Ep. 162: Melanie Joy - The One Word That Explains Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows
PLANTSTRONG Podcast
Rip Esselstyn
4.8 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 September 2022
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We’re going to introduce you to a word today that may be new but is something many of us unknowingly participate in on a daily basis.
That word is “carnism.”
Melanie Joy coined the word in her work as a Harvard-educated psychologist and author specializing in the psychology of eating animals, social transformation, and relationships.
What exactly is carnism? It’s the Invisible belief system in our culture that conditions us to eat certain animals and not others. Her book title actually sums it up perfectly, Why we Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. From birth, we’re conditioned to believe that cows, chickens, pigs, and fish are food…and, here in America, dogs and cats are pets. We don’t even question it. The fact that this belief system is so ingrained in our culture is, in fact, carnism.
But, my friends, the tide is turning as people are waking up and becoming more aware that,
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We don’t have to consume animals to survive and thrive
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There are better and more humane ways to treat animals – ALL of which deserve respect and dignity
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And, we simply don’t have to act against our core values as empathetic human beings
Awareness is the first step and with awareness, we are better able to think freely and act compassionately, to create healthier and more fulfilling relationships and a more equitable and sustainable world.
Episode Timestamps
11:00 Melanie’s Journey to veganism
15:25 Helping us understand carnism and how we’re a part of this invisible belief system
19:48 Carnism conditions us to act against our core values of compassion and empathy
24:00 In one day, more farm animals are slaughtered than the total number of people killed in all wars throughout history
24:30 Why carnism is a system of oppression and was this a big master plan?
26:00 Examples of carnistic defense mechanisms -
30:00 The Three “N” - normal, necessary, and natural
32:40 How do we piece the veil of carnism and start to dismantle the system? When you become aware of the system, you’re much less likely to be hijacked by it.
38:00 Are there classes and resources to learn more and develop effective communication skills around these topics?
38:42 Are we in a “meatocracy?”
41:06 How can this be so invisible if it’s so pervasive?
46:00 Why self-care and self-compassion are so important for change
50:58 How do we lower the bar for compassion and make it easier for people to make choices that align more with their values?
54:45 Is she hopeful about the future?
59:55 Are there countries around the world that are heading in the right direction?
1:05:15 carism.org truly is a service organization
Episode Resources
Buy Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows
Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello my cauliflower cousins. We at Plant Strong are still in the joyful afterglow of our annual |
| 0:09.1 | plant stock event. The celebration of all things plant strong. I want to thank everyone who joined |
| 0:18.1 | us last weekend. What a plant party we had. Man, it was a blast. And it is incredibly rewarding to see |
| 0:28.8 | so many people actively engaged in participating in our live stream events. And if you happen to |
| 0:35.6 | miss it, no sweat will be offering a full event replay along with our special collection of 48 |
| 0:42.8 | delicious and innovative recipes in the very near future. In some other big news for our diehard |
| 0:50.4 | rips big bowl fans, you can rejoice the rips big bowl banana walnut and the date and raisin are back |
| 0:59.6 | in stock as of like a few days ago. If you love cereal as much as I do, you'll be delighted to hear |
| 1:07.2 | that our multi grain flake cereal is now 30% off when you use the code multi grain 30. Make breakfast |
| 1:16.8 | easy. Head over to plantstrongfoods.com and stock up today. And I think this is important. Like I |
| 1:24.4 | said, this world is not going to be saved because one person at a time makes the connection and opens |
| 1:30.0 | their heart and changes their consumption patterns. We know that. And it's also important to know |
| 1:36.6 | institutions are made up of people. People are hardwired to feel empathy and research has shown that |
| 1:43.0 | that the vast majority of people genuinely want to live a moral life. They want to feel that |
| 1:48.4 | they're living in accordance with their core moral values, practicing their integrity, which is, |
| 1:54.4 | by the way, why we go through all of these mental gymnastics in order to eat animals. |
| 2:00.9 | Because we need to feel good about what we're doing and we don't feel good about what we're doing |
| 2:05.3 | when we're participating in cardism. I'm Rapace Liston and welcome to the plantstrong podcast. |
| 2:11.9 | The mission at plantstrong is to further the advancement of all things within the plant-based |
| 2:17.7 | movement. We advocate for the scientifically proven benefits of plant-based living and envision |
| 2:23.7 | a world that universally understands, promotes, and prescribes plants as a solution to empowering your |
| 2:31.2 | health, enhancing your performance, restoring the environment, and becoming better guardians to the |
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