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News at Brighter Green

Presentation from Africa Animal Welfare Action Conference Available 9/7/10

Mia MacDonld's presentation from the AAWA conference underway in Nairobi is available now, covering Ethiopia's livestock sector, developments in nature's rights and animal rights, and strategies for action.
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Brighter Green Video on Ethiopia's Complex Relationship with Livestock Now Available 8/31/10

Narrated by former Brighter Green intern Whitney Hoot, this video is part of Brighter Green's Food Policy and Equity Program, outlining the social, environmental, and animal welfare consequences of intensifying meat production and rising domestic and export consumption on Ethiopia, home of Africa's largest livestock herd.

Brighter Green Video on Brazil's Soy and Meat Economies Now Available 8/31/10

Brighter Green's program on Food Policy and Equity continues to grow, with a video on the expansion of Brazil's livestock sector now available. The video, narrated by Simone de Lima, professor of psychology at the University of Brasilia and founder of Brazilian animal rights organization Pro-Anima, explores the profound environmental consequences of Brazil's booming livestock and soy industries.

Brighter Green Video on China's Meat Consumption Now Available 7/12/10

As part of Brighter Green's Food Policy and Equity Program, a short video detailing China's rising consumption of animal products is now available. The video is narrated by Brighter Green Associate Stella Zhou, who is blogging from China this summer. More to come soon as we explore further the impacts of the globalization of industrial animal agriculture in China, India, Brazil, and Ethiopia.

Huffington Post Blog Generates Discussion on the Web 6/2/10

Last month, Mia MacDonald posted a blog on the Huffington Post, covering Goldman Sach's involvement with factory farming in China. Her piece, "Investment Bankers with Wings: Making a Killing," earned several notable mentions online, from sources such as the PETA Files, Discovery's Planet Green, and Current TV.

Brighter Green in the Huffington Post 5/4/10

Mia MacDonald posted a blog on Goldman Sachs's investment in factory farming in China on the Huffington Post. Read it here. Feel free to add your comments or share with others or link to it.
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Mia MacDonald's Presentation from Pace Law School Now Available 4/21/10

Brighter Green Executive Director Mia MacDonald recently discussed the environmental impacts of factory farming at a Pace Law School Panel, organized by the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Environmental Law Society. Click here for the PDF of this presentation.

Hot off the Press: Diet for a Hot Planet 4/14/10

Brighter Green colleague Anna Lappé's new book is out. Diet for a Hot Planet addresses the climate impact of our food choices, and what we can do to make a difference. Thanks, Anna, for mentioning Brighter Green's work in helping to shape a more just and sustainable food system for New York City!

Article by Mia MacDonald Featured in Resurgence Magazine 3/9/10

The March issue of Resurgence Magazine, themed "The Future of Food," has published an article by Brighter Green Executive Director Mia MacDonald. Click here for a PDF version of the article, "Eat Like it Matters."

Congratulations to Karin Chien! 3/8/10

Karin Chien, founder of dGenerate Films and Co-Executive Producer with Brighter Green of "What's for Dinner?", has won the Piaget Producers Prize at the Independent Spirit Awards. Karin won the award for her work on The Exploding Girl, and Santa Mesa.

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Ringing in the Chinese New Year

by Mia MacDonald
February 22, 2010 4:52pm
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Mr. Wang buys pigs for his farm.

Lunar New Year celebrations continue. Also known as the Spring Festival, it's the most important Chinese holiday, for which millions of Chinese travel across their vast country by road, (increasingly fast) rail, boat or plane to reach their home villages and families. In the south-central province of Jiangxi, in Jishui County, Wang Ronghua, the livestock entrepreneur who's featured in Brighter Green's documentary, "What's for Dinner?," has been working hard. "Other people enjoy festivals," he says, "but we have more work to do....I work day and night for the New Year festival. We even have to slaughter pigs at night."

Interestingly, just before the New Year festival, the Chinese government indicated that a new survey on the sources of China's water pollution had found vastly more pollution than even two years ago. The main reason: for the first time, agricultural waste was included; 13.2 million tons of agricultural effluents were counted, including from factory-style livestock operations, smaller farms and crop production. “Everybody knew there was a problem with agricultural pollution in China," said Steven Ma, of Greenpeace's Beijing office. "But now there are numbers.” Big numbers.

It's the Year of the Tiger. Not great news, though, for tigers. Only about 3,200 are left in the wild, down from about 10,000 during the last Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac. Many more tigers now live in captivity than in the wild. China itself has about 50 wild tigers. About 20 live in the north-east of the country; that population is relatively stable, but, of course, it's tiny. Many more live in a series of "reserves" that are really no more than tiger farms supplying, covertly and overtly, tiger "matter" for products like tiger wine and tiger tonics. The trade in tiger parts -- illegal -- still rages. China is a key point of demand. It's dispiriting, but likely that the Year of the Tiger will dial up demand for tigers themselves, or pieces of them. It could, of course, also focus (again) renewed attention on the tiger's (perpetually) desperate plight for habitat, and a respite from hunting and poaching. The Year, of course, has only just begun. I'm on the look out for resolutions...