Sentientism | "The Farm Bill is corrupted, spoiled, rotten" - Robert Grillo of @freefromharmblog Sentientism 206 @Sentientism | Uploaded July 2024 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Robert Grillo (sentientism.info/sentientist-pledge/robert-grillo) is an activist, author and speaker for all species. He is also the founder and director of Free from Harm, a non profit dedicated to helping end animal exploitation. He founded Slaughter Free Chicago in 2018 which has now grown into the Slaughter Free Network. As a communications professional for over 25 years, Robert once worked on large food industry accounts where he acquired a behind-the-scenes perspective on food branding and marketing. His book, Farm to Fable: The Fictions of Our Animal-Consuming Culture, explores the powerful narratives driving our culture of mass animal consumption. Robert's other published works include contributions to The Humane Hoax, Caged: Top Activists Share Their Wisdom on Effective Animal Advocacy and Circles of Compassion: Connecting Issues of Justice.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The audio is on our Podcast: apple.co/391khQO & open.spotify.com/show/3c9OG5Mwf7PGChWFYBzuQI.
00:00 Clips!
00:55 Welcome
- Free from Harm's "Humane Farmer" transfarmation stories: freefromharm.org/humane-farmer
03:25 Robert's Intro
- Author, speaker, activist
- Free from Harm's mission: "advance a #plantbased food system and challenge the dominance of animal agriculture through bold and innovative grass-roots action."
- Evolving from an on-line resource to "on the ground activism"
05:16 What's Real?
- At 10 yrs old father passed away. Creative, jazz, painting, architecture
- Exploring dad's library... ways of thinking, ethics
- "He was a non-believer - not a spiritual person"
- Mother also non-religious
- Ordinary middle-class upbringing
- "I was definitely an outsider... I didn't really fit in... now I embrace it... causes me to question... being open to new ideas and scepticism... I feel like it's a strength"
- The risks of scepticism spilling over into conspiracism
- "Sometimes it's a small group of people that sense an injustice... that mainstream society doesn't... that's the role of activism... awakening and triggering of popular support to bring justice."
- JW: Why epistemology matters "it's not just a popularity contest..." it's the weight of evidence
- Spirituality / supernatural / transcendent?: "We have so much to deal with here that I don't have time for that stuff... I'm not seeking it out at this point in my life"
12:56 What Matters?
- Experiencing father's suffering and death as a child. "I developed a sense of empathy"
- "I didn't really come into an understanding of the suffering of other animals... until much later in life"
- Emotional (e.g. empathy, care) vs. intellectual (utility, justice, rights) moral influences
- Sympathy, empathy and compassion
17:28 Who Matters?
- The risks of care/empathy in narrowing our moral scope
- "I came to realise what the real conditions were for the animals that suffer in our food system... their suffering was like our suffering."
- Watching documentaries and @mercyforanimals investigative footage
- "A process of questioning... humane, sustainable farming as the way to go?... Those were empty marketing promises."
- Working on food industry marketing: "I got to see behind the scenes... how that industry... manipulates our minds to create these fantasies"
- Sentio/bio/ecocentrism?
- "I think there's a conflation out there between someone being a moral patient and having respect for... beautiful rocks... rivers... mountains... nature"
- "That's very different... want to protect nature... [from] the qualities of a sentient being"
- "There's obviously a broad spectrum of sentience"
- "We don't necessarily have to know where to draw the line... we can certainly protect and not harm those that we know... are highly sentient"
- "Where do we draw the line? To me that's an indulgence... let's not ignore the ones that are already known to be very sentient"
- "Let's not creat a huge false equivalency"
28:44 A Better Future?
- The moral burden of moral consideration for maybe quadrillions of sentient beings
- Robert's book "Farm to Fable"... figuring out society's resistances to a plant-based agri transition: Naturalistic fallacies, appeals to humane treatment, false dilemmas...
- "I'm really not interested in those 1 on 1 conversations anymore... the important work is how are we going to shift the power structure..."
01:07:38 Follow Robert
- robertgrillo.com
- freefromharm.org
- https://x.com/Free_from_harm
- https://x.com/robert_grillo
& much more... (sentientism.info for full notes) #sentientism
#sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all #sentient beings.” More at sentientism.info/. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall sentientism.info/wall/. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. E.g.: facebook.com/groups/sentientism.
Robert Grillo (sentientism.info/sentientist-pledge/robert-grillo) is an activist, author and speaker for all species. He is also the founder and director of Free from Harm, a non profit dedicated to helping end animal exploitation. He founded Slaughter Free Chicago in 2018 which has now grown into the Slaughter Free Network. As a communications professional for over 25 years, Robert once worked on large food industry accounts where he acquired a behind-the-scenes perspective on food branding and marketing. His book, Farm to Fable: The Fictions of Our Animal-Consuming Culture, explores the powerful narratives driving our culture of mass animal consumption. Robert's other published works include contributions to The Humane Hoax, Caged: Top Activists Share Their Wisdom on Effective Animal Advocacy and Circles of Compassion: Connecting Issues of Justice.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The audio is on our Podcast: apple.co/391khQO & open.spotify.com/show/3c9OG5Mwf7PGChWFYBzuQI.
00:00 Clips!
00:55 Welcome
- Free from Harm's "Humane Farmer" transfarmation stories: freefromharm.org/humane-farmer
03:25 Robert's Intro
- Author, speaker, activist
- Free from Harm's mission: "advance a #plantbased food system and challenge the dominance of animal agriculture through bold and innovative grass-roots action."
- Evolving from an on-line resource to "on the ground activism"
05:16 What's Real?
- At 10 yrs old father passed away. Creative, jazz, painting, architecture
- Exploring dad's library... ways of thinking, ethics
- "He was a non-believer - not a spiritual person"
- Mother also non-religious
- Ordinary middle-class upbringing
- "I was definitely an outsider... I didn't really fit in... now I embrace it... causes me to question... being open to new ideas and scepticism... I feel like it's a strength"
- The risks of scepticism spilling over into conspiracism
- "Sometimes it's a small group of people that sense an injustice... that mainstream society doesn't... that's the role of activism... awakening and triggering of popular support to bring justice."
- JW: Why epistemology matters "it's not just a popularity contest..." it's the weight of evidence
- Spirituality / supernatural / transcendent?: "We have so much to deal with here that I don't have time for that stuff... I'm not seeking it out at this point in my life"
12:56 What Matters?
- Experiencing father's suffering and death as a child. "I developed a sense of empathy"
- "I didn't really come into an understanding of the suffering of other animals... until much later in life"
- Emotional (e.g. empathy, care) vs. intellectual (utility, justice, rights) moral influences
- Sympathy, empathy and compassion
17:28 Who Matters?
- The risks of care/empathy in narrowing our moral scope
- "I came to realise what the real conditions were for the animals that suffer in our food system... their suffering was like our suffering."
- Watching documentaries and @mercyforanimals investigative footage
- "A process of questioning... humane, sustainable farming as the way to go?... Those were empty marketing promises."
- Working on food industry marketing: "I got to see behind the scenes... how that industry... manipulates our minds to create these fantasies"
- Sentio/bio/ecocentrism?
- "I think there's a conflation out there between someone being a moral patient and having respect for... beautiful rocks... rivers... mountains... nature"
- "That's very different... want to protect nature... [from] the qualities of a sentient being"
- "There's obviously a broad spectrum of sentience"
- "We don't necessarily have to know where to draw the line... we can certainly protect and not harm those that we know... are highly sentient"
- "Where do we draw the line? To me that's an indulgence... let's not ignore the ones that are already known to be very sentient"
- "Let's not creat a huge false equivalency"
28:44 A Better Future?
- The moral burden of moral consideration for maybe quadrillions of sentient beings
- Robert's book "Farm to Fable"... figuring out society's resistances to a plant-based agri transition: Naturalistic fallacies, appeals to humane treatment, false dilemmas...
- "I'm really not interested in those 1 on 1 conversations anymore... the important work is how are we going to shift the power structure..."
01:07:38 Follow Robert
- robertgrillo.com
- freefromharm.org
- https://x.com/Free_from_harm
- https://x.com/robert_grillo
& much more... (sentientism.info for full notes) #sentientism
#sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all #sentient beings.” More at sentientism.info/. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall sentientism.info/wall/. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. E.g.: facebook.com/groups/sentientism.
