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195- Vegan cars & strongmen: It's a soyboy invasion!
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Britain's Strongest Man is vegan and can drive home in a Renault with an animal-free interior; welcome to the future! Carlos, Paul & Anthony are here to look at a dozen or so stories from the vegan & animal rights space from the last week or so, and have plenty to chew over.
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Enough of the Falafel is a community of people who love keeping on top of the latest news in the world of veganism & animal rights. With the Vegan Week podcast, we aim to keep listeners (& ourselves) informed & up-to-date with the latest developments that affect vegans & non-human animals; giving insight, whilst staying balanced; remaining true to our vegan ethics, whilst constantly seeking to grow & develop.
Each week we look through news stories from the past 7 days in the world of veganism & animal rights.
If you spot any news stories that might catch our fancy, or have an idea for a discussion topic, get in touch via enoughofthefalafel@gmail.com.
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This week's stories:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/equestrian/articles/c3w4g666jl1o
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c627gpekvw3o
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwq40vjw8lo
https://plantbasednews.org/culture/sport/vegan-athlete-britains-strongest-man/
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/news/news-article/title-282439-en.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/zoo-kills-12-baboons-animal-rights-protests-nuremberg-b2798240.html
https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/renault-leather-free/#:~:text=Leading%20auto%20manufacturer%20Renault%20is,our%20Vegan%20Car%20Interior%20Survey.
https://vegnews.com/beyond-meat-name-change
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9dgd8n770zo
https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/cam-and-get-em-hsa-launches-new-camoflage-t-shirt/
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/three-michelin-star-restaurant-arpege-vegan-plant-based-alain-passard/
https://www.theanimalreader.com/2025/07/27/alaska-approves-controversial-bear-killing-program/
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Thanks everyone for listening; give us a rating and drop us a message to say "hi"; it'll make our day!
Carlos, Paul & Ant
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Transcript
Introduction to Vegan Week
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello everybody, if you are looking for the latest vegan and animal rights news, you are in the right place. I'm Anthony, joining me for this episode are Carlos and Paul, but that is enough of the falafel, it's time for Vegan Week.
00:00:15
Speaker
So I think vegans go looking for trouble even when they're not looking for trouble. That's not what butter's used for. Brrr! protein take your lab grown meat elsewhere we're not doing that in the state of florida about your protein and what about your iron levels should i call the media and say hi sorry they're arguing like oh poor woe is me oh no hang on a minute you always pick the
00:00:42
Speaker
of social injustice has connection with another. That's just what people think vegans eat anyway. As long as you don't get the wee brunions with the horns, you'll be all alright. Does veganism give him superpowers?
00:00:57
Speaker
No, I cannot fly around the city. I don't have laser vision.
Perception of Vegans and Social Connections
00:01:01
Speaker
Hello everyone, this is Paul. Welcome to the show. ah Welcome whether you're listening for the first time or a long-standing listener.
00:01:10
Speaker
ah Hello everyone, this is Carlos today here at Enough of the Falafel and I just should let you know that this is our news show where we look through vegan and animal rights news from the last week or just about.
00:01:22
Speaker
But that's Enough of the Falafel. Let's hear what's been going on in this week.
00:01:29
Speaker
For more details on the upcoming news stories including links to our original source material, check out our show notes for this episode available on your podcast player.
00:01:40
Speaker
Okay, we're going to start off our round of the news with a revisit to a story that we covered a little while
Charlotte Dujardin's Return to Dressage
00:01:48
Speaker
ago. it comes to us from the BBC, the headline, Du Jardin, free to compete after whipping ban. I'm afraid this is not a cooking story. It's not Angel Delight. She's been whipping.
00:01:58
Speaker
If you ah listened to our show a few months ago, or indeed, if you've been following your equestrian news at all, you'll know that this is referring to three-time Olympic dressage gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin.
00:02:11
Speaker
She was banned in December for excessively whipping a horse. There was a video that showed, I think, 19 strikes of the of the horse. And if you follow the link in the show notes, you can watch that if if you wanted to. Obviously, it's not pleasant watching.
00:02:29
Speaker
Lots of speculation as to whether this was an isolated incident. It seems unlikely. The news this week is that she is returning to competition after serving her one-year ban from the sport.
00:02:45
Speaker
We don't know, Paul, when she is returning to competition. Difficult this one in that I think as animal rights advocates, we might have a much harsher attitude to somebody who has served a sentence for some other crime where we might say, oh, you've served your sentence and you you can come back to doing things. But I don't know about you, but there's there's part of me that just thinks, why is why is she allowed to come back to doing this quote sport? Like surely there's other ways of making a living. She's she's shown that she's ah not particularly kind towards horses.
00:03:21
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, this is, ah I've got a BBC News heavy week. This is so one of many. So yeah, um we spoke about this when it happened. I think it was one that I remember talking about. Yeah, it it feels like it was only yesterday we were talking about it. So it seems to have come in very quickly.
00:03:37
Speaker
Like you say, there's that view of, was the one-year ban enough? Should she be able to compete in a sport? she's She was due to be, I think it was the equal awarded, highest awarded medalist for the UK. If she did compete previously, or if she does compete again and wins another medal, then you think, well...
00:03:57
Speaker
Do you want your best Olympic athlete in the world to be associated with animal abuse? I think pretty pretty much knows the answer to that one. Yeah, it was actually, I was reading through the story and I think actually she struck the horse more than 20 times rather than 19 is what I've picked up here in terms of the tribunal notes. So yeah, 19, 20 doesn't make a lot of difference. She's still...
00:04:19
Speaker
Hit horse and it was at various parts of the body. Yeah, the the videos are obviously out there, as you say. it does seem that she's essentially able now to apply to compete again, but the the competition that she would enter into is unclear. There's a big...
00:04:34
Speaker
European Championship coming up I believe the article mentions which she's not in for but obviously she could go in for for anything else after that was interesting in the article um they go back to what happened in terms of the charge and it says a know apart from the um the ban no further complaints are raised against her since the video emerged and i'm thinking well you're not going to get horses doing that are you so i mean kind of what's the expectation there this was only found out through the video evidence that was um that was gained i can't quite recall how that had happened but you know could be just more of a fluke and how much this goes on that you don't see is is of course the question there
00:05:12
Speaker
I think the question for me reading this, of course, is um we know that, again, another story that I think I covered was that show jumping has been removed from the modern pentathlon in the Olympics and that stopped so ah from 2024.
Ethics of Dressage and Animal Welfare
00:05:24
Speaker
um And that was after a case of abuse that was reported back in 2020, I think with some German trainees, if I remember rightly. The question here is, yeah, has she has she done... you know from from a Forget veganism for a moment. it's like Has she done so much damage to the sport that they will want her back in?
00:05:42
Speaker
and and Conversely, if show jumping's been removed from pentathlon, is dressage potentially the next thing? It's a bizarre sport. isn't Anyway, watching these horses being paraded around and everyone clapping for the way that they're being controlled by human training, it's a bizarre sight anyway.
00:05:58
Speaker
So yeah, I do wonder whether ah you know she she might now be a bit of a toxic... toxic brand, toxic person for them. But so yeah, remains to be seen. They may turn down her application. Who knows?
00:06:10
Speaker
Yes. Well, we'll continue to watch it. And it's ah it's always interesting seeing how a story develops after that initial reaction.
Tom Butts: Vegan Strength Champion
00:06:19
Speaker
And like you say, Paul, it'll be be interesting to see how the image of this quote sport fares over the coming years. You wouldn't have thought it would require too many more exposés like this to to have it on the racks like um show jumping in the pentathlon.
00:06:35
Speaker
We can hope. Let's move on to a more positive sporting story. This comes to us from Plant Based News. The headline, vegan athlete wins Britain's strongest man title.
00:06:46
Speaker
Now there's the... perennial question as to, well, you're saying vegan, but are they vegan are they just plant-based? We will come on to that. The athlete in question is Tom Butts.
00:06:57
Speaker
He is a, quote, vegan athlete and strength coach, and he recently won a Britain's Strongest Man title He took first place in the under 90kg category at the official Strongman British Championships earlier this year. In order to win, listen to this, he completed four 280kg deadlifts, reps of Atlas movement to complete four reps in twenty two seconds and carried a one hundred and forty kilogram bag
00:07:29
Speaker
ah hundred and ten meters he also managed to complete four reps with an 80kg strongman dumbbell and a timed sandbag toss that is making me want to eat quite a lot of broccoli, just just hearing all of that.
00:07:42
Speaker
It's not the first championship he's won, he's been the natural world champion in the under 90kg category in 2023 and defended that title in 2024. Carlos, I've been looking down the article to because I've got Julie's words in my ear,
00:07:59
Speaker
you know, is he vegan or is he just plant-based? I ah looked at it and it said that he adopted a plant-based diet about five years ago for animal welfare reasons. So that's nudging in the right direction. I mean, for your money, does it matter? It still gets the headline? It still dispels a myth that lots of people would be holding on to?
00:08:19
Speaker
yeah we Yeah, we often talked about the difference difference between plant-based and vegan is veganism and and why it matters. I think, you know, people who are vegan-based will tend to stick to a plant-based diet for much longer than just a plant let's say somebody who just has a plant-based diet because the ethical conviction is not there.
00:08:37
Speaker
But Tom Butts has used this platform before to advocate for human animal rights. And, you know, he's talked about anti-speciesism and sustainability concerns.
00:08:48
Speaker
So he's definitely one of us, so to speak. And it's a really it's really good example of how veganism is in the limitation for physical activities or for kind of being healthy. And, you know, when whenever somebody asks...
00:09:01
Speaker
asks you know where we find our protein or if we're capable to doing physical stuff and being active, you know, this is just another shining example. There's more and more vegan athletes showing up and winning things, not just taking part. I mean, just taking part in high level competition already puts you in a very, so very niche percentage. of physical performance for most humans let alone winning things like tom is winning ah would add that it's won this competition on the natural. And here, natural doesn't mean plant-based. It means that they are tested for the presence of ah performance enhancing drugs, because it's very easy to say, well, he's a vegan and he's really strong, this vegan bodybuilder, but I bet they're doing the nandrolone or whatever um on the side. Plant-based steroids.
00:09:48
Speaker
Yeah, plant-based steroids. They're doing plant-based steroids besides the the soy. But you know he's he won in the natural category, which is basically the category for athletes who are not taking that kind of supplementation. And in fact, my very quick eye test on his physique would say, he looks natural.
00:10:07
Speaker
But yeah, well well done to him. And well done to all the other vegan athletes making our job of convincing people to go vegan much, much easier. Absolutely. And and as you say, even just competing at that level is an achievement. If if we are one to 2% of the population in and the UK, as we record, then actually you you wouldn't be expecting vegan or plant-based athletes to be winning things very often at all, just as a general proportion of the population. So ah the fact that he's done so is
00:10:37
Speaker
really quite incredible. Maybe even suggests that it's an advantage being plant-based, certainly will be for his morals.
Impact of Food Prices on Veganism
00:10:45
Speaker
Let's move away from the sports section to the business pages. We're going back to the BBC for Paul, as he alluded to, that is his flavour of the week.
00:10:54
Speaker
And the flavour of this article is that high meat and tea costs drive up food prices. This is a ah general survey in terms of food price inflation in the UK.
00:11:07
Speaker
The food price inflation has gone up for the sixth consecutive month. And this particular article is citing meat being a particular trigger for this.
00:11:18
Speaker
There was a very stark example. I've got it and can talk about it. Yeah, come on, Paul, hit us with the numbers. you You've swatted up on this one. Yeah, yeah. Well, if i oh'll um well let I'll take it from the top. So, yeah, a bit of a double-edged article this one as someone who loves tea.
00:11:33
Speaker
um So I'm not happy about tea prices going up, but ah certainly um meat prices going up. I don't think many vegans are going to be um complaining about about that, although we' we're all aware of the yeah demands on people with inflation in general and the cost of living.
00:11:48
Speaker
Example I think you were looking for, which is a statement from the founder of HEC Sausages, who I think are the brand who stopped their vegan sausages, if I remember rightly, wasn't it? Yeah. He said that chicken prices alone have risen in the past two years from £2.85 kilo to £5.50 pound fifty a kilo And that's driven by a combination of avian flu outbreaks, which seem to just always be in the news these days, um and low stock intensity.
00:12:14
Speaker
So that's reduced, obviously, the number of chickens in each shed. So, I mean, and interesting this one because ah think I was reflecting this and thinking, well, a lot of abolitionists would see the reduction in chickens in a shed as a bit of a welfarist kind of approach.
00:12:30
Speaker
So, you know, so you you you you might be preventing... presenting slightly better conditions for the chickens, but it's still not great, obviously. However, if if that is a factor in driving the cost up for chicken, then I think that leads to an interesting situation, doesn't it, where prices rise and then people might start to think about purchasing chicken. Chicken is obviously the biggest meat.
00:12:54
Speaker
consuming this country and with ah whether they might start exploring other options, possibly vegan. So, you know, it it could start leading to um people moving away from chicken, which would be great.
00:13:07
Speaker
There's obviously other meats as well. There talks about beef as well being one of the other things as well. Yeah, I mean, obviously, we all know the prices are going up. i And I guess the other thing i was thinking about with this really was, okay, what else does this mean? And I did wonder whether as a sort of negative side to this, um we know that we've got lots of discussions between the UK having left... European Union and Brexit and having to get new trade deals and the fact we've got you know tariffs being discussed and Trump's crazy behaviour.
00:13:36
Speaker
and you do wonder, I think the deal with America did cite agriculture as one of the things that would be an export from America to the UK. So you do wonder... you know long term does this mean that there'll be a more open door to cheaper overseas meat to come in and replace the chicken perhaps in this example where we're not producing it then you've got you know ah then you kind of you're not really you're not really fixing the solution people wouldn't start going vegan they'd just go well I'm going to buy the cheaper chicken and that's come from wherever um so that's that was another sort of thought about it it might not be as rosy as what I originally thought paul possibly with that one
00:14:13
Speaker
Yeah, and I think I'm right in saying that across the world and across time, historically, eating meat does seem to be seen by people as a a status thing. It's, oh, I've got money, I'm going to go get some meat now. So I kind of suspect that people will cling on to that for as as long as they can. And like you say, Paul, if it means finding cheaper grades. I wonder whether that um basic doubling of of that chicken price that's cited in this article is that sort of, I don't know, over the butcher's counter rather than frozen stuff that's imported and quote lower grade.
00:14:54
Speaker
I don't know. But um like you say, I don't see how it can be a bad thing that um the product of of this horrible oppression and and murder is going up.
00:15:05
Speaker
i I think that's got to be a good thing. Thank you for that one,
Bluetongue Virus and Livestock Risks
00:15:09
Speaker
Paul. And as that article cited, zoonotic diseases, avian flu, was one cause of that increase and that is not the only zoonotic disease going around at the moment. We're taking this next story from the Aberystwyth University Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences.
00:15:30
Speaker
However, it has been reported across various different news agencies. This is the news that there is a blue tongue outbreak which is endangering UK livestock.
00:15:43
Speaker
So for those of you who do not know, ah blue tongue is a virus it causes illness and death in sheep cattle goats and other ruminants it's spread by biting midges and if i am to just quickly critique the university of aberystwyth's article here they've basically said it's it's not spread by animals can't be transmitted from one animal to another but a midge surely is an animal so it is doing the spreading anyway i i think i get what they mean if if if you're a cow with blue tongue
00:16:15
Speaker
you can't pass that on to another cow with blue tongue. It's it's the midges that are doing that. In terms of the implications for the animal ag sector in the UK, there are currently movement restrictions and testing taking place in Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland, and no animals from England or that have passed through England are allowed to attend this year's Royal Welsh Show, for example. So no movement allowed whatsoever if you've been anywhere near England.
00:16:47
Speaker
And in fact, as of July the 1st, the whole of England has been classed as an infected area. um It's not the first time blue tongue has come to the UK.
00:16:59
Speaker
And indeed, Carlos, generally with zoonotic diseases, it is not good news for animal ag, but also long term, it's not good news for industries that are trying to sell the products of slaughter. We've seen this with with cows, with BSE going right back 30 years.
00:17:18
Speaker
So whilst we don't want to see suffering for animals in the present, this could be further good news in the long run, I think. Yeah, ah I kept thinking about BSC and how that lowered consumption of meat for a while.
00:17:33
Speaker
But I guess at the time, there was no real alternative to it. I mean, of course, there was an alternative to it. But there wasn't, you know, for the general, not the ethically minded people, there was no alternative.
00:17:45
Speaker
um And that but that was 30 years ago. hopefully, I mean, even though obviously, I wouldn't wish this to be happening overly this will make people be very suspicious about what they the and kind of look at maybe a plant-based diet as a way to avoid these kinds of this kind of risk.
00:18:03
Speaker
I just want to say, you know, this is another consequence of the inherent risk on animal agriculture. You basically have very extremely dense populations of animals in a sort of density they would never have in the wild, or if they were left to their own devices, I guess.
00:18:19
Speaker
And often they're immuno immunocompromised because of you know, just being together, the way they're treated and so forth. And the fact, you know, and and also often they're not, a dairy cow is not bred to produce as much milk as possible.
00:18:35
Speaker
So that kind of circumvents the kind of survival of the fittest aspects of that animals have when not meddled with. And you have these, so you have these dense immunocompromised animal populations, and that's just perfect for viral outbreaks. It's the same exactly the same reason that you know diseases take off much faster in cities compared to the countryside for humans and, you know, just about density and having ah individuals together. And, you know, there's something about this, this blue tongue virus that it's these midges, they're more prevalent now because of climate change.
00:19:10
Speaker
And coincidentally, you know, in in those animal lag does contribute to climate change as well. So one thing kind of reinforces the other, you know, I think we're always going to have these sort of biosecurity issues as long as we have species is systems where you know animals are being used for production of one thing or another You know, with COVID, that's one of the ah strongest theories that it also came from animals.
00:19:35
Speaker
And then it kind of changed the virus change to affect humans. And from COVID to this one, I mean, blue tongue obviously doesn't affect humans now, but it can mutate. and you know having this big concentration of animals is just asking for it, really.
00:19:49
Speaker
So even if there's even if the ethical argument doesn't make people go vegan, then you know just kind of the safety the human animals should. and And I don't know whether, i obviously, i you know I'm sitting on a certain side of the fence, but when you hear about these animal ag-related issues,
00:20:08
Speaker
diseases, viruses, safety concerns, they always sound like way, way, way more sinister than anything. Like if if there was a ah story about, oh, there's a ah cauliflower blight this year, i don't think it would be making us worried in the same way. It'd just be like, well, it's fine. But like that, there's a clue in in how it just makes you feel when you you hear about these things. Like i say, i'm I'm probably being overly biased or or something there, but it's... um Yeah, they're they're always sounding really quite nasty. And I just wanted to pick out a quote that was put in there.
00:20:44
Speaker
The disease and its associated restrictions pose another source of stress for farmers, 95% of whom have ranked mental health as the biggest hidden problem in farming.
00:20:55
Speaker
I just don't think you can say things like that when you when you read about what blue tongue is doing to these ruminant animals. when you focus on what happens to these animals at the end of their time in animal ag, that the fact that of a farmer is saying, oh, I'm getting quite stressed.
00:21:12
Speaker
It's like, yeah, I think you need to take the appropriate place in the queue, mate. Like your your problems are far less and you can just opt out, you know, get job at Tesco. Yeah. It'll be great.
00:21:22
Speaker
Whereas the cows have no choice. The livestock has no choice. Absolutely. Cows and sheep. Yep. Don't get to play the mental health card, I'm afraid. Not in my book anyway. Thank you for that one,
Importing Dogs and Animal Welfare Concerns
00:21:32
Speaker
Carlos. Okay, let's move on to Paul's hat trick of BBC stories.
00:21:36
Speaker
This one is related to the RSPCA. They are warning that imported dogs are posing a risk to the UK. Reform party voters will like the sound of that headline, but what does it actually mean?
00:21:49
Speaker
Well, there are apparently growing concerns of behavioural issues and disease risk in pets that are being imported. Thousands of dogs are being brought into the UK each year, many of which are being sold to owners via websites, social media posts without any significant matching process or assessment. The BBC has spoken to numerous owners who faced serious difficulties with dogs delivered to their door from countries they're citing Romania, Ukraine and North Macedonia
00:22:20
Speaker
and again they're citing these infectious diseases and aggressive behaviour as being quite prevalent. David Bowles who is a spokesman for the RSPCA describes the process as like a deliveroo for dogs and has urged the government to consider stronger regulation for the sector.
00:22:39
Speaker
Currently rescue organisations in Scotland must be licensed but there's no such rule for England, Wales, or Northern Ireland. Paul, my initially, as you can tell, my hackles are up because I'm thinking, this seems like thinly veiled racism to me.
00:22:56
Speaker
At the same time, that doesn't mean that the points being made are incorrect. What's to be done? Yeah, it's an interesting, this one, isn't it? Because um probably maybe like yourselves, I've known, ah know a few people that have opted to rescue dogs from abroad, Romanian dog rescue in particular.
00:23:14
Speaker
Probably think of, yeah, two or three people I know that have done that. and And, you know, I don't believe for a second that they're doing anything other than trying to do the right thing. um So it's probably important so to say that.
00:23:25
Speaker
I think they're often presented as having really extreme stories of mistreatment. We obviously still have that in this country, but I think there's yeah know cases that are pretty heartbreaking. And I guess it appeals to a lot of people to try and take that dog out of that situation um and and and give them a home over here. Yeah, so the RSPCA essentially called in for, ah in principle, um some licensing to be applied to organisations in this country who, it's not very clear from the article, but I think basically what they're saying is there are rescues in this country who are essentially operators, it's so supply agents to places abroad and to bring these dogs in and then deliver them to people.
00:24:03
Speaker
It doesn't call that out, but I think that's kind of what they're saying, essentially. I think as someone who has worked in, um you know, he said rescue a bit more on an administrative side of things, there is something that is probably appealing about the licensing, drive up standards. ah I think, you know, we all hear these stories of some rescues that people set up, individuals that...
00:24:24
Speaker
either are really nefarious um or just aren't actually run that well. So um'm I'm kind of might be slightly in favour of that. The trouble is um it could then mean that people who do have rescue set up at the moment, they might put in really unrealistic standards, but standards that aren't necessarily really interested in the animals and then might miss see ah rescues closed down, for example. So I'm kind of just what would that look like? Not too sure.
00:24:48
Speaker
So I suppose you have to consider here, um this is me being, I'm a fan of the RSPCA. I kind of will stand up for them, um especially when we've done articles that sort been critical of them in the past.
00:24:59
Speaker
They're not perfect. But I think here, if you sort take an objective view, the RSPCA do have a, not a business, they have function in this country to rehome animals and dogs. So um I don't know if they kind of have a view that people seeking to adopt ah dogs from overseas is impacting their inability to rehome dogs in in this country, which is, you know, obviously part of what they want to do.
00:25:23
Speaker
So that there might be a thing here saying it's almost like is this a competition thing as well? That's me being quite negative, but it's a possible consideration. They do point to the fact that obviously the RSPCA, when they do rehome, they do some very important things. And again, I've been involved in this, which is matching dogs.
00:25:40
Speaker
um animals to people. um they They interview the people. They'll have the people go to, because I do some fostering, they'll go and meet the fosterers and meet the cats or the dogs, et cetera.
00:25:51
Speaker
um And also they do all the veterinary treatment as well. So the question here was, like going back to your delivery um and quote there, that people are just ah kind of buying dogs. They won't really know what they are. They have no experience of dealing with them. They could turn up and be not great choice they could have behavioral problems they could have diseases perhaps if they've not been given suitable veterinary checkovers so there is a bit of a danger with that and and yeah could that lead then to those animals ending up in UK rehoming centres because they kind of haven't been haven't been really um given that sort of checking before so that could be having an impact as well Yeah, they do talk about specific diseases.
00:26:30
Speaker
Brucella canis is a disease they talk about that's been seen raising through dogs coming into the UK from overseas and how that can be quite bad for humans, it can transfer to humans.
00:26:42
Speaker
And yeah, they do talk about people sort of obviously wanting to do the right thing and perhaps maybe feeling that they they've maybe maybe now made a wrong choice by adopting animals from from abroad.
00:26:52
Speaker
um Yeah, well-meaning people, but perhaps this isn't the way forward. I think we also have to consider as well, this is me just being kind of uber practical. and if and I think we've no doubt got enough dogs and cats, et cetera, in this country that need rehoming.
00:27:07
Speaker
And whilst the stories from overseas might be absolutely heartbreaking, and it may well be worse, those dogs in this case have still got to go through a fairly horrific journey to get over here. And I do wonder about...
00:27:18
Speaker
the damage that can cause when, you know, you you could probably go to an animal centre. It might not be local, local, but you might only have to sort of reasonably up the road and and to help rehome that dog. So I do wonder whether it's something where we kind of almost look to kind of homegrown ah cases, if you like, really. Yeah, it's is' it's really difficult, isn't it? It's it's really thorny. And um I think I'm sensing from you, like it's when you're saying practical things like like you you have just done, its it's hard to say so without sounding like you're saying, no, send the votes back.
00:27:53
Speaker
You know, it's like, no, no, this is a very, very practical um approach to it. Yeah, I certainly don't have any solutions. And kudos to anyone who can work in this field and make things a bit better than the minefield that it currently is.
00:28:07
Speaker
Thank you for that one Paul. Before we move on to Carlos and Paul's pick for the week we are going to revisit a story that we covered last week there have been developments in the last seven days and I'm afraid they're not positive reported in lots of places this one we're taking it from the Independent the headline zoo kills 12 baboons despite protests from animal rights.
Zoo Ethics and Animal Rights
00:28:29
Speaker
groups. If you listened to last week's news show, we covered the fact that protests had happened here, and protesters had got in, they had done a, well I don't suppose you could call it direct action because they weren't certainly directly rescuing baboons, but they were causing a big fuss, they got into lots of news outlets.
00:28:48
Speaker
And then the story unfolded thus on Tuesday, the last Tuesday as we are recording this, ah The zoo announced that they were closing for the day for unspecified operational reasons. Presumably the protesters got wind of this and thought, aye aye, something's up.
00:29:05
Speaker
Several activists forced their way into the grounds, a few of them gluing themselves to the ground before being detained. However, shortly afterwards, the zoo said it had killed 12 baboons.
00:29:18
Speaker
Further details weren't immediately available. Animal rights groups said they planned to file a criminal complaint. I've not seen it in this article, Carlos, but I have seen it in another saying that the baboons were then fed to predators, as in the carcasses were fed to predators.
00:29:35
Speaker
It's all around a very upsetting story. Yeah, um I mean, that that last part is, honestly, it's it's it's of no concern to me because you know once once the dead are dead and the harm has already been done. yeah so But I do think it kind of you know if if I was trying to drum up support for ah protest or something, I would certainly use that piece of news alongside it, although ultimately makes no difference if they get cremated or fed to other animals.
00:30:03
Speaker
makes absolutely no sense. Even though baboons in the wild, they are they have predators. In fact, that's, the I think, one of the main causes of that from big cats. So this is another kind of grotesque zoo story.
00:30:14
Speaker
Killing them is morally indefensible because, you know, ultimately they were created in that zoo. They were bred in that zoo. And it if even though the zoo is a prison for animals, then there's a duty of care attached to it and that the animals should be well taken care of. And you know, kept healthy and alive and having as much as possible as they can have, fulfilling life as much as possible within the confines of the zoo.
00:30:39
Speaker
But ultimately, this kind of just just kind of shows a speciesist attitude, isn't it, where the the baboons are just kind of reduced to inventory, you know we have We have the zoo, we have these assets, these are items on a ledger of things, and some cost money, some cost more money than others.
00:30:55
Speaker
Some attract visitors, others don't attract visitors, and they just had too many too many of one thing in stock and had to reduce that stock of things. so when you have that attitude Killing, I'm not going to use the word cull, killing the baboons is is just part ah part and parcel of operations for a zoo, isn't it?
00:31:15
Speaker
In the same way that an animal ag farmer will look at their livestock and think, well, I have you know have too many cows. I don't have my fields are not big enough. or my yeah my ah ROI on 500 cows is much lower than my ah ah ROI on 450 cows, so I'll just kill 50 cows or get rid of them and somehow.
00:31:35
Speaker
And i guess this was the same consideration that the zoo had, which just goes to show that zoos are just, despite sometimes having interesting work in terms of conservation, how the conservation is something that happens to a species not to individual animals as far as individual animals go it's just inventory isn't it i think in this bright future that we're all kind of trying to bring about we'd have no zoos and instead we just have we kind of return in some of the the habitats for wild animals and those that could not be returned we just have sanctuaries which is a completely different attitude to animals than zoos have and anyway in very practical terms if a place like a zoo cannot ensure the well-being and safety of its animals then it should not exist
00:32:16
Speaker
at the very least even using their language i guess Yeah, I mean, i my opinion of Zeus is that they're huge, huge PR operations. I think that's a big, one of the biggest arms of what they do, that they're definitely not presenting a clear, transparent picture of this story, because if you follow it logically, it doesn't make sense. They're saying, well,
00:32:37
Speaker
There's too many baboons in the enclosure, so they're fighting. But, you know, I work in a setting with with children and young people. There could be a scenario where there would be too many children in the setting and it would lead to fighting.
00:32:49
Speaker
the the The solution isn't to kill them. it just It doesn't make any logical sense. Like, surely baboons fighting occasionally due to overpopulation, which could happen in the natural habitat.
00:33:00
Speaker
It's a non sequitur. isn't it? But we we shouldn't be surprised. Yeah, they were afraid they were fighting kill each other. So we just killed them beforehand to make sure they would not kill each other.
00:33:11
Speaker
Yes, yes. so It does. and Like you say, I think there's an ah ROI reason or, ah you know, we can't afford to feed these or or whatever it is. There's something that they're not saying.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There we are. Silly zoo, silly zoo. Thank you for that one, Carlos. We're going to take a very quick break. So grab yourself quick cuppa. When we get back, we're going to hear from Carlos and Paul about their picks for the week.
00:33:36
Speaker
They're both focusing on big businesses.
Vegan Innovations in Automotive Industry
00:33:40
Speaker
Beyond Meat and Renault. As well as producing these audio-based shows, our podcast hosts at Zencaster also provide the written transcript for each show.
00:33:51
Speaker
This is AI generated, so it might not always be 100% correct, but nonetheless we hope that this will increase the accessibility of our show. So to access any of these written transcripts, head over to zencaster.com forward slash vegan week. i'm going to spell it all for you.
00:34:18
Speaker
then a forward slash, and then the word vegan, V-E-G-A-N, then a hyphen, and then week. Zencaster.com forward slash vegan hyphen week, and then each transcript is embedded with any of the shows that you click on.
00:34:34
Speaker
Okay, pick of the week time. Paul, are you happy to kick us off with yours? This has been reported in many places. where We've given a link in the show notes for the PETA coverage of this story, but it's it's featuring a car manufacturer and ah quite a pleasing headline, I think. Yeah, so listeners might remember ah while ago where I got my geek on and helped with a show looking at being vegan and driving, and we considered all sorts of factors in there. That's one of the, if you're interested in that, that's ah it's an old episode.
00:35:05
Speaker
And basically at that point in time, we were talking about various challenges with having cars, and probably the most well-known one is having um animal skin interior, which can be on the seats or gear knobs or steering wheels, et cetera.
00:35:18
Speaker
And at that time, we talked about manufacturers who who were promoting solely vegan interiors. So there's Polestar, there's Tesla. I say solely, that's on the standard vehicles. They can provide leather if you wish to sit on a dead animal.
00:35:32
Speaker
um But the standard vehicles come with come vegan interiors, which is great. But it was it was still a bit of a moving feast. And obviously, we're seeing a growth in electric vehicles being used, contrary to some of the articles out there that are still increasing in sales.
00:35:50
Speaker
And we're seeing, I think, now other manufacturers who are perhaps not traditionally associated with being that interested in reducing this this sort of thing starting to get on the bandwagon as well renault french company obviously have announced that one of their new models the renault 5 e-tech um is going to be made solely with non-animal fabrics interestingly what what i'm seeing now is that with the advent of electric electric cars which are very much builders environmentally better the removal of animal skins from
00:36:24
Speaker
those vehicles isn't so much about hey we don't want kill animals anymore it's it's kind of matched in a marketing view to say we recognize that leather environmentally is very dodgy oh and and also it it saves killing animals so um we all know i think in this article talks about the amount of chemicals that are used and the human damage that treating leather causes. So I think, yeah yeah, animal hides being turned into leather requires, and I don't think I knew this before, 170 chemicals to get it done. That's cyanide, includes cyanide, chromium and coal tar derivatives, and they're obviously toxic to human humans in tanneries as well and cause poisoning in waterways. So, um yeah, it it's, sir yeah, put the fact killing animals to one side.
00:37:10
Speaker
Yeah, this it's it's a nasty business as well. I quite like this. yeah Obviously, Renault really trying to get this promoted now. and I'm quite liking some of their marketing spiel here. I know it's all a bit wanky and what have you, but a statement's like, true luxury is free from cruelty. I really like that. That's the sort of statement that you can kind of reuse yourself, isn't it, really? because We talked before, ant didn't we, about how leather historically and traditionally is seen as a luxury product.
00:37:37
Speaker
you know it's it's ah But I think its the tide is turning on it now. It's now being seen as a environmentally dodgy and not not good for the animals, obviously. So, yeah, some nice nice little statements there.
00:37:48
Speaker
I even actually went to Paris last year went to the Paris Motor Show of my friend. And one of the reasons I went was to see the re this Renault 5 because it was a really funky car. So I was really... Glad to see what they're doing with that. They really push the fact that the materials aren't just animal free, but they talk about, you know, there's recycled plastic and there's recycled textiles in there as well. So again, to my mind, it's like 80% on the, on the environmental and recycled recyclable nature of it.
00:38:13
Speaker
But it's important to remember, yeah, you think about global, global leather trade, 1 billion animals are killed every year. So that just can't even imagine that amount, can you?
00:38:23
Speaker
And typically for an average car, um You need three cows or bulls to cover the interior of it. So, you know, see it's a horrible thing. And we know as well that these aren't animals. Leather is not a byproduct on on the whole.
00:38:37
Speaker
Hides are chosen particularly for their for their so suiting for being made as sleep material. So that's and that's usually a bit of a myth as well. but I think the thing here is leather is starting to lose its luxury status and that's being diminished, which I think is a bigger picture. You know, it's a bigger benefit as well.
00:38:55
Speaker
So, yeah, that's it's a really good story, as I say, especially when it's someone like Renault, French company, not typically led the way in this sort of thing before. But yeah with the advent of electric cars, I think it's really helped them refocus on that.
Beyond Meat's Rebranding Strategy
00:39:08
Speaker
And hopefully others will follow and then maybe they'll start applying that out to their non-electric vehicles as well. it's It's really interesting. it's It's something we often see with plant-based dieters going plant-based for their health.
00:39:22
Speaker
And then because they've no longer got blood on their hands ah from the ethical side of things, it becomes a lot easier to let that in. It seems to be a similar thing here, like environmental reasons for for going vegan, if you so if you like, with with their interior.
00:39:38
Speaker
But then you have got a ah massive company like Renault saying, oh, it's free from cruelty. Like they they they wouldn't be discussing cruelty if it weren't for this. would that they They wouldn't be, put it this way, they wouldn't be saying, well, actually we're reducing the amount of leather in our vehicles, we're reducing the cruelty or whatever. They're only saying that because it's completely animal product free now.
00:40:01
Speaker
In terms of the leather, although, i mean, in in the episode we covered on on cars and and byproducts and materials and things, Paul, like that it's not just the leather that that could be an animal product in in the car. And I don't know how much scrutiny has been given to Renault for other elements of the car.
00:40:19
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, because we talked before, didn't we, about stearic acid in steel, which yeah i think is almost non-impossible to have. And um again, if you haven't listened to that episode, there's interesting areas like tyres.
00:40:32
Speaker
So Michelin, French company still, as far as I'm aware, they're the only tyres that are kind of really seen as having vegan credentials, but they don't really promote it. I have no idea what tyres are on the Renault 5, but um yeah, that would be another thing to look at as well.
00:40:44
Speaker
Yes, still nudging the needle in the right direction. Thank you for that one, Paul. Now, interestingly, Carlos, your pick for the week, we've we've had Paul's where there is a company like Renault talking about, oh, cruelty-free.
00:40:58
Speaker
And then we're going to a company that I think many people would synonymise with being a vegan company beyond meat. They're almost distancing themselves from that. at Well, that's one interpretation. what's What's your take on this new marketing stance they're going for?
00:41:15
Speaker
Yeah, ah um I'm not sure if they're distancing themselves from being vegan or seen as vegan. I think they're discing distancing themselves from this meat alternative brand. I mean, they were called Beyond Meat and now they're going to just be called Beyond.
00:41:28
Speaker
So that's a major, major rebrand. I mean, to be fair, they've been kind of having declining sales and the market has changed. So they're just moving from just being called Beyond. Beyond Meat and just doing meat alternatives to kind of do more like whole plant foods and more kind of protein protein products rather than just patties, which um which look and behave like burgers. Sorry, when i but meat burgers. When I say behave, I mean, these were the the the bleeding burgers, weren't they? How they were announced because they had a little bit of beetroot juice in them.
00:42:03
Speaker
So when you cook them, they went a bit red, which actually put off a lot of vegans from eating them. although i like them
00:42:11
Speaker
I just love everything rare. My salad rare. Anyway, CEO Ethan Brown of Beyond Meat that the name change reflects the brand's evolution and ambitions just do everything right my salad rare um anyway ceo ethan brown of your meat said that the main change reflects the brand's evolution and ambition to tackle more than just meat replacement, which I think is is good. I mean, they're they're trying to aim to kind of health conscious consumers while keeping the core values of sustainability and kind of, you know, not being relied on animal agriculture.
00:42:45
Speaker
I don't know if it dilutes the mission or not. To me, it kind of does make sense. Maybe they're kind of looking at, you know, meat replacement first and kind of establishing themselves, you know getting like a lot of carnists on board with their products. And now they're kind of taking the carnists on a little journey where they kind of move into this kind of whole plant foods and so on.
00:43:06
Speaker
I think it's okay. I mean, they they still talk about animal ethics and their products and sustainability and so
Market Trends in Plant-Based Foods
00:43:14
Speaker
on. um Maybe the messaging is going to be a bit diluted in those terms, but if it means more people trying their products or of them just bringing ah more varied range of products to the market, then Yeah, I think so.
00:43:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's good. it's ah It's an interesting market and an interesting journey because there's so many mental gymnastics going on with, like you say, carnists who are kind of in denial and kind of wanting to say, well, i don't I don't have anything that's purporting to be meat and it's not. And then you give it to them and they go, well, I'm not sure. i but In that case, I'd rather just eat whole vegetables. And then you've got certain vegans who don't want eat anything that looks like an animal. And then you've got others who really do. i mean, it's it's a heck of a minefield. So just mixing it up is probably no bad move, is it?
00:44:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and there's loads of meat, sort of meat meat tasting products. I mean, meat tasting, but not meat products out there now. maybe not so many when the Beyond Burger came out.
00:44:13
Speaker
So it makes sense to kind of broaden the range. Something we've talked about on this podcast before is how a lot of vegans kind of start with meat replacement products and they just go, well, I'm going to have my traditional steak and chips, except except the steak is not from an animal, but it's still going to be like something shaped like a steak and then the chips or or just have, you know, they just do kind of sort of like for like replacement on their recipes and then after a while of being a vegan you kind of started venturing into more things that did not start as a recipe with animals so this maybe just follows that trajectory as well I think there's ah there's a really interesting point here that um we talked about on the show not even sure if I was on it not that long ago think it was Tesco that basically pointed to changing their makeup of their vegan range to be less about the meat replacement
00:45:06
Speaker
products and more about the Whole Foods stuff because I think they pointed to especially younger shoppers looking more for that now. um So I wonder if this is almost just more of a simple like, hey, the demand is now switching or there's a bigger demand for this sort of Whole Foods type product and we want to tap into that as a brand that's already got that kind of vegan link in there and it would be it's quite a small jump isn't across to that sort product so yeah i do wonder if it's just a kind of fairly logical and you profit driven move and yeah hey it's a business that's the way it works and just just reflecting what what people want to buy think
00:45:42
Speaker
It's weird actually, got up me at the moment, I'm starting to look more at the, eat a lot of mock meats, I like them, but I'm aware that some of them are quite unhealthy, so I'm actually starting to look at those now and be a bit more selective.
00:45:53
Speaker
So for me, it's the sort of thing, you I'm kind of going to be starting to look at this sort of stuff, so it sort of feels relevant for me, I guess, as well. When we did an episode, probably a ah good year or so now, um I think it was with Kate and Julie, and we were looking at the media trope of the vegan bubble has burst. And we were sort of looking into that and saying, well, what justification is there for this?
00:46:16
Speaker
There was a really nice counter argument, an article written, I think, that was drawing parallels with the video game industry and saying how like there was an initial spike in video games. This was sort of like ninety s obviously,
00:46:30
Speaker
that video games existed before the 1990s. But in terms of the way the way the market went, there was sort of early adopters and then lots of failed products. And then you see a different model coming forward. And actually, if you if you look at video games now, generally speaking, that there's a lot of in-game purchases. So you don't pay much for the game and in the first place, but you spend lots when you're there. There's subscription models.
00:46:55
Speaker
Like the the model of of the video game market is changing all the time because it's still a relatively young field. You know, it's what, 30, 40 years old. If you look at veganism and like specifically, you know, vegan meats, vegan milks, things like that is even it's even younger. wi Really, in in terms of her a mainstream market, we're looking at less than 10 years, really.
00:47:23
Speaker
I think 10 years ago, 2015, I don't think you even saw vegan cheese in Tesco or anything like that. So it's really early days. So I think we're going to see lots more of this experimentation, flipping the black flipping the brand, changing the direction, changing the marketing message that we give.
00:47:40
Speaker
And I think it's going to be a lot of trial and error and hopefully it works for lots of them. But for for many, it won't. you know They'll try a new direction and it will it will be worse than when they started. but Wish them all the best of luck.
00:47:51
Speaker
Thank you for that one, Carlos. We have heard now from Carlos and Paul for their picks of the week, their opinions, but we very much value your opinions out there listening too. We love hearing from you.
00:48:02
Speaker
Here is how to get in touch with us. To get in touch with us, just send us an email at enoughofthefalafel at gmail.com. We see ourselves as a collective. Our listenership stretches all around the world and everyone's opinions, questions, feedback and ideas are what helps shape the show.
00:48:24
Speaker
Go on, send us a message today. Enoughofthefalafel at gmail.com. Okay, we've got time for just one more story in this week's news episode. Before we do, we are going to feature three stories that didn't make the cut, as I am ah enjoying doing at the moment. The International heral lot Herpetological Society is back in the news again this week. um They are determined to sell their, quote, surplus reptiles.
00:48:53
Speaker
We featured it a few weeks ago. They got stopped at a garden centre and now they've been stopped at a Blackpool hotel. It's made the BBC news this time. um And I'm just delighted that there's there's some animal rights activist out there who's just seeing their next venue and saying, by the way, did you know they're going to be selling reptiles? are you sure you're OK with this? I reckon lots of people won't be very happy with you.
00:49:15
Speaker
So they're being thwarted again. So well done, whoever is behind that. We've also got some news from the Hunt Saboteurs Association, a bit bit lighter news compared to their normal news. ah They're releasing some new merchandise, very swish it is too. Follow the link in the show notes if you want to get your hand on ah nice camo top showing your support for them and giving them some funds too and reported in lots of places this week a french three michelin star restaurant a par jay i probably said that wrong is ditching meat and dairy for this article from green queen is saying a plant-based menu i believe it is plant-based but also with honey so not quite plant-based
00:49:58
Speaker
But it seems like it's a very, very posh French chef who's very well known, um is moving from animal based food to almost exclusively plant based food. So hooray for
Bear Culling in Alaska and Ethical Debates
00:50:09
Speaker
that. Just knock the honey off the menu and you've got my full approval.
00:50:12
Speaker
Our last story, however, comes from the animal reader. It features a story from the USA, a particular part of the USA, namely Alaska. where I'm sorry to report that they have approved controversial bear killing.
00:50:28
Speaker
Now, this follows news that we've had from Australia amongst other places where it's basically people going up in a helicopter and shooting, quote, surplus animals because they are either interfering with the habitats, they're interfering with other animals that are deemed more worthy.
00:50:48
Speaker
The Alaska Board of Game has voted to restart a controversial program to kill bears in areas where caribou herds are declining. The program will allow shooting black and brown bears from helicopters. I really don't understand why it's always from helicopters. Anyway, according to the Alaskan government, the caribou population has declined because of bears.
00:51:11
Speaker
State wildlife managers say predators like bears and wolves are partly to blame, along with habitat changes and food availability. However, conservation groups argue that habitat loss and climate change are bigger threats to caribou than bears.
00:51:27
Speaker
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will manage the programme. They sound like a very trustworthy organisation. ah It allows the shooting of bears from helicopters, like I said, in targeted areas. Hunters will not check if the bears are male or female or if they have cubs nearby. be interested to hear, Carlos and Paul, your take on that as to whether you think that's some that's a point of note at all.
00:51:51
Speaker
um Supporters of this cull are saying it will also help subsistence hunters who depend on caribou as a food source by giving herds a better chance to recover I wasn't sure what this term meant. It basically means people who hunt animals mainly to provide food, clothing and other basic needs for themselves, their families or their local community rather than killing for sport or commercial sale.
00:52:17
Speaker
The Wildlife Department has said that the programme is designed as a short-term measure and will be reviewed regularly. um It could begin as early as next year if final approvals and funding are secured.
00:52:31
Speaker
which gives me a tiny glimmer of hope that it might not happen. But um Paul, Carlos, what are your takes on this? Who wants to go first? Well, Chip, yeah, we've seen stories like this before, and it's the usual thing about man trying to control populations of animals um rather than letting things be.
00:52:50
Speaker
um There's nothing, i know it's a short article, but there's nothing in here that really substantiates the evidence that they're saying. It's a bit like, oh, we think it's probably the bear's I'm seeing nothing in here that's so really yeah you wouldn't take this sort of action, would you? Unless you kind of got a decent study to back it up, even if I don't agree with it. It just seems to be it it is literally like a trigger reaction.
00:53:12
Speaker
um and it's It's the it's the easy option, isn't it? As ever killing it. um Not like, oh, we better have a look at the habitat. are we doing? and Are we starting to destroy that? Do we need to protect that a little bit more? No, since people up in helicopters, it's cheaper than them having to be on the ground finding them and we'll shoot them, not check in, you know.
00:53:30
Speaker
Had, you know, you got a clean shot, you could sit there, could be there dying for hours or days, potentially. um Yeah, it's horrific, lazy and and and cruel. So, yeah, it's it's really...
00:53:41
Speaker
really sad to read that. i Yeah, I think um this thing about these subsistence hunters, I've got a feeling that's probably about three people you know who might be doing that.
00:53:54
Speaker
It doesn't sound like a big... So that sounds like just bollocks, basically. And yeah, I mean, they say a short-term measure, but I think, again, they're just trying to sell it, aren't they, to say, well, yeah, we might not do it. But it's going to make bloodless people just like going up shooting things kind of happy. But yeah, to see no no real no real evidence, no real reason to do it, as far as I can see.
00:54:15
Speaker
Yeah, that was my take, that it's just a carte blanche for people who want to be shooting live animals anyway. It's kind of like, oh, go on then. Don't see why not. Yeah, it doesn't seem to be anything actually to do with caribou or not caribou, who seem to have other more pressing issues than being hunted by bears, like habitat destruction, disease, and so on and so forth. The usual big killers of wildlife, which is not other predators, as you know the natural systems have a tendency to self-regulate. you know If there's
00:54:48
Speaker
there are too many bears eating too many caribou, then the caribou will go down population numbers, bears will starve, and that reduces the number of bears, which then makes the number of caribou increase, which then kind of makes the population of bears increase again, and it just goes back and forth on the seesaw, which has been going on for...
00:55:07
Speaker
i mean I'm not familiar with the history of that land, but let's say tens of thousands of years probably. And we still have bears and we still have caribou now. So, you know, that's just kind of a nature.
00:55:19
Speaker
But this is whole all to do with the money to be made from from from hunting and hunting licenses and the industry around that much more than shooting caribou to to eat or anything else.
00:55:34
Speaker
There's also no justification in terms of call ah because the shots are being done from he helicopters. So they're really far from their prey. It's, you know, they they can't tell if it's a sick animal, an old animal, a young animal.
00:55:48
Speaker
You know, they're just shooting furry, brown and black things moving on the ground. So they they really can't tell if it's a mother with cubs or an old bear who, you know, they could even make an argument that they're putting it out of its misery or whatever. But, you know, it's not even that. They might be shooting a bear who can't even hunt anymore.
00:56:09
Speaker
Hunt caribou, I mean. So, you know, it's it's just in indiscriminate shooting. And this has been wildly protested. The government has gone against court orders even to forge a obviously they'll'll there'll be other interests and yeah And and you know we know from other initiatives that when you move predators from environments, you end up with disaster quite often in terms of the you know the the the prey population of that predator i just kind of taking over and and kind of potentially you know destroying the environment in which they all live. So things are usually finely balanced without human interference.
00:56:47
Speaker
Yeah, it it does make you wonder what would have happened if 10,000 years ago we we had the capacity to interfere with nature that we do now. Because there are so many things that they do just sort themselves out, but we seem to have this insatiable desire to control things. you know even Even the subsistence hunters, you know if really, if we're if we're worried about these people starving,
00:57:13
Speaker
what I mean, there's ways of getting aid to them that, you know, Alaska is part of the United States. I know there are there are lots of people going hungry in the United States, but it's not beyond the the wit of humankind to to work out how to get some aid to subsistence hunters if they genuinely are dependent on caribou.
00:57:31
Speaker
Yeah, send them some Beyond Burgers. Yeah, yeah exactly. Exactly. all maybe that so i guess yes absolutely yeah Or maybe they'll have to learn to hunt bears.
00:57:42
Speaker
I don't know. Who knows? But yeah, not very positive news. um And yeah, glimmer of hope that maybe somehow funding won't be secured. Maybe. um I don't know whether theyre their funding comes from there the main US government or it's Alaska specific, but Maybe Donald Trump's got something else to spend his money on. Who knows?
00:58:02
Speaker
Right. That is our last story of this week's news roundup. We do hope you have enjoyed the show. if you have, there's a little favor that we do like to ask of you. If you've enjoyed today's show, we'd love it if you could take just a few seconds to share it with someone else who you think might enjoy it too.
00:58:22
Speaker
We don't have a marketing team or a budget to spend on advertising, so your referrals are the best way of spreading the free Enough of the Falafel Joy further still. And if you haven't already, we'd be really grateful if you could leave us a rating on your podcast player.
00:58:38
Speaker
That will also help the show pop up when people search for vegan or animal rights content online. Thanks for your help.
00:58:49
Speaker
Thanks so much for listening. And don't forget that we have ah next the the next Enough of the Plathful episode coming out will be Vegan Talk, which will be available from Thursday, the 7th of August.
00:59:01
Speaker
And that will feature Anthony and Mark. who will talk about the start of a special animal rights history series. Indeed, yes. I'm literally packing my bags after editing this show. We're taking our summer break, so we're not going to be recording any shows just for a few weeks. It's hard work recording fresh content for you every week.
00:59:22
Speaker
But Mark and myself have recorded four special shows. They're all about animal rights history, and we're going to air a new one here. Each Thursday, really, really interesting stuff.
00:59:35
Speaker
I have to apologise in advance for my husky voice. we We gave Mark the benefit of recording in evening time in New Zealand, which meant I was getting up at six in the morning. It's normally him getting up that early.
00:59:46
Speaker
So we've got four really special episodes that are coming out in each Thursday. And the Monday episodes, the next three Monday episodes, are going to be some of our favourites from the Enough of the Falafel Archive. So three classic episodes that I know you're going to really enjoy listening back to if you've heard it before, or it might be new to you. But I'm not going to give away which ones they are, you'll just have to tune in.
01:00:09
Speaker
and see which ones. But lots to look forward to over the next few months while we take a break from live recordings. Anyway, that's enough of the falafel for this episode. Thanks to Anthony and Carlos for your contributions.
01:00:22
Speaker
Thanks again, everyone, for listening. I've been Paul, and you've been listening to Vegan Week from the Enough of the Falafel Collective.
01:00:34
Speaker
This has been an Enough of the Falafel production. We're just a normal bunch of everyday vegans putting our voices out there. The show is hosted by Zencaster. We use music and special effects by zapsplap.com.
01:00:49
Speaker
And sometimes, if you're lucky, at the end of an episode, you'll hear a poem by Mr Dominic Berry. Thanks all for listening and see you next time.
01:01:15
Speaker
This episode may have come to an end, but did you know we've got a whole archive containing all our shows dating back to September 2023? That is right, Dominic. There's over 100 episodes on there featuring our brilliant range of different guests, people's stories of going vegan, philosophical debates, moral quandaries, and of course...
01:01:36
Speaker
around a dozen news items from around the world each week so check back on your podcast player to hear previous episodes and remember to get an alert for each new episode simply click like or follow and also subscribe to the show thanks for your ongoing support wherever you listen to us from