Screwworms, Spy Drones, and a Ballot Initiative That Could Break the Meat Industry | Rising Anxieties

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann covers the EU’s ongoing (and apparently never-ending) effort to strip plant-based foods of their meat-adjacent vocabulary, the Oregon ballot initiative that has the animal agriculture industry writing fever-dream op-eds, and a Russian company claiming it’s wiring dairy cows’ brains for remote-controlled lactation — which is either the future or a war crime, possibly both. Also: the Save Our Bacon Act is losing sponsors, India’s dairy industry is built on a quiet lie, and America’s dairy farmers can’t find anyone willing to take over their farms. 

• EU plant-based food labeling ban: After years of deliberation, the European Parliament banned dozens of meat-adjacent terms for vegan and vegetarian products — while somehow allowing “burger” and “nuggets” — and is now eyeing restrictions on pro-plant-based NGOs
• Oregon IP 28: The anti-animal-cruelty ballot initiative would effectively end livestock slaughter, hunting, and fishing in Oregon — and opponents are so scared they’re lying about what it actually does
• Save Our Bacon Act update: Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas dropped his co-sponsorship of the farm bill amendment targeting California’s Prop 12, a small but real win for animal welfare advocates
• India’s dairy truth: A new report reveals India — widely assumed to protect cows on religious grounds — is actually the world’s single largest beef exporter, thanks to legal loopholes that reclassify most bovines as not-cows
• Brain chips for dairy cows: A Russian neurotech company claims to have implanted electrodes into cows’ brains to trigger lactation on demand, because apparently the industry hadn’t yet hit rock bottom

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.