Saturday, April 20, 2024

With video – Film explores factory farm methods and their effects on us

Posted by Elena del Valle on June 27, 2018

Eating Animals

Eating Animals – click to enlarge

Photo, video: Courtesy of Sundance Selects. A Sundance Selects release.

Ever wonder where you eggs, dairy and meat come from? The makers of Eating Animals, a 94-minute film based on a book of the same title by Jonathan Safran Foer, went in search of answers. Over five years they visited farms, spoke with farmers, professors, industry experts, activists, and whistle blowers. They filmed in California, Nebraska, Iowa, North Carolina, China, Germany, India and Sweden.  They imply that the factory farming practices of recent decades have degraded our humanity by making us part of the inhumane treatment of animals, polluted our environment and put our health in jeopardy. For animals lovers some scenes and images may be difficult to watch or forget. Scroll down to see film trailer.

Directed and produced by Christopher Quinn (Sundance award winner God Grew Tired of Us), the film was produced with Academy Award winner Natalie Portman (who also narrates it) and Foer. It indicates that nearly all Americans eat animals products produced in factory farms and that 30 states have passed Ag Gag laws to limit information and images of the harmful factory farming practices. The film opened in New York City June 15, 2018 and will roll out in theaters nationwide in the coming weeks. Information is available at the movie website Eatinganimalsmovie.com.

A statement about the film says: “Eating Animals aims to alter the very frame of public discussion about industrial agriculture and the future of meat, shifting media debates, minds, and markets alike. Moving past any sense that factory farming is a concern only for animal or environmental activists, we paint a vivid portrait of how industrial agriculture unraveled core national values and changed the world for the worse. The fight to end factory farming emerges not only as a fight to eliminate what may be the greatest crime against animal life ever committed, but as a commonsense and economic necessity.”

The film was made by Big Star Pictures in Association with Artemis Rising Foundation and The Neuman Family Foundation. Funding was provided by Obvious Group, LLC, Annenberg Foundation, Artemis Rising Foundation, Neuman Family Foundation, Jivan Fund, LLC, Simone Friedman, Samir and Puja Kaul and William Bettman.

According to promotional materials for the film the book Eating Animal is the only book in the category “animal rights” besides Peter Singer’s 1973 classic Animal Liberation that has remained a top ten Amazon bestseller since 2009; the U.S. version of the book has sold 400,000 copies and the book has become an international bestseller with language rights sold in 27 countries.


Click to buy Eating Animals


Podcast with Amelia Geary, director of Program Development and Quality, Orbis International, about world’s only flying eye hospital

Posted by Elena del Valle on June 18, 2018

Amelia Geary, director of Program Development + Quality, Orbis International

Amelia Geary, director of Program Development + Quality, Orbis International

Photo: Geoff Oliver Bugbee

A podcast interview with Amelia Geary, director of Program Development + Quality, Orbis International is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, she discusses eye healthcare and world’s only flying eye hospital with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.

Amelia has worked in the international non-governmental organization sector for 15 years, with a professional focus on program design, management and implementation. She obtained her master degree in International Affairs with a focus on infrastructure development from Columbia University. Her career has spanned across Africa, Asia and Latin America, where she delivered programs in prevention of blindness, maternal newborn and child health, water and sanitation, nutrition and training of medical professionals.

Prior to joining Orbis, Amelia worked with several emergency and development organizations, including Action Against Hunger – USA, United Nations Development Programme, The World Bank Water and Sanitation Program, and Concern Worldwide.

Amelia first joined Orbis in 2007 as the Flying Eye Hospital program manager. She returned in 2014 to her current position.

To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Amelia Geary” and click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home from the RSS feed. Some software will not allow flash, which may be necessary for the play button and podcast player. If that is your case, you will need to download the file to play it. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the June 2018 section of the podcast archive.

Independent publisher releases bilingual titles for children

Posted by Elena del Valle on June 14, 2018

Babies Nurse

Babies Nurse/Así se alimentan los bebés

Photos: Platypus Media

Platypus Media released two new bilingual titles this month, Babies Nurse/Así se alimentan los bebés, for children four to seven years old, and Cuddled and Carried/Consentido y Cargado for children up to four years of age. The softcover titles, in full color and 32 pages in length, each sell for $9.95. The first booklet was written by Phoebe Fox and illustrated by Jim Fox. The second title was written by Dia L. Michels and illustrated by Mike Speiser. Both were translated by Victory Productions.

When asked about the translation Michels, owner, Platypus replied: “The bulk of the translation was done by Victory Productions, a company based out of Massachusetts, but we also had many many trusted individuals look over the translation to ensure accuracy. Most notably, Edgardo Moctezuma of Latin American Book Source, Inc volunteered to guide us through the translation process and gave his advice along the way.” 

Cuddled and Carried

Cuddled and Carried/Consentido y cargado

The publisher plans to target educators, especially those with a high percentage of English Language Learners or who offer dual language programs,  librarians, health care providers and departments of health, breastfeeding organizations, mother-to-mother support groups, early childhood centers, and literacy programs across the country. 

Dia Michels, author, Cuddled and Carried

Dia Michels, author, Cuddled and Carried

“We are committed to the promotion and protection of breastfeeding, and donate a percentage of profits to groups that work in this field,” said Michels. “These two publications are the inaugural titles in our new Beginnings series of books for young readers.”

Michels is an internationally published science and parenting writer who has authored or edited more than a dozen books for children and adults. Her titles include If My Mom Were a Platypus: Mammal Babies and Their Mothers and Look What I See! Where Can I Be? With My Animal Friends. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Hebrew and Dutch.

Mike Speiser, illustrator, Cuddles and Carried

Mike Speiser, illustrator, Cuddled and Carried

Speiser’s artwork has been featured on the covers of Wild Animal Baby magazine and on fundraising products for science organizations. His paintings have been displayed at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. He is involved with efforts to protect the natural world for future generations. He lives next to the Black Hills of South Dakota. 

Phoebe Fox, author, Babies Nurse

Phoebe Fox, author, Babies Nurse

Phoebe Fox wrote Babies Nurse / Así se alimentan los bebés to show children that all mammals provide milk for their babies. She has degrees in Early Childhood Development and Curriculum Instruction and experience as an elementary school librarian.

Phoebe Fox, illustrator, Babies Nurse

Jim Fox, illustrator, Babies Nurse

Jim Fox is Phoebe’s father-in-law. He retired from the NBA, where he played for the Phoenix Suns.

Platypus Media is an independent press that “creates products with a broad appeal to diverse families who believe in the importance of close family relationships for the full and healthy development of children.” Platypus books are distributed through National Book Network and are available widely through bookstores, retailers, and online sites as well as through the publisher’s website. Title 1 schools, literacy groups, and non-profits can find them, at deep discount, on the First Book Marketplace.


Click to buy

Cuddled and Carried

Cuddled and Carried / Consentido y cargado

Babies Nurse

Babies Nurse / Así se alimentan los bebés


 

Podcast with Laura J. Miller, Ph.D., author, Building Nature’s Market about evolution of natural foods market

Posted by Elena del Valle on June 4, 2018

Laura J. Miller, Ph.D., author, Building Nature's Market

Laura J. Miller, Ph.D., author, Building Nature’s Market

Photos: author photo courtesy of Elias Johansson-Miller*

A podcast interview with Laura J. Miller, Ph.D., author, Building Nature’s Market: The Business and Politics of Natural Foods is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, she discusses the evolution of the natural foods market with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.

Laura J. Miller is associate professor of Sociology at Brandeis University. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego, and previously taught at the University of Western Ontario and Vassar College. Her research focuses on the intersection of cultural and economic factors within industries characterized by moral commitments to their products. Building Nature’s Market was published in 2017 by University of Chicago Press. She is also the author of Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption.

To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Laura J. Miller, Ph.D.” and click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home from the RSS feed. Some software will not allow flash, which may be necessary for the play button and podcast player. If that is your case, you will need to download the file to play it. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the June 2018 section of the podcast archive.


Building Nature's Market

Click to buy Building Nature’s Market


*Book cover courtesy University of Chicago Press