IHE News & Announcements March 2010

• Featured Resource: Why We Love Dogs...An Introduction to Carnism
  
• Featured Student: Russell Elleven
• Humane Education in Action: A Summer Camp for Engaging Youth in Transforming the World
• Get Water Wise for World Water Week
  

FEATURED RESOURCE: WHY WE LOVE DOGS, EAT PIGS & WEAR COWS: AN INTRODUCTION TO CARNISM

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs & Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism: The Belief System That Enables Us to Eat Some Animals and Not Others by Melanie Joy, Ph.D.
Conari Press, 2010.

“We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.” ~ Anais Nin

“What we consider normal is, in fact, nothing more than the beliefs and behaviors of the majority.”  ~ Melanie Joy

Right on the first page social psychologist and animal advocate Melanie Joy jumps into the inconsistencies we maintain in our relationship with animals by offering the scenario of eating a stew we find delicious and discovering that it’s made with Golden Retriever dog meat (which would repulse most Americans).  We have a strange relationship with animals. Some we eat, wear and experiment on, others we passionately protect, and/or enjoy as pets. Where did we get this skewed lens about which species are tasty, which are gross and which are off limits? (And it differs in many cultures.) And why do we vigorously defend our right to eat animals when we in most industrialized countries have no biological need to do so?

In her book Why We Love Dogs, Joy explores this culture of confusion. Her primary assertion is that we have such a skewed relationship with different species of animals, not because the animals themselves are different, but because our perception of them is different. And those perceptions influence our beliefs, ideas and experiences.

Joy introduces “carnism” as a belief system in which eating certain animals (but not others) is “considered ethical and appropriate.”  Like many oppressive and exploitative systems, it exists nearly invisibly, an internalized habit that we’ve been taught is “normal and natural” – it’s “just the way it is.”

In the book she outlines the ideologies, strategies, systems and psychological paradigms that “carnists” rely on to sustain, legitimize and justify eating certain species of animals. One of the strategies Joy outlines as a means for people to defend their choices she calls The Cognitive Trio. These are:

1. Objectification – Viewing animals as things, objectifying them – through language, legislation, media, etc. – allows us to exploit them with little or no moral discomfort.|
2. Deindividualization – Viewing animals as just a member of their group – seeing them as having only characteristics of their group (a sheep is a sheep is a sheep), rather being an individual with individual wants, needs and interests – allows us to see animals in the abstract, providing distance.
3. Dichotomization – Viewing animals in simple, black and white, inflexible categories (edible vs. inedible; smart vs. dumb; pet vs. pest, etc.) allows us to feel justified in our exploitation of certain species.
   

Joy also provides a brief overview of the treatment of farmed animals, the environmental impact, and the “collateral damage” of the impact on people of raising and eating animals; she also lets the voices of “carnists” speak for themselves in their struggle to reconcile their choices with their deepest values, through quotes and excerpts from interviews she conducted with numerous people, from slaughterhouse workers to students.

Why We Love Dogs concludes with a call to stand as a witness to the extensive suffering inherent in industrial animal agriculture. As she says, "Virtually every atrocity in the history of humankind was enabled by a populace that turned away from a reality that seemed too painful to face, while virtually every revolution for peace and justice has been made possible by a group of people who chose to bear witness and demanded that others bear witness as well." Joy also offers suggested resources for more information and for taking action.

One of the strengths of Joy’s book is her integration of the data from numerous psychological studies on a variety of issues to construct a solid platform for why and how we are able to make cruel, destructive choices that conflict with our deepest values (and why it bothers us to do so). From experiments demonstrating our natural aversion to killing, to studies exploring the connection between our compassion and the number of victims we’re asked to care about, to the famous Milgram experiments examining obedience to authority and personal responsibility, the examples Joy uses reveal enlightening and frightening realities about us.

Regardless of how you feel about eating animals, Joy’s exploration of carnism offers a powerful and fascinating examination of the lenses through which we see the world and the psychological and social means we use to shape, support and sustain our choices and habits. It’s a call to awaken ourselves from the fog of culture and strive to make conscious choices that reflect our deepest values, rather than perpetuating a path of unconscious choices and habits that have been established for us since we were children. As Joy says, “…understanding carnism can help us think more critically about all systems in which we participate.”


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FEATURED STUDENT: RUSSELL ELLEVEN

Now, as a student of IHE's Humane Education Certificate Program, Russell is discovering the power of bringing the message of humane education to others and is exploring with his congregation what it means to live a life in which we all make "the best, most informed, and compassionate decisions." Read more about Russell.

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HUMANE EDUCATION IN ACTION: A SUMMER CAMP FOR ENGAGING YOUTH IN TRANSFORMING THE WORLD

Summer opportunities for youth abound, but there are few options available for young people who are interested in a variety of humane issues and who want to help create a better world. Activist and educator Nora Kramer saw that need and launched Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp in the Bay area last summer. This year there will be three sessions of YEA Camp, including a new one in the Portland, Oregon area. We talked with Nora about her education and activism experiences and about YEA Camp.

Quick Facts:

Current hometown: San Francisco, California
IHE fan since: 2002
Current job: Director, Youth Empowered Action
Book/movie that changed your life: Diet for a New America
Guilty pleasure: Sports – I grew up watching baseball and football with my dad and grandpa and am still hooked!
Inspired by: Activists who are just unstoppable and think big.
Love about yourself: How much I care and have grown and overcome.
One of your strengths: Maintaining a sense of humor.


IHE: What led you to the path of humane education?

NK: After several years of grassroots activism, I experienced that young people tend to be more receptive to new ideas and to changing their behaviors than adults. (This is obviously a generalization, but this was my experience overall.) I felt that there were lots of opportunities in this area to make a difference. I also really wish that I had had access to some of this information, or to adult activist role models, when I was a kid, so I appreciate providing and being this for youth now.

I sort of stumbled on humane education. Way back in 2001 I spent 6 months interning at Farm Sanctuary and PETA, and when I returned I was out of work and looking for ways to help animals. I was looking up volunteer opportunities on Craigslist and saw postings to teach at after-school programs. Having never taught before, I pitched a course called Animals and the Environment, and was pleasantly surprised that it was approved! In doing Internet research to create my curriculum, I found IHE and soon went to a Sowing Seeds workshop, practically memorized IHE's materials and attended humane education workshops at conferences, and then began teaching as a guest speaker through a program called The Empathy Project. It was very rewarding.


IHE: You’ve been doing a lot to empower youth and to teach others about humane education issues. One of your recent projects has been to start Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp. How did that come about and what made you decide to manifest humane education in that way?

NK: When I began working with youth, many kids and parents asked if I knew of any summer opportunities for passionate kids who want to help animals or the planet or otherwise contribute to society. Parents reported that most animal shelters and other community organizations won't accept volunteers under age 16 or 18. I started looking around, sure that there must be lots of summer programs for young activists, but I found hardly anything.

I loved summer camp when I was a kid, and I love teaching and working with youth in general. I also recognized camp as a huge opportunity because there are no state standards or curriculum requirements like in school, and there's so much freedom to create the program you want. So I decided I would start this camp some day, and I worked at several camps, including as a camp director, and got my teaching credential in preparation for that. After getting laid off from teaching environmental ed last spring, I decided this would be the year, and we launched YEA Camp last summer.

IHE: The first YEA Camp was in summer 2009. Tell us about some of the curriculum and activities you used and why you chose them.

NK: We have a good balance of typical camp-type activities and workshops that slightly resemble school (there is some teaching and learning and discussion) but these are also camper-driven, interactive, relevant, and fun.

All of our curriculum is based on each camper learning about different social issues while identifying and pursuing an issue of importance to them, and then building knowledge, skills, confidence, and community that will empower them to take action. These are the areas we think are most important to supporting new activists.

Our activities are interactive and both thought-provoking and fun. To give a few examples: for knowledge, we do a “Compassion Into Action” workshop each day on a different social issue and discuss daily actions we can take, such as consuming less stuff, the world water crisis, and eating less meat. For skills, we do workshops on nonviolent communication practices (such as taking responsibility for your emotions, not blaming other people, making requests, and listening generously to other people for their commitment) as well as on articulating the issue that's important to them and inspiring others to get involved. We also discuss starting and running an effective club, publicity and new media, and campaign planning.

For confidence building, we do one great activity called “Don't Stop Till You Get a Yes,” where campers practice making requests – and don’t allow themselves to be stopped by getting a “no” for a response. We want to build their muscles for causing others to take action and not to stop or take it personally when people don't respond the way we want them to. We also do activities called “Supermodel Role Models” and “A Million Ways to Make a Difference,” where campers learn about inspiring actions others are taking and brainstorm things they can do, too. We also do “Theater of the Oppressed,” which entails acting out and overcoming the things we fear.

Community-building is happening all week, but we also do some great activities that are really just based on all of us sharing ourselves and really getting to know each other authentically, as well as challenging stereotypes or norms about how we “should” be. We credit the work of Challenge Day, and their activities about gender roles, race, class, and privilege in general.

Some of the confidence- and community-building things we do are not as explicitly incorporated into the curriculum but are built into the way we speak and listen to the campers.

Our days are action-packed, and there's so much more to say. You can read more on our website at www.yeacamp.org. We also have dance parties, free time, a (vegan) ice cream social, nature walks, appreciation circles, singing time, and other fun camp activities. It is summer camp, after all!

IHE: What was the response to YEA Camp?

NK: It was phenomenal. The kids had such an amazing time they actually decided to thank the staff by cooking us dinner on the final night, which was one of my top camp highlights, and certainly a new tradition! Just about all of the kids said they want to come back next year, and we got some of the most incredible feedback from parents. Two different moms said they hardly recognized their sons when they picked them up – they were so peaceful and happy. Our staff also had rave reviews.

IHE: What have been your successes and challenges in developing a summer leadership camp for teens that is focused on multiple global issues?

NK: The biggest success was just how well camp went last year, our first summer – and that it actually happened! I really couldn't have imagined it would go any better. There were no cliques, fights, or even disagreements about different issues. My most cherished moments of success, I think, were on our final night hike and closing appreciation circle, when campers and staff thanked me for “following my dream” and making the camp happen. I definitely got teary at many points.
As for challenges, it has been a major challenge to get kids to stay in touch and to work on the projects they created at camp. I know kids can be very busy, but this was a bigger challenge than I expected, and we're putting some new things in place for next summer to support campers working on their projects when they get home. Developing the camp has been a huge personal challenge, while also being incredibly rewarding.


IHE: Any future plans, dreams or projects?

NK: Build YEA to be a nationally recognized organization that people identify as invaluable training for youth who want to make a difference. Like I said, I am committed to us having more camps and reaching youth all over the country, as well as offering programs in schools. Perhaps we would package our curriculum or train teachers or create other programs during the school year. Feel free to offer any ideas!

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GET WATER WISE FOR WORLD WATER WEEK

Skim through the news, and the message about the future of water seems pretty grim: climate change, a growing population, and a thirst for foods, fuels and other products and services that require an increasing amount of water mean major shortages worldwide. In fact, the United Nations recently released a report that warned that by 2030, nearly half the world’s population “will be living in areas of acute water shortage.” There are already more than a billion people worldwide who don’t have access to clean water.

This week is World Water Week, and March 22 was World Water Day, a campaign sponsored by the United Nations to bring attention to the importance of clean, fresh water for all, and for the need of sustainable management of freshwater resources. Organizations around the world have planned activities throughout the week to bring attention to water issues.

This focus on water is a great opportunity to explore water issues with others. Here are a few ideas:

• Brainstorm a list of what needs water to survive (people, animals, plants).
• Have kids/students list everything they can think of that contains or uses water (soda, nuclear power plants, agriculture, canned food, etc.). Which of these uses are vital to our sustainability and survival and which are not?
• Have kids/students list all the ways they use water every day, calculating how much water they use each day, and then comparing their use with how much water people in other countries use.
• Have kids/students carry around a gallon jug full of water and see how long it takes them to use it all up (drinking, hand washing, teeth brushing, etc.). Then repeat the exercise, seeing if they can reduce the amount they use (while still maintaining proper hygiene).
• Brainstorm all the ways that people can conserve water.
• Use resources such as The Story of Bottled Water and A Skwril's View - Bottle vs. Tap to help spark discussion about bottled water use.
  
• Learn about people taking positive action to help those who need clean water, such as Ryan Hreljac, who learned about the water crisis and, at age seven, raised money so that a well could be build in a Ugandan village. Now Ryan’s Well Foundation works in 16 countries around the world.

You can also challenge yourself (and your friends, family and co-workers) to conserve and protect water. Start by noticing when and how much water you use: when you wash your hands, bathe, brush your teeth, do dishes and laundry, wash the car, water your lawn or plants, prepare food, and so on. And then, work to get by with less. There are really simple changes you can make, such as not running the water when you brush your teeth and taking shorter showers -- and there are more significant changes, such as installing a greywater system and using rain barrels.

And, there are plenty of ways to get involved in your community, from learning more about where your water comes from, to helping set policy about the use of bottled water, to ensuring that everyone in your community has access to clean, safe water, to supporting clean water projects worldwide.

Here are just a couple websites focused on water issues. Water for the Ages also lists suggested books and movies, so be sure to check out those resources, too.

• Charity: Water
• SourceWatch Water Portal
  
• UNICEF Tap Project
• Water Aid (UK)
• Water for the Ages

And, if you’re a classroom teacher, peruse the lesson plans about water from Water Partners International. They have both short lessons and complete curriculums for grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.

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