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292- Meat-eaters stink (according to science!)
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We would of course never be so inflammatory with our opinions. However, a new study, showcased by PCRM details a littany of problems facing meat-eaters who are hoping to be seen as attractive by folk. So, might we go plant-based...for love? Julie, Kate & Ant discuss this, as well as several others stories, in this week's round-up of ten animal rights & vegan headlines from around the world.
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Thanks to Neil, Shane & Alex for their continued Ko-Fi support!
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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.change.org/p/no-guinea-pig-meat-in-wales
https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/07/17/controversial-oregon-animal-rights-petition-might-not-have-enough-valid-signatures-to-make-ballot/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/welfare-activists-petition-high-court-against-continuation-of-live-animal-shipments/
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/peta-urges-bbc-next-doctor-090000267.html
https://plantbasednews.org/culture/sport/vegan-jiu-jitsu-black-belt-wins/
https://abc7ny.com/post/could-nyc-ban-horse-drawn-carriages-council-weighs-future-150-year-old-industry/19511790/
https://lenews.ch/2026/07/18/food-behind-bars-veganism-qualifies-as-a-protected-philosophical-belief/
https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/argentina-court-rules-goldfish-are-sentient-beings
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8e2e76znzxo
https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/plant-based-diets-may-improve-physical-attractiveness
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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!
Kate, Julie & Anthony
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello everyone! Are you interested in vegan and animal rights news? If not, why not? We can persuade you, I'm sure, but I reckon you knew where you were coming when you clicked on that button because you know that we are enough of the falafel and that's what we do around here. I'm Anthony, Kate's in the room, Julie's in the room, we are here to talk vegan news, but that is enough of the falafel, let's get on with Vegan Week.
00:00:24
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. Roaty. Take your flat-grown meat elsewhere. We're not doing that in the state of Florida.
00:00:36
Speaker
Should I call the medium and say, hi, sorry. True education. younger generation are getting know how brutal these practices are. That leaves a lot of pizza delivery companies in problems with things.
00:00:47
Speaker
What is this? What kind of movie is this? It's comedy gold, maybe. Any form of social injustice.
00:00:57
Speaker
As long as you don't get the wee brunions with the horns you'll be alright. Does veganism give him superpowers?
00:01:06
Speaker
I cannot fly around the city. I don't have laser vision. Hello everybody, it's Julie here. Welcome to this episode of Enough of the Falafel and thank you very much for joining us. Hi, everyone. It's Kate with you. i just want to say how nice it is to see Julie after a little while. We've been on the same show for ages. So anyway. Keeping you apart, the naughty girls at the back of the class. but and Yeah. So...
Vegan and Animal Rights News
00:01:37
Speaker
um Anyway, this is our news show and we're going to look through the latest vegan and animal rights news from the last week or so.
00:01:46
Speaker
Yes, and remember, you can read the original news reports for all the stories we cover and the ones I occasionally mangle in the show this week. Just check the show notes in your podcast player and click on those links. But that's enough of the falafel. Let's hear what's been going on this week. Indeed. And we're going to start off by recapping a couple of stories that we have covered in the last month or so with that we've got a bit of follow up for. From change.org, we mentioned that a misguided couple have got permission to breed guinea pigs in Wales for food. Oh,
00:02:26
Speaker
Sigh. Go back a couple of weeks to listen to that one. But if you follow the link in our show notes, the top link, you can sign a petition that says that is a terrible idea. Over 10,000 people have done so already. And don't worry British listeners who are thinking, oh, that won't get to the 100,000. That means it can be debated in Parliament.
00:02:46
Speaker
I think the fact is that this has got so many signatures, it can just be sent to those people themselves and show them the strength of opinion there. So do follow the links for that one. We have also been talking about the Oregon animal rights petition. that is looking for signatures to make the ballot box in November. The link in our show notes is to a story that is saying it doesn't look like it's going to quite get enough signatures for that. Whether that's the ultimate goal or not, who knows? But I guess one positive is it is still making the news. The Times of Israel this week are reporting that animal welfare activists are once again petitioning the High Court to stop the transport of live animals by sea to Israel for fattening and slaughter, and they're doing so on the grounds of severe animal cruelty. They've submitted a nearly 500-page document, including testimonies of individuals with experience in the industry. Peter have come up with a bit of wacky PR this week. They're urging the BBC to make the next Doctor Who Time Lord Vegan. Good luck with that. I'm ah behind the concept. I don't think they think that will happen, but it certainly ah gives us a chuckle.
00:04:01
Speaker
And finally, Benjamin Tetu, think that's how you say his name, took first place in two different categories at the recent jujitsu event in Zurich.
00:04:13
Speaker
He is a long time vegan. Long time counts as 2018. According to this article, he became vegan for the animals then and has been promoting veganism and animal rights since then and is clearly doing very well at that martial arts. So well done him.
NYC Horse Carriage Debate
00:04:31
Speaker
Let's hope that improves things for the animals too.
00:04:34
Speaker
So there are quick stories that we're starting the show off with. Now let's get into some that we're gonna have a chat about. The first story is from ABC News.
00:04:47
Speaker
That said, it's been covered in lots of places. We have been talking about the demand for New York City horse carriages to be banned for over a year. We've been talking about it and there's been countless people pushing for this for many, many years. um you may have heard the very sad story of a teenage tourist who was killed in Central Park a week or so ago. This week, Eyewitness News from ABC is reporting that the family of the teenager has made an emotional plea to ban horse carriage rides in New York City. This was during a council hearing on what has been called Romance's Law.
00:05:31
Speaker
Julie, Kate, what do we think? Like, ah obviously a horrible thing to to happen to somebody. Could it be the the tipping point for this? Or is it the case that this has had so much resistance for so long that people are just going to still cling on to it? what do you reckon?
00:05:48
Speaker
and Tipping point. I'm going for tipping point on this one because we have a precedent in some other states in America who've already banned these carriages. So I think that they are the sort of tide of opinion is turning on these things and people are seeing them as being the naff form of transport and entertainment that they actually are. So I'm going tipping point. in And I think it kind of highlights this thing about a lot of people, I think, can recognise violence against animals and the killing of some species of animal as cruelty.
00:06:30
Speaker
But they seem absolutely blind to sort of exploitation, especially if it's involving some kind of activity that they might themselves get some enjoyment or gratification from. So I'm not sure that this will, the tipping point will be about animal welfare, as people are calling it, or animal rights. I think the safety thing might be part of it and just from the interviews that I saw online with younger people you know being asked about whether they would participate in these tours and things and them just saying oh no it's just kind of we're just gone off the idea now you know it just doesn't seem like the right thing to be doing anymore but they didn't mention the horses specifically so um but yeah and and
00:07:20
Speaker
for For whatever reason, this thing gets consigned to history as a as ah as an entertainment, then it it needs to go there. and And people can change their opinions once they stop doing the behaviour, can't they? but we We see this in countless...
00:07:37
Speaker
instances that all the yeah mental gymnastics are used to justify behaviours that we're still doing. soon as we stop doing the behaviour, we can listen to our heart a bit more and realise that what we had been doing was was cruel. did you Did you read down and see the um lovely quote from one of the carriage drivers talking about working beside one's heart? Did you see that one from the carriage driver? Yes.
00:08:04
Speaker
Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's... is some Yeah, I mean, I'm hopeful that this will be the, I mean, it's sad that it's taken somebody to die, person, but of course, there's been quite a few other horses that have collapsed and died in the past. It says they're allowed to you know pull carriages up to, it's like 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which is just over 32 degrees centigrade. which is, that's really hot, I think, don't you? And an on tarmac as well. There's so many reasons why this is just awful for horses.
00:08:40
Speaker
um And the main argument that the carriage drivers has have given, well, one of the main ah arguments, apart from, you know, their horses being their heart and all the rest of it, is um that the tourists love it. Well, I'm thinking perhaps some of the tourists won't be loving it now if they...
00:08:59
Speaker
it Now you know they realise just how dangerous it is as well for people too, as well as the horses. mean And actually the stats back up that nearly 70% of New Yorkers are supportive of phasing this out. And it's yeah, you you let let's say you get 100 tourists that love it. Well, how many tourists are choosing not to do that? you know ah That ought to be a fairly straightforward statistic to get, wouldn't it, to to refute that?
00:09:28
Speaker
Yeah, i want I wonder what they could do having instead, you know, what sort of ah tourist transport they could have instead. I've got it. I've got i've yeah solved their problems. Go on then. Well, first thing, it's not a big workforce to redeploy when you look at the stats. 68 horse-drawn carriages. It's not a lot of horse-drawn carriages, is it?
00:09:49
Speaker
Right. They're private businesses, as far as I can tell. They just need to move with the times. Lots of private businesses have a lifespan and then that demand moves to something else, whatever. So the carriages, they're quite cute. They're, you know, craftsmen designed, beautifully made and all that. They can go into museums where they belong or they can be sold to rich people. They can sit all polished up in their giant atrium, atria of their giant mansion houses and look impressive. So that's the carriages sorted.
00:10:23
Speaker
The folk, the people, the drivers, they can carry on looking after their horses because their horses will still need fed and looked after. Their heart or whatever their horse is to them will still need to, you know, have somewhere to eat and drink and and be cared for. So they can give their horses a nice retirement and as good a life as possible without exploiting them and discover the joy of a lovely equal non-exploitative relationship with their heart so that's them solved and then you make some new carriages powered by bikes to take people around the park and the city which is nice and green and they're already doing that in the other cities where these horse-drawn things have been phased out so the answer's there are already it's all quite easy
00:11:19
Speaker
and One final thing. I just want to have a little, I think Alexis Lawson, the driver, who said that... So we've got, I could not imagine being ripped away from working beside my heart in horse form. Just the thought of not being able to work beside my horse is soul crushing. No one sees the dedication and love we share.
00:11:42
Speaker
that Well, that is an own own goal for the animal rights people. Because if there was anybody in that room, who had any shred of worry or concern about the future livelihoods of the carriage drivers, she will have dismantled that in those sentences because she's sitting in the same hearing as two parents who've watched their son die in front of them and she's talking about her soul getting crushed because she can't exploit a horse for money.
00:12:12
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. yeah Thank you, Alexis. You look like something out of a pantomime. Nobody else was dressed up in that kind of stuff.
00:12:22
Speaker
you Bizarre choice, wasn't it? Bizarre. look ridiculous and you sounded even worse. yeah um I'm only a few minutes into the game already and I've been extremely nasty to horse an animal exploiter already, but there you go.
00:12:39
Speaker
But the fact the viable options are are there already. Like I'm on Vieta.com, guided electric scooter tour of Central Park, yeah recommended by 94% of travelers. Like the alternatives are there.
00:12:53
Speaker
it's It's a nonsense and um fingers crossed for that tipping point. I thought it was interesting. I mean, I'm sure you know, i i'd heard this somewhere, but, you know, the American SPCA started by somebody called Henry Burr in 1866. Yeah, he he started it.
00:13:12
Speaker
And it was because of concern over how the horses in New
Veganism as a Protected Belief
00:13:19
Speaker
York were being treated, i e really badly, being beaten and abused and all the rest of it. And that's how...
00:13:27
Speaker
how that started in america so i thought that's interesting it's coming like round full circle and honestly Yeah,
00:13:38
Speaker
you know it's it's just a ah fantasy isn't it i think people have been watching too many downton abbeys or Actually, they they I was just down to you, mean, they have cars, don't they? But you know what I mean? Jane Austen or something, you know. so and they're barouches or what have you. i You know, yeah, it just needs to be to be banished once and for all, really, for those poor horses. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
00:14:04
Speaker
Okay, well let's fly across the Atlantic from new York over to Switzerland. I am not making this up. The publication is learn News, L-E and then news. It really sounds like a really bad attempt at creating a French-speaking news source. Anyway, it's good news, I think, from lanews.ch. Food behind bars.
00:14:26
Speaker
Veganism qualifies as a protected philosophical belief. This was ruled in Strasbourg at the European Court of Human Rights. They've ruled against Switzerland, finding that public institutions, such as prisons, must provide a fully vegan diet to detainees whose commitment to veganism amounts to a protected philosophical conviction. um There are a couple of Swiss citizens who'd campaigned long for veganism and organised their lives accordingly. One spent almost a year in pretrial detention at Geneva's Champs d'Olonne prison. After being arrested for vandalism, the other was involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The court found that both were entitled to a diet that complied fully with their beliefs.
00:15:19
Speaker
Kate, obviously great news. There do seem to be a couple of caveats that they're that they're stressing again and again in terms of this is for folk who are consistently, sincerely practicing veganism such that it qualifies as a philosophical belief. It seems like they're worried about some prisoners going, hang on, they're getting these delicious chickpeas and stuffed peppers. What's what's going on there? But either way, this is this is progress, right? Yeah, I think so. Massively, actually, because, you know, it's a binding precedent. It's got to be sit taken seriously across all the other member states, of which I think there are 46. And um yeah, I think that they're saying like, you know, people that are saying, well, I'm i'm vegan for health reasons. i don't I think maybe that's not covered. Am I right there, Julie? did you did you think Did you find that? Did you think that? I think it is the the philosophical belief. Yeah, well, there's been quite sincerely and consistently practised.
00:16:23
Speaker
Yes, yes. so so I mean, you do well in a prison to practice a plant-based diet but go against the vegan lifestyle wouldn't you like what could you possibly be doing like operating a a leather shoe shop within the prison I don't I don't know what you'd be doing other than eating three times a day yeah it seems very subjective in terms of how they are going to discern this uh Well, I don't know. No, they've got they have got something called the Granger Test. Oh, okay.
00:16:59
Speaker
Yeah. so um And and they they test, I guess, the person's beliefs against that. So is it a genuine and deeply held belief and not a health trend? I'm loving this. I didn't know about this, Kate. You've uncovered an absolute goldmine. Can we get vegan runners to adopt this just so that we can get the people who just want yummy cakes and sometimes patting animals in sanctuaries and then just running for cancer research all the rest of the time um
00:17:31
Speaker
oh yeah right sign this form yeah yeah yeah you're not allowed to t-shirt unless you you tick can tick all these yeah yeah oh god i would rejoin in a minute it's It's interesting though on this, so I've got the the Granger criteria in front of me. yeah Well, it it mentions in this case, like one person is being admitted to a psychiatric institution, yet point four on this Granger criteria is cogency and cohesion. The belief must be clear, serious, cohesive, and logically consistent, which when I read that, I thought, well, oh gosh, there ah there are some people who don't necessarily present in that way. and
00:18:10
Speaker
Certainly not saying everyone in a mental institution would would struggle in that way, but that there's holes in it, aren't there? but um suppose it's the best that we can do palpable human, you know. um ah guess it's like, I don't know, there must be a lot of people saying, I'm an ethical believer of, I don't know, what my belief is I should be allowed to go around painted green or something and um and I want to be allowed to do that in prison and please can you give me green paints or something I suppose they need ah some sort of criteria to weed out things that I don't know I'm talking load rubbish here by the way what makes in England now in Scotland we have the Scottish prison service and
00:18:56
Speaker
I'm kind of used to the idea that we're often a little bit more further. We're a bit further forward with a lot of animal policies in Scotland. And so the Scottish Prison Service, I can't remember.
00:19:10
Speaker
i think it, I think, is it 2018? Yeah. way back they said you're totally fine to be you know we can do a vegan diet we will absolutely make sure you have a legal right to that when you're inside and all the rest of it so we've been doing it in Scotland for ages we don't do it for our school kids we do it for our prisoners but make of that what you will so I just i don't know about like England how how you do stuff there but I know in Scotland we're we're already doing this We did have a story a few months back where um prisons were saying that they were going to provide ah vegan food for all all their inmates. And we did, and actually what we did have 2020, there was that guy that, went up against but um I'm ashamed to say the league against cruel sports because he was being do you remember yeah he he was um being oh god he was unfairly dismissed yes yes thank you yes and um so and he won didn't he And that he he he actually, um you know, we have him to thank actually for quite a lot of stuff here. But i think um to your point about skills and and stuff, I'm guessing that now the European ah human rights
00:20:33
Speaker
people will be schools and hospitals and other sort of, um you know, military, they probably people, you know, in those institutions as well, school introduced institutions, and you know, they will be eligible as well for um vegan food to be provided. And I will say from like from a catering point of view, when I was running a cafe, we would often make things gluten-free just because we knew we had a small proportion of our customer base wanted gluten-free products. And so anytime we could make something accidentally gluten-free and it not affect the taste or anything like that, we just would do it. And there is a chance that this that this will happen. You know, if if you've got one person in your prison that's saying, or hospital or whatever, saying, I need this, that they're more likely to make plant-based recipes and things like that. So it's there's larger implications in a positive way, I think. Can I say just shout out to anybody who might be able to be receiving this podcast who is a vegan person, and probably an animal rights protester, i don't even know, who might be doing time just now or their family or their friends or anything for whom this isn't just a theoretical discussion, this is a reality. And it must, of course, it must be the worst thing in the world to be banged up as it is. And especially considering all you're doing is talking up for animals. And the thought of being forced to consume the very thing that you rail against and that you detest, it's absolutely, it's unthinkable. So just shout out to anybody who is doing time for the animals there or their people, you know, we're backing you here. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, ah what's coming to mind for for me is that ah those guys who did that big action at Bridgeland Farms, it it it came out last week, didn't it? that
00:22:41
Speaker
whilst all the dogs now have have been released, like that there is still the possibility of legal action against those people who who took that direct action. So yeah, I absolutely, absolutely second that, Julie. Yeah. Nice one. Thank you, Julie. And thank you, Kate, for your comments on those first two chunky stories of our news show.
00:23:04
Speaker
Listeners, did you know... as well as listening to the show, as you are now, you can also read the show. Yes, you can. You just head over to zencaster.com slash vegan week and any show you click on will have a written transcript underneath it. They're AI generated, so you know it. They won't be 100% accurate. My accent, and in fact, everybody's blooming accent will throw it off entirely, but particularly mine, I think. and
00:23:37
Speaker
But they do make the shows more accessible. So we're really happy that they're available to anyone who you know needs to kind of get involved in the show in that way. and The other thing to say as well is that Spotify, if you're listening through Spotify, it normally has got its own auto-generated captions when you're playing the m show through the Spotify
Animal Sentience and Legal Precedents
00:24:02
Speaker
app. Mmm. It's uncanny at just saying, oh, you're onto the section of the show where you're talking about this. And it's like, how did, how did you know that?
00:24:10
Speaker
Goodness me, terrifying stuff. Yeah. Thank you for that one, Julie. We're going to move on to our next story. And I genuinely saw this listed in a spoof news article thing, as well as lots of, uh, genuine ones. This is a genuine news story. And I think we're probably going to be more sympathetic to it than, uh, folk who aren't vegan, who might think, oh, are you just taking the mick? We're putting the link in the show notes to Scottish Legal News, scottishlegal.com. It's been reported in a bunch of places. It's from Argentina.
00:24:42
Speaker
Court rules that goldfish are sentient beings. Well, of course they are, um but we might be surprised that this is actually passed. So this is lawyers acting for an Argentine animal rights group,
00:24:54
Speaker
have persuaded a court that goldfish are sentient beings and succeeded in rescuing a pair of fish from an inadequate tank displayed in the window of a Buenos Aires sushi restaurant.
00:25:07
Speaker
ah The two fish have been given names by humans, Fede and Magui. They've been living in a 40-litre glass tank at the front of this sushi restaurant in a, quote, upmarket Buenos Aires neighbourhood. A passerby made a complaint about their welfare, saying they're exposed to the sun and street noise. Then an animal rights campaigner, Carlos Jose Aga, who now cares for the fish, has gone on to say, it was like putting two polar bears in a cage inside a sauna. The fish are apparently now doing well with Carlos. The Harvard Review of Latin America have commented on this case, saying, Latin American legal systems are at the forefront of considering animals as family members.
00:25:55
Speaker
Julie, we could probably contradict that and find cases where um animals haven't been considered family members. yeah do do Do you feel like this case is improving outcomes for more than just these two animals? Or is it a gimmicky thing? What's what's your gut feeling on this?
00:26:14
Speaker
Well, my thoughts on this are that if you if you are empty cages, this organisation that did this rescue, if you carry out these seemingly small acts publicly enough, I think it does help, not just these two wee fish, but the cause overall.
00:26:36
Speaker
But you need to take the opportunity while it's there or it doesn't work, I think. I'm not telling empty cages how to do their job, i hope, but my thoughts are this.
00:26:46
Speaker
While they have people's attention through this story, as well as highlighting the good that they've done these two little individual fish, I still think they've missed the chance to be really clear that what their organisation is saying overall is that actually no fish should be in any tanks at all. And just let the penny drop and the mists clear and let people just really have a think to themselves about other environments where they see fish in tanks and just think, oh, hang on a minute. You know, i never even questioned that or it was nice and calming to look at or whatever. But, you know, if
00:27:32
Speaker
People's way into considering animals having rights, it comes in all different, from all different directions. It just takes one thing and one connection to be made. And then it can be kind of generalised other settings and other scenarios. And I think there's a real opportunity here for that. But they haven't, as far as I've seen in the coverage, it hasn't been taken. But maybe I hope I'm wrong. I'm on their website at the moment and it has to be said like they are primarily a sanctuary that is rescuing looking after dogs horses I've seen a couple of pigs so I don't know whether they they just chose to be part of this campaign or someone approached them or or what have you but it's it's not their usual wheelhouse although
00:28:25
Speaker
we we might assume that animal rights is at at the core of their message. But um yeah, i I did have a a similar thought that there's arguably missing up missed opportunities there, but perhaps it's something that that folk can build on. Yeah, I just found it, well, not laughable, that's not the right word, but the fact that they're living in a sushi bar where fish are being eaten and you know they are there purely as display you know decoration um and it yeah it's just um
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's just bizarre, isn't it? We are such a bizarre species. But I was really heartened by the fact that it is, lot of people would say it's just two little fish, it's two little goldfish. um And unfortunately, um So many people still think, you know, fish are stupid, that they've they've they swim around a goldfish bowl. And by the time they've got around the other side, they've forgotten what they were thinking, you know, the the you know in the first instance. And I just remember.
00:29:38
Speaker
um as a child you know just um being really excited at the thought of winning a goldfish at um you know at a fair and how little connection i had with them actually being sentient little beings and um Unfortunately, i really liked that quote where this ah the guy was saying they're like astronauts taking their their atmosphere with them. They're sort of living in their little little bag of water or their their little tank of water. They have to you know be taken in their water to their new home.
00:30:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's difficult. But I think... I'm hoping, I'm hopeful that if if people can make the case for two little goldfish, that they'll be able to make the case for um many other animals too, in Argentina at least, and maybe other parts of the world will be looking too and seeing what they're doing. um so yeah, that ah think, um and unfortunately, livestock are still not in the picture, are they? um
00:30:51
Speaker
you know, it's pets, it's our companion animals, it's animals for display and entertainment and then livestock are right down the bottom there. But We have to hope that people will start making the connection for them too, like we have, like so all our listeners have, like all our listeners that care, you know. um and there are more and more of us all the time. That's what heartens me. yeah absolutely. connection And if people can, like I say, make a connection to these two little fish, then...
00:31:24
Speaker
Why not to the other animals? and And like what's exciting about this is that this case has started with somebody just walking by and saying that doesn't seem right to me. The upshot of it, the result of it is we've got what can basically be a precedent here, like ah a test case, if you like, such that perhaps...
00:31:48
Speaker
if you walk past another sushi restaurant or any other kind of restaurant in Argentina where this sort of thing is happening. I can i can think of a ah restaurant that I used to go to in a in the city where I work, where there's a a fish tank. You wouldn't have to go through the courts there. You could just say, look, this is this has happened. like Courts are cracking down on this. You really need to stop doing this. And you might just... You might just be able to scare an institution out of out of doing this without needing legal fees, going through the the stress and ordeal of that, which some folk might not have the resources for. So yeah, well done everyone in in doing that. And isn't it great to just, you know, what we know we've got listeners from around the world, so I i very much expect we've got folk listening now in in South America,
00:32:40
Speaker
delighted we're covering something from your continent but for for me not being from that continent it's just great to hear stories from completely other side of the world that that there are people rallying for the the same things that we would want to rally against too so Hooray for that
Environmental Impact of Animal Agriculture
00:32:57
Speaker
of the revolution. All of that said, now we're going to feature a story from the UK. um ah Devon, in fact, it's coming to us from the BBC.
00:33:06
Speaker
Factory in critical situation as water limited. It's a chicken factory. What a horrible phrase. Chicken factory. They're saying they've been forced into a critical situation. Well, I think the chickens are constantly in a critical situation in a Chicken Factory, aren't they? The owners of Chicken Factory say the critical situation is the water supply being restricted. Southwest Water have implemented urgent measures to save water as a result of the unusually hot weather we're experiencing in the UK this year. There's been a hose pipe ban in parts of Devon and neighbouring Dorset. And the here's an interesting quote. Two sisters food group
00:33:50
Speaker
who are owning this institution. They say that they're operating operating on a minimal level of water to process birds, causing an urgent animal welfare issue.
00:34:05
Speaker
Kate, that's an interesting sentence, isn't it? We're talking about killing birds and an urgent animal welfare issue. i mean, it's an urgent animal welfare fair issue by virtue of fact you're killing them in the first place. but what what What are your gut feelings with things like this? Because it's... Horror.
00:34:24
Speaker
it's its Yeah, it it sums up the situation, doesn't it? But in in terms of what well what do we want to happen then? there's There's not a straightforward thing other than for the whole system to not exist. Do you know what? I think them saying about the welfare thing is partly... ah Because so the how the the Water Authority prioritises water for hosepipes and things is, number one, the health of their of the people in their constituency, but in the the area, the people that they supply to. Number two is animal welfare.
00:35:04
Speaker
And number three is businesses. So they are actually a business and they're like, no, no, animal welfare. Although having said that, there is an animal welfare thing. I was thinking, i was thinking how how could there be an animal welfare thing when the poor chickens are just going to get...
00:35:22
Speaker
killed anyway but apparently i let you learn new horrible stuff all the time don't you doing this and and the and apparently the the slaughterhouse ah uses 35% water before the chickens go into the actual processing bit and killing bit, by they they call it layerage. I didn't know what that was. It's literally them layering laying layering up all the different cages all crammed together. And I guess they they don't have any...
00:35:59
Speaker
They hardly get a breeze going through. It's really, really hot. So they mist. They mist them. The birds are like constantly being misted, and 35% of their water goes to that. And then um yeah they're packed so tightly because little chickens are really, really prone to heat stress and dying. And... They don't want that because dead chickens, before they get into the factory, they don't go into the food chain. And so that's a profit hit right there, isn't it? So i get let's say face it, it's about profit. because um you know if they do go start going through the process, this is really grim, but they they don't bleed out.
00:36:45
Speaker
And so their flesh is like mottled, it's not all that white colour that they so want. And um and also because there's all more much more blood in the carcass,
00:37:00
Speaker
it's actually the bacteria are going to breed on it and it's more likely to become, um you know, have like botulism or whatever. it's gonna So as all there's all of that. So, you know, which is all very grim and I'm very sorry to say that, but I just...
00:37:20
Speaker
You know, it's so it's all about profit. It's not about animal welfare. the poor little thing's going to get killed anyway. So, yeah. So that was my take on it. This statistic absolutely slapped me round the chops. I had to read it and reread it. And I'm hoping it's wrong, but it was written by ah somebody from a water authority, not an animal rights person and not a spokesperson for Two Sisters.
00:37:46
Speaker
But did anybody see this fact that the Two Sisters Food Group factory, one chicken processing unit, uses the same amount of water in one day as 2,000 people in a week? Gosh.
00:38:05
Speaker
That's horrendous. ah just imagine if we could dismantle this industry, how much we could do for the planet, even just taking out one chicken factory processing place.
00:38:21
Speaker
So I could not believe my eyes when I saw that. And I thought, why does it take so much water to so-called process a chicken? Because Kate, you're absolutely right. By the time they arrive at this facility, they are, you know, minutes alive and then they are stunned and then they are slaughtered. So where is all this water coming in? And it's to do with the medium for the stunning and it's also to do with the process of the slaughtering as well. There is a lot of water involved in that.
00:38:59
Speaker
But if you... Google it and go onto YouTube and just look at how our chicken's processed. You can look specifically at Two Sisters or any chicken factory place.
00:39:12
Speaker
And i I thought I had a rough idea. i thought I'd seen footage like that before. Either things have moved on or I just wasn't watching properly. But I i was just astounded at the sheer scale, at the type of machinery, the amount of water that's sloshed around because everything is automated.
00:39:32
Speaker
Their heads getting cut off, their feet getting cut off, the evisceration happening, the bits getting cut off them, the bits going here, there and everywhere. And everything to keep it clean is getting sloshed with water and sloshed with water and all the rest of it. And then at the end of the day...
00:39:47
Speaker
these entire great big warehouses, absolutely acres of machinery, it's all hosed and washed down so, so thoroughly that it i I can believe it. It's a whole town's worth of water, you know, just to do It's on just unbelievable to see it really is so wasteful and so ridiculous for what people are getting at the end of it and you know something Two Sisters they have been in the news they've been in trouble lots of times for doing exactly what you were saying about allowing you know dead animals to go back on the production line and for being skanky with their processes and things like that So they've been in trouble before.
00:40:35
Speaker
So I would love to see them get in a bit more trouble and to perhaps encourage them to look again at you know, what is worth their while getting into. but when you see the extent of the infrastructure they've invested in, these machines that can seemingly do nothing else apart from exactly eviscerate a certain size of chicken, you know,
00:40:59
Speaker
Oh my goodness, because there's so few humans involved in the process. It's just these enormous machines but and they all need to be just totally washed down just constantly. it's It's dreadful. It really is truly dreadful. Anybody out there who is still, you know, vegan for the animals, yeah, but still thinks it's okay. Oh, but my dog just eats chicken and that's it. Go and watch these videos.
00:41:26
Speaker
Go and just see what you are funding and and what is happening and think of all that water and try again to give your dog or your cat or whatever something better to eat, please. Yeah, might yeah I can vouch for that. My pussycat is a plant-based cat and he's very, very happy. so yeah yeah and But yeah, I yeah totally agree. And then you think about all the other animals that are being bred and all the water that is going...
00:41:55
Speaker
for them as well. There's so much water that pigs and cattle drink and um and then you've got all their processing. It's just absolutely ridiculous. ah So, i you know, I went running sort of in the countryside round where I am just few days ago and the pipes going out to the pig fields, these huge water pipes, and I'm like, well, that's probably a whole town's water going off right there. You know, is's just, it's madness.
00:42:24
Speaker
and then worrying about the poor animals in the heat being transported to the saucer houses. I mean, nobody's worrying about them either. So it's just, yeah, it's just horrendous. This is just a a horrible, horrible story altogether. It's great to have those stats, those numbers to hand where you can sort of just reel off how much water is used to produce various animal products versus plant-based ones that it can be quite compelling. But knowing knowing why as well as as Kate and Julie have both described their elements of the process, why is it so water intense? A big part of our job as animal advocates is is education, isn't it in in just saying what happens in these industries because so the industries themselves are not sharing it. so the and The only plus that I'm taking from this is that it's just yet another pressure on the animal ag industry.
00:43:31
Speaker
that is just not sustainable. it is not sustainable any way. And this is just yet another facet of its ridiculous unsustainability. So Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:43:44
Speaker
Fingers crossed that the final nails will be in the coffin soon for it. Well, thank you, Kate. And thank you, Julie, for your comment on that story and our story from Argentina about the two goldfish. Remember, listeners, if you want to read more about these stories that we're talking about, if you actually go on to our social media pages, you've got direct links there to each of those stories. Yeah, that's right, Anthony. At Enough of the Falafel on Facebook and Instagram, each of the stories we cover goes up on our account. So if you follow us, you'll get these stories in your feed too.
Plant-Based Diets and Physical Attractiveness
00:44:22
Speaker
And social media is also really easy, quick way to contact us. And Shane, our lovely, lovely Shane, manages our social media and she loves hearing from you all, as do we.
00:44:35
Speaker
Indeed, and something you're all going to want to hear, you're going to love hearing this even more than receiving a direct message from somebody, is the fact, listeners, that plant-based diets may improve physical attractiveness. Forget the fact that you're thinking, oh, well, if that person is not contributing to the slaughter of innocent animals, there are lovely person. No, no, It could apparently improve physical attractiveness. That is our last news story. We've taken it from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and they are saying, yeah, according to a new narrative review, the paper highlights research showing that avoiding meat
00:45:18
Speaker
can improve sweat odour. Julie, you've told us this before. You didn't need this research. You've told us already about... done my own research. Unwillingly been exposed to results of research I didn't want to undertake in certain fitness classes I've been in. Thank you.
00:45:36
Speaker
But it's not just that. Carotenoids in fruit and veg benefit skin color, complex carbs, slow signs of aging, and a healthy body weight, which may be achieved with a plant-based diet, is correlated with greater attractiveness.
00:45:52
Speaker
That last one, I might say, what? Let's be careful about that one. But what do we think then? What do we think? Kate, are we going to get behind this? you going share this? you going tell everyone, look, look? I'm i'm not going to... I don't think I'm going to go around sharing it. But of course it's true. Of course it's true. um Yeah, um you know, that the um sweat thing. Yeah, of i've i've car I can't remember...
00:46:22
Speaker
oh no coming back from India and landing in the UK and just realising that everyone's stank of meat smell, just this horrible meaty smell. It's bizarre. I haven't smelt it since. I've obviously got used to it again. I've heard people say about dairy as well. I i think that too was folk who lived in India saying, our British people stink of milk.
00:46:51
Speaker
I've heard that be said too, yeah. That's interesting. Maybe we sell smell of like sweaty cheese or something like that. You know, like that might also be contributing. But, you know, but we know for a long time that like ah milk products. proteins and stuff. They, you know, they've got hormones, they've got the IGF one growth factor thing, um all sorts of, you know, those things, they they promote acne. So, um you know, stop, stop having having your milk people. And
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah, so, um I mean, i as ah as an old crone that I am now, age 63, like telling people my age because most people, they may be lying, I don't know, most people go, are you?
00:47:39
Speaker
Are you 63? Oh, you know, so that that's always pleasing. they but They may just be being very, very nice, of course, but, you know, I just think... um you know I don't feel my age. You look amazing, Kate. You look absolutely beautiful. And it's not just your lovely face. You have a lovely figure. You're very, very fit looking as well. I think you are beautiful. You're a fantastic endorsement of a peaceful diet and lifestyle and all that business.
00:48:17
Speaker
Julie, you're wonderful. And so are you because you're a super, super fast runner on the whole. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I just think, you know, it does promote it's the it promotes well being on the inside as well. promotes, you know, mental well being feeling like you're
00:48:39
Speaker
you're you're not harming others. What i want to know is what they had to do to convince the nine female judges of the 43 male odour donors. I mean, good grief.
00:48:55
Speaker
What a job. I mean, what would you like, Julie, you know, sometimes having sheep in your life, you know, it can cost a bit of money. How how much would you need to be paid to to um sift through the 43 male odour donors for know for the sake of a plant based study? No, and and a good cause, I wouldn't mind that in any way. I have got a very, very sensitive sense of smell, extremely sensitive. And I used it to my advantage when I was a nurse because I could identify infected wounds before they had visible signs of infection to the point that I could identify the bacterium quite well.
00:49:37
Speaker
I can also smell Parkinson's like one of those dogs. you just Yeah, I'm really... And he might listen to this, actually. The lovely man I used to be married to, Simon. Hello, Simon, if you're listening. I used to be able to smell when he was getting a cold and when he was getting over it because of the change in his skin. I am so i live through my nose. I sniff everything.
00:50:00
Speaker
so I wouldn't mind checking stuff out for a cause at all. i'm I'm not squeamish about things like that. and Lots of people in the world I can identify are going around their business sweating out dead animals. I can tell. I can tell when people eat eggs as well. I can smell that and the dairy thing. And if you want to be attractive and you are sweating out dead animals, the thing that you will attract without fail, I can assure you, are blowflies.
00:50:36
Speaker
You will be super attractive to blowflies because that's what blowflies want to home in on is decaying flesh. So and I know this from keeping sheep. That's why you have to be really careful to keep your sheep all clean and tidy and not let them get smelly because the blowflies, you know, will stay away. But yeah, if you want to attract blowflies, carnists, you're right on the money for that. So yeah, the carnists definitely have a smell about them. And I would imagine as well, I don't really know, it's that it's been too long since I've been up close and personal with a carnist, but in having decaying flesh between your teeth when you've just eaten an animal must make your breath pretty clean.
00:51:20
Speaker
stank as well a bit like a kind of you know like a mainstream dog or a cat's breath I would have thought which I don't ever find that nice yeah yeah um so that's the kind of physical side of things but I think from an ideological point of view someone who is supportive of peace and justice and who's against violence towards innocent beings and the destruction of the planet. They're definitely attractive traits in in my book anyway and I would say that on top of that, hypocrisy is another thing that is is not so nice, isn't it? You know, when you get the people who say, i love animals and I've got this pet dog and, ah you know, I would die without them. They're they're like my soulmate. They're an extension of my heart. And yet they're sort of tucking into beef burgers and things like that. There's something quite wonky about that thinking that I must admit would put me off somebody. You know, they say one thing and do another. Yeah, I think there could be something that Veganuary could do here, because I'm ah wading through the the study here, and they say that the trial has demonstrated
00:52:36
Speaker
that impact even short-term dietary changes can alter sense signals relevant to social and sexual signaling. You know, there's there's a lot of people who'd be motivated by those things. And once you change your behavior, you might just start thinking about the ethics
Community Engagement and Podcast Support
00:52:53
Speaker
of it too. So hooray for that, hooray for that. Goodness me, goodness me. It's official then, it's official. Meat eaters stink. I'm just saying what the study said. That's not a subjective opinion. I'm just going with the science there. Thank you, Kate. Thank you, Julie, for dissecting that one for us and indeed for being on the show today. Lucky old us having you both. Listeners, as much as you love Julie and Kate too,
00:53:23
Speaker
it's possible that they might have said something you disagree with, or even me. Can you believe that? Goodness. um Or you might have agreed with them, or you might have said, oh, that was really great, but what about this?
00:53:34
Speaker
Maybe you've got some ideas. Maybe you want to just tell us how much you love us. Either way, you're going to need our email address. Julie, can you give it to us? Yes, I can, Anthony. It's enoughofthefalafel, all one word, at gmail.com. And just to remind you that we do read and respond to every email that you send. And and We feature them on our mailbag shows, unless you ask us not to of course. But with your permission, yes, we share them with everybody else so that people can hear what it is that you have to say and answer your questions and join in with your opinions.
00:54:16
Speaker
Indeed. If you are listening to this show, you are part of an awesome, awesome community. We're constantly hearing from new folk amongst the group this week, just gone. Some great people doing some direct action in New Zealand got in touch. Really looking forward to our next Mailbag show to share some of those voices with you. We've also got a Ko-Fi page. If you're not aware of what that is, you can just sling us even as little as ah a pound or a dollar or euro each month. It just goes into a little pot that buys us new equipment to make the show sounding better. So it all eventually comes back round to benefit everybody. The link for that is in the show notes. Thank you to everyone who does donate to that already. It really makes a difference. Yes, and you can rate us and leave a review on your podcast player if you like, which would be really great. and You can subscribe to the show. And that tells your podcast player that we're a great show. Yay. as well as giving you alerts when our new episodes drop. And you can tell people about the show and or share it.
00:55:23
Speaker
Please do that. would be really great. Thank you, everyone, for listening. The next Enough of the Falafel episode coming out will be a vegan talk episode and will be available from Thursday featuring David and Dominic. And they'll be talking about neurodiversity and veganism.
00:55:44
Speaker
Anyway, that's enough of the falafel for this episode. Thank you so much, Anthony. And thank you so much, Julie. It's been really great spending some time with you. and Thank you both for your contributions. And thank you, everybody out there in the listening world. We really appreciate you. I've been Kay and you've been listening to Vegan Week from the Enough of the Falafel Collective.
00:56:16
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.
00:56:31
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.
00:56:57
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? twenty three 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...
00:57:18
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.
00:57:32
Speaker
Thanks for your ongoing support wherever you listen to us from.