Gracious viewers,
hallo and welcome to
today’s Good People,
Good Works,
featuring an interview
with Mia MacDonald,
the vegan founder
and executive director of
the non-profit organization
Brighter Green.
Based in
New York City, USA,
the organization’s
dedicated members use
their wide range of skills
and knowledge to help
create a better world
for humans, animals,
and our planet.
Brighter Green is a
public policy
“action tank,”
and it was established
to look at issues
of environment, animals
and sustainability,
bring those together,
transform public policy
and dialogue
about those issues
globally and locally,
with a particular focus
on issues
of equity and rights.
So when I say
“public policy,” I mean
government policies;
I also mean the way
society views certain issues.
And our goal is really
to do thinking,
so we’re like a think tank,
but we call ourselves
an “action tank” because
while we’re thinking,
we’re also doing.
We’re taking the results
of our research,
our writing, our thinking,
some international
networking,
to transform those
into actual programs
and actual change
on the ground.
Ms. MacDonald
has long been committed
to animal advocacy
and environmentalism,
having worked
as a consultant
to organizations such as
the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF),
Save the Children,
the Sierra Club and several
United Nations agencies.
My background is
in public policy, and
actually international
public policy.
And what I would find is
I would go to
environmental conferences
or conferences
focused more on gender
or human rights,
and I really wouldn’t see
any attention to
the set of issues
Brighter Green is trying
to work on, issues of,
this growth of intensive
animal agriculture, and
what that really means,
and the real downsides
of that.
So I felt like I wanted
to work on those issues
in a more structured way.
Operating
both independently
and in conjunction
with other groups
around the world,
Brighter Green
focuses on reaching out
to the public, politicians,
policy makers, and
the media from the local
to the international level
on topics
that are most vital
to our planet right now.
So how do we try to work
to get it out there?
One way is by doing
a lot of research
so we feel like we have
the facts at our hands.
The other is by networking
to liaise with groups
in different countries
who are interested
in this set of issues.
They might care about
water pollution, and see
that factory farms are
very heavily polluting
water resources
in countries.
So we try to make alliances
and then we basically
try to share our research
with key people,
both inside governments
and policy institutions,
of which there are
a growing number
around the world.
And with global
civil society, of which
it seems like your work is
part of that as well,
where there are people
who care about the state
of the planet, care about
the future of the planet,
and are really trying to
work to change conditions
in their own
local communities but
also within governments.
So just for
one concrete example,
I attended the (COP15)
Copenhagen
climate change talks.
And so there I spoke
on a panel that looked at
issues of climate change,
livelihoods and livestock.
So again I was trying to
bring the livestock sector
into a broader framework
of climate change
and livelihoods.
On the panel
was Wangari Maathai,
the 2004 Nobel
Peace Prize laureate, and
actually Brighter Green
co-sponsored that panel
with the Green Belt
Movement.
So the room was packed,
and it was a great effort
to try to share this work,
and try to
show the context
of why it really is
important to the climate.
So I’d say that’s
one concrete example.
We’re also doing some
documentation work,
and again in Copenhagen
showed a film that we’re
making about intensive
animal agriculture
in China.
So again, another way
of trying to engage
both individuals, people
with organizations,
as well as, if we can,
people in
policy-making positions.
One-third of
the world’s cereal harvest
and over 90% of soya
is used for animal feed.
The grain currently fed
to livestock is enough to
feed two billion people.
Brighter Green
is building awareness
among the public
of the multitude
of environmental, ethical
and health concerns
related to factory farming.
So one area that I think
your viewers
will be interested in is
we are looking
to change the way
people think about food,
and the way
they think about animals,
in the context of things
like animal rights,
but also in the context
of sustainability,
environmental rights, and
some larger concepts of
food security and equity.
So one of the main
programs we have is
tracking factory farming.
And as some of your
viewers will also know
this phenomenon
that has been
unfortunately spread
around the world
to many countries
that we think of
as developing countries,
places like China,
places like India,
places like Brazil,
even poorer countries
like Ethiopia,
and other countries in
Africa and Latin America.
So what we’re trying
to show is
how this phenomenon
is extremely negative.
One is from
a climate perspective,
but also looking at some
issues of animal welfare,
public health,
other ecological concerns,
issues of ethics,
issues of equity, and
trying to make the case,
again based on science,
based on research,
based on interviews
with people
in a number of countries,
that this is not the road
to go down.
When we return
we’ll continue
our conversation
with Mia MacDonald,
as she further discusses
her group’s benevolent
work and goals
for the future.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
I think that
there is a movement
around the world saying
that industrial agriculture,
whether for animals
or plants, is simply
not sustainable.
There are a lot of
alliances being built
around people
who care about
the environment, climate,
small farmers,
and organic agriculture.
So that, actually,
I would say,
is a very positive trend.
Welcome back to
Good People, Good Works
as we continue
our interview
with Mia MacDonald,
the vegan founder
and executive director
of Brighter Green.
Brighter Green is
deeply concerned about
the heating of our planet
and its devastating effects
on vulnerable populations
in developing nations.
What’s also happening is
there is a lot of interest
in issues of
indigenous rights,
indigenous voices on
issues of climate change,
but there are not
a lot of women involved
in those dialogues.
Many of the people
are men.
So we’re working with
a partner organization
in the United States
called “Tribal Link,”
as well as
three organizations,
two in Kenya,
one in Tanzania, all run
by indigenous people.
We’ve launched
a program for girls
from poor communities
who are needy
and bright, affected by
climate change.
They’re being supported
to finish their
high school education.
And as they do that,
they will also participate
in workshops;
rights training workshops,
workshops on
gender equity,
and workshops on
climate change.
And the idea being that
they will be developed
into leaders
who can be effective both
within their communities,
so not to lose their ties
to their community,
to their grassroots,
but also could participate,
let’s say, in future
climate change conferences
to really bring
those realities to the fore.
So that’s one of the things
we’re doing in the area
of sustainability.
Brighter Green is also
involved in constructive
action on global warming
in the city
where it is headquartered
- New York City, USA.
It’s working
with other groups on
a city council resolution
that would establish
plant-based agriculture
as a means to reduce
the City’s carbon footprint.
In New York City
there’s been a resolution
introduced at
the city council
looking at issues of
climate change and food,
and basically saying
to the City, “If you don’t
address issues of food
and agriculture,
you will not meet the goals
for reducing the
greenhouse gas emissions
from the City.”
So Brighter Green
has been part of that effort
along with groups
who care about animals,
groups that care about
food justice,
groups that care about
the environment,
community gardens groups,
and anti-hunger groups.
So it’s a resolution called
the “Food Print” and
it calls on New York City
to establish
a more sustainable,
humane food system,
which would put
plant-based agriculture
at its center, working
with local farmers,
but really saying that
to have more access
to fresh, healthy produce
would be extremely good
for the City
in terms of environment.
It would be very good
for public health;
particularly communities
that are under-served that
have few supermarkets,
have no community
gardens, and have
no farmer’s markets.
So in that way,
what I think is important
in terms of
a concrete outcome,
even though the resolution
has not passed yet,
it’s the first of its kind
to have been introduced
in New York City.
How does Brighter Green
envision itself progressing
in coming years?
I’d like us to continue
the work that we’ve done.
I’d like us
to engage more people
around the world
more directly in our work.
And I think like any kind
of person and institution
doing policy work,
to feel like we see
some concrete changes,
to feel like by the next
climate conference
the issue of industrial
and animal agriculture
is on the agenda in the
government conference,
not only in the civil
society conference
or primarily there.
So I’d like to see us
expand awareness
even more
through multi-media,
through writing,
through documentary,
through alliances,
through networking
and to see
more concrete changes
in terms of policy.
In closing,
Mia MacDonald shares
her thoughts on people
across the globe
working together
to take our world
to a higher level.
I’d just say
I’m really impressed
with the work going on
at Supreme Master TV
and the other efforts.
And I saw many people
from the group
in Copenhagen
and was very impressed
with their resilience
and stamina.
I think that we live
in a very interesting time
and I think there’s a lot,
a lot to do, a lot to learn,
a lot to share.
So even though
there’s some days when
I’m quite pessimistic,
when I look at some of
these global trends,
I’m also quite hopeful
that there’s time
to turn things around.
So I would say
I appreciate the work
and hope to continue
doing my part of it
through Brighter Green.
Our sincere thanks
Mia MacDonald
and the dedicated team
at Brighter Green for
your productive research
and inspiring programs,
both local and global,
which are helping
to secure a better future
for both humans
and animals,
while safeguarding
our beloved planet Earth.
We wish you
all the very best
in your future endeavors.
For more details
on Brighter Green,
please visit www.BrighterGreen.org
Benevolent viewers,
we appreciate
your company today on
Good People, Good Works.
Next is
The World Around Us,
coming up after
Noteworthy News.
May the Divine light
of Heaven
shine on all of Earth’s
precious co-inhabitants.