Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation - Episode 609: Animal Activism: The Next Generation with Genesis and Genelle Butler

Episode 609: Animal Activism: The Next Generation with Genesis and Genelle Butler

09/11/21 • 69 min

Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation

Our Hen House couldn’t be more excited to welcome youth activist Genesis Butler back to the podcast, this time joined by her powerhouse mom, Genelle Butler! In this awe-inspiring conversation, Genesis and Genelle share how the cruel reality behind chicken nuggets encouraged the 14-year old activist to stop eating meat at only three years of age. Genelle also shares how her daughter’s curiosity about breastfeeding and cow’s milk ultimately encouraged Genesis and her family to go vegan. A passionate animal rights activist, Genesis shares why she founded Genesis for Animals and Youth Climate Save, and Genelle tells us the importance of honoring kids’ questions and their innate desire to do good.
Genesis Butler is the founder of Genesis for Animals, a non-profit organization aiming to provide funding to sanctuaries and rescues who give animals a permanent home, and the youth environmental charity, Youth Climate Save. One of the youngest people ever to give a TEDx Talk, Genesis is an ethical vegan who has traveled the world advocating for animals and encouraging people to eat plant-based for animals and the planet.
Genelle Butler is an activist, organizer, and mother of five vegan children. She went vegan after Genesis convinced her it was the right thing to do for the animals. Genelle is the co-director of Youth Climate Save, alongside Genesis. In addition, she is also a coordinator for the Animal Save Movement.

“There are a lot of ways to get the message out—you just have to find a way to start. Once you start, it will show you a lot of things in a way that you didn’t see them before.” – Genesis Butler

Interview Highlights:

What Genesis thinks about the portrayal of animals on TV programing for kids
Why Genelle always knew that Genesis would be a leader, even when she was a baby
Why Genesis was inspired to become vegan and why the whole family followed her lead
Genelle’s commitment to emboldening her daughter to be an ambassador for animals
How Genesis sees the disconnect between concern about the climate and consuming animal products
Ways listeners can work with their communities to make changes in their lives to benefit animals
What Genelle has done to help Genesis realize her goals
How other kids react to Genesis’ animal advocacy
How Genesis got to be a Marvel superhero AND meet the Pope
Genesis’ collaboration with Million Dollar Vegan

Connect with Genesis and Genelle Butler:

Connect with Our Hen House:

Resources:

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This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

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Interview Highlights:

What Genesis thinks about the portrayal of animals on TV programing for kids
Why Genelle always knew that Genesis would be a leader, even when she was a baby
Why Genesis was inspired to become vegan and why the whole family followed her lead
Genelle’s commitment to emboldening her daughter to be an ambassador for animals
How Genesis sees the disconnect between concern about the climate and consuming animal products
Ways listeners can work with their communities to make changes in their lives to benefit animals
What Genelle has done to help Genesis realize her goals
How other kids react to Genesis’ animal advocacy
How Genesis got to be a Marvel superhero AND meet the Pope
Genesis’ collaboration with Million Dollar Vegan

Connect with Genesis and Genelle Butler:

Connect with Our Hen House:

Resources:

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Previous Episode

Episode 608: How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World with Henry Mance

Our Hen House welcomes author Henry Mance to the podcast this week for an insightful conversation about his debut book, How to Love Animals In a Human-Shaped World. Henry tells us how his young daughters inspired him and his hopes for the impact his book will have on readers: to help them understand what it truly means to love animals and learn how we can demonstrate this in our everyday lives. He shares why he believes social media is changing the ways we treat animals, discusses how individual choices to eschew animal products make room for governments to act on a larger scale, and how zoos negatively warp children’s understanding of animals.
Henry Mance is the chief features writer for the Financial Times, where he focuses on long-form pieces. He was named interviewer of the year at the 2017 British Press Awards and frequently appears on BBC radio and TV news programs. His new book is a personal journey into our evolving relationships with animals and a thought-provoking look at how those bonds are being challenged and reformed across disciplines.

“We make a choice every time we have breakfast, every time we have lunch, every time we have dinner. We make choices all throughout our lives about how to affect other animals, so it’s possible to do better.” – Henry Mance

Interview Highlights:

Why Henry believes that his book can inspire people to make dramatic changes in their lives
His hopes that society will progress through the cognitive dissonance that allows us to both love animals and accept abhorrent practices such as factory farming
Why it makes more political sense to seek subsidies for plant-based foods rather than seek a “meat tax”
The problem with how we shape children’s views of animal rights and welfare, including meat in school meals
Why veganism is part of a positive vision for restoring much-needed forests, wetlands, and grasslands all over the world
The problems with teaching children about animals by taking them to zoos, where animals are not in their natural environment
Why he firmly believes that loving animals has become an integral part of being a good human being

Connect with Henry Mance:

Connect with Our Hen House:

Some Resources Mentioned:

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Next Episode

Episode 610: How to Lobby for a Plant-Rich Future with Laura Reese

Laura Reese, co-founder of Agriculture Fairness Alliance (AFA), joins the podcast this week for a riveting conversation about food and farm policy and how each of us potentially has the power to influence it. A former Silicon Valley engineer, Laura explains how she shifted from product planning to federal policy in hopes of helping farmers and policymakers craft policy to allow for a plant-rich future. She gives us a bird’s eye view of the current problems with American food policy and describes what is happening at the United States Department of Agriculture under President Biden. Laura also shares how she finds motivation and hope for the future even when there are so many hurdles between her and what AFA aims to accomplish.
Laura Reese co-founded Agriculture Fairness Alliance in 2019 and now leads a team of volunteers lobbying for change in federal farm policy. She is an ex-Silicon Valley engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern California in biomedical and electrical engineering. Prior to 2019, the bulk of Laura’s career was spent in semiconductor product planning, culminating in her publishing a book about co-planning with customers called A lign: Get Your Team on the Same Page, Discover Clients’ Needs, Develop Better Products.

“We don’t have to be experts in everything; we can work with experts and have that inform our lobbying agenda, so we can focus on the things that are opportunities.” – Laura Reese

Highlights:

The AFA’s mission and vision for the future
How subsidies currently work and who’s getting what
The types of changes AFA is focusing on
Why AFA has a current lobbying agenda, a long-term lobbying agenda, and the difference between the two
Laura’s interest in the Farmer and Rancher Mobility Sustainability Amendment, which was set up to prioritize helping socially disadvantaged farmers
Why it’s so essential to subsidize transitions for farmers currently engaged in animal agriculture
Why Laura expects discussion around climate change in Congress to increase
Tips and advice on what listeners can do right now to support good food and farm policy

Connect with Laura Reese:

Agricultural Fairness Alliance Website

Connect with Our Hen House:

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Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and