On Holocaust Remembrance Day (4/16), victims of the animal holocaust will be remembered during a funeral procession in New York City. Among the participants will be a survivor from Hungary who lost her sister and father in Nazi concentration camps and has dedicated her life to fighting atrocities committed against animals.

Funeral for victims of animal holocaust on Holocaust Remembrance Day

The animal holocaust

“The longest running holocaust in history is taking place right under our noses, but it is being ignored.” said organizer Shimon Shuchat, who comes from a Hasidic Jewish family in Brooklyn. “Right now, mother cows are crying out for their kidnapped babies; piglets are being castrated with no painkillers; male chicks are being dropped into shredding machines; monkeys are being tortured laboratories; and millions of farm animals are making the long, terrifying journey to a slaughterhouse. For what?”

Slaughterhouse

Every year in the United States, roughly 10 billion land animals and 50 billion sea animals are killed for food.

Painting by Jo Frederiks

One of the founders of the modern day animal rights movement, Alex Hershaft, is a Holocaust survivor, and, like Mr. Shuchat, he’s not shy about invoking the genocide when speaking about animal factory farms and slaughterhouses.

Before being smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, five year old Hershaft saw Jews being beaten by Nazis in the streets. He lost most of his family during the war, but he gained empathy that helped him connect dots between crimes against humans and crimes against animals. In 1976, Dr. Hershaft founded the organization that would eventually become the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM).

Over the years, the animal rights group PETA has come under fire for using Holocaust imagery – juxtaposing images of  concentration camps with factory farms. Some activists believe that the comparison gives the target audience license to dismiss the message, which defeats the purpose of the campaign. Others support the analogy. In fact, author Isaac Besheva Singer said, “In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. For the animals, it is an eternal Treblinka. Human beings see oppression vividly when they’re the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought.”

The animal holocaust

PETA’s animal holocaust Campaign

It is the “cries of the silent victims of modern day concentration camps” that Mr. Shuchat intends to amplify on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Shuchat also hopes to change behavior: “When footage of factory farms farms is played side by side with footage of the Holocaust, people can see that there’s not much of a difference. If only a few of those people stop eating animals, then we know we will have made a difference.”

Funeral procession participants will gather in midtown at 7:00 p.m. and, carrying posters and banners, will travel to Times Square for a candlelight vigil.

Coby’s family hid Jews in Amsterdam during WWII (photo: Kyle Justin DiFulvio)

Two weeks prior to Holocaust Remembrance Day, Germany announced that it will be the first country in the world to ban live chicken shredding. Fifty percent of chickens born into the egg industry – the males – are either dropped alive into a shredding machine or are suffocated to death because they cannot lay eggs. In Germany alone, an estimate 45 million baby male chicks are killed each year.

In its extensive coverage of the California drought, the New York Times has consistently focused on the cultivation of crops without so much as mentioning animal agriculture, which is far more water intensive.

Cattle during California drought (photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

The glaring omission has sent readers the message that fruits, vegetables and nuts  – not beef and dairy – are responsible for the state’s grave water shortage. Following are excerpts from the NY Times over the past three days.

April 6th: “Even as the worst drought in decades ravages California, . . . millions of pounds of thirsty crops like oranges, tomatoes and almonds continue to stream out of the state and onto the nation’s grocery shelves.”

April 5th: “The expansion of almonds, walnuts and other water-guzzling tree and vine crops has come under sharp criticism from some urban Californians.”

April 4th: ”There is likely to be increased pressure on the farms to move away from certain water-intensive crops — like almonds.”

Cultivating crops might be be water intensive, but it uses a fraction of the water consumed in animal agriculture. On California’s factory farms, which house tens of millions of chickens, pigs and cows, water is used not only to hydrate these animals but also to grow their feed and clean the facilities and slaughterhouses where they are raised and killed.

Cows in a California feedlot

Eliminating animal agriculture, which inefficiently uses of a scarce resource and is altogether unnecessary, would undoubtedly help to curb California’s water shortage.

2014 Climate March participants highlighted impact of animal agriculture on water supply

Following are just a few statistics that demonstrate the impact of animal agriculture on the water supply:

• 2,500 gallons of water are used to produce one pound of beef compared to 100 gallons for a pound of wheat.
• Vegetables use about 11,300 gallons of blue* water per ton. Pork, beef and butter use 121,000, 145,000 and 122,800 gallons per ton respectively. (*Blue water is water stored in lakes, rivers and aquifers.)
• Each day, cows consume 23 gallons of water; humans drink less than one.
• The amount of water needed to produce a gallon of milk is equivalent to one month of showers.
• 132 gallons of water are used every time an animal is slaughtered.

One year ago (March, 2014), the NY Times published an op-ed, Meat Makes the Planet Thirsty, that included statistics comparing the amount of water used for crops and animals. So why is it omitting this vital information in its current coverage of the drought? Could it be a mere oversight? Or is it something more sinister?

2014 Climate March participants highlighted impact of animal agriculture on water supply

Articles posted on social media routinely direct us to boycott palm oil because its production displaces indigenous communities, kills wildlife, and destroys rainforests, which contributes to climate change. In fact, the cultivation of palm fruit trees is so destructive to the environment and to animals that, to many, palm oil, which is derived from a fruit, is no longer regarded as vegan.

Palm oil plantation on newly cleared rainforest

Some products contain palm oil that is labeled “sustainable,” but what does that mean? In an effort to determine whether or not we should be consuming “sustainable” palm oil, TheirTurn spoke to several rainforest and wildlife NGOs; companies that use sustainable palm; and a leader in the production of de-forestation-free palm.

Orangutans, who are displaced, orphaned, kidnapped and killed, have become a symbol of the destructive effects palm oil (photo: Biosprit-subventionen)

What is sustainable palm oil?

In the U.S., palm oil is found in 50% of packaged consumer goods sold in grocery stores. It is widely used because it minimizes separation and is free of trans-fats. NGOs estimate that 18% of palm currently sold comes from sustainable sources.

At the moment, only one organization, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), has a global certification program, but the criteria are so weak and enforcement so lax that “sustainable” no longer has meaning.

According to a spokesperson at the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), “‘sustainable’ is just a claim; it’s not credible.” For instance, the RSPO will certify palm grown on certain deforested lands. That’s not good enough, according to the RAN, which opposes the clearing of any forest worth conserving. RAN says that the newly-created Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) is working to strengthen the RSPO criteria and to pressure the biggest manufacturers to adopt a stronger set of requirements from its growers. The process, however, is slow going.

The Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil certification criteria are weak and often unenforced

Should we boycott palm oil?

Palm oil is here to stay for the indefinite future. The vast majority is consumed in countries in Asia and the Middle East where rainforest conservation is a low priority and consumer demand for sustainable products is negligible. If the American, European and Australian NGOs fighting to save the rainforests call for a boycott, then the companies that use palm will have no incentive to purchase it from sustainable sources. After all, why would companies spend more money on sustainable palm if the people who care about sustainability aren’t buying it? That is why many NGOs argue that demanding and buying responsible palm oil will, over time, protect the remaining forests more than boycotting it will.

The Rainforest Action Network targets the top 20 companies that use unsustainable, or “conflict,” palm oil.

Following are factors to consider when deciding whether or not to buy packaged foods with palm oil at this point in time

• If “sustainable” is not printed on the label, then you have to assume the palm fruit trees were grown on cleared rainforest.
• If “sustainable” is printed on the label, then the palm oil may or may not have been grown on cleared rainforest.
• Tracing palm oil to the actual land on which it was grown is challenging at the moment. As a result, most consumer products companies don’t know the exact source of their palm oil and should therefore not be making sustainability claims.
• In the U.S., any company can print “sustainable” on its label because the government does not have a regulatory agency to monitor that claim.

Palm oil is extracted from palm fruit that grows on trees in the tropics

Can we eat Earth Balance and Justin’s?

TheirTurn contacted the makers of Earth Balance and Justin’s because they make products with palm oil that are popular with vegans. Both companies buy RSPO-certified palm and appear genuinely eager to ensure that it’s deforestation-free, but, short of hiring investigators to follow their palm vendors, they simply cannot guarantee it at the moment.

However, according to the the Rainforest Action Network, Boulder Brands, the maker of Earth Balance, has “made the strongest palm oil commitment” of any U.S. company, demanding that its suppliers move in the direction of providing the company with palm produced in accordance with the POIG’s strict requirements. Now, Earth Balance needs to work with its supplier to implement this higher standard on the ground in Indonesia and Latin America.

Are plant-based foods vegan if they contain palm oil?

What is Palm Oil?

Palm oil is extracted from the fruit of palm trees that can only be grown in the tropics (show map), the heavily-forested areas near the equator that are often described as “the lungs of the earth.”

Palm fruit trees can be grown in the tropics, 10 degrees on either side of the equator. About 90% is currently grown in Indonesia (far right)

Once planted, palm fruit trees bear fruit after four years. After 20 years, the trees are chopped down and replanted because plantation workers can no longer reach the fruit bundles. After four cycles, the yield is reduced. Does that mean that palm growers will move  their plantations to new land that is covered in forest? It’s too soon to say.

When plantation workers can no longer reach palm fruit bundles, the trees are cut down, and new trees are planted.

If every company that uses palm oil decided to purchase it from responsible sources, would there be enough non-forested land to supply the global demand?

According to the Orangutan Land Trust, an advocacy group that works to preserve orangutan habitat, the island of Borneo alone has 35 million acres of unforested land that is suitable for oil palm cultivation, and that far exceeds projected growth for the next few decades: “It is a complete fallacy that new oil-palm plantations need to come at the expense of forests.”

To find out how you can help protect the planet’s remaining rainforests from being cleared for palm fruit tree plantations, please visit the Rainforest Action Network’s Palm Oil Action Team.

For the first time ever, U.S. animal rights activists are staging a protest against Australia’s live export trade. The organizer, Loretta Smalls, says it’s “a show of solidarity with thousands of our Australian brothers and sisters who are fighting to ban the horrific practice.” The protest will take place at the Australian consulate in Los Angeles on April 15th.

U.S. animal rights activists to protest Australia’s “horrific” live export trade in Los Angeles on 4/15

Each year, Australia ships millions of live sheep, cattle and goats to countries in the Middle East and Asia where they are slaughtered for meat. Footage taken during more than 30 investigations conducted by Animals Australia demonstrates that many of the animals who are exported endure “routine abuse” and “brutal slaughter” in countries that have few, if any, protections in place for animals. In addition, millions of animals have died on the ships during the treacherous overseas journeys.

For the Australian activists, the U.S. protest can’t come soon enough. “We need all the international support that we can get,” said Sue Clarke, an activist in Brisbane, Australia. “In spite of growing public demand to end live exports, our government is working to expand them.” In fact, Australia is finalizing plans to ship an estimated one million cattle to China each year. If the $1 billion deal is signed, the number of cattle exported would double from its current levels.

Cows being unloaded from a live transport ship

As the government works to increase the number of animals exported, it is also reducing the amount of oversight, which, according to Australian activists, is already wholly inadequate. Starting on April 1st, the Department of Agriculture will decrease by 30% the number of audits of unloading docks, feedlots, slaughterhouses and other live export facilities.

Australian cow in Gaza (photo: Animals Australia)

Protests against the live export trade across Australia attract hundreds of people, but the government is unmoved by the public backlash and the graphic videos that have triggered it. In fact, Australia’s Minister of Agriculture Barnaby Joyce stated in late January that a review of the government’s oversight program “demonstrates that Australian livestock exported overseas are treated humanely in almost every instance.”

Live export protest in Sydney (photo: James Morgan)

Of all of the countries in Asia and the Middle East that receive live exports from Australia, only Israel has a community of local activists who are working to stop them. According to the Israeli group Against Live Transports, about 200,000 sheep and cattle are shipped each year from Australia to Israel. The entire trip from the feedlots in Australia to the slaughterhouses in Israel is treacherous for the animals, but the activists call particular attention to the one leg of the journey for which they have the most documentation – the unloading of the animals. On April 8th, dozens of Israeli activists are traveling to the port city of Eilat to protest the arrival of a transport ship from Australia.

Animal rights activists with Against Live Transports use street theater to educate the public about live export cruelty (photo: Against Live Transports)

Live export protest in Eilat, Israel on April 8th. Translation: Stop the Horror (photo: Against Live Transports)

The U.S. and Israel are not the only countries to protest Australia’s live export trade. Activists in the Czech Republic, Greece and Egypt have also demonstrated in solidarity with Australian activists — while activists in England battle their own country’s live animal exports.

Activists with 269Life in the Czech Republic protest Australia’s live exports

If you live in or near Los Angeles, please participate in the protest against Australia on April 15th.

Please visit Stop Live Exports and Animals Australia’s Ban Live Export initiative to learn more about live exports and find out how you can help.

When Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) organizer Nicholas Shaw-Mcminn arrived at an upscale French restaurant in California to protest foie gras, he was not expecting to be attacked with a weapon by the restaurant manager. But you’d think he was, based on his thoughtful reaction that led to extensive media coverage exposing the atrocities of foie gras production.

Omar Haddedou, the manager of Le Vallauris in Palm Springs, attacks DxE activist Nicholas Shaw-Mcminn (photo: DxE)

DxE activists spoke out against foie gras cruelty from the Le Vallauris parking lot, which is in earshot of the restaurant’s outdoor seating.

Wayne Hsiung, a co-founder of DxE, commended Nick’s reaction: “Even as his face was being clubbed, Nick directly confronted the violence with camera in hand. He did not run. He did not strike back. He did not even curse. He calmly continued recording.”

https://youtu.be/p70lOMoSqfk

When asked by a reporter why he didn’t press charges against his assailant, Nick shifted the story to the animals, asserting that the pain he felt is something the animals experience every day: “We want to keep the attention on the animals and not make it just about me. Violent people are causing horrible harm to animals, and someone needs to be there to bring awareness and to try to end this violence.”

Nick is no stranger to being assaulted during a protest. In 2014, several staff members of BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in San Bernadino, California, aggressively ejected him from the restaurant as he attempted – by  himself – to speak out on behalf of the animals who were being eaten.

https://youtu.be/byfAgqMaeKk

DxE’s Wayne Hsiung argues that the physical backlash experienced by Nick and many other activists serves to strengthen the animal rights movement: “The press coverage that results from these incidents has exposed hundreds of thousands of people to the plight of animals and has triggered activists around the world to ask us how they can participate in our non-violent, direct actions.”

After he was attacked in Palm Springs, Nick insisted that the protest continue, in spite of the fact that his face was battered: “These attacks only strengthen my resolve to fight for the animals.” As they were leaving the parking lot, the DxE activists encountered a man overcome with rage who frantically repeated, “Take George Soros and go!” — giving participants a second story to tell.  See for yourself:

https://youtu.be/p70lOMoSqfk?t=2m51s

To learn more about DxE and create or join a DxE group near you, please visit Direct Action Everywhere.