“Meat is hard” as Laura Dalrymple (of Feather and Bone fame) knows only too well. But this ethical meat mistress also knows that demonising meat is a distraction from the much bigger and much more urgent issues of our time.

Taking the hard questions head on is what Laura does best with an eloquence and warmth that makes you wonder what was so problematic in the first place.

In this hour of conversation we discuss taking ownership of our own actions by tapping into our own moral scales to find a balance that’s right for each of us. And feeling solidarity in the knowledge that, “Food is the universal connector that is a powerful political, social, economic and cultural force that we need right now”.

SHOW NOTES

• Tackling the food system issues via ethical meat 
• Engaging people emotionally and intellectually to transform the food system
• Taking actions to shorten the supply chain 
• Retelling core myths in new ways 
• The genesis of her book “The Ethical Omnivore’
• The insane juggle of raising a family while running a business and writing a book
• Why optimism is important in these times of change
• Arresting eco anxiety
• Facing hypocrisy daily
• Restoring cultural landscapes in short time frames
• Managing the frustration of the “say/do gap” 
• Why change is slow and hard but worth the journey
• Why a food system needs more than just farmers; it also needs storytellers and eaters and wholesalers, community builders
• We don’t have time to be precious about our values position or our patch; we face serious issues and we need open hearted, respectful and non-judgemental togetherness to enact change.
• Being vigilant about doing the “best you can” rather than “the best there is”.
• Food is the universal connector that that unlocks change in a powerful way
• Jade's story of rebuilding a community through the lens of her new knowledge
• Being capable of straddling multiple ideals 
•  The power of wholistic thinking rather than silo mentality
• The magnetic process that occurs where you move into the orbits of the people who have similar ideals
• The demonisation of meat in recent years which seem to distract from the issues at hand
• Writing a book that's an embodiment of transparency
• Talking about slaughter is the kiss of death but it's critical to talk about it or it will become a dark opaque corner of the universe that everyone ignores.
• Answering the most asked, most confronting question: “How did the animal die?"
• Realising our role in the ecosystem of life 
• Not being a killjoy with overzealous passion. 

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• Feather and Bone online
• The Ethical Omnivore ~ Laura Dalrymple and Grant Hilliard
• Sydney University ~ Charles Perkins Centre

Support the show