Humane Issues in the News

Each week we round-up the news you need to know about humane issues, from human rights to environmental preservation, to animal protection, to media, consumerism and culture.



Group proposes "Declaration of Rights" for dolphins (via One Green Planet) (2/21/22)

"Swimming in sick seas" bad for people, marine mammals (via MNN.com) (2/20/12)

"Poacher gangs massacre elephants in Camaroon" (via Sydney Morning Herald) (2/20/12)

Study shows rampant exploitation of women in restaurant industry (via Alternet) (2/16/12)

"Exxon Valdez oil walloping mom and pup sea otters" (via Mother Jones) (2/16/12)

"Nation's largest public food forest takes root" (via Crosscut) (2/16/12)

New study: "agriculture consumes 92% of freshwater used globally" (via Treehugger) (2/16/12)

"Leak offers glimpse of campaign against climate change" (via NY Times) (2/15/12)

Trader Joe's finally signs Fair Food Agreement (via Alternet) (2/14/12)

Farmers exposed to herbicides become their own advocates (via 100 Reporters) (2/14/12)

Studies show education gap grows between rich & poor (via NY Times) (2/9/12)


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Jennifer Lehr Struggles with "the Nag Factor"

Image courtesy of SteveFE.

It's said by the time they're 2 or 3, children already demonstrate brand loyalty, and a significant knowledge of brands (even for products not targeted to them). Our children don't magically acquire this knowledge and preference; marketers spend billions of dollars targeting them (most recently about $17 billion), and encouraging what's been coined "the nag factor."

Parent and blogger Jennifer Lehr shares her own struggles with the nag factor in this wonderful recent post. Jennifer relates how a relative's trip to Disneyland resulted in Jennifer buying a Darth Vader mask for her own son, and how a trip to see Susan Linn speak helped Jennifer focus on just how slippery a slope this whole marketing-to-children-nag-factor thing is. (Susan is the author of Consuming Kids and director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.)

Jennifer lists some of European Union's guidelines regarding children and advertising (there are several), and compares them to what's happening here in the U.S.  She says:

"Here in the U.S. we have no  such guidelines. Regulation, schemegulation. Here, it is up to us parents to micromanage everything they see and to just simply say no when they ask for everything under the sun.

'All of my friends have it!!!'

Who are we to go up against the carefully researched 'nag factor' combined with 17 billion dollars combined with smartphones and smartwatches and smartheadrests in the car and video billboards that means screens are everywhere our kids look.

No generation of parents, Susan explained, has ever had it so tough.

Are we just totally f*cked?

If it was only that our pocketbooks were being raided, that would be one thing. But something far more precious is being taken from our children when they truly believe that if they don’t have a particular toy or a particular character they will NEVER BE HAPPY. When they believe that pleasure comes from things, not from within us. They’re being sold a false promise of happiness.

And not only that!

Their natural desire for make believe play is being taken from them.  When children’s play is so deeply influenced by clearly defined characters that follow a specific story line, they’re not working through their own stuff, they are enacting someone else’s.

Read the complete post.

So what's Jennifer's solution? She says: "... I’ll still buy him stuff. But we can make stuff. And he can make stuff. And he can see his joy isn’t dependent on the shape of some plastic that is covering his head."

If you want more ideas for helping your children become compassionate, conscientious citizens who aren't dependent on stuff for their happiness, consider signing up for our online course for parents: Raising a Humane Child. The next session begins April 9. 

~ Marsha

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Humane Issues Round-Up: Factory Farming

We know you want to stay informed about important humane-related issues but are short on time; that's why we aggregate the good stuff for you! Recently the news has been full of stories related to industrial animal agriculture. Here is a sampling of the most relevant issues.

• Six employees at a Butterball turkey farm in North Caroline face criminal charges after an undercover investigation reveal horrific abuse of the turkeys.
• A recent New York Times editorial supports proposed federal legislation that would standardize cages for egg-laying hens in the U.S. and give them slightly more room.
• A court in Washington state is holding a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) accountable for its pollution
• McDonald's has agreed to help end the use of pig gestation crates by pressuring its pig suppliers to stop using the small crates that confine female pigs during the four months they're gestating. McDonald's joins Hormel and Smithfield Foods, both of which recently announced that they're phasing out the use of gestation crates.
• Recently the Humane Society of the United States released undercover footage of abuses of pigs at two major pork suppliers.
• Late last month the Supreme Court overturned a California law that would have required euthanizing downed livestock at federally-inspected slaughterhouses.
• In a survey conducted by Meatingplace, about 80% of poultry companies reported that they don't sterilize the cages or trucks transporting the birds to the slaughterhouse, which allows an accumulation of bacteria.
• A mysterious "manure foam" on pig farms in the Midwest is causing the barns to explode, killing the thousands of pigs inside and injuring workers.
• Several states have introduced "ag-gag" bills which would prohibit taking photos or video of farmed animal abuse.

~ Marsha

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Save the Date: Teaching for the 21st Century: Bringing Humane Education into the Classroom

How can we best prepare our students for the important roles they must play in meeting the challenges of today’s world?

How can we help youth to become creative and critical thinkers who embody the qualities of wisdom, compassion, and integrity and who focus their great minds and deepest values on solving systemic problems in our increasingly interdependent world?

On Saturday, April 28 in New York City, we're hosting a day-long workshop, co-sponsored by our friends at HEART, in which teachers will learn how to bring global ethical issues into the classroom through innovative activities and approaches that enable their students to become conscientious choicemakers and engaged changemakers for a more humane, peaceable, and healthy world

The earlybird rate (register by April 13) is only $75.

Find out more.

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I'm An Educator, So Don't Believe Me

Image courtesy of Flickr.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent post I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from "I'm An Educator, So Don't Believe Me":

"When I teach, I often begin my classes by telling the students not to believe me. They’re usually shocked by this. It’s uncommon for teachers to discourage their students from believing what they say. What would be the point of school if teachers weren’t worth believing?

It’s not that I want my students to distrust me. Rather, I want my students to be able to distinguish fact from opinion and to be ready and willing to ascertain the validity of any statements or statistics they hear, see, or read. This is no easy task. How can any of us know whether the information we read and hear is accurate?"

Read the complete post.

For a humane world,

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach"

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Humane Educator's Toolbox: Students, Communities Work to Stop Hate, Spread Peace

Image courtesy of William Bender.

The NIMBY (not in my backyard) concept takes a whole new twist with Not in Our Town, an organization which has launched a new documentary and a nationwide educational campaign to stop actions of hate and promote inclusive communities. Their new documentary, Not in Our Town: Class Actions -- which is running on PBS this month -- chronicles the efforts of three communities taking positive action after facing racism, anti-Semitism, and teen suicides spurred by bullying.  Screening and discussion guides are also available.

Even more exciting than the new film is the Not In Our Town campaign, which offers a website full of ideas and resources for educators, students, and concerned citizens. There's a section of lesson plans and ideas for how to use the NIOT site and videos; there are kits and suggestions for starting a NIOT school, campus or community group, as well as profiles of groups and communities taking positive action; and, in addition to grant opportunities for educators to bring the documentary to their schools, there are contests and challenges for students.

With regular headlines in the news about discrimination and bullying in schools (such as this recent story from Rolling Stone), tools like Not In Our Town are important resources for helping communities feel connected and find useful strategies for promoting peace.


~ Marsha

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When Desire and Will Compete

Note: This is a repost from 10/19/2009. Enjoy!

I was reading an excellent essay by Eknath Easwaran in the Blue Mountain Journal, titled “Will and Desire.” He begins:

“Desire is the key to life, because desire is power. The deeper the desire, the more power it contains."

The Upanishads say:

"You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your deep, driving desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny."

Ah, but we are filled with such conflicting desires! And the strongest-willed among us, those who might become dedicated changemakers, leaders, visionaries, and doers, may also be those who are driven to fulfill desires that do not further a better world. What do industrial tycoons and Mahatma Gandhi have in common? Powerful wills to achieve their passionate desires.

As Easwaran’s excellent article explored, our desires are manifold and our will to manifest them a double-edged sword. He quotes the Bhagavad Gita: “The will is our only enemy; the will is our only friend.” As someone who has been accused of being strong-willed since I was a little child, I know this well. My strong will made me a challenging child to raise because I was endlessly attached to my desires and often inflexible. Yet, my strong will also became my great ally in achieving my goals and living according to my principles.

Making MOGO (most good) choices in our lives requires a strong will. Inevitably we will have conflicting desires. We may desire a certain food or product that is produced inhumanely or unsustainably. We may desire certain pleasures that have negative effects upon other species, other people, and the environment. We may also deeply desire a life of integrity and purpose and the unfolding of a peaceful, restored, and compassionate world. These desires may compete, and this is where we must harness our will.

Recognizing the range and breadth of our desires allows us to focus on those that are aligned with our values and pursue these with tenacious wills while acknowledging, but not indulging, those desires that don’t ultimately serve our greatest goals and the world we hope to create.

This is no easy task. But the very struggle can be rewarding, because when we wrestle with our desires and direct our will consciously, we create more freedom in our lives – freedom from the incessant pursuit of pleasure; freedom to create the lives we want most; freedom from advertising, peer and societal pressures; freedom to choose with wisdom and compassion.

What is your greatest desire? Your most fervent hope? Harness your will towards this end.

 For a humane world,

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach"

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