Can there be ethical carnivores? The Northern Rivers may have a high percentage of vegans but the fact is the world’s population has an ever-growing, insatiable appetite for meat. Cheap meat at that. So a book around the ethics of eating meat is certain to spark intense debate amongst vegans, vegetarians, and carnivores. On Eating Meat is that book and its author Matthew Evans is appearing at Byron Writers Festival. The former food critic and chef, now farmer and restaurateur, grapples with the thorny issues around the way we rear and consume animals. You may know Matthew from his SBS TV show The
Farmer, restaurateur, TV personality, and author Matthew Evans. Photo Alan Benson Gourmet Farmer. He gave up the city life a few years ago to tend a smallholding in Tasmania, Fat Pig Farm, where
he fattens pigs, milks cows, tends a garden, and writes about food. He has strong belief in
Real Food – food where the provenance is known and the producer valued. It is his hope that more people
will try to grow their own food (just start with parsley and go from there) or know exactly the provenance of their produce. Matthew has delved seriously into food, so far writĶŕī Ǩǩ ćşşŊƆ ĶŕĈōƖĎĶŕī ƐIJĕ authoritative and internationally bestselling Real Food Companion and his autobiography Never Order Chicken on a Monday. As well as the longrunning Gourmet Farmer TV series, he has made food documentaries What’s the Catch? and For the Love of Meat. From feedlots and abattoirs to organic farms and animal-welfare agencies, Matthew has an intimate, expert understanding of
production practices that take place to bring food to our dining table. On Eating Meat is a confronting read. Evans calls for less radicalisation, greater understanding, and for ethical omnivores to stand up for the welfare of animals and farmers alike. At Byron Writers Festival, Matthew Evans will feature in the main festival program şŕ ëƐƖſĎëƷ Ǫ ƖīƖƆƐǽ ëŕĎ the Living Consciously panel with Tim Flannery and Sophie Cunningham şŕ ƖŕĎëƷ ǫ ƖīƖƆƐȂ 0ưëŕƆ will also discuss How to be an Ethical Carnivore at the ĕëĈIJ LşƐĕō şŕ ¨IJƖſƆĎëƷ Ǩ August (free Satellite Event, booking essential).
We need to talk about online trolling Back in the day a troll was a scary looking doll with a squished face, curly matted hair, and vague links to Scandinavian folklore. Now they are much more sinister ëŕĎ ĎĶǔ ĶĈƖōƐ Ɛş ſĕưĕëōȂ `ƖƆƐ ask Ginger Gorman. Journalist Ginger was trolled online after writing a story for the ABC about gay men choosing surrogacy. She received hateful tweets, including a death threat. She was terrified, but once the attack subsided she found herself curious. Who were these trolls? How and why did they coordinate such an attack? And how does someşŕĕ Ǖ īIJƐ ćëĈŊȃ
wưĕſ ƐIJĕ ŕĕƶƐ Ǖ ưĕ ƷĕëſƆǽ Gorman spoke to psychologists, trolling victims, law enforcement, academics, and, most importantly, trolls themselves, embedding herself into their online communities and their psyches in ways she had never anticipated. She uncovered links between trolling, cyberhate, and real-life crimes. She mapped out a cohort of men – mostly angry, young, and white – who rightly or wrongly feel marginalised and disenfranchised and express this through the internet. She encountered the frequently extreme personal
Journalist and author of Troll Hunting Ginger Gorman. Photo Hilary Wardhaugh costs endured by trolling targets, not to mention the very ſĕëō Ǖ ŕëŕĈĶëō ëŕĎ ĕĈşŕşŔĶĈ costs of cyberhate. Ginger Gorman is coming
to Byron Writers Festival to provide a window into not just the mindset of trolls, but also the profound changes in the way we live and work in
a post-internet world. Trolls didn’t appear from thin air – they are real people, and reflect a real aspect of our society. Ginger’s remarkable
investigation will change the way you think about the internet, and what it means to be a human online. Ginger Gorman will join other voices on online trolling at Byron Writers Festival including Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Maxine Beneba Clark in the panel We Need to Talk About Trolling ȎDſĶĎëƷ ǩ ƖīƖƆƐȏ ëŕĎ will also talk about The People Behind the Internet (FriĎëƷ ǩ ƖīƖƆƐȏ ƱĶƐIJ ®b ëƖƐIJşſ Claire L Evans (Broadband: The untold story of the women who made the internet). On Sunday ǫ ƖīƖƆƐ EĶŕīĕſ ƱĶōō ĎĶƆĈƖƆƆ #MeToo: Where To? with Tracey Spicer and David Leser.
Hot topic sessions at Byron Writers Festival Sunday 4 August
If you’re looking for new insights into some of the big issues pervading modern consciousness, look no farther than Byron Writers DĕƆƐĶưëō ǩǧǨǰȂ LĕſĕȜƆ ëŕ overview of just some of the hot-topic sessions you won’t want to miss at the three-day Festival.
Friday 2 August With pressure mounting in response to the global climate crisis, it’s time to talk Environmental Solutions in this session with ǨǦǪǦ Ǖ ōŔȒ maker Damon Gameau, space archeologist Alice Gorman, and award-winning author of Dark Emu Bruce Pascoe. Parents and grandparents – don’t miss a timely exploration
Bruce Pascoe of how social media and screen ƐĶŔĕ ëſĕ ëǔ ĕĈƐĶŕī ƐĕĕŕëīĕſƆȜ lives, as author David Gillespie and Mandy Nolan discuss how children are being set up for a lifetime of addiction in Teen Brains.
Jennifer Byrne
Saturday 3 August David Leser and Jennifer Byrne come together for a critical conversation on Women, Men and the Whole Damn Thing: one of the most
ƖŕĎëƷ ŊĶĈŊƆ şǔ ƱĶƐIJ ëŕ inspiring exploration of Living Consciously with tree enthusiast Sophie Cunningham, conservationist Tim Flannery, and The Gourmet Farmer’s Matthew Evans. Sunday will also see retiring head of World Vision, Tim Costello, discuss the role ëŕĎ ĈIJëōōĕŕīĕƆ şĪ Ǖ īIJƐĶŕī Īşſ change in the session Social Activism. Plus, esteemed Tara June Winch Tim Flannery writer and educator John Marsden will share insights ƐëōŊĕĎȒëćşƖƐ ëſƐĶĈōĕƆ şĪ ǩǧǨǯ Year of Indigenous Languages ĪſşŔ IJĶƆ ǪǧȒƷĕëſ Ĉëſĕĕſ ƱſĶƐȒ recently expanded by Leser with the important discus- ing for and working with into his latest book that is sion around the need for young people. His ambitious making waves as the water- Preserving Indigenous Lan- manifesto The Art of Growing cooler book of the #MeToo era. guages with Daniel James, Up ƐëĈŊōĕƆ ƐIJĕ ŔĶŕĕǕ ĕōĎ ƐIJëƐ Meanwhile, we celebrate ëŔĶ bIJëƐƖŕǽ ëƐſĶĈŊ mƖŕŕǽ is growing up ‘happy’ in the ®m0 !wȜƆ PŕƐĕſŕëƐĶşŕëō and Tara June Winch. ǩǨƆƐ ĈĕŕƐƖſƷȂ
Catch these sessions and all the action at the festival site with a 1-day or 3-day pass, available now at: byronwritersfestival.com/tickets www.echo.net.au/byron-echo Byron Shire Echo archives
`ƖōƷ Ǩǧǽ ǩǧǨǰ The Byron Shire Echo 21