Session A.4
jump to: Spotlight on UUs Did you know? For our next session
Presentation: introduction to carnism
Get ready to show this thought-provoking video.
PREPARATION
1. Read this session all the way through. Scripted language is indicated with highlighting.
2. Choose whether you will show the 18-minute TEDx talk by Melanie Joy shown in this YouTube viewer window:
(If you are unable to use the YouTube viewer window, click here to see the talk at YouTube.)
...or the 70-minute version* shown in this YouTube viewer window:
*This talk was given to a Slovenian audience in 2012.
(If you are unable to use the YouTube viewer window, click here to see the talk at YouTube.)
This version of the full-length talk is available as a downloadable file (.MP4, 47 MB).
or
b) show the video by connecting your laptop to a projector or large monitor.
3. Arrange for the necessary viewing equipment—and audio equipment, too. If using a laptop, you will probably need to hook up external speakers to amplify the sound.
4. Do a trial run (at least a week in advance is wise) to resolve any technical difficulties in time for your session.
5. Be aware that some viewers may come away from the presentation with a strong desire to take action with their own diet. You can foster their empowerment, and help prevent the opposite (that is, feelings of disempowerment) by being prepared. We recommend being able to supply these resources upon request, and only upon request. (The last thing you want to do is create a situation where any of the participants are feeling pressured by you.)
Print resources
This is a starter kit available from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (entirely health-focused, no content about animals or the environment; please be aware that the "Calcium Connection" section on page 3 needs updating—see this post for a good update).
This is an excellent starter guide available from Mercy for Animals (includes some content about animals, no images showing blood or slaughter).
This "Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating" is available from Vegan Outreach (includes content about animals, no images showing blood or slaughter).
Online resources
These are free downloads corresponding to the print publications listed above:
http://www.pcrm.org/pdfs/health/vsk.pdf
http://www.mercyforanimals.org/VSG.pdf
http://www.veganoutreach.org/guide/gce.pdf
Also: http://www.livevegan.org/ and http://www.21daykickstart.org/ are websites with nutrition info and more.
6. Three or four days before your session, send reminder email with link to the assigned viewing. Here is a template for your email.
7. Thinking ahead to the final session, be aware of this webtool for coordinating potluck contributions. With a small number of participants, you might not need it, but it could be useful for future occasions with larger numbers of contributions. You should decide now, before this next-to-last meeting, if you want to use it, so that you can tell participants about it. Then it won't come as a surprise when you send them a link to the LuckyPotluck.com site.
8. Ensure there will be nametags, and create signage to help participants find the space where you will be viewing the presentation, if necessary.
Welcome, check-in (5 minutes)
Say, Welcome back! It's good to see you all again. Tonight, we're going to watch the video presentation on carnism. But before we do, let's go around the circle to check in about our week. I'll start... Model a brief check-in, and let each participant take a turn doing the same.
Presentation (60 minutes)
If your congregation has hosted Melanie Joy, you could introduce the presentation this way: Some of you may remember when Melanie Joy came to speak at our congregation a few years ago. She was on a national speaking tour of Unitarian Universalist congregations during 2011-2012, and our congregation was part of that tour.
Otherwise, you could begin this way: In the fall of 2011 and the winter/spring of 2012, twenty-one Unitarian Universalist congregations across the U.S. hosted Melanie Joy and her carnism presentation.
Continue with the introduction:
Melanie Joy is a Harvard-educated psychologist, professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
She has written articles on psychology, animal protection, and social justice, as well as the award-winning Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism.
She has also been featured on programs at the BBC, National Public Radio, PBS, ABC Australia, Good Morning Croatia, the Austrian Der Standard and the Italian Le Scienze.
Though much of Dr. Joy’s writing focuses on animal protection, she is also a longtime human rights advocate. She has been active in a number of social justice movements, and she teaches courses which focus on systems of privilege and oppression, domestic violence, and psychological trauma.
Show the video.
Discussion (20 minutes)
I[we] commend you all for being here, for being willing to push your comfort zone, and for witnessing some difficult and challenging material. Here is a question to begin our discussion: What fact or idea in the video did you find most surprising?
Keep the discussion going with the following questions:
- Some of this was painful to witness. What was it like for you to witness the footage of animal confinement and slaughter?
- Joy describes carnism as a "system of victimization" that victimizes not only animals, but also the humans who eat animals. In other words, she points to the system, rather than individuals, as the core problem. How might this shift of perspective help to create a bridge between vegans and non-vegans?
- If you no longer eat animals, what experience or experiences led you to stop eating them? How has the choice to stop eating animals affected your life?
- If you've given thought to the issues and continue to eat animals, what experience or experiences have led you to continue eating them? How has this choice affected your life?
- If you are considering changing your diet, what would you like to change about it? What are some challenges you think you may face? What are some ways you could address these challenges?
Next session planning & check-out (5 minutes)
Before we end our session tonight, let me remind you that our next and final meeting will be [time, date] and it will be a potluck. Each of us will prepare a plant-based dish at home and bring it to share. Does anyone know yet what they plan to bring?
If you have decided to try the LuckyPotluck.com webtool, let participants know that you will send them a URL for the potluck planning.
Remind participants, We will be sharing our exit tickets at this last gathering. So be thinking about what food-related 'next step' you want to take. And if there are any ideas for some kind of collective action we can do together, wonderful. Feel free to float those ideas via email this week.
Let's go around the circle now, so everyone has a turn to share any positives (things you especially liked), and any deltas (things you would change) about this session—or you can simply choose a few words to describe how you're feeling right now.
Take note of feedback, and thank everyone for coming.
Further learning this week...
Spotlight on UUs
The Rev. Allison Farnum has served the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers since 2008. She is currently on the board of Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, an ally organization of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
In March 2012, Farnum participated in a six-day fast in solidarity with CIW's request that the Publix chain of grocery stores join the Fair Food Program, whereby retailers agree to buy tomatoes only from farms which are in compliance with a new industry code of conduct, and are paying farmworkers an extra penny per pound. The six-day fast and the Fair Food campaign are documented in the 2014 film, Food Chains. (As of March 2015, a number of major retailers have signed on, but Publix, Kroger, Safeway and Wendy's continue to resist signing the landmark agreement.)
In June 2012 at the UUA's General Assembly, Farnum read the following statement in support of the proposed Congregational Study-Action Issue on Ending Slavery:
This year will mark the 150 years since Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Yet today, fields across the United States remain mired in a human rights crisis that enables slavery to flourish still. To some, my home state of Florida is “ground zero for modern-day slavery.” This is my backyard. I am the minister of one of our congregations in Fort Myers, Florida, and the most recent indictment of slavery occurred at my county’s courthouse in 2009. The employers were charged with beating workers who were unwilling to work or who attempted to leave their employ picking tomatoes, holding their workers in debt, and chaining and locking workers inside u-haul trucks as punishment. Please know, there are more cases pending in my state right now. What is happening in yours?
The good news? Change is already underway, and UUs are a part of it. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an internationally-recognized farmworker organization — has reached groundbreaking agreements with ten of the world’s largest food retailers, including McDonald’s, Subway, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods. My congregation, as well as many other UU congregations, have been allies in the struggle. Hailed by the New York Times as “possibly the most successful labor action in the U.S. in twenty years,” the Fair Food Program establishes a code of coduct to protect farmworkers’ rights, creating a culture that has zero-tolerance for slavery. CIW member Lucas Benitez states, “There is a new day dawning in the fields of Florida.”
Did you know?
For our next session...
1. Do this two-page reading: "Human Rights and Social Inequities: Labor" on pages 26-27 of the Ethical Eating Resource Guide. (Allow three minutes.)
2. Watch the short video below. (length: 5:55)
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVESchlosser
This video was shown as part of TEDxFruitvale, which was held in 2011. The conference's theme was "Harvesting Change," and it focused on farmworkers and fair labor practices.
The video was edited by Sanjay Rawal. Rawal is now working on Food Chains, a documentary about human rights issues in American agriculture.
From the description of the TEDx video: "In 2001 journalist Eric Schlosser wrote a best-selling book called Fast Food Nation. Most people remember the unappetizing parts about hamburgers, but he also wrote about meatpacking workers. Since then, he's become an outspoken champion of all farmworkers."
Presentation: introduction to carnism
Get ready to show this thought-provoking video.
PREPARATION
1. Read this session all the way through. Scripted language is indicated with highlighting.
2. Choose whether you will show the 18-minute TEDx talk by Melanie Joy shown in this YouTube viewer window:
(If you are unable to use the YouTube viewer window, click here to see the talk at YouTube.)
...or the 70-minute version* shown in this YouTube viewer window:
*This talk was given to a Slovenian audience in 2012.
(If you are unable to use the YouTube viewer window, click here to see the talk at YouTube.)
This version of the full-length talk is available as a downloadable file (.MP4, 47 MB).
If you download the file, you can either:
a) "burn" a DVD and use a DVD player to show the video,or
b) show the video by connecting your laptop to a projector or large monitor.
4. Do a trial run (at least a week in advance is wise) to resolve any technical difficulties in time for your session.
5. Be aware that some viewers may come away from the presentation with a strong desire to take action with their own diet. You can foster their empowerment, and help prevent the opposite (that is, feelings of disempowerment) by being prepared. We recommend being able to supply these resources upon request, and only upon request. (The last thing you want to do is create a situation where any of the participants are feeling pressured by you.)
Print resources
This is a starter kit available from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (entirely health-focused, no content about animals or the environment; please be aware that the "Calcium Connection" section on page 3 needs updating—see this post for a good update).
This is an excellent starter guide available from Mercy for Animals (includes some content about animals, no images showing blood or slaughter).
This "Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating" is available from Vegan Outreach (includes content about animals, no images showing blood or slaughter).
Online resources
These are free downloads corresponding to the print publications listed above:
http://www.pcrm.org/pdfs/health/vsk.pdf
http://www.mercyforanimals.org/VSG.pdf
http://www.veganoutreach.org/guide/gce.pdf
Also: http://www.livevegan.org/ and http://www.21daykickstart.org/ are websites with nutrition info and more.
6. Three or four days before your session, send reminder email with link to the assigned viewing. Here is a template for your email.
7. Thinking ahead to the final session, be aware of this webtool for coordinating potluck contributions. With a small number of participants, you might not need it, but it could be useful for future occasions with larger numbers of contributions. You should decide now, before this next-to-last meeting, if you want to use it, so that you can tell participants about it. Then it won't come as a surprise when you send them a link to the LuckyPotluck.com site.
8. Ensure there will be nametags, and create signage to help participants find the space where you will be viewing the presentation, if necessary.
Welcome, check-in (5 minutes)
Say, Welcome back! It's good to see you all again. Tonight, we're going to watch the video presentation on carnism. But before we do, let's go around the circle to check in about our week. I'll start... Model a brief check-in, and let each participant take a turn doing the same.
Presentation (60 minutes)
If your congregation has hosted Melanie Joy, you could introduce the presentation this way: Some of you may remember when Melanie Joy came to speak at our congregation a few years ago. She was on a national speaking tour of Unitarian Universalist congregations during 2011-2012, and our congregation was part of that tour.
UU congregations which hosted the carnism presentation are pictured to the right & listed below:
First UU Society of San Francisco, CA
Tapestry UU Congregation, Mission Viejo, CA
Conejo Valley UU Fellowship, Newbury Park, CA
First UU Church, San Diego, CA
West Shore UU Church, Cleveland, OH
First Parish in Concord, MA
First UU Church of Albuquerque, NM
First Universalist Church of Denver, CO
UU Congregation of Columbia, MD
UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, Long Island, NY
First Unitarian Church of Dallas, TX
UU Church of Lexington, KY
River Road UU Congregation, Bethesda, MD
North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL
Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL
All Souls NYC, Manhattan, NY
First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI
First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor, MI
First UU Church of Wichita, KS
First Unitarian Church of Portland, OR
East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, WA
Tapestry UU Congregation, Mission Viejo, CA
Conejo Valley UU Fellowship, Newbury Park, CA
First UU Church, San Diego, CA
West Shore UU Church, Cleveland, OH
First Parish in Concord, MA
First UU Church of Albuquerque, NM
First Universalist Church of Denver, CO
UU Congregation of Columbia, MD
UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, Long Island, NY
First Unitarian Church of Dallas, TX
UU Church of Lexington, KY
River Road UU Congregation, Bethesda, MD
North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL
Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL
All Souls NYC, Manhattan, NY
First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI
First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor, MI
First UU Church of Wichita, KS
First Unitarian Church of Portland, OR
East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, WA
Otherwise, you could begin this way: In the fall of 2011 and the winter/spring of 2012, twenty-one Unitarian Universalist congregations across the U.S. hosted Melanie Joy and her carnism presentation.
Continue with the introduction:
Melanie Joy is a Harvard-educated psychologist, professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
She has written articles on psychology, animal protection, and social justice, as well as the award-winning Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism.
She has also been featured on programs at the BBC, National Public Radio, PBS, ABC Australia, Good Morning Croatia, the Austrian Der Standard and the Italian Le Scienze.
Though much of Dr. Joy’s writing focuses on animal protection, she is also a longtime human rights advocate. She has been active in a number of social justice movements, and she teaches courses which focus on systems of privilege and oppression, domestic violence, and psychological trauma.
Show the video.
Discussion (20 minutes)
Keep the discussion going with the following questions:
- Some of this was painful to witness. What was it like for you to witness the footage of animal confinement and slaughter?
- Joy describes carnism as a "system of victimization" that victimizes not only animals, but also the humans who eat animals. In other words, she points to the system, rather than individuals, as the core problem. How might this shift of perspective help to create a bridge between vegans and non-vegans?
- If you no longer eat animals, what experience or experiences led you to stop eating them? How has the choice to stop eating animals affected your life?
- If you've given thought to the issues and continue to eat animals, what experience or experiences have led you to continue eating them? How has this choice affected your life?
- If you are considering changing your diet, what would you like to change about it? What are some challenges you think you may face? What are some ways you could address these challenges?
Next session planning & check-out (5 minutes)
Before we end our session tonight, let me remind you that our next and final meeting will be [time, date] and it will be a potluck. Each of us will prepare a plant-based dish at home and bring it to share. Does anyone know yet what they plan to bring?
If you have decided to try the LuckyPotluck.com webtool, let participants know that you will send them a URL for the potluck planning.
Remind participants, We will be sharing our exit tickets at this last gathering. So be thinking about what food-related 'next step' you want to take. And if there are any ideas for some kind of collective action we can do together, wonderful. Feel free to float those ideas via email this week.
Let's go around the circle now, so everyone has a turn to share any positives (things you especially liked), and any deltas (things you would change) about this session—or you can simply choose a few words to describe how you're feeling right now.
Take note of feedback, and thank everyone for coming.
Further learning this week...
Spotlight on UUs
 |
| The Rev. Allison Farnum |
The Rev. Allison Farnum has served the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers since 2008. She is currently on the board of Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, an ally organization of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
In March 2012, Farnum participated in a six-day fast in solidarity with CIW's request that the Publix chain of grocery stores join the Fair Food Program, whereby retailers agree to buy tomatoes only from farms which are in compliance with a new industry code of conduct, and are paying farmworkers an extra penny per pound. The six-day fast and the Fair Food campaign are documented in the 2014 film, Food Chains. (As of March 2015, a number of major retailers have signed on, but Publix, Kroger, Safeway and Wendy's continue to resist signing the landmark agreement.)
In June 2012 at the UUA's General Assembly, Farnum read the following statement in support of the proposed Congregational Study-Action Issue on Ending Slavery:
This year will mark the 150 years since Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Yet today, fields across the United States remain mired in a human rights crisis that enables slavery to flourish still. To some, my home state of Florida is “ground zero for modern-day slavery.” This is my backyard. I am the minister of one of our congregations in Fort Myers, Florida, and the most recent indictment of slavery occurred at my county’s courthouse in 2009. The employers were charged with beating workers who were unwilling to work or who attempted to leave their employ picking tomatoes, holding their workers in debt, and chaining and locking workers inside u-haul trucks as punishment. Please know, there are more cases pending in my state right now. What is happening in yours?
The good news? Change is already underway, and UUs are a part of it. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an internationally-recognized farmworker organization — has reached groundbreaking agreements with ten of the world’s largest food retailers, including McDonald’s, Subway, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods. My congregation, as well as many other UU congregations, have been allies in the struggle. Hailed by the New York Times as “possibly the most successful labor action in the U.S. in twenty years,” the Fair Food Program establishes a code of coduct to protect farmworkers’ rights, creating a culture that has zero-tolerance for slavery. CIW member Lucas Benitez states, “There is a new day dawning in the fields of Florida.”
Farnum extends the following invitation to DOVE participants: "If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in visiting southwest Florida to work with CIW, please contact Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, the interfaith ally to the CIW, at info[at-sign]interfaithact.org."
For some consumers, the most compelling reason to buy organic produce is the health of workers in the field. As this Atlantic article explains, it's a human rights issue: "Organic Food Isn't More Nutritious, but That Isn't the Point"
Behind the Kitchen Door was the UUA's 2013-14 "Common Read." Its subject is restaurant worker justice.
Its author, Saru Jayaraman, is cofounder of Restaurant Opportunites Centers United. ROC's mission is to improve wages and working conditions for the 10 million people who work in U.S. restaurants.
Eric Schlosser, who provides the foreword to Behind the Kitchen Door, writes this: "When people ask what are the most important changes that we could make to our food system right away, I reply: Enforce the nation's labor laws and increase the minimum wage."
Its author, Saru Jayaraman, is cofounder of Restaurant Opportunites Centers United. ROC's mission is to improve wages and working conditions for the 10 million people who work in U.S. restaurants.
Eric Schlosser, who provides the foreword to Behind the Kitchen Door, writes this: "When people ask what are the most important changes that we could make to our food system right away, I reply: Enforce the nation's labor laws and increase the minimum wage."
1. Do this two-page reading: "Human Rights and Social Inequities: Labor" on pages 26-27 of the Ethical Eating Resource Guide. (Allow three minutes.)
2. Watch the short video below. (length: 5:55)
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVESchlosser
This video was shown as part of TEDxFruitvale, which was held in 2011. The conference's theme was "Harvesting Change," and it focused on farmworkers and fair labor practices.
The video was edited by Sanjay Rawal. Rawal is now working on Food Chains, a documentary about human rights issues in American agriculture.
From the description of the TEDx video: "In 2001 journalist Eric Schlosser wrote a best-selling book called Fast Food Nation. Most people remember the unappetizing parts about hamburgers, but he also wrote about meatpacking workers. Since then, he's become an outspoken champion of all farmworkers."
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