At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Chef Defies Vegan Protests, Defends Ethical Hunting and Wild Food
- Joe Rogan interviews Toronto chef and hunter Michael Hunter, whose restaurant Antler became the target of persistent vegan and animal-rights protests after a cheeky sidewalk sign reading “Venison is the new kale.”
- Hunter explains his philosophy of ethical, local, and wild-sourced meat, his background in hunting and foraging, and why he butchered a deer leg in the restaurant window in response to activists harassing his guests.
- Rogan and Hunter contrast small‑scale, ethical hunting and farming with factory farming, discuss wildlife population control, conservation funding from hunters, and the psychology and extremism within some activist and vegan circles.
- They also dive into wild game cookery, nose‑to‑tail eating, foraging mushrooms, indigenous food traditions, and the complex moral and ecological questions around eating animals versus plants.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasTargeting small ethical operators misdirects activism away from real systemic abuse.
Hunter’s restaurant buys from local, humane game farms and serves wild-inspired dishes, yet was singled out while nearby butcher shops and likely factory‑meat users were ignored—energy that could be better aimed at industrial factory farming practices.
Understanding where meat comes from tends to reduce waste and increase respect.
Both Rogan and Hunter argue that killing and butchering an animal yourself is emotionally difficult and humbling, which often leads people to eat less meat, waste less, and value the animal’s life and meat more.
Hunting and licenses are a major funding source for wildlife conservation.
Mandated fees and excise taxes on hunting licenses and gear (e.g., in the U.S., Pittman‑Robertson Act) generate billions of dollars annually, outpacing most conservation and animal‑advocacy groups, and directly support habitat and species management.
Population control of certain wild species is ecologically and economically necessary.
Examples like feral pigs, overabundant deer, snow geese, and urban turkeys show that without hunting or reintroduced predators, overpopulation leads to crop destruction, disease, and suffering—impacts that also affect plant-based food systems.
Factory farming is the strongest ethical and environmental argument for eating less or different meat.
Both men condemn industrial livestock systems for cruelty and ecological damage, promoting instead wild game, truly pastured animals, and regenerative farms (e.g., Polyface) as realistic ways to eat meat with far lower ethical costs.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesI think that if you do eat meat, you should be able to kill an animal and experience that.
— Michael Hunter
No one contributes more to conservation than hunting. No one.
— Joe Rogan
People that don’t hunt and haven’t killed an animal don’t understand the respect and the amount of effort that goes into that.
— Michael Hunter
This is the wrong fight. The battle is factory farming.
— Joe Rogan
Meat doesn’t come from the grocery store. It’s not in a styrofoam package. That’s not where it comes from. It’s an animal.
— Michael Hunter
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