Ethical Consumer Podcast

This Q&A explores your ethical gardening dilemmas whilst inspiring new ideas for cultivating healthy plants and ethics in your garden or back yard. Hosted by Ellen Mary, your gardening questions will be answered by the following panel of horticulturalists, urban growers, vegan organic activists and compost nerds: Jenny Griggs, Dr Margi Lennartsson and Tony Martin. Ethical Consumer Week 2020, explored the role of consumers, businesses, and NGOs in building more resilient communities in the face of Covid-19 and the ecological crisis. We discussed the underlying issues, a radically reimagined future and the actions that we can all take to support just transitions. We gained inspiration from those exploring the answers and already creating ripples of change. www.ethicalconsumerweek.com Hosted by: Ellen Mary Ellen Mary is a vegan, veganic and no dig gardener. She provides talks about our intrinsic links to nature for wellbeing through gardening and plant life. Ellen also hosts a horticultural radio show, presents The Plant Based Podcast and writes for numerous publications worldwide. Ellen has appeared on NBC (WCNC Charlotte, USA), BBC Countryfile Diaries, BBC News, Mustard TV, and has featured in The Times newspaper and filmed with the Royal Horticultural Society plus many more. She has spoken at many shows including RHS Chelsea, RHS Chatsworth, GROW Scotland and The Handmade Festival about wellbeing, plant based eating and gardening. With: Dr Margi Lennartsson, Associate Professor at Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University and, previously, Head of Research at Garden Organic, has been involved in a wide range of research on organic horticulture and sustainable food production systems, working with gardeners, community growers and commercial growers. Recently, this has included research related to the health and wellbeing aspects of community food growing. Margi is passionate about the benefits that can be achieved by encouraging people to take an active role in organic growing – benefits for the environment, for human health and wellbeing, for building stronger communities and for enabling people to live sustainable lives. Jenny Griggs completed her MSc in 1997 around the auditing of organic farms which led to her co-writing the textbook Growing Green with her mentor in 2005. In 2009 she founded Climate Friendly Food CIC where she writes about sustainable land use. She manages a 5 acre farm and works part timd for Lancashire Wildlife Trust. Tony Martin is editor of Growing Green International, magazine of the Vegan Organic Network. He has been vegan since 1986 and since 2003 has been running a 5 acre veganic smallholding in South Wales, UK using permaculture techniques. In 2011 he gained his Permaculture Design Certificate with Aranya and continues to learn about working with nature rather than fighting it. He believes that veganic agriculture can help reduce climate change, and improve the quality of life for both humans and animals. Anna Clayton (tech support) joined Ethical Consumer in 2013. Since then, one of her highlights has been co-developing the Lush Spring Prize – a project that aims to support the regenerative movement around the world. Anna also works part-time for LESS, a sustainability organisation in Lancaster, where she is overseeing the development of a cross-sector food partnership that delivers the work of FoodFutures – Lancaster’s Sustainable Food Places initiative. Anna sits on the management committee of Claver Hill Community Food Project in Lancaster, runs an annual heritage fruit tree grafting workshop and saves seeds as part of Lancaster Seed Library. More audio can be found at: www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethical-consumer-week-2020-building-resilient-communities

We’re used to hearing that the UK’s high streets are in decline. With a decade of austerity, the shift to online shopping and the closure of shops during the coronavirus pandemic, high streets certainly face huge challenges. This session will ask - should we fight to maintain the high street as we have come to know it? Or do we need to replace it with something else that is community owned and has a community function? It will challenge the notion that all UK high streets are fizzling out - finding examples from across the UK of where high streets already offer huge community value. Hosted by: Ruth Strange from Ethical Consumer With: Neil McInroy is CEO of CLES – the UK’s leading independent think and do tank, realising progressive economics for people and place. CLES’s aim is to achieve social justice, good local economies and effective public services. Neil currently focuses on applying a progressive economic model for places, which includes ideas around local wealth building (a people-centred approach to retaining wealth within communities). He has been commissioned by and collaborated with local, regional and national governments and agencies in the UK, Europe, Asia, US and Australasia. He is an Honorary Fellow at the Manchester Urban Institute, University of Manchester, and a Visiting Fellow at Edge Hill University. Sara Gonzalez is Associate at the School of Geography, University of Leeds. She teaches and carries research on urban issues. She has been researching traditional retail markets and their transformation for ten years. Through publication and public engagement, she has analysed the gentrification of many markets in cities across the UK and internationally and how this can lead to the displacement of customers and traders. Currently she focuses on a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, understanding the community value that markets generate particularly for vulnerable groups and which is often ignored or neglected. https://trmcommunityvalue.leeds.ac.uk/ Twitter: @sgonzalez_sara Vidhya Alakeson is founding Chief Executive of Power to Change, an independent trust supporting the growth of community businesses across England to create more prosperous and cohesive communities. Vidhya was previously Deputy Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation, a public policy think tank working on issues affecting low and middle income families. She is a board member of More in Common, an initiative reducing polarisation in developed societies, and trustee of the Young Foundation, developing more connected and sustainable communities across the UK. She advises organisations and the government on the role of community business in regeneration and writes and speaks on community-led development and inclusive growth. Nicola Round is Co-Founder and Outreach Director at Adfree Cities, a growing network of groups collaborating to resist advertising. Corporate outdoor advertising drives unsustainable consumption, harms our wellbeing and undermines local economies. Adfree Cities supports creative, community-led opposition and alternatives, to make space for what we really need to thrive. www.adfreecities.org.uk More audio at ethicalconsumer.org Ethical Consumer Week 2020, explored the role of consumers, businesses, and NGOs in building more resilient communities in the face of Covid-19 and the ecological crisis. We discussed the underlying issues, a radically reimagined future and the actions that we can all take to support just transitions. We gained inspiration from those exploring the answers and already creating ripples of change. More audio for Ethical Consumer Week at ethicalconsumerweek.com

How much do lifestyles need to change to meet Paris targets? Hosted by Ethical Consumer Magazine, this session will explore the climate gap for us as individuals; between where we are now and where we need to be to meet the Paris 1.5 degree target. Four panellists will support us in exploring this challenge of a lifetime. Hosted by: Clare Carlile from Ethical Consumer With: Josie Wexler works at Ethical Consumer. She studied Environmental Technology at Imperial College, and did her thesis on small farmers in Zambia growing biofuel feedstock for sale under different contractual arrangements, and what effect it had on them socially and economically. She was subsequently the joint author of the Zero Carbon Britain 2030 report at the Centre for Alternative Technology, which looked at how fast we could theoretically decarbonise the UK, modelling the energy, transport, land, industry and building sectors. Miguel Alejandro Naranjo Gonzalez is Programme Officer with the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. He joined the UN Climate Change Secretariat in 2011, where he has focused on capacity building for mitigation and carbon market mechanisms, promotion of climate action among the private sector and other stakeholders, and development of tools to implement climate action. Prior to this he worked as process engineer and environmental supervisor for a transnational corporation and later joined the United Nations Environment Programme on the climate change team. Rob Harrison was one of the founders of Ethical Consumer in 1988. He has worked as a consultant to NGOs (including Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace) consumer organisations and companies, and as an advisor to government departments (including those in Belgium, Austria and Brazil). He has edited and contributed to several books on ethical consumption, and has been an editor of the magazine since its inception. More audio at ethicalconsumer.org Ethical Consumer Week 2020, explored the role of consumers, businesses, and NGOs in building more resilient communities in the face of Covid-19 and the ecological crisis. We discussed the underlying issues, a radically reimagined future and the actions that we can all take to support just transitions. We gained inspiration from those exploring the answers and already creating ripples of change. More audio for Ethical Consumer Week at ethicalconsumerweek.com

Most of us know that reducing the carbon footprint of our diet means eating less meat and processed food, and eating more fruit and veg, locally grown and organic produce. But these simple guidelines hide difficult questions: Should we be vegan, veggie or choosetarian? Do we prioritise fair trade or locally grown? Can we keep our shopping affordable? Is organic really better? Can we still eat chocolate? And above all, can we still love our food without endlessly fretting about it? This panel will ask what recipe is right for a low carbon diet. Hosted by: 52 Climate Actions Chris Wharburton Brown worked as Research Coordinator of the Permaculture Association Britain (PAB) for eight years; building on his PhD in Urban Studies and career spent working primarily around ethical food consumerism. In April he moved to become Climate Action Coordinator. He is currently leading the 52 Climate Actions project , a website that presents simple ways to reduce your impact on the changing climate and the impact the changing climate has on you. With: Josie Wexler works at Ethical Consumer. She studied Environmental Technology at Imperial College, and did her thesis on small farmers in Zambia growing biofuel feedstock for sale under different contractual arrangements, and what effect it had on them socially and economically. She was subsequently the joint author of the Zero Carbon Britain 2030 report at the Centre for Alternative Technology, which looked at how fast we could theoretically decarbonise the UK, modelling the energy, transport, land, industry and building sectors. Steve Charter has worked on numerous innovative and pioneering sustainability projects since 1993, and is part of the Ethical Lifestyle Toolkit and 52 Climate Actions project teams. He has been all or mainly raw since 1994, following a vegan diet for 14 years and a vegetarian diet for more than 30 years. He is author of Eat More Raw (Permanent Publications), which combines natural health and nutrition with an ecological design and permaculture perspective, and has led a variety of Eat More Raw workshops, and around 20 PDC courses in England and Spain since 2001. Steve lived off-grid from 2000-2005 in Southern Spain, holds an MA in Environmental Planning, BA Economics and Geography and a Diploma in Permaculture Design. Ethical Consumer Week 2020 explored the role of consumers, businesses, and NGOs in building more resilient communities in the face of Covid-19 and the ecological crisis. We discussed the underlying issues, a radically reimagined future, and the actions that we can all take to support just transitions. We gained inspiration from those exploring the answers and already creating ripples of change. More audio for Ethical Consumer Week at https://www.ethicalconsumerweek.com and more about us at https://www.ethicalconsumer.org

What does it mean to grow up in a world increasingly shadowed by the looming climate crisis? Many acknowledge that the fight for the planet is also a fight for young people's futures, but are enough people listening to the voices of those aged 25 and below? This session will ask whether young people have been given enough of a voice in a fight that is essentially theirs. It will argue that empowering young people is essential to solving this crisis, and that the climate movement is held back when we fail to recognise diverse voices. And it will explore how to empower youth going forward. Hosted by: Ruth Strange of Ethical Consumer With: Bel Jacobs is a former fashion editor turned activist for new systems in fashion, against climate change and for animal rights. She is a coordinator for Extinction Rebellion Fashion Action. She is also founder of the new project Fashion in Schools, which offers school talks to secondary pupils, outlining the damage that the industry wrecks on the climate and natural world and giving attendees the tools to tackle it. She is the editor of two websites: beljacobs.com and hownowmagazine.com Zunaira Malik is a Programme Coordinator at Action for Conservation (AFC), a charity that engages and empowers young people to connect with and protect the natural world. Zunaira works closely with young people from across the UK on AFC’s WildED, WildWEB, Nature Camps and Youth Ambassador Programmes where she designs and leads workshops, hosts webinars, leads nature camps in National Parks and mentors young people. Her focus is on reaching all young people regardless of their background and ability to make environmental knowledge accessible and relatable to all by being intersectional and forming connections with what matters most to them. Cameron works at Global Justice Now organising their youth network, which is a colletion of youth-led radical collectives across the country working on anything from trade justice to the climate crisis, with a focus on Global South solidarity. Cameron is also a core organiser of both the radical youth collective Our Future Now, and the climate justice direct action group Global Justice Rebellion. Over the last year, Cameron and others have focussed on introducing the concepts of 'climate justice' into the environmental movement - the idea that the climate crisis is a direct result of our fundamental economic and political systems. Ethical Consumer Week 2020, explored the role of consumers, businesses, and NGOs in building more resilient communities in the face of Covid-19 and the ecological crisis. We discussed the underlying issues, a radically reimagined future and the actions that we can all take to support just transitions. We gained inspiration from those exploring the answers and already creating ripples of change. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org More on Ethical Consumer Week at https://www.ethicalconsumerweek.com

[This track contains some testimonials of sexual assault that some listeners may find distressing.] Hear stories from those who are working together to resist corporate malpractice and power in their communities - from the trade union working with migrant workers in southern Spain to demand better working conditions; to the network monitoring mining companies in Romania and supporting communities that are confronting them. Hosted by: Ethical Consumer With: Delia McGrath was born in London and has lived for 28 years in Andalucia. She is an activist in the small trade union SOC SAT, affiliated to the Via Campesina. She is active in education and training, the food sovereignty area, and often acts as the link with the UK for language reasons! She lives in the mountains near the sea, where the plastic greenhouses produce our year-round salad vegetables and give underpaid exploitative work to thousands, mainly immigrants. She has also been involved in campaigns to improve the rights of the soft fruits workers in Huelva and Morocco. Roxana Pencea Brădățan is a founding member of Mining Watch Romania. In her campaigning work, Roxana is involved in the fight against the corruption of both the government and corporations. She believes that by curbing corruptions’ power, the mining projects against which she fights would have no future in Romania. In her free time, she enjoys picking mushrooms and hiking. Guy Taylor joined Global Justice Now in November 2014 to focus on the campaign against TTIP. He previously worked for the Joint Council for the Welfare of immigrants and before that for anti-capitalist group Globalise Resistance. He has been tear gassed in nine different countries, has uncovered a police spy and discovered his name on the construction workers' blacklist. He lives with his partner and two young sons in a housing coop in SE London. More audio at ethicalconsumer.org Ethical Consumer Week 2020 explored the role of consumers, businesses, and NGOs in building more resilient communities in the face of Covid-19 and the ecological crisis. We discussed the underlying issues, a radically reimagined future and the actions that we can all take to support just transitions. We gained inspiration from those exploring the answers and already creating ripples of change. More audio for Ethical Consumer Week at ethicalconsumerweek.com

We must cut our consumption to a fifth of current levels if we are to stay within planetary limits and prevent climate breakdown. Yet most business models focus on selling more to maximise profits. What if instead shops became more like libraries? Hear from those already creating an access-based economy, where items are borrowed not owned. Discuss how the concept might grow and what business models could support it. Hosted by: Ruth Strange from Ethical Consumer With: Denise Baden is a Professor of Sustainable Business at Southampton Business School, University of Southampton. Denise followed her first degree in Politics with Economics, with several years in industry, then returned to academia to do a doctorate in psychology. Denise now teaches and researches in the area of sustainability, corporate social responsibility and comparative business ethics. Denise won the ESRC Outstanding Impact in Business and Enterprise Prize in 2018. Her current interests focus on sustainable business models and the access-based/sharing economy. Mirella Ferraz coordinates the Network of Wellbeing's community work in Totnes, U.K., where she's helped set up the Share Shed – A Library of Things and regular Community Potlucks, as well as organise a ShareFest to promote and celebrate all things related to sharing, making, repairing and swapping. Mirella did her MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College, which among many things, allowed her to further explore the relationship between music and social transformation. She's also a writer for Shareable - people-powered solutions for the common good. One of her favourite quotes is "The miracle is this: the more we share, the more we have," by Leonard Nimoy. Clare Krige is the assistant manager at SHARE:Frome and is passionate about finding ways we as a community can reduce our waste through borrowing, sharing, reducing and reusing, to build a healthier, more resilient planet. More audio at ethicalconsumer.org Ethical Consumer Week 2020, explored the role of consumers, businesses, and NGOs in building more resilient communities in the face of Covid-19 and the ecological crisis. We discussed the underlying issues, a radically reimagined future and the actions that we can all take to support just transitions. We gained inspiration from those exploring the answers and already creating ripples of change. More audio for Ethical Consumer Week at ethicalconsumerweek.com

Climate expert Mike Berners Lee paints a positive picture of a world that lies in our hands, and fills us in on his latest research.

A special edition of the Ethical Consumer Podcast. Co-editor Tim Hunt talks to Clare Carlile about conditions for migrant workers in Spain as they struggle with the impacts of the Coronavirus.

In this episode we put the fashion industry under the spotlight, interrogating the facts with Bel Jacobs, Fashion Editor of the Metro turned XR Boycott Fashion activist, our fashion expert Ruth Strange, and Eva from revolutionary ethical clothing brand MUD Jeans.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

Audio from our 2019 conference on positive actions on climate change.

In this episode we check out on supermarkets, looking at whether their immense power deems them unethical, and exploring the alternatives. With guests from Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, and Unicorn Grocery. Thanks to Vicki Hird from Sustain as well as Kelly and Debbie from Unicorn.

In this podcast we speak to Ethical Consumer researcher Josie Wexler, Pete Abel from Friends of the Earth and Beth from Lady Pedal. We tackle the complex issues involved in transport including electric vehicles, road use and encouraging both men and women to cycle.

00:00 – 09:40 Anthony Bellotti, White Coat Waste, USA Winner of 2018 Public Awareness Prize Defunding and Defeating Taxpayer-Funded Animal Testing. 09:40 – 21:00 Dr. Róber Bachinski, Brazilian Network for Humane Education (RedEH), Brazil Winner of 2018 Lobbying Prize Ending Animal Use in Classroom Experiments 21:00 – 35:00 Dr. Jeoung Ae Han, The Minjoo, Democratic Party of South Korea Commended, 2018 Lobbying Prize Passage of Korean Major Chemical Law Reform: Prioritisation of Alternatives to Animal Testing 35:00 – 41:42 Questions & Answers

Chair: Prof. Lisbeth Knudsen, Professor of Toxicology, University of Copenhagen and Lush Prize Judge 01:50 – 14:50 Dr. Ilka Maschmeyer, Senior Scientist, TissUse and 2015 Young Researcher Lush Prize winner Combining Organ Equivalents using the Multi-Organ-Chip Technology 14:55 – 35:00 Renate Künast, Green Party Germany End the Cage Age: Tools for Change 35:10 – 42:50 Dr. Joachim Wiest, Cellasys GmbH Animal-free Science at Cellasys 42:55 – 1:00:44 Questions & Answers

Presentation by Prof. Dan Dongeun Huh, The BIOLines Research Group, University of Pennsylvania - "Microengineered Physiological Bio-mimicry: Human Organs-on-Chips" Lush Prize Conference 2018: Is There An End in Sight for Animal Testing? Berlin, November 2018.

Chair: Dr. Gill Langley, Scientific Consultant and Lush Prize Judge 01:20 – 21:40 Dr. Herman Koëter, Chair, Netherlands National Committee for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes (NCad) and Managing Director, Orange House Partnership (OHP) Where There is a Will, There is a Way 21:50 – 33:45 Dr. Terry McCann, Scientific Consultant, TJM Consultancy, Lush Prize OoCs, MoCs, & HoCs: Can Organs-on-a-Chip Replace Animal Testing? 33:55 – 51:05 Troy Seidle, Vice-President, Research & Toxicology, Humane Society International, Canada & Lush Prize Judge The Global Trend in Ending Animal Testing 51:15 – 01:09:39 Questions & Answers

Keynote: Kathrin Herrmann, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA Presentation of the forthcoming book ‘Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change’ Lush Prize Conference 2018: Is There An End in Sight for Animal Testing? Berlin, November 2018.

Keynote: TJ Bozada, ToxTrack, USA Presentation: "Machine Learning-Enabled Toxicity Models Outperform Animal Test Counterparts" Lush Prize Conference 2018: Is There An End in Sight for Animal Testing? Berlin, November 2018.

Session 4: Foetal Calf Serum, Antibodies and Other Test Materials; Making Replacement Methods Fully Human-Relevant Chair: Rebecca Ram, Scientific Consultant, Lush Prize 00:20 – 09:20 Bianca Marigliani, Lush Prize 2015 Young Researcher Prize winner & 2018 Judge, INMETRO (National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology) and UNIFESP (Federal University of São Paulo) Adapting Cells to a Chemically Defined Medium: a Step Towards Making In Vitro Methods Fully Cruelty Free 09:25 – 22:30 Dr. Alison Gray, Afability and 2017 Public Awareness Prize winner Animal Immunisation for Antibody Production. Overlooked....and Obsolete 22:35 – 32:05 Dr. Jan Van der Valk, 3Rs Centre Utrecht Fetal Bovine Serum or Fatal Bovine Serum? 32:10 – 43:15 Dr. Carol Treasure, Founder & Managing Director, XCellR8 and 2013 Training Prize winner Application of Animal-Product-Free In Vitro Tests in Industry 43:20 – 49:11 Questions & Answers Lush Prize Conference 2018: Is There An End in Sight for Animal Testing? Berlin, November 2018.

Lush Prize Conference 2018: Is There An End in Sight for Animal Testing? Berlin, November 2018. Speakers and discussion on current advancements in replacing animal tests, including presentations from Lush Prize 2018 winners.

Episode 2 is all about palm oil. Should we boycott or buy sustainable palm oil? Our guests give their answer to this complex issue. Featuring Jane from Ethical Consumer, Jenny from Suma Cooperative and Izabela from ZSL (Zoological Society of London). We also hear from our ethical novice Colin Birch for a lighter look at the issue. Email us at podcast@ethicalconsumer.org

This episode is all about personal ethical finance. We answer you consumer questions, talk to our ethical novice Colin Birch, and hear from Monzo and Banktrack.