June 30, 2009

Friends or Dinner?: A Toronto Subway System Campaign Stops the Public in Its Tracks

“Why love one but eat the other?” is the provocative slogan of the recent campaign launched by concerned citizens of Toronto and the U.S.-based animal advocacy organization, Mercy for Animals. This ambitious initiative, running June 9th to August 15th, involves a series of visually-striking subway posters that centrally juxtapose images of animals typically considered pets in North America against images of animals raised for food. Accompanying these images, text provides stereotype-busting information about “farm animals”. Additional images and commentary highlight contemporary factory farm conditions and animal treatment within the industrial food system. In this program, Kimberly Carroll, a key organizer of the campaign, shares her thoughts on these highly-viewed public education materials, including people’s reactions to the posters and a few background stories about the animals featured in the heart-rending pictures.

News links:

• Questions mount over Jackson animal kingdom
• For some local Jews, kosher isn’t enough: Ethics of food production is key part of ‘ethical kashrut.’
• Sea Shepherd captain arrested in Portugal
• Harp seal heart valves being tested for human use

Download mp3s of the interview:
lower quality / smaller: part 1 (2.67 MB) and part 2 (2.88 MB)
higher quality / larger: part 1 (8.19 MB) and part 2 (8.66 MB)