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Happy summer solstice from New York. As we near the second half of 2014, we want to thank you for your support of Brighter Green and update you on what we’ve been doing, and are planning.
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Beyond the Pail: The Emergence of Industrialized Dairy Systems in Asia. We've just released our latest policy paper (along with a policy brief or research summary) on the emergence of industrialized dairy operations in China, India, and countries of Southeast Asia. The paper explores the growth of large-scale CAFOs (“confined animal feeding operations” or factory farms) across the region, where fast-growing populations, rising incomes, increased urbanization, and greater exposure to Western dairy products and lifestyles are creating more potential consumers. This issue needs more attention and the paper highlights the environmental, food security, animal welfare, climate change, and other negative consequences—and offers alternatives.
What’s For Dinner? documentary screens at national film festivals. What’s For Dinner?, which shows the effects of rising meat consumption and growing industrialization of China’s food system, played at the DC Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C. and the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival in Ithaca, New York. The DC screening was hosted by the China Environment Forum at the Wilson Center, an initiative of the Global Sustainability and Resilience Program, and included a wide-ranging discussion moderated by Jennifer Turner, head of the China Environment Forum, between Brighter Green's executive director Mia MacDonald and Janet Larson, the Earth Policy Institute’s director of research.
What’s For Dinner? in China. Brighter Green Associate Wanqing Zhou is in China, organizing (so far) seven screenings of our film: in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. The Chinese premiere took place on June 15th and included a post-show discussion with Yu Li and Xie Zheng, who appear in the film, director Jian Yi, and others. Screening details can be found here.
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Rehema Emmanuel Hotee, a Tanzanian East African Girls' Leadership Initiative student, in front of the University of Iringa in Tanzania, where she plans to attend university.
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New case study, report, and briefing paper on climate change and biodiversity published. Brighter Green and partner Global Forest Coalition (GFC) released "The Environmental and Social Impacts of Unsustainable Livestock Farming and Soybean Production in Paraguay." The paper examines deforestation and land grabbing due to cattle ranching and large-scale cultivation of soybeans for livestock feed in that country. Brighter Green and GFC also released a new report on how the government should redirect its support for unsustainable livestock production to help conserve biodiversity. We also produced a briefing paper on non-market approaches to addressing climate change and forest loss. This month, Brighter Green and GFC shared our research and documentation with policy-makers and civil society in panel presentations at the latest climate talks in Bonn and at a UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Montreal.
East African Girls’ Leadership Initiative Reaches New Milestones. As of this month, the five Kenyan students have completed their first year of higher education. They’re waiting for their exam results (never easy), but they’re confident they'll pass and enroll for a second year of courses in September. For their holiday break, each of the girls is completing an internship. The Tanzanian students, who’ve had more obstacles to overcome (family resistance, entrenched attitudes, and health challenges), have just enrolled in diploma certificate courses for a year before joining at the university level course.
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Executive Director Mia MacDonald was interviewed by director Charles Ferguson for his upcoming documentary film.
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Brighter Green: On the road, in the news, and (possibly) on film
- Associate Wanqing Zhou presented a paper, The Triangle: Factory Farming in the U.S., China and Brazil, at the Global Research Forum on Sustainable Production and Consumption in Shanghai in early June.
- Wanqing and Mia were both quoted by Climate Wire in an article by journalist Coco Liu that explored China’s greenhouse gas emissions from meat and feed production and imports. The piece, which also cited Brighter Green’s China research, was republished by Scientific American.
- Mia was interviewed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson (No End In Sight and Academy Award winner for best documentary, Inside Job) on the environmental and ethical impacts of factory farming for his upcoming documentary film, set for release in October 2015 – two months before the crucial UN climate summit (COP 21) in Paris.
- Brighter Green suggested locations for filming in China and shared contacts (including What's For Dinner? director Jian Yi) with the team making a documentary based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s best-selling book Eating Animals. Jian Yi and his wife Eva Song (What's For Dinner? assistant director) were interviewed by Eating Animals director Christopher Quinn and Jian Yi organized a shoot at a Buddhist monastery and a restaurant where tofu's made in southeastern China.
Thank you for your continuing interest in Brighter Green. We really appreciate it . . . and always welcome your feedback. We'd also like to thank A Well-Fed World, VegFund and Animal Welfare Trust for their recent grants to Brighter Green. If you'd like to join them in supporting our work, please consider making a donation.
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