In modern times, over one third of the Earth’s ice-free land is dedicated to animal agriculture, but it was a centuries long journey to transform our diverse world into one big paddock. The British wool industry played a pivotal role in building the wealth of England leading up to the colonial period and the transition from feudalism to capitalism. In cases such as the Scottish Highland clearances, the Irish great famine and the British colonisation of Australia and New Zealand, Indigenous peoples were forced from their ancestral homelands to be replaced by wool sheep. Native apex predators were hunted to extinction by settlers and landholders to protect livestock. The sheep and the stolen land would go on to make their holders extremely wealthy as wool became a critical resource for military uniforms during the wars of the 19^th and 20^th century.

In today’s show, Betty, Caroline and Lottie discuss how animal agriculture was used as an essential tool to expand the land occupied by the British Empire and how the British and Australasian wool industries have shaped the modern world.

Music has been reoved from the podcast version of the show due to copyright. Please check out the music featured:

This Land - Charlie Needs Braces: . 

 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlJXsWscRPQ . 

Indigenous Land - DRMNGNOW prod. River Boy: . 

 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvgEl41ngh0&list=RDxvgEl41ngh0&start_rad... . 

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye: . 

 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tffzUtPlD4E&list=RDtffzUtPlD4E&start_rad...

Links:

 . Historic UK: . 

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Wool-Trade/ . 

 . Defend the Wild: . 

https://www.defendthewild.org/