In this eye-opening episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan dissects the agricultural industry’s transparent anxiety about the growing popularity of plant-based diets. From Farm Babe’s desperate defense of animal agriculture’s “sustainability” to Oklahoma’s hypocritical farmland ownership laws that conveniently exempt Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, we witness an industry scrambling to maintain relevance as consumers increasingly recognize the environmental and ethical problems with animal agriculture. Meanwhile, avian flu makes an unwelcome return to Wisconsin dairy herds, highlighting yet another risk of our dependence on animal farming, while the industry callously discusses how to profit from “surplus calves” separated from their grieving mothers.

This episode explores:

• How mainstream sustainability advice increasingly recommends plant-based diets, much to the ag industry’s dismay
• The contradictory claims about livestock’s environmental impact and the industry’s desperate “carbon sequestration” narrative
• The reappearance of avian flu in dairy herds and the industry’s resistance to vaccination solutions
• Oklahoma’s telling exception for Smithfield Foods in its ban on Chinese-owned farmland
• The disturbing commodification of “surplus calves” in the dairy industry and their treatment as mere profit centers

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

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