
quickly.
16:46
We can walk and talk, right?
16:47
Yeah, we can walk and talk.
16:49
We have time.
16:50
If our position is to make Americans healthier,
16:53
why aren't we supporting healthy and sustainable plant
16:56
-based food production?
16:57
Do you guys want to give me your
16:58
email so we can...
17:00
Do you work for an outlet or like
17:03
a media outlet?
17:03
Independent.
17:04
Independent.
17:05
Can we have your business card?
17:06
Yeah, I'm happy to give you my business
17:08
card if you guys want to.
17:10
We do work with influencers and citizen media.
17:16
Are we here?
17:19
You can Google it and you can find...
17:23
Is this something like that because we're wanting
17:26
to speak with her?
17:27
Is this...
17:28
Yes, so if you wanted to set up
17:30
a phone interview or even something on Zoom,
17:32
you can reach out.
17:34
It's just we've had very little time today
17:37
and she's got places to go.
17:40
I understand.
17:41
Okay.
17:41
But yeah, so if you let me know
17:43
just kind of like the who, what, when,
17:45
where, that's how much time you need, what
17:49
topics you want to cover, what outlet is.
17:53
I use outlet generally.
17:57
So please, if you ever have that meeting,
18:01
I will, I promise you right now, do
18:04
another podcast with you and find out exactly
18:07
what happened at that meeting.
18:10
But what is what you would call the
18:13
strategy here?
18:14
You see three members of Congress.
18:18
One's talking, but not saying a whole heck
18:20
of a lot, but you got to give
18:22
them credit for talking.
18:23
The other one basically says one thing and
18:26
then rushes off.
18:27
And then the third one won't talk to
18:29
you at all.
18:34
Well, look, as I said, in a democratic
18:39
system, we need to hold the most powerful
18:41
people accountable.
18:42
I don't think anyone would argue with that.
18:45
And it's a, it's a job.
18:46
It's not a fun job and it's sometimes
18:50
it's a thankless job.
18:51
But if you look at other movements, you'll
18:54
see the same kind of strategy where climate
18:58
activists, pharma activists, healthcare for all, where do
19:04
they go?
19:04
They go to the CEOs and the top
19:06
leadership in Congress to demand the changes that
19:10
society needs.
19:12
And we're basically taking that cue from a
19:16
very tried and tested and accepted strategy that
19:20
the most powerful people need to be in
19:23
the limelight.
19:24
We need to make them front and center
19:27
because consumers, yeah, it's important to have consumer
19:32
outreach, but guess what?
19:34
These big decisions and deals that are being
19:37
made behind closed doors are made long before
19:41
consumers have any choices when they go into
19:43
the grocery store, right?
19:45
Of course.
19:46
I mean, look, they say, well, it's the
19:49
capitalist system at work.
19:50
I personally call it corporate socialism.
19:53
The average fast food hamburger would cost $30
19:56
or more if it wasn't subsidized by animal
20:00
agriculture, by government, by big government.
20:03
Everything from rounding up wild horses so that
20:07
the cattle can have public lands to graze,
20:10
to subsidizing the commodity crops that go into
20:15
the feed for the animals.
20:17
I mean, there's a gazillion tax breaks and
20:19
the farm bill is where a lot of
20:22
it happens.
20:23
And interestingly, they've been sort of dilly dallying
20:27
on the farm bill now and extending it
20:29
and extending it.
20:30
So there is this opportunity to have meaningful
20:34
change in the next farm bill, but it's
20:37
a fait accompli when all these deals are
20:40
done, again, behind closed doors or at conventions
20:44
or in social settings.
20:47
I will say that many years ago, I
20:52
went with, and I believe it was the
20:54
Humane Society at the time, to talk to
20:56
a member of Congress that had been elected
21:00
with the support of environmentalists and animal activists.
21:05
And it was at a time when there
21:06
was this horrific scandal involving a slaughterhouse, one
21:10
of the early undercover investigations that resulted in
21:14
the closure of the slaughterhouse.
21:17
And we went there and we played this
21:20
footage for him.
21:21
And the reason we were able to get
21:22
in is that we knew the person who
21:25
threw a big party for him in Beverly
21:27
Hills.
21:28
And this was a member of Congress who
21:31
was on our side, hypothetically.
21:34
And he looked at this shocking video of
21:38
animal abuse in a factory farm setting, a
21:41
slaughterhouse setting, said not a word, and just
21:45
wanted us out of his office.
21:48
Right.
21:49
Once you get in there, you apparently get
21:53
the message that you start pushing it back
21:57
against this industry and you're done.
21:59
I mean, you're nodding your head, Ariana.
22:03
Yeah.
22:04
No, this is a big moneymaker.
22:07
And I think as humans, we get very
22:10
stuck in our ways.
22:12
And from my experience, the people who are
22:16
on the side of animal ag, they're very
22:22
against any change or movement towards a plant
22:24
-based system, even though they might portray that
22:27
they are for little changes, but they're not
22:29
really for the big change.
22:31
That would really help people, animals, the environment,
22:34
et cetera.
22:36
So that's really sad that that was the
22:39
case, that you even showed them the physical
22:41
footage and then you're met with, get out
22:44
the door.
22:45
Yeah.
22:46
Yeah.
22:46
Well, it wasn't said verbally to me, but
22:48
we definitely got the impression this person did
22:50
not want to interact with me, even though
22:54
I had met him at the party.
22:57
So it was just like a different person.
23:01
And that's what I think what happens is
23:03
as soon as you get elected, you're running
23:06
for reelection.
23:07
And so it's almost like a mathematical calculation
23:12
that's made.
23:13
Somebody said something about, we know Cory Booker
23:17
is vegan, but I don't know that AOC
23:22
is vegan.
23:22
I've never heard that.
23:24
I'll check it out.
23:25
But yeah, this is a bipartisan problem, by
23:28
the way, of the people that we, the
23:31
members of Congress that we showed, there was
23:33
a Democrat, there were Republicans.
23:35
This has been going on administration after administration.
23:39
I mean, correct me if I'm wrong.
23:40
I see this as a bipartisan problem.
23:43
Yes.
23:46
It's a bipartisan issue.
23:47
And surprisingly, there's some Republicans that are actually
23:50
making bolder efforts to move in a plant
23:55
-based direction than some Democrats.
23:58
So, there are some promising developments happening that
24:03
we're tracking.
24:04
Like, for example, Representative DeLauro sent a letter
24:09
with 33 signatories, 33 other members of Congress
24:13
that essentially said, hey, we need more support
24:16
for vegetables and fruit and nuts and specialty
24:20
crops, what they call specialty crops, right?
24:23
Which is everything we eat that's not animal
24:25
-based.
24:26
And 33 members of Congress signed on the
24:29
last time I checked.
24:31
She is basically advocating that subsidies from animal
24:35
ag shift to plant-based agriculture.
24:38
It's one of the first and probably clearest
24:41
and boldest messages to send to the industry
24:46
and to Congress that we need change.
24:50
And so, we are rallying behind efforts like
24:54
Representative DeLauro's, because they're starting to gain momentum.
25:00
We have the plant-powered meals coalition that
25:04
is working on an act to introduce plant
25:08
-based meals, which is spearheaded by Senator Schiff
25:12
and Representative Velasquez.
25:13
So, there are some things that are really
25:15
happening in the right direction.
25:18
And we just don't want to spoil people's
25:21
thinking that it's totally static, because it's not.
25:26
There are good things happening, but we need
25:29
to be there to show our support, to
25:33
rally support from the public.
25:36
We cannot take a back seat and just
25:38
think that we can email our way through
25:41
this.
25:41
We got to be there.
25:43
Yeah.
25:44
And also, I'll point out, we just had
25:47
Switch4Good on, the Olympian Dotsie Bausch, who was
25:50
one of the leaders in getting the right
25:53
for children in public schools to have plant
25:57
-based milks.
25:57
And now, you don't need a doctor's note
25:59
anymore.
26:00
You just need to know from your parent,
26:01
and they will provide plant-based milk.
26:03
That's a huge breakthrough, because really, my belief
26:06
is that the dairy industry supports the meat
26:10
industry.
26:10
Most of the burgers, the cheap burgers, are
26:13
spent dairy cows.
26:15
And notably, the dairy industry is propped up
26:20
by the government, by trying to get institutions
26:24
and schools and all sorts of institutions to
26:28
get public dollars to push dairy, even though
26:31
a huge percentage of it is thrown out
26:33
the window.
26:34
So, imagine all these animals living torturous lives,
26:37
having their breast milk stolen only to be
26:40
discarded.
26:41
It's beyond morally bankrupt.
26:43
It's also just stupid and self-destructive.
26:46
Okay.
26:47
Speaking of food, we're saving the best for
26:49
last.
26:50
Now, I just want to clarify, was this
26:53
Robert F.
26:53
Kennedy Jr. interaction at this convention?
26:58
No.
26:58
This was at the gym in D.C.
27:00
where we found him.
27:03
Of course.
27:03
Of course, when it comes to R.F.
27:05
Kennedy Jr., it's got to be at a
27:07
gym.
27:08
God forbid, he sit down at a desk.
27:12
All right.
27:13
Let's check out this very short interaction with
27:16
Robert F.
27:17
Kennedy Jr. What
27:29
do you think of factory farming, Secretary Clinton?
27:32
Aren't you worried about factory farming?
27:35
It's making Americans sick.
27:38
All right.
27:39
Well, of course, priority number one, get into
27:41
that gym and do some reps.
27:45
Right.
27:46
Apparently, last night on the news, they were
27:50
talking about how he was jumping into some
27:53
kind of a cold water tub with his
27:56
jeans on, and it's all very strange.
28:00
Yes, you have a nice physique.
28:02
You know what?
28:02
I live in L.A. near the beach.
28:05
90% of the people around here have
28:07
a good physique.
28:08
All right.
28:08
It's nothing that you have discovered the secret
28:12
to a good physique.
28:14
Certainly not with the upside down pyramid that
28:19
he just pushed out, which tragically puts, as
28:23
you can see here, steak, cheese, and milk
28:27
at the very top.
28:29
You talk about there are some positive developments,
28:33
but this is a an upside down pyramid.
28:38
It's the exact opposite of what it should
28:40
be.
28:41
What are your thoughts on that, Ariana?
28:46
Yeah.
28:46
Like many people, we were shocked, considering, like
28:52
you said, that animal products contain cholesterol and
28:55
also that they've been linked to heart disease,
29:00
stroke, diabetes, type 2 diabetes.
29:05
It's concerning to know that this is something
29:10
that kids will see and think, oh, yeah,
29:13
that's healthy.
29:15
I grew up eating so much fast food,
29:19
so many animal products and animals, and I
29:23
would always have headaches.
29:24
I was overweight, and just what you would
29:28
do to help suppress it is take Advil
29:31
or just pray it goes away.
29:34
Drink water, but you're not getting to the
29:36
root of the issue, and it's scary that
29:38
this is being pushed as something that is
29:40
healthy when it's the complete opposite.
29:43
It's devolving instead of evolving, like I was
29:45
saying.
29:47
Well, you, again, were very polite as the
29:51
person who was going over there and asking
29:55
these very powerful people to comment, and your
29:58
question was, why don't you support plant-based
30:01
foods that people eat?
30:04
See, they were doing kind of like a
30:07
sleight of hand by saying, we support all
30:09
kinds of vegetables.
30:10
There's soybeans, there's corn.
30:12
Well, those are the products that are primarily
30:15
fed to animals.
30:16
That's the same thing as saying you're supporting
30:18
animal agriculture.
30:19
What you're talking about, Robert, is fruits, vegetables,
30:23
nuts, grains, and legumes that people eat, like
30:26
cauliflower, red cabbage, carrot, those kinds of foods.
30:31
They get almost no subsidies from the United
30:35
States government.
30:36
Just spell it out for people who don't
30:37
understand or don't know this issue.
30:41
Right.
30:41
Well, RFK, if I can just say, there's
30:47
such a level of disingenuousness here because for
30:51
years he criticized factory farming, and now he's
30:57
asking the beef industry.
30:59
He does a press release yesterday with the
31:04
CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and
31:09
they're doing some stupid stuff.
31:12
They're basically saying, we need to increase the
31:15
beef industry.
31:17
We need to increase the number of cows.
31:21
He knows that factory farming is an unavoidable
31:27
consequence of feeding millions of people and billions,
31:31
and yet he says he's against it.
31:35
He says he's an animal lover.
31:37
He talks about a humane nation, doesn't treat
31:40
animals the way we treat animals.
31:42
Well, then your guidelines are in direct contradiction
31:47
to those values.
31:50
It's pretty disingenuous.
31:53
It's really transparent, and I see a lot
31:56
of negative backlash to this already.
32:01
I don't know if you guys have seen
32:02
it, but I've seen a lot of negative
32:03
backlash to his doublespeak, and I don't think
32:08
he's going to have much of an influence
32:11
on this.
32:13
Well, yeah.
32:14
It's very interesting to note that it could
32:17
actually boomerang because of his unpopularity and the
32:22
controversy surrounding him.
32:24
We don't even need to get into it.
32:25
There's a gazillion controversies surrounding various things that
32:29
Robert F.
32:30
Kennedy Jr. is suggesting Americans do that is
32:32
not backed by science, but you're absolutely right.
32:35
He used to be a major opponent of
32:38
factory farming.
32:39
I believe he even filed suit as an
32:44
environmental attorney against factory farming.
32:47
It's extraordinary how he has changed his tune.
32:52
Now, let me say this.
32:53
This is one thing that really bothers me,
32:55
and it applies to all of our lives
32:57
as vegans and animal activists.
32:59
If you say something politely and are ignored,
33:03
then you might say something—especially when there's lives
33:07
at stake, human and animals—more urgently.
33:10
Then you're accused of being inappropriate or too
33:15
loud.
33:16
Here's an interaction with representatives, and I believe
33:20
Free From Harm may have been involved in
33:22
this somewhat tangentially, that a very concerned citizen
33:27
was having over bird flu.
33:28
I'm worried about that bird flu very much,
33:31
and I know that there are dead dairy
33:32
cows infected with bird flu that lay along
33:35
the roadside near dairy farms.
33:37
The scavengers go after them.
33:38
There's no biosecurity or warning, and that scavenger
33:41
hunt there actually spreads the disease of bird
33:44
flu to wildlife, other birds, and humans.
33:48
How can the CDSA allow this?
33:51
Are you putting industry profits over public health
33:55
and animal welfare?
33:56
That's my question.
34:05
All right, so I know that you, Robert,
34:08
have gone into the halls of Congress and
34:11
been dragged out, kicking and screaming.
34:15
Well, no, you weren't kicking and screaming.
34:16
Excuse me.
34:18
You were dragged out.
34:20
I stand corrected.
34:21
But you were making your case.
34:24
What I see that infuriates me the most
34:27
is that it's a no-win situation.
34:30
If you go up the way Ariana did
34:32
and ask politely, you get the cold shoulder
34:35
or some kind of interference from some lower
34:39
-level person.
34:40
You don't get to talk to the people
34:41
in power.
34:42
If you do it in a more forceful
34:45
way, you're accused of being extremist.
34:50
There's an inherent unfairness there.
34:53
Right.
34:54
That speaks to the fragility of our system,
34:59
of a democratic system that shuts out everybody
35:03
except those that pay to play.
35:06
And in the food system, it's particularly ugly
35:11
and apparent that when you go to these
35:15
events or you go to these hearings, you
35:18
look into the hearing room and all the
35:20
seats that are supposed to be for the
35:21
public have a reserve sign on them.
35:24
Most of those people turn out to be
35:26
industry insiders or lobbyists or people that have
35:30
influence.
35:32
So it is technically open to the public.
35:35
But it isn't really because there's no seats
35:38
and you can't stand.
35:40
So we decided at one point, we were
35:42
going to test the system and expose it
35:44
for how bankrupt it was.
35:47
And we decided a couple of years ago
35:50
to go into one of these highly televised
35:53
farm bill hearings that Representative Thompson was overseeing
35:59
and just walk in.
36:03
And they told us to leave because we
36:04
said we refused to leave.
36:07
And then we did disrupt the hearing because
36:10
that was the only way to get the
36:12
message out.
36:13
I think that regardless of whether they speak
36:17
to us or not, our message, every time
36:21
our message gets out, every time we make
36:23
this effort to reach them, we are showing
36:29
democracy in action.
36:31
I know that sounds kind of cliche, but
36:33
every time we do this, we're showing that
36:36
not only is this needed, but this is
36:41
a necessary thing in a democratic society.
36:45
And our food system, there's so much at
36:48
stake.
36:48
There's so much money at stake.
36:51
And there's so many animals and public health
36:54
and all the other issues at stake.
36:56
We can't afford to be missing in action.
36:59
What just kills me is that we are
37:04
in a situation right now where climate change
37:07
is getting more pronounced.
37:09
And actually working on a documentary right now
37:11
with Dr. Silas Rao of Climate Healers.
37:14
And he says, you know, we are barreling
37:17
toward a really serious climate apocalypse style situation.
37:23
And that environmentalists and people who really study
37:26
this in depth are just sounding the alarm,
37:29
sounding the alarm.
37:30
Well, you've got the COP conferences, the United
37:33
Nations COP conferences that are, I'm sorry, I'm
37:36
going to do a little editorial here, a
37:37
joke.
37:38
I mean, as somebody said, if you wanted
37:42
to accelerate climate change, you couldn't do a
37:44
better job than what they're doing.
37:46
And you've got the, basically the powers that
37:49
be, not just ignoring the environmental issues, but
37:53
specifically completely downplaying or ignoring entirely the impact
37:58
of animal agriculture on climate change, on habitat
38:03
destruction, wildlife extinction, human world hunger.
38:07
And so they're playing with fire, literally.
38:13
I had asked Dr. Rao, the head of
38:16
Climate Healers, well, what would it manifest like?
38:19
Give us a sense of how could we
38:21
visualize the climate apocalypse that you're saying is
38:25
coming towards us if we don't get a
38:27
handle on rising greenhouse gas temperatures, the temperatures
38:31
from greenhouse gas.
38:32
And he said, well, you saw the Pacific
38:34
Palisades fire.
38:36
Imagine if thousands of those fires were going
38:39
on simultaneously.
38:41
And that's like a wake-up call.
38:45
The Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires should have
38:48
been a wake-up call.
38:50
It doesn't matter how much destruction happens, the
38:54
mainstream media that is also completely co-opted
38:57
by big meat and big pharma, because half
39:00
the drugs that they're selling, or even more
39:02
than half, would not be necessary if people
39:05
ate a plant-based diet, especially a whole
39:07
food plant-based diet.
39:09
So you have big meat, big pharma, big
39:13
dairy, controlling, co-opting, not just Congress, but
39:18
the news media.
39:19
Look at the commercials.
39:20
I literally cannot watch the news at night
39:23
when I'm trying to catch up because these
39:26
commercials are all about indigestion and this sickness
39:30
and that sickness, literally almost entirely.
39:33
You wonder, is everybody in America sick?
39:38
Apparently.
39:39
And if people got healthy, well, you don't
39:43
see, let's put it this way, you don't
39:44
see any commercials for apples, right?
39:47
Or bananas, or cauliflower, or cabbage, or microgreens.
39:54
You don't see that.
39:57
So the point is, at a certain point,
40:02
will these folks realize that they're also spelling
40:06
their own doom?
40:07
The other thing Dr. Rao says is that
40:10
the economy lives within the ecology, not the
40:13
other way around.
40:15
And that if there's an ecological collapse, that
40:18
will also mean an economic collapse.
40:22
Final thoughts, Robert.
40:25
Well, since you mentioned the dairy industry a
40:29
little bit back, I wanted to point out,
40:31
just to put things into perspective, a Canadian
40:34
dairy industry did a study that found that
40:37
the U.S. dairy industry relies on 73
40:40
% of its revenue on taxpayer government-funded
40:46
programs, 73%.
40:48
And they have an interest in getting those
40:50
numbers right because they're competing and trading with
40:54
the U.S. dairy industry.
40:56
So no other industry that I can think
40:59
of enjoys that level of corporate welfare, 73
41:03
% of its revenue.
41:05
And so there's a lot of potential here.
41:10
Think about if we could just get 10
41:13
% of those subsidies cut, that could wipe
41:16
out their profit margin or a substantial part
41:19
of their profit margin.
41:20
So we don't need to completely ban subsidies
41:24
to have a huge impact.
41:26
Even if we got them cut to 10
41:29
to 15%, we could have an enormous impact
41:33
as a movement.
41:34
And I think we're on the cusp of
41:37
that happening.
41:39
A follow-up question.
41:41
The Farm Bill, it keeps getting kicked down
41:43
the road and we know it's in the
41:45
Farm Bill that a lot of these subsidies
41:47
are packed in.
41:49
What's happening with that?
41:51
Is there any hope that we might see
41:53
some kind of break in the Farm Bill?
41:56
Or is it just going to be continued
41:58
on and on?
41:58
It's supposed to be renewed, I believe, every
41:59
five years, but it's just been constantly just
42:02
being extended without a new Farm Bill.
42:06
There have been some promising pieces of that
42:10
Farm Bill to support specialty crops, the plant
42:15
-based food crops for humans.
42:19
However, sadly, there's not a big shift yet
42:22
in funding.
42:26
And money is power, right?
42:27
It's very simple for us.
42:29
Money is power and the subsidies represent the
42:32
money.
42:32
That's where we need to see the fundamental
42:34
change happen.
42:37
So you know what?
42:39
The longer this Farm Bill gets delayed, the
42:41
better it is for us.
42:42
Because if they can't agree on a funding
42:45
package that continues business as usual, that supports
42:49
animal ag to such a ridiculous level, hey,
42:53
let them keep working on it.
42:55
And the longer it delays, actually, I consider
42:59
it almost a good thing.
43:01
All right.
43:02
Well, this has been fascinating.
43:03
I want to give Arianna, who was the
43:05
woman with the microphone trying to talk to
43:08
these members of Congress.
43:10
First of all, kudos for keeping your cool
43:13
and for actually, you know, you got to
43:15
jump in at that exact moment or they
43:19
pass you and you never see them again.
43:21
So I know how difficult, as a reporter,
43:24
I know how difficult it is to catch
43:26
them.
43:26
And you did catch them.
43:28
And so what are your final thoughts on
43:30
the experience of going to this powerful agricultural
43:34
convention and trying to talk to some of
43:37
the most powerful politicians on the planet about
43:40
animal agriculture?
43:42
Yeah, I thank you.
43:45
It is tough.
43:46
And it's not necessarily like a comfortable situation.
43:49
But I want to encourage people to like,
43:53
do it themselves.
43:54
It was just me and another activist.
43:56
And it just took two of us and
43:57
a camera to ask these questions.
44:00
And the more that we are in these
44:02
spaces, asking them questions, putting the pressure on,
44:05
that makes it less likely that they will
44:07
run away from it, that they will actually
44:09
start to address it.
44:10
It's almost like, we as humans, we need
44:13
things repeated to us over and over.
44:16
And I, right, like, I feel like the
44:18
more, and Robert has said this before, like,
44:21
it's better that we're here in these situations
44:24
rather than not, like, the more that we're
44:27
in these spaces, the more we're going to
44:29
see change.
44:30
So I just encourage people to, if you're
44:33
scared to do it anyways, and to just
44:35
try.
44:36
Well, we have one more question that I
44:39
think is important.
44:39
So I'll add, Paige asked, what can we
44:42
as consumers do?
44:44
Robert, you want to hit that one?
44:47
Sure.
44:47
I mean, you know, consumers and supporters can
44:51
do our digital actions, which support our efforts
44:54
on the ground to try to get in
44:56
front of these powerful decision makers.
44:59
So we do all forms of supporting that
45:03
through phone calls, the phone call blitzes and
45:06
email calls to action.
45:09
If you're not on our mailing list, that's
45:10
where you're going to find these calls to
45:12
action.
45:13
You can join it at freefromharm.org.
45:16
Fantastic.
45:17
And I want to invite any of the
45:20
members of Congress, the actual convention and the
45:24
organization behind it, or anybody from animal agriculture
45:27
industry.
45:29
Can we talk?
45:30
I would love to dialogue with you.
45:33
And I'm sure our guests, Robert Grillo and
45:36
Ariana would love to as well.
45:38
Thank you for watching.
45:40
Please download Unchained TV.
45:43
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See you next time.
45:53
So it's a vegan Netflix.
45:56
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45:56
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