At the end of the day, at the core of the problem is consciousness, the core of this problem in the world in many ways is the consciousness that we bring to the world.

When we think of others in the world or ourselves as being more or less worthy of being

treated with respect, that very thinking is what drives many of the social problems we see in the world.

Hi, I'm Elizabeth Novograt. This is Species Unite. We have a favor to ask if you like

today's episode and you have a spare minute. Could you please rate and review Species Unite on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to

podcasts? It really helps people to find the show. Today's conversation is with Melanie Joy.

Melanie is a Harvard educated psychologist specializing in the psychology of Eating Animals, Social Transformation, and

Relationships. She's the award-winning author of six books, including the

best-selling Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear. including the best selling why we love dogs eat pigs and wear cows.

She is a recipient of the Ahimsa Award for her work on global nonviolence.

This award was previously given to the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela.

Her TEDx talk, called Toward Rational Authentic Food Choices, has received over 800,000 views. Hi Melanie, thank you so much for being here today.

Let's go back and talk about your life growing up and how much of that influenced and played a role in your work and your life really.

Like many people, I grew up with a dog who I loved like a family member and of course I also grew up eating meat eggs and dairy so I was you know somebody who really cared about animals like many people do and I was also somebody who regularly

ate animals like many people do and I you know of course was not a person who

would ever want to contribute to animal suffering, especially when that suffering was so

intensive and so completely unnecessary. And yet for so many years in my life, I just, I never thought

about the fact that I could pet my dog with one hand

while I ate a pork chop with the other you know a pork chop that had once been an

animal who was at least as intelligent and sentient as my dog.

I just I didn't make the connection between the meat or eggs or dairy on my plate

and the living being that it once was. And what happened was that in 1989 when I was 23 years old I ate a

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