Better Without Billboards presents: Gag Big Ag - Lifting the lid on factory farming and advertising
For this episode, Nicola speaks to Claire Ogley, Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research at The Vegan Society, to talk about barriers and opportunities to shift to more plant-rich diets.
The Vegan Society is on a mission to help people go vegan and stay vegan. Claire explains the many benefits of shifting to more plant-rich diets: from healthier diets rich in fibre and lower in saturated fats; lower emissions and environmental benefits; to benefits for our food security; and reducing the suffering of animals on factory farms.
This shift is not just down to individuals, though. For many people the choices available, and our food environments, make these changes very difficult. We need political leadership, which is why The Vegan Society has partnered with Foodrise, Plant Based Health Professionals and others on the Ten Point Plan. This is a set of policy proposals ranging from retailer targets to public procurement, aimed at increasing consumption of fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes.
We also do some much needed myth-busting around the “nanny state” argument, and find that most people are, in fact, in favour of regulation on food. And we discuss the exciting news that Hackney's new mayor has pledged to ban meat and dairy advertising on council-controlled sites. Claire sees this as a strong statement against the dominance of Big Ag, and hopefully a first step towards a wider push to dismantling the power of this industry. We look at other measures councils can take to promote a plant-rich transition.
Here are some of the further resources we discussed: