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news .

Shipping Project and it's all uphill.

9/11/2012

15 Comments

 
I know, you savvy creature, you'll see right away this is the first blog entry on my website. I used to blog on other sites...but then I thought, that's a bit dumb. I'll do it here and anyone who happens to be interested will come across it. That's you. Stay right there. 

This is going to bring you up to date with the Shipping Project, my radical idea to go to sea with thousands of animals, and see for myself what the live export industry is really all about. Let's face it. We're not going to start needing less food...barring some unforeseeable disaster which wipes half the humans of the face of the planet. There I go dreaming.

Oh! And record it for a radio documentary. 
I'm not going to lie to you. This project is turning out to be one stress after another. Originally I had thought it would be pretty easy to get on an export ship, but it hasn't been easy at all. I thought it would be a breeze to get some opinion pieces from both sides of the Live Export Debate (I capitalise those words because it is practically a noun these days), but people have been ridiculously reluctant to talk about their feelings on the record (the reason for their reticence might become apparent in about two paragraphs' time).

Where I have tried to open intelligent discussion with people on Facebook and Twitter (I know, I know), I have really been abused. I'm not kidding. I was even BLOCKED from posting on a FB page, and I didn't even say anything provocative. BLOCKED. I didn't even know you could be blocked, such was my naivety.

I have seen people post messages about raping one another over this issue. To me, I'm just not going to go and rape someone whose opinion I don't dig. Hey, bank robber - you're getting raped. It's weird. When did this trend begin? I think the recent US Presidential Election and all the rape rape rape conversations have put holes in people's brains. Frankly, there is a lot of bullshit coming out of the minds of people on either side of the floor. I wonder at times if there aren't some knobs just posting vitriolic comments to get people fired up for their own amusement.

Then I got a lesson in how people run their Facebook pages. When I say lesson it was really more like a punch in the face. I had a lovely little spy send me some screen captures of private FB conversations which showed people admitting to deleting posts that weren't in harmony with their agendas. That was depressing. I like to think when I read a page, even if it is just opinion posting, that I am getting all the posts. But no. That really put a dampener on FB for me...and you know, it used to be my favourite thing. 

I have had loads of information sent to me from all sorts of people, which has been awesome. Some people are really very cool. That's one lucky thing.

But that's not even the half of the stress. The Royal Geographical Society and BBC Radio 4 have short-listed the project, and I have to write a long rationale for it (practically yesterday). In it I have to convince them that this project is still sort of viable, even though I have no 100%-solid leads right now. 

I've been equipment checking, fact checking, writing out budgets and then revising them, getting abused by almost anyone I talk to (if you haven't abused me, thank you - you know who you are. All three of you, I remember you in my prayers at night. Ok maybe not...I went a bit too far, even for me). I've also been reading every article, blog, and comment I can find on the subject, I've visited feedlots, and yapped a lot (which I don't mind frankly but you'd never be able to tell). I even got pooped on by a steer. Don't say I'm not committed. 

I got close to shelving the project, then I thought about the animals and the people who are caught up in this debate. The animals which are going to enter the food chain no matter how vehemently anyone protests it...and the people who live in countries so over-populated they can not grow enough of any kind of food to literally stay alive in their own habitat. That's why I still want to go ahead with it. I want to tell you what actually happens in this process. (I might add Australia has the highest standards for the export of livestock anywhere in the world...I'm not saying they're travelling by luxury liner, I just don't know what highest standards means in the scheme of things, but that's what I intend to find out).

So I'm booked in to do my stockhandler's ticket, which means I am legally able to travel on an export ship. I'm sure I'll come away from that with a good understanding of how not to get trampled to death by marauding cattle, and if what's been stuck in my eye for the last year is actually a case of pink eye.

Oh if you doubt people's passion on this subject, I'm giving you this to ponder.
WARNING - this video gave me a mild nervous condition. Oh and also he swears a lot. 

Public Lacks Farming Insight.

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From Weekly Times Now:

THE public needs to put its money where its mouth is, or farming will continue to suffer, writes KATE DOWLER.

The Australian public needs to put its money where its mouth is, or stop demanding cheap, high-quality food, healthy environments and ever-more out of over-worked farmers.

Read the full story here.

15 Comments
Hemmy
9/11/2012 06:20:53 am

How long will you be at sea if you get to go? That guys head is going to explode.

Reply
Geire link
9/11/2012 06:27:28 am

Hemmy, it depends where the ship goes. The Middle East is about two weeks. Indonesia is less.

This fellow could use a cup of tea and an asprin. Poor thing. Probably took ten years off his life out of stress alone.

Reply
Kylie Stretton
9/11/2012 06:25:18 am

I love this! I really hope you get to do this, it might not be all light and roses but it's sure as hell not going to be all doom and gloom and it will be great to have a more neutral view.

Reply
Geire link
9/11/2012 06:57:20 am

I think you're right Kylie. It will be great to see the conditions on the ship, and also to meet the people who depend on the meat. I am also a big animal lover. At the same time I think I'm pretty pragmatic. I can raise a lamb on a bottle, but I know one day he'll go to market. (Except my two year old pet lamb Tuesday. He stays).

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Jo Bloomfield link
9/11/2012 09:26:03 am

Geire. I do hope you do this, look for the good the bad and the ugly. I'm a supplier of cattle to LE and I want people like you who aren't connected to either side to tell me what you see. because I really want to know.

Reply
Geire
9/11/2012 11:17:05 am

Thanks Jo! I know what you do is a long hard slog, and I know the care people put into their livestock. It will be great to be able to report back to you. Keep up the good (hard, and often seemingly thankless) work.

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Sherrill Stivano
9/11/2012 10:59:18 am

Geire I so hope you can get a spot onboard and all everyone asks is for a fair story from someone who understands live stock as well as the fact that ultimately they are food for us. I know exactly what you are saying in relation to your lamb as we do the same with cattle. Good luck and I hope someone can see past all recent ambushes to give you a chance. Live export needs a factually correct story that speaks of the positive rather than highlighting only the negative. A story by an impartial source neither pro or ban would be so beneficial. Good luck

Reply
Geire
9/11/2012 11:25:01 am

Cheers Sherrill! It was a huge laugh when it was first highlighted to me the cost of feeding a pet lamb (offset by the very real market price), but it doesn't stop one, does it? That's how much we care for the welfare of these animals.

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Cushla
9/11/2012 12:19:12 pm

Geire hope you get on a ship, would be nice to have an impartial insight into the whole thing. Good Luck! I will be watching your progress.

And Oh yes! Facebook is most certainly an eye opener. Peoples behaviour deteriorates pretty quickly when it's not face to face.

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Gemma Lee Steere
9/11/2012 01:02:18 pm

I'll be interested to follow your journey Geire. I have a couple of questions out of interest about your project.

Why did you decide to undertake this journey? Why are you interested in LE - you stated "We're not going to start needing less food", so does your interest come from a production perspective? Are you only documenting what happens on a ship, or are you following it through to slaughter and supermarket? 

As you are well aware you are entering a highly debated and heated area of the agricultural industry - a lot of us have seen some of the public backlash against Steph Coombes for providing her real (and positive) experience aboard LE ships through social media. I hope that if successful you will provide an honest and accurate account of your experiences.

Reply
Geire
10/11/2012 01:43:34 am

Gemma, thanks for your question.

I am interested in food provenance really. Where our food comes from, and how animals are treated in the process. I've been asking a lot of people what it is they object to about the live export trade, and they say it's cruel, the animals can't move about, the conditions are deplorable, that sort of thing. I asked how many of them had been on a ship to see the conditions for themselves...but no one had. Well, actually a couple of people had family members who had, and they were the only ones who said they'd heard the conditions were actually very good.

I went to a Ban Live Export rally earlier in the year and talked to lots of people. There seemed to me to be a lot of people promoting things they didn't know much about. There was one lady, incredibly distressed, holding up a board of photos. She was saying look at these terrible conditions! There's no where to eat, there's no where to move and this is how our poor animals are transported at sea for weeks at a time! And people were standing around shaking their heads, getting very upset. saying it's so cruel. Then a guy came over and said - that's not a live export ship. Those photos are of a really old cattle truck. No one even moves animals like that any more. The lady holding the sign would not believe it - maybe she didn't want to believe it. More people came over and agreed about it being a very old truck, and eventually she yelled "I didn't even make this placard! I'm just holding it!" I just felt very sorry for her being so manipulated, and in turn upsetting all these other people with this misinformation. I felt it would be good to get to the bottom of.

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Jacqui Bateman
10/11/2012 12:08:22 am

Whooaa, I think that dude needs to chillax a little!

What a fabulous blog! Good luck, Geire. It will be a refreshing change to see an independent view of the live export job, someone who has a level head (which it seems you do) and no hidden agenda is the very best way to get the story told. Be prepared for a backlash because the opposers of LE can be very 'passionate' and anyone opposing them can often be on the receiving end of a torrent of hate.

Wishing you all the very best in your venture. I very much look forward to seeing the result of your project.

Reply
Adam
11/11/2012 02:43:12 am


Hi Geire,

First of all, congrats on a great blog, and an outstanding idea for a project/documentary. I know only a small amount about the live export trade, though as you mentioned, it seems many activists (and reporters) don't seem to know much about it either. I would hazard to guess that many people allow the couple of photos they've seen decide their stance on the issue. I also think the issue is part of the larger issue of globalization; i.e. we can do things more cheaply (and not upset ourselves) by outsourcing to people overseas, and patting ourselves on the back for helping out "those poor messed-up third world countries".

That said, I am a vegetarian and strongly feel we need to stop eating animals if we care about not only animals, out the people who are going to live on this planet after we're done with it. It may not be easy, we've relied on eating animals for a long time, and there are a lot of people who rely on the meat/dairy industry, but it's do-able. Check out Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home if you haven't seen it!

Best of luck with your project, and stay strong; don't let anyone silence you!

Reply
Geire
11/11/2012 05:56:19 am

Thanks Adam, I will def check out your suggestions.

Are you vegetarian as a conscious choice to protect animals? I was vegan for a number of years, and a vegetarian for about 8 years longer than that. In the end I went back to eating meat because I was diagnosed borderline anaemic. Even with big portions of red meat it took years for my blood-work to show a significant improvement.

Really appreciate your comments.

Reply
Lisa Claessen link
18/11/2012 08:36:40 am

I applaud you for your conviction to explore this issue thoroughly Geire. I teach kids about food and agriculture and I encourage kids to look at all sides of an issue also. I teach students from farming and non farming backgrounds and we have some lively discussions at times. I came from a non farming background and over the years have wrestled with issues such as slaughter,etc. I spent a lot of time visiting abattoirs and talking to people in the industry,etc. I have a different perspective now, and a more informed one.
I wish you well on your project in seeking knowledge.
Lisa

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