Brian Kateman is co-founder of the Reducetarian Foundation, dedicated to the very uncontroversial idea that we should all be eating fewer animal products.
And he's the co-director and star of a new documentary, “Meat Me Halfway,” which just premiered on iTunes, Amazon Prime, Vimeo on Demand, Google Play, YouTube, and Vudu.
I watched the movie last week, and was struck by how it took a common artistic device – the “naive” narrator who stands in for the audience and takes them on a journey of discovery – and subverted it by, well, actually grappling with tough issues rather than driving to a foregone conclusion.
The one thing Kateman and the film are sure about, is that factory farming is an unmitigated disaster and needs to be replaced by something better.
Whether that “better” is plant-based meats, cell-cultured meats, or regenerative animal agriculture, Kateman doesn't know.
What he does know, after years working to reduce meat consumption, is that most people will not go vegan, ever. And insisting that only 100% abstinence from meat, dairy, and fish is the only acceptable outcome is doomed to failure.
Kateman is wonderfully humble about solutions, strategies, and tactics. In his conversations with animal rights activists who criticism reducetarianism for not being enough, for tacitly approving of the murder of animals, he seeks to understand their point of view rather than defend his own.
Indeed, his acceptance of an invitation to a “pig save” vigil helps him sympathize with their critique of his own advocacy.
Kateman also challenges himself to visit a regenerative farm in which animals are slaughtered, seeking to understand the farmer who has rejected generations of factory farming for a different system that he regards as far more humane and natural.
This is a film that plays against this cultural moment. It rejects the easy polarization and the dopamine rush we get from being “right” and vilifying those who disagree with us. It seeks compassion, common ground, and respectful dialog.
And it's a damn good story about one man's honest search for truth.
Our conversation ranged from anecdotes about filming, to the unflinching commitment to connection and exploration, to why the first scene with Kateman's parents featured (brace yourself) commercially produced guacamole.
If you are in the mood to learn, to grapple, to empathize, to cry, to laugh, and to see the good in others, this conversation and this film will do the trick.
Links
Meat Me Halfway
The Reducetarian Foundation
The Reducetarian Solution book (I contributed a chapter)
“Meat is a Liberal Issue. It Shouldn't Be.” – Brian's article in Forbes 2 August 2021
Brian Kateman's previous appearance on Plant Yourself
Dr Howie Jacobson
This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).
My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.
Here are three gigs that I do:
1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation
I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.
At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.
My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.
2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance
I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.
We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.
The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.
3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams
I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.
So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.
You CAN Change Other People!
Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.
What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.
Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.
Music
The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
Gratitudes
Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.
Disclosure
This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive compensation from your actions on such links. It don't cost you a dime, tho.
