Episode 17
"Get Some Kiwi In Ya!"
Hello and welcome to Episode 17 of Coexisting With Nonhuman Animals.
I'd like to say hello to one of my friends, Gordon, who has listened to many of my episodes and sometimes leaves comments on my blog. I'd love to hear from you by email Gordon. Also, just as I were planning this episode, a new email showed up from Randi from Ohio in the United States of America. Its great to think that people all around the world listen to what I say on my cheap mic, sitting in my bedroom. I've seen downloads from Ireland, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, although most of my listeners are in America. I love hearing from anyone who listens to me ramble on, my email is j a y w o n t d a r t @gmail.com .
Following on from Australia day, and its Lamb meat promotion, I've named this episode after a recent New Zealand slogan for bacon. The brand is called "kiwi", and the ads ask us to make videos that represents New Zealand culture, no doubt the meat company is trying to link bacon with being a "New Zealand" activity, like the Australia Day Lamb ads do for "australian-ism"
I'd like to mention a recent story about a farmer who would like to, in his words,"commercialize" a New Zealand endangered species, the Weka. Weka are flightless birds that are endemic to New Zealand, they look somewhat like a thin kiwi. Weka are known for being very curious, they like to grab any shiny items they find.
As usual for many of our native flightless birds, they are killed by predators such as cats.
I'd think most New Zealanders would have vaguely heard of Weka, but they are not one of our most well known native animals such as Kea, Kokako, or Kiwi. I'd liked to have added the Maori word for the "New Zealand Wood Pigeon", but I always screw it up, Kereru.
Its currently illegal to kill Weka, on the mainlands of New Zealand.
And now, a Farmer would like to, well, farm Weka for their meat, to save them of course.
Now this next bit is nuts, I've heard similar claims before from slaughterhouse workers who claim "peta members" turn up wanting to try killing animals. I find it all very unlikely.
I've also noticed more people who eat animal products explain how meat can be "organic" and "free range" and all kinds of other crazy Happy Meat labels. I really think those terms do more to make people feel better about hurting animals, than they do for the actual animals who suffer. Hell, the SPCA members here sometimes wear clothing that says "SPCA guaranteed cruelty free", but the SPCA has its own brand for meat that I've seen, "Freedom farms" or "SPCA approved"....it seems that cruel acts only matter when they are done to cats and dogs, who cares about the millions of pigs each year, when theres shocking cruelty performed to a cat or two each week on the news...
The Farmer is about interviewed, and is quite cranky about the New Zealand Department of Conservation, calling them "communists" and wanting a "monopoly" and all kinds of other crazy rambling. Honestly, I didnt know rural New Zealanders could be so worked up about "communists", although I guess we do have a tendency to label things "politically correct" and whine on about all the damn "bureaucrats", and also about all the "dole bludgers", people who are on welfare, even though New Zealand only has a 6 percent unemployment rate, you'd think that every single nonfarmer were a communist who lived off the farmers taxes the way some talk.
I've got a good quote from Federated Farmers, they are a farming group that lobbies the government I guess. They come out in support of farmers on basically every issue thats contentious, such as "cow cubicles" or keeping pigs in sow ...