Please join me in welcoming Stefanie Powers to the National Press Club. (Applause.)

Do I sit?

Q: If bushmeat is such an elemental food source for the people in Africa, as you suggested it was, how do you propose replacing it? May we not be just exchanging a bushmeat crisis for perhaps a famine crisis?

A: In Kenya, where during the colonial period European animals were introduced, we have seen over -- since 1963, when independence occurred, and people began to do studies outsourcing the studies, the ways of life, it was determined that most Africans were -- preferred to eat the meat from the cattle than to eat the -- because of the fat -- than to eat the leaner meat from bushmeat. Cattle has done its job as an implanted Europeanized animal to outgraze vast areas in East Africa. A man called David Hopcraft (ph) has spent his entire life trying to prove the point that when you transplant wild animals onto grazing land, and you take off the domesticated herds of Europeanized cows and cattle, they actually allow the land to return to its former pristine condition, and you can accomplish virtually a similar idea of raising wildlife for meat as a meat source while enhancing the environment. So whereas bushmeat, the bushmeat that we are speaking about it bushmeat which is found in the wild areas, the reserve areas which have the most encroachment, it has also been proven that game farming is quite successful in many parts of Africa. It is extremely successful in East Africa. People enjoy -- both tourists as well as locals are enjoying returning to a leaner diet. It is an educational process. It is highly economic, because the animals don't tend to need -- they tend to resist the drought far more successfully than their Europeanized counterpart.  So how do you prevent people from going into the bush and killing animals which should otherwise be protected in areas which we need to be protected is a very complex idea. But it starts with education. It also starts with help from the private sector so that logging companies might supplement the food source as I suggested of their employees so that they might not need to go into the capture and the killing of bushmeat to feed themselves immediately, or trade in it. And all the way along the line there has to be cooperation on all levels from the top to the bottom. You have to have this as a -- everyone must see it as something that is worthwhile. It is must be proven to be worthwhile through the process of education. I hope that answers the question. It's a convoluted answer, but it's a complex question.

            MR. RYAN: Indeed it is.  This questioner wants to know that as part of your education program do you encourage vegetarianism as a dietary way of life, and perhaps see this as a part of the solution to the crisis? And I know that you indeed yourself are a vegetarian. As I always like to say, I don't eat anything with a face. (Laughter.) 

            Ms. Powers:  Yes, I am a vegetarian. I am a vegetarian as a result of having -- I had a stepfather who was quite a hard task master. He raised race horses, and like any kid who grew up on a farm with horses I wanted one. And so in order to earn the right to have one I had to learn how to care for them, and I had all the terrible jobs -- raking and mucking and cleaning and washing and everything to earn my ability to ride.  But the final lesson was that he took me to a slaughterhouse. And at that slaughterhouse I saw horses of all ages and health. I saw big ones, little ones, old ones, young ones, beautiful ones and ones that were not in very good shape. And he said to me, If you take on the responsibility of a horse, which is another life, you better make the commitment, because it's in your keeping. And unless you make that commitment and you are committed to that animal for life, you don't know what it's destiny is going to be.  I don't know how many horses I have right now -- (laughs) -- God help me -- I think it's over 30 somewhere. Most of them are retired. They live forever. And so he taught me a very, very good lesson.  But I also learned the terrible fate of factory-farmed animals whose life is from cradle to grave lived in such cruelty and with such agony that ascribing to the philosophy that you are what you eat, I just didn't want that to become me. So, yes, I -- on the one hand I could say, Yes, I would love to see more people become vegetarians. I would like to see more people live with the concept of moderation more than anything else -- all things in moderation, including the way we consume all of the resources that God has given us.  

             MR. RYAN: One of those horses you own is not named Monarchos or Point Given is it? (Laughter.)  This questioner would like you to look into the future a little bit and tell us what you think might happen in Africa if nothing is done about this bushmeat crisis.

            MS. POWERS: Well, as you know, Africa is a continent with many emerging problems, not the least of which is AIDS -- and many other diseases which are viral of nature and very mysterious, some of which people feel to a great degree has to do with the ever-increasing incursions into the bush areas and ever-increasing deforestation, where people are going into areas that they have never been in before, and where the environment may be inhospitable. And they are bringing out some very peculiar things which are reacting on the population in very negative health ways.  That is going to really make a tremendous effect on the population of Kenya. We see perhaps an HIV-positive ratio of if not 30 to 35 percent of the population it's very difficult to know, but those which evolve into AIDS, and it evolves quite rapidly, are now being counted. And that's what it seems to look like.  The estimate that I heard, and I trust this to be accurate, that today in the African continent there are 12 million orphans of AIDS parents, and that by the year 2010 there will be something like 40 million. Those factors rest very heavily on the way in which the population will be able to exploit its immediate resources. So the future of Africa has to be looked at from many, many complicated aspects. Education still remains the big word, and only through education, the right kinds of education -- and I am not talking about reading and writing necessarily, although reading and writing to elevate people's understanding of the information that they are getting is also essential. But the kind of information that disseminates real and honest and true information. There is a general feeling in the population that I speak to anyhow that because there is now a magical drug that everybody has heard about in South Africa that now there's supposed to be this very cheaply available drug to treat AIDS that this must be the cure -- a magic drug. I've lost 32 friends to that disease -- and they were friends, not just acquaintances. There is no magic drug. If there is a cocktail, which most of the people that I know that are living with AIDS are on, it requires a tremendous amount of monitoring. There's no one single pill. It's a very delicate combination and a very intense treatment. But because that information has not been properly disseminated, people may then choose to have unprotected sex, because they think this drug is now going to be the answer to their prayers. That remains to be seen, but it is one of those pieces of education, those pieces of the kind of disseminating of information that will help the society raise consciousness. The right kind of information, the right kind of education is crucial. And then hopefully with a bit of help and fingers crossed Africa may have a bright future. But we cannot turn our back on it. And a lot of people have. A lot of people hear only bad news coming out of Africa, so they say, Well, you know, if it's problems over here, then it must affect everything and everybody is the same, and it's not a place that we can do anything about. And that's the wrong thing to think. We need to be involved. We must not let go of that continent. They need our help desperately, and we are the only ones who can do it.

            MR. RYAN: A couple of questioners want to know what it is we can do. What can Americans -- what role can they do in addressing this issue?  This question actually came in from the Internet over from Italy. It says, "What actually can people do besides sending money to foundations? Give the American people out here sort of a goal of what they can do."

            MS. POWERS: That's another big question. I'm delighted with these big questions. I wish I had all the right answers for all the big questions. I always think that it's the small things, the combination of small things that we do, that create big things. So rather than looking at the larger picture, I think one has to look at the small picture of how we behave, what our own personal use of the world around us is and how we consciously or unconsciously take advantage of our resources.  I think we have a great role to play in the world as an example of how we can change our society from a society that seems to be using up everything as if it's always going to be here and it's always our right to use it as much as possible and whenever we want to, because it's human need which, interestingly enough, rhymes with greed.  I think we have to reform a little bit the way in which we look at life in the future and the way in which we accept or reject the way in which the corporate structure of our country moves into the future, seemingly, in many cases, seemingly without any consideration whatsoever to the needs of the environment.  We had a very forward movement in this country about 10 years ago that was where children -- oh, Jack, you must remember the great change in everybody's philosophy, and all kinds of movements were going on in schools and all of this. And I'm sure they're still going on in schools. But there was a general societal movement to be green and to be seen to be doing things on a daily basis that were exemplary of your practicing what you wish to see happen.  And then suddenly I guess we all started to make a lot of money in the stock market, and everybody's heads turned in other directions and we lost interest. And, you know, the MTV, you know, instant mashed potatoes kind of gratification made our heads spin and turn and look another way. Well, we've just had a big adjustment, and it's another little reality pill. And maybe we need those kinds of reality   pills to bring us back to remembering that we have some other responsibilities in life except just serving ourselves. And if we can start with that little idea, it might move into other directions.

            MR. RYAN: Has the availability of wildlife presentations on cable TV, such as the National Geographic series, have these programs made the public less sensitive to the problems of preservation, do you think? And secondly, as part of that question, do you think that animals should be shown killing and mating on television? (Laughter.)

            MS. POWERS: (Laughs.) Why not? It's love. (Laughs.) The first part of the question is something that actually concerns me, because I think in many cases that people actually watch the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and they think by watching it, they're actually doing something for conservation.  I've actually had people say to me, when I've spoken about conservation efforts, and they say, "You know, I watch the Discovery Channel all the time," as if, by the act of doing it, they're actually doing something substantial. In a way, I think it's diverted everybody. I hope it hasn't desensitized them. But I think people have to remember that it's there for information and entertainment and to hopefully inspire participating a little bit more.  The second part of the question, I've never thought -- whenever I watch an animal make -- a cheetah make an incredibly efficient kill in order to feed itself, I've never thought of that as anything terribly cruel. I do think, though, that when the Koreans beat up baby dogs in order to provide themselves with meat for stew that's more tasty because it pushes through adrenaline into the meat, that's not quite the same thing. So I don't mind seeing animals doing what they do, because generally nature has gifted them with an extremely efficient way of disposing of their prey. Human beings do it less humanely.  

            MR. RYAN: Do you think that the hunting of animals in the United States should be more regulated, or even banned? And secondly, what is your thought about sportsmen hunters who kill simply for mounting the heads up on the wall?

            MS. POWERS: I'm not going to have any friends left after this. (Laughs.) You know, the trophy hunter -- the only thing that the trophy hunter did was he killed off the gene pool, and that's always upsetting, because the trophy hunter goes after the big tusks or the black mane of the biggest beautiful black-mane lion, and that gene pool is -- I mean, that animal has the alpha position in the herd or in the group because of their prowess. And it's the very thing that the hunter wants to go and kill off.  That, of course, I am against. And that, of course, is one of the factors which we've all seen, those of us who have been in the wild, the end result of. The tusks are not as big as they once were. You very rarely see 100-pounders anymore, except in somebody's library, I guess. So that, of itself, has done its share of damage.  However, it must be said that in the days when hunters were in the hunting blocks, the poachers weren't. So they did do a service, and they in some cases continue to do a service. It's an arguable point that culling must be done of elephants in South Africa and various places around because they can only exist in certain areas and that there's only enough to sustain a certain group, certain amounts of them, and for the benefit of the herd, culling must occur.  If you knew the social order of elephants, you just couldn't imagine it. I mean, they have such an intricate caring for one another. And, of course, nobody wants to see them die terrible deaths in enclosed areas where they can't escape and their food source then greatly diminishes and is damaged.  But perhaps there is another alternative. Perhaps there is an alternative where you buy land and pay for it to provide for corridors, where you start with the human beings. The future of the wildlife is in their hands, and you find ways to redirect their needs and redirect their employment. It has worked that those people who formerly were poachers have been re-employed as game scouts to protect.  But it's got to be looked at from a completely new point of view. And that's happening, fortunately, in many, many areas. There are many grassroots movements all over Africa. I know of the ones in Kenya and I know of some in Tanzania, as well as in Zimbabwe. And they are brilliant, and people are finding new ways of looking at wildlife conservation as something which is profitable to them.  So the band-aid treats the immediate need, and behind it is education, a new look at the way people will be employed in the future, which Africa desperately needs. Not everybody can look to their future in terms of exploiting whatever arable land is there into small one-acre parcels that can be farmed out and subjected to the whims of drought or any of the perils of small-plot subsistence farming in a second.  And so the whole economic -- you know, the population's point of view about where their resources lie in terms of their own capacity to be able to feed their families and to employ themselves can be reworked if we look at it from a different perspective. And that's what I hope will happen. And it's movements like the bushmeat crisis task force which will help for all of that to be accomplished.  

           MR. RYAN: Isn't your task made doubly difficult because of the political instability in a number of countries in Africa?

            MS. POWERS: Political instability has been -- well, let's say upheaval has been all over the continent. And as I said, most of the bad news gets in the newspaper; none of the good news. There are extremely stable areas. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but not all of Africa is in a mess. (Laughs.) There are wonderfully stable areas   where there are local people doing extraordinary things. It's not all bad news.  It does help when a government is stable. Destabilization obviously produces the greatest risk to wildlife, because when no one's looking, everything can be exploited. And that is the greatest fear. And finding personnel to go into those destabilized areas is very difficult and it's highly dangerous. So it falls upon the world community, it falls upon the leaders, to help ways in which Africa can find its stability and can find its sea legs so that it can walk into a brighter future with the proper kinds of assistance, responsible assistance where people are accountable.

            MR. RYAN: Do you have any thoughts about what role the Bush administration should and could be playing in helping to avert this crisis, and if it is playing a role?

            MS. POWERS: Yes. (Laughter.) I think we sorely need to be seen in the world as actively doing something. We've been seen to be withdrawing recently from some of the greater issues and from some of the international issues, which has, as we all know, placed us as the bad guys. We're seen as the bad guys by a lot of people because it seems as if all we're interested in is just carrying on with our big cars and an ever-gluttonous lifestyle.  I think, by supporting movements of this kind, we can be seen to be moving in the right way. Everybody wins when we support and we save valuable parts of our world, because we save environmental parts that affect the entire world, climate zones.  I think it's important at this point to raise one single tiny point, that last year, as I was listening to my BBC overseas service radio program at 6:00 in the morning, I heard a report of a group of six scientists who had revisited a part of the North Pole, a coordinate in the North Pole, which they had visited seven years previously.  When they arrived at these coordinates, they found a hole in the polar ice caps a kilometer across. It was a lake. And it was the first time in 50 million years that there was a hole in the polar ice caps. And that little point didn't make the front page of any newspaper in the world. Why? Nature is telling us. Why are we not listening?     But I think it's a question that we need to ask ourselves. How are we going to respond to what nature is asking us to do? It's asking us to change. It's asking us to amend our ways in this last- ditch effort. It's changed our climate. It's knocking on the door. It's ringing bells. Why aren't we hearing it? I think our government needs to have bigger ears and I think we need to really do something and start to look for the kinds of alternative resources to the ones that we're currently using, because we don't have much of an option if we carry on this way.  All the evidence is out there. I don't think that anything is hidden anymore. Nature has told us exactly. It's crying. It's telling us exactly what's happening. And I think that we've seen such drastic change within our lifetime that we have to know what's going to be happening in the next 20 years, when we'll all still be around. It's increasing at such a rapid rate. We must do something. And we must be seen as a nation to do something, and as individuals.

            MR. RYAN: Very good. Thank you very much. But before you leave, I want to present you with a couple of things. One is a certificate of appreciation for your appearance here at the National Press Club; and lastly, a National Press Club mug that can sit on your desk someplace prominently, I trust.

            MS. POWERS: Thank you. What about the T-shirt?

            MR. RYAN: And a T-shirt. We'll have a T-shirt. Thank you very much. (Applause.)  I'd like to thank Ms. Powers for her appearance here today. And I'd also like to thank National Press Club staff members Melinda Cooke, Pat Nelson, Jo Ann Booze, Melanie Abdow Dermott and Howard Rothman for organizing today's luncheon. Also thanks to the NPC library for their research. And I'd like to thank every one of you for coming. Thank you. (Applause.)