A highly respected Pew Commission chaired by former Kansas Governor, John Carlin, and comprised of various officials and experts, including former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, has published a detailed report based on 2 ½ years of research.  It concludes that our industrial animal farming system “poses unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals themselves” and that “significant changes must be implemented and must start now.”

This is perhaps the most serious indictment of U.S. animal farming to date and will be an important resource for citizens  interested in preventing cruelty and bringing about a more just and sustainable food production system.  Click here for more information.

 

Gene

This year’s Hoe Down in Orland, California was magical.  People came from across the U.S. to connect with animal friends and be immersed among like minded citizens. The community feeling was palpable, commiserating with colleagues, dancing to live music under a warm starry sky, smiling, joyful.

Vegans comprise a tiny segment of the U.S. population (perhaps 1% or 2%). We can sometimes feel different, like outcasts among the mainstream. But at Farm Sanctuary, vegan is normal, and it’s a beautiful thing. We gain peace and strength from each other.


Gene

 

 

 

I visited Chico, California to speak at a Barnes & Noble bookstore.  Like with other talks, I appreciated the participation of audience members, especially when questions come up that I have difficulty answering, like whether or not cats can be vegetarian.  Often, someone in the audience offers a more educated perspective than I.  In Chico, I described some easy vegan dishes, including how I sometimes just heat up noodles with a sauce made of margarine, nutritional yeast, Braggs, salt and pepper.  A woman in the audience grimaced when I mentioned margarine because it can be so unhealthy.  And the group was reminded that it’s better to use certain oils, like olive oil, in place of margarine. 

I also spoke to two agriculture business classes at California State University, Chico, comprised largely of students involved in the farming industry.  They spouted various assumptions that support animal production, including the notions that meat is healthful, that producing it is efficient, and that consumers around the world want more meat. I encouraged them to examine these assumptions, and to consider whether growing plants instead of animals is a more efficient and healthful way to provide food for consumers in the U.S. and abroad.

 

Gene 

I recently stayed with my parents in the Hollywood Hills and went running along horse trails in Griffith Park nearby, visiting the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign above the busy city below. The spring is giving way to hotter summer temperatures, and green is turning brownish.  Consistent with southern California’s desert landscape, I saw many scampering lizards and a snake who made his way calmly across a dusty horse trail. 

People walked their dogs in the park and carried plastic bags to collect their canine’s droppings, but there was no such accommodation for droppings left by horses.  Horses are used for riding in the park and sometimes categorized as “livestock”, and this leads to less regulation and responsibility than with companion animals.  My mulling over the differences between how we treat dogs’ and horses’ waste took a whole new twist when I returned to my parents’ house and saw that a wild coyote left his mark on the front walkway.

Gene 

After speaking at Borders Books in Los Gatos, California, I went out to dinner in nearby San Jose with a dozen activists involved in a major campaign.  They played a key role in collecting signatures to place an initiative on the California ballot for this coming November, which aims to ban three cruel confinement systems: veal crates, gestation crates, and battery cages.  Thanks to the hard work and dedication of these and other caring citizens, Californians voters will have a chance to lessen the suffering of nearly 20 million animals in the state on Election Day this November.  (More information on the campaign is at www.humanecalifornia.org.)

Gene

I had a chance to visit VegNews in San Francisco, before catching a plane.  As you can see in the photo below, I often wear message t-shirts when I travel.  This one often gets reactions at airports and on planes.  The headline says “Homeland Security” above a photo of a Native American war party, and words below the photo say: “Fighting Terrorism Since 1492”. 

As always, it was great to see and spend time with my friends at VegNews and to share camaraderie and discuss current issues affecting our world.  The only problem is that there is never enough time!  On this visit I was also treated to an excellent vegan meal that is described on the VegNews blog this way: 

“¡Un picadillo picante! Thanks to Jenny's secret, Cuban, kitchen maneuvers we got to taste a picadillo today—a dish traditionally made with ground beef. With a substitution of tofu, the amalgamation of black beans, tomatoes, peas, and potatoes was a delicious, and meatless, treat. The secret ingredient? Chipotle-brined green olives, which gave the dish a lovely spiciness. Served alongside a fluffy pile of delectable, mustard-seed-infused rice, the picadillo made a hearty meal.” 

Thank you to everyone at VegNews for your kindness and hospitality, and for your good work to raise awareness about the importance of our food choices.

Gene

Atlantic Sands Hotel ~ Rehoboth Beach, DE

 

 

Third Place Books ~ Seattle, WA



 

Ethos Vegan Kitchen ~ Orlando, FL
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Ocean Beach People's Co-op ~ San Diego, CA

 Borders ~ Atlanta, GA 


Marin Humane Society ~ Novato, CA

Labyrinth Books ~ Princeton, NJ

I spoke in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on the Delmarva Peninsula, an area known for intensive poultry production. A woman who attended the talk is an accountant and works for a contract poultry grower (an individual who raises chickens on his/her own land under contract for a large, integrated poultry company).  The accountant agreed with my book’s description of how contract growers often live like surfs on their own property.  They provide most of the capital and labor to raise chickens that are owned and controlled by corporations.  Contract growers often go into debt to meet their contractual obligations, and when they receive checks for their labor, it often goes directly to pay off debt.

I recently spoke at a book store in West Chester, Pennsylvania, not far from where Farm Sanctuary began (our first office was in Wilmington, DE, and our first shelter was in Avondale, PA). 

Among those in attendance was a large animal veterinarian, who openly shared his concerns about the inhumane treatment of farm animals.  He grew up in agriculture, and mentioned that his father and grandfather had disagreements, and that his grandfather opposed some of the changes that his father wanted to implement.

I am for change and “progress,” but I also think it’s important to define what is meant by “progress.” Unlike many dairy farmers, for example, I don’t think getting more milk out of a cow is necessarily “progress,” especially when doing so comes with significant costs (eg. higher feed costs, sick and abused animals, pus and drugs in milk). 

The so-called “progress” our farming system purports to have made in recent decades has also wrought serious problems, which need to be evaluated and critically assessed.  I think real progress would be to create a farming system that provides healthy, affordable food in a just, sustainable manner that is aligned with our highest ethical aspirations. And, I believe community-oriented, plant-based agriculture is the way to achieve this.

I recently visited Atlanta, Georgia where I spoke at Borders books to a standing-room-only crowd.  Many citizens heard about the horrors of factory farming for the first time.  From Atlanta, I traveled to Athens, Georgia where I spoke at the University of Georgia and at a Montessori School. 

Some agriculture students came to my presentation at the University, where I said the “natural” label was meaningless in terms of describing farmed animals’ lives, and that meat from factory farmed animals given hormones and antibiotics was being sold as “natural.”  A stunned ag student said I was wrong and that “natural” meat was not produced with drugs and hormones.  I responded that while some farmers may sell “natural” meat from animals who are not given stimulants or drugs, the “natural” label is commonly and legally used on packages of meat from chemically enhanced, abused animals.  As with other labels, the “natural” label does not comport with consumers’ expectations. 

The morning after my talk at the University of Georgia, I spoke with more than 200 children at a Montessori School.  When asked if they liked animals, the whole group enthusiastically raised their hands, and then erupted into stories.  There is such a natural connection children seem to have with animals, and they also have an innocence and sense of wonderment, which was joyfully apparent as the teaming mass of childhood gathered for our discussion.