Name: Hutch Hutchins
Social Justice Group: 2021-2022, Global Warming
Date of Fieldwork: February 16, 2022
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Vidisha Rai
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?[:: :
On February 16, Lucas Supan and I met with Vidisha Rai, an Educational Coordinator from Factory Farming Awareness Coalition (FFAC).
She lives in California and talked about how when she was in college she began reducing her plastic consumption and when she learned about the impact of meat on climate, she was surprised because she hadn’t heard about this. She then heard someone from FFAC talk at her friend’s college and became really interested in learning more.
She said that we as humans tend to see ourselves as superior. We have pets but we see fish, pigs and cows as consumable products. Companies want us to believe meat is necessary and natural so we buy them. They don’t want us to look closer. The big agricultural lobby has done such an amazing job at lobbying our politicians to support factory farms. They are exempt from the Clean Air Act and from cleaning up their waste.
When asked what we can do to stop the cycle, she said our government should stop giving 63% of ag subsidies to the meat and dairy industries. Meat and dairy are only so cheap for customers because of the subsidies. This is why it’s cheaper to buy a burger than it is to buy a salad. Fruits and vegetable producers receive less than 1% of the subsidies. The other thing we need to do is keep educating people about how this food system is operating and eat more plant-based. She also talked about how meat and dairy is tied with American national identity and the image of American farmers. Also, pharmaceutical is making money off people getting sick from eating unhealthily.
She shared about people taking small steps towards a more plant-based diet being a sensible approach. even if people can’t become vegetarian or vegan, they can take small steps. They can try a vegan burger, order a pizza without pepperoni, or even just buy meat or dairy products from the farmers market so they aren’t supporting factory farms.
It was really interesting to hear more about this organization’s approach and the work they’re doing with reaching out and educating people of all ages about this issue.
