VEGAN VOICES AROUND THE WORLD

Carol J. Adams

Author of: The Sexual Politics of Meat:
A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory.
www.caroljadams.com

"Why I’m Vegan: I'm vegan because I want to do the least harm possible. I am vegan because I care about animals, and I believe caring about them means not harming them for my own pleasure. I am vegan because I believe using feminized protein (from cows and chickens) is exploitative; just as using animalized protein (from dead animals) is. I'm vegan because I don't want to benefit from a patriarchal violent world. I am vegan because oppressions are interconnected; I don't want to be objectified and I don't want to benefit from someone else's objectification."

Pam Ahern

Founder of Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary, Australia

www.edgarsmission.org.au

"I am sure that everyone has had important teachers in their lives that have inspired and guided them. I have too – except that mine perhaps are a little more unusual - in that the most important teachers in my life have been animals – and one in particular – now a very large white pig called Edgar - who came into my life in 2003 and changed it forever. Because of all that Edgar and my animal friends taught me; because of all I learned about the treatment of their kind - I decided to create Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary. What is our Mission? To promote the power of kindness – and that all animals – not just animals that share our hearts and homes, not just pets and ponies, but all animals such as Edgar and his kind need and deserve our compassion, kindness and understanding as well."

Keith Akers

Maintains www.compassionatespirit.com

Past President: Vegetarian Society of D. C. & Vegetarian Society of Colorado. Officer: International Vegetarian Union

He lives in Denver and is married to Kate Lawrence, also a vegan activist. He has authored several books. Kate authored: Practical Peacemaker: How Simple Living Makes Peace Possible

"I became vegan because all the good arguments for becoming vegetarian also supported becoming vegan. Why should we cause suffering and violence in the world, when there is an obvious alternative which is healthier and does not cause suffering and violence?"

"..though I can't shed my attraction to Jesus, most of the Christian churches have become largely useless. The central moral issues of our time — consumerism, human violence, massive violence towards animals, destruction of the planet and the environment — go almost completely untouched by the world of religion. I've met many others over the years who feel similarly disillusioned with Christianity."

"I’d love to be able to understand and instantly heal this profound disconnect (loving some animals while eating others), but at least we can chip away at it in words and actions whenever we have the chance. We can do this through any public outreach, such as tabling at festivals, as well as in personal conversations and online discourse. Those of us who understand that all animals deserve compassion, and whose diets demonstrate that understanding, are each a part of the solution. We are on-the-street practical peacemakers. We have an obligation to carry this awareness out into the world, while at the same time maintaining compassion for those who love some animals but eat others." Kate Lawrence

Nanci Alexander

Founder/president/volunteer of: Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF)

Owner Sublime (vegan) Restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, U.S.A. www.sublimeveg.com/aboutus.html

"My life's mission has been to seize every opportunity to speak out and help the animals who suffer for food, clothing, entertainment, experiments and the wildlife. Harassment or intimidation thrust upon me by those opposed has made me more determined to do all I can to eliminate the suffering of animals. I have dedicated my life for the animals and encourage all who care about animals to do more than they do now."

Jessica Bailey

Owner of: 'The Cruelty Free Shop' online - Australia. The shop is designed as a one-stop-shop for vegans; to make it easier for people to become and stay vegan by making a wide range of vegan products readily available in one place. Jessica also created the Cruelty-Free Festival.

www.crueltyfreeshop.com
www.crueltyfreefestival.org.au

"Raising a vegan child has been challenging. Not with regards to nutrition but because of the constant comments from non-vegans who are worried my child is being deprived. Personally I think they should be worried about the multiple forms of cancer and heart disease they are exposing their children to by feeding them animal products!"

"There is no doubt that a vegan diet is better for animals, the environment (as confirmed by the UN recently) and for your health. It’s a win-win-win situation – why wouldn’t you do it? The only reason the world isn’t vegan is because animal product producers have such huge marketing budgets which they have used very effectively to trick the masses into thinking they need meat and dairy for a healthy diet. This situation is exactly like the way cigarette companies treated the public before they were exposed."

Jonathan Balcombe, PhD

Author, speaker, scientist

Author of: Pleasurable Kingdom:
Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good
www.pleasurablekingdom.com

"Being vegan upholds my deepest values of nonviolence, environmentalism, and physical health. Veganism is the holy grail of personal activism. It is my daily anchor to the world."

Fiona Barlow

Lecturer/PhD Candidate (Social Psychology)
University of Queensland, Australia

"For me, the most critical factor in becoming a vegan was animals. Interacting with dogs, cats, birds, horses and cows, it became clear to me quite early on that animals experience so many of the same feelings and emotions that we humans do. Like us they feel pleasure, excitement, pain and fear. My choice to be vegan is an ethical one – I do not want to engage in behaviours that cut short the lives and experiences of animals."

"In the future I look forward to a larger range of choices being made available to vegans and vegetarians – from vegan meat substitutes to non-leather bags and shoes, I anticipate a positive change over the next 10 years. Personally, the most important thing for me is that people become increasingly aware that we are animals, and that animals are us. We share life, and common emotions of happiness, sadness, fear and elation. I believe that if we treat animals more compassionately we will reap the benefits – from positive health and environmental change to feeling better about ourselves. And as for me, well, with veganism, I am doing it for the animals."

Neal D. Barnard, MD

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, U.S.A.
www.pcrm.org

"I worked as an autopsy assistant before medical school and saw what heart disease, stroke, cancer, etc. actually look like. I became vegetarian one day, after removing ribs from the body of a person who died from a heart attack. After examining the diseased heart and replacing the ribs, we went up to the hospital cafeteria, which, as it turned out, was serving ribs for lunch! Later, I became attuned to issues of animal suffering, which led me to rethink many things I had been involved with previously- hunting, the livestock industry, and animal experiments in college. For me, the transition was from ovo-lacto vegetarian to vegan to low-fat vegan to a continuing process of improving my diet. A vegetarian diet is not the logical end of a process of dietary exploration. It is the beginning of it."

"The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of 'real food for real people', you'd better live real close to a real good hospital."

Eva Batt

Eva Batt (1908 – 1989), from England, became vegan in 1954, ten years after the term 'vegan' was coined. She chaired the U.K. Vegan Society for 15 years. She wrote one of the earliest vegan cookbooks; published in 1973. She also wrote a vegan-themed poetry book; In Lighter Vein (1974). Batt was one of the main public faces of veganism. The quotes below were taken from an early articulate essay of hers, found online at:
Why veganism by Eva Batt

"...Vegans are naturally inclined toward pacifism, and many take an active part in opposing all kinds of aggressive activity, but veganism has no connection with any political party or system, national or international. Similarly, individual vegans may be deeply religious, perhaps devout Christians or disciples of one of many other faiths and creeds in this world, but this is not a requisite of veganism, which is an everyday, fundamental way of life conerned with living without hurting others..."

"...There are several roads to veganism and many individual views of it, but veganism is one thing and one thing only: a way of living which avoids exploitation whether it be of our fellow men, the animal population, or the soil upon which we all rely for our very existence. A few are attracted to veganism at first because they desire to improve or regain their health; others are more interested in the economic aspect which is of great important to everyone. Few non-vegetarians appreciate the fact that because much more vegan food (vegetables, fruit, grain, nuts, seeds)can be produced on an equal area of land in a given time, veganism if generally adopted would not only release man from animal husbandry and all its cruelty, but many fertile acres would be freed for the abundant production of food for direct human consumption...Think what this could mean to the 'underdeveloped' (another term for starving) peoples of this world and what a contribution it would make towards world peace!"

"But by far the greatest number of vegans are those who have been moved by compassion to adopt this way of living without hurting. Most have been reared on the usual mixed diet with meat, eggs, milk, and fish possibly predominating, but may have been feeling for some time that this could not possibly be the best way to live. Then, perhaps a casual visit to a cattle market, or the sight of new-born calves being driven to slaughter (born and killed so that humans may drink the milk that Nature provided for calves) has caused their decision to be a party to such criminal practices no longer."

Matt Bear

www.NonviolenceUnited.org

www.VeganVideo.org

www.VeganShirt.com

"I am Vegan. I didn’t have to read or learn about the cruelty to animals inherent in raising animals as food – I lived it. I grew up in southern Minnesota on my grandparents’ animal farm and later, in my teen years, on an intensive pig factory farm. The screams of the animals are still in my head. And I had my hands in every gory detail. I am so sorry. Becoming Vegan began as atonement, but has since become my greatest joy and, honestly, my reason for living. Being on the Vegan path has opened my heart and mind to worlds I never would have known. I am so grateful."

"I try to remind everyone, every chance I get, that there is a way to build a better world – a world in which we would all like to live; a world driven by the innate goodness of people and their values of justice, kindness and compassion for other people, for the planet, and for the animals. Vegan. Every day you are invited to make choices. Live your values. Change the world. It’s that simple."

"Gandhi said, ‘Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.’ I thought I cared about animals; I said I cared about animals; and now what I do and how I eat are in line with my values. That’s what going Vegan offered me – happiness."

Beverly Lynn Bennett

Vegan chef, writer, 'Dairy-Free Desserts' columnist for VegNews Magazine
Beverly co-wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Cooking and also released Vegan Bites: Recipes for Singles
www.veganchef.com

"The more I learned about the cruelty and suffering involved with the dairy/egg industries and all the other aspects of using animal products in our lives, the more I knew that I could no longer be a participant in it."

Rebecca Bennett

www.VeganSecrets.com
www.EasyVeganShopping.com

"In my opinion I believe Being Vegan is a statement, a declaration of total love and unselfishness, it's a BEING, a portrait of who we are as humans. I like to think that by my decisions, I paint a portrait of who I am and that's what I'm about. Veganism is obviously right, so I'm there. It's like my soul seeks the highest feeling and with this feeling comes responsibility; responsibility not only towards myself and my loved ones, but also for the Universe including all Creatures great and small. This is why I'm Vegan - I have an opportunity to do something Divine, to make a DIFFERENCE (and yes one person can do just that) and to help others...The Planet, The Animals & Humans alike, in the best way I know how. So the simplest way I can describe Veganism in one word is simply -- LOVE!"

John Beske

Co-Founder of www.VeganStreet.com
Founder of Chicago Chapter of EarthSave

"All of the movements dedicated to making the world a better place - environmental protection, sustainability, world peace, social justice, equality, and so on – will benefit both practically and spiritually when their leaders realize the importance of including compassion for animals, and indeed for the entire planet, into their daily lives. For those of us who are already vegan, one of the most powerful contributions we can make is to realize the importance of all these other movements, help them achieve their objectives, and demonstrate the values of vegan compassion to those we meet along the way. When we all learn to work together, we will make amazing changes in the world."

Tony Bishop-Weston

Vegan Chef & Co-founder: Foods for Life Nutrition Consultancy
Author of: The Vegan Cookbook, The Complete Book of Vegan Cooking, Heathy Vegan Cooking DVD, etc.
www.news.for-vegans.co.uk
www.piratesofthecarobbean.com
www.davegancode.org.uk
www.supervegans.org

"The question is not 'why vegan?' but 'why not?' - it's inexcusable that life should suffer for our entertainment, just for fun, but that's exactly what KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut et al is - killing for fun. We don't need it, in fact this type of food is slowly killing us through ultimate karma."

Sienna Blake

Editor and Publisher of Vegan Voice magazine, Australia
www.veganic.net

"I think veganism is proving to be one great shining light. In my eyes, every vegan shines. I am grateful to the pioneers of vegan nutrition and medicine such as doctors: Michael Klaper, Neal Barnard, Caldwell Esselstyn , John McDougall, T. Colin Campbell, Michael Greger, and others. I think that it will be because of people realizing the health benefits that veganism will really break through... It does make me sad that compassionate reasons alone have not been enough to convince the human race that what we are doing to other animals is wrong. The planet has now reached a terrible and terrifying point where humans have had to start questioning their insane desire to consume our beautiful Mother Earth. I just hope it's not too late."

"I'm very aware that veganism is but a beginning. Our little place here in the forest is solar-powered, and my partner and I grow food veganically, though we're not yet self-sufficient. We buy almost all of our clothes secondhand. We try our best to limit our consumption, but there's always room for improvement."

Laurelee Blanchard

Founder of the Leilani Farm Sanctuary on Maui.

Board of Directors for the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii, U.S.A.

"I believe the most effective way to reduce animal suffering is to go vegan and not procreate."

Hope Bohanec

Grassroots Campaigns Director: In Defense of Animals

www.idausa.org

"The huge advances in the awareness of veganism in the last 20 years keep me hopeful. When I went vegan 20 years ago, if you wanted a vegan cookie, you had to bake it! The only substitute milk was powdered, chalky soy milk and we were ecstatic when Rice Dream came out with their first icy, plain vanilla frozen dessert! I look around now at the abundance of vegan treats, the understanding of the word in restaurants and the consciousness around the treatment of farm animals, and I feel so proud and grateful to have been part of the movement toward a vegan world, so far. It may seem like the advances are happening at a sluggish speed, but really, when you step back and think how far we have come in just 20 years, I can’t wait to see the world in another 20 or so. We are getting there and the animal’s suffering will be abolished. I have hope!"

Linda Bower

Vegan Activist
EarthSave Miami

"Fortunately, becoming vegan seemed to turn back the hands of time. It was overnight for me. I went from eating meat and personally killing animals in the waters of South Florida to becoming an abolitionist and supporting even direct action. It was a no brainer and the only shock was why I hadn't noticed sooner. I work most closely with EarthSave Miami but I also work with other organizations. I support them all and believe that they are all making a difference. When it comes to my outreach, there are people who watch the graphic violence and cruelty inflicted on farm animals and seem unmoved or respond with a religious or human supremacy defense. But honestly, I am most frustrated by those whose reaction is 'No, don't show me, I don't want to know'. The word ignorant comes from the root word ignore. I also notice that the youth absorb the truth about animals into their hearts much easier/faster than people from my generation. I'm thankful each and every day that the veil was lifted and that I could be a part of the greatest movement the world has ever known. The movement is harmlessness."

Harold Brown

Harold is a vegan animal advocate traveling North America working at the grassroots to educate people about issues concerning farm animals, food production, the impacts of factory faming on the environment, the abuse of farm workers, the health dangers of consuming animal products, the relation of violence towards animals and its transference towards humans, to help facilitate a more peaceful world for all beings.
www.farmkind.org

"My mission is to contribute to the liberation of all sentient beings so that they may live happy and peaceful lives. To encourage people to have the emotional courage to be honest with themselves and to make choices that are consistent with their deepest and best inner values. To alleviate suffering and injustice wherever it may be. To foster a more peaceful, compassionate, and kind paradigm that people will be drawn to."

Jenny Brown

Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary Founder/Director

www.WoodstockSanctuary.org

"Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary is driven by the simple philosophy that kindness and respect to animals is our moral duty and that all the creatures that share this earth are here 'with us' and not 'for us'. Like our faithful dogs and lap-sitting cats, farm animals are feeling individuals who deserve to be treated with compassion and to live free of fear and suffering."

"Contrary to popular belief, cows don't just produce milk for kicks. They are mammals, just like human ladies -- they need to get knocked up before their bodies produce milk. In factory farms they are artificialy inseminated to keep them constantly pregnant. And guess what happens at the end of the pregnancy? Little girl calfs are kept to become future milkers. Little boy calfs aren't so useful to the dairy farmer, and dairy breeds aren't great for the meat industries either. So farmers came up with a really unpleasant way to raise a new kind of meat called veal. Think about it -- when you have a scoop of ice cream, somewhere out there is a veal calf that didn't get to drink that milk."

David Cantor

Founder & Director, Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc.,USA
www.rpaforall.org
www.expertsofconscience.org

"Like most Americans I've known, I grew up with powerful social and institutional reinforcement for eating from animals. Once I recognized that I was supporting serious abuse that I didn't have to continue supporting, I didn't find the decision (to be vegan) hard. It appears to be harder for people who abhor the thought of being an iconoclast or otherwise acting in ways other than most people they associate with."

"To the extent that rights can be established for the other animals, veganism has a chance of becoming the universal human way of life."

"Responsible Policies for Animals (and myself) promote basic constitutional and legal autonomy rights of all animals as the only likely way to a significantly less-inhumane world -- universal plants-only eating by humans, greatly diminished war, poverty, disease, ecodestruction, and more. RPA's '10,000 Years Is Enough' campaign to get our universities out of the slaughter and meat industries is part of the organization's rights approach."

Judy Carman

Author of: Peace to All Beings: Veggie Soup for the Chicken’s Soul. Co-author with Tina Volpe of: The Missing Peace: The Hidden Power of our Kinship with Animals.

Co-founder of Animal Outreach of Kansas; the VegLawrence vegan potluck, and the Prayer Circle for Animals -
www.circleofcompassion.org.

"Perhaps it seems a stretch to say that living a vegan life can bring us peace and joy. But let us look at the broadest definition of veganism. The foundation of such a life includes doing the least harm possible in all our actions and living a life of service, nonviolence, lovingkindness, and kinship with all beings. Is it any wonder then that so many people find such precious peace by living in this way? For by giving peace, they receive exactly that in return."

"Veganism is much more than a diet. It is a spiritual makeover of extraordinary proportions. It involves questioning absolutely everything we’ve been taught by our culture, de-programming our minds, finding friends who are learning to live this way, practicing being mindful and treasuring each moment instead of listening to our egos’ regrets and fears."

"By doing the absolute least harm possible, we are set free to participate in the celebration of life; to look into the big eyes of a cow and know she is our friend, not our food; to feel the ecstasy of our oneness with all life; to sing praises with the crickets and frogs; to greet the fly in our house and carry her gently outside; to pray for and with the ones we cannot save; to know we are creating a better world, a new culture, with our love."

Leigh-Chantelle

Creator & operator of the award-winning: Viva la Vegan!
www.vivalavegan.net

Singer/Songwriter, Australia

"I am a very strict vegan and do not consume any animal products, wear any animal skins or use animal products, to the best of my knowledge. I also do not support companies who profit from the suffering & exploitation of the animals that I care for. I believe we need to tread as lightly as we can on the earth and to cause the least pain and suffering on the universe. Veganism, I believe, is doing the best that I can do in the best way that I know how."

"...When I first became a vegan it was quite difficult to find vegan products, now there are so many alternatives to animal products that I find it audacious when people say that it’s too hard to become a vegan..."

"To many there are not many benefits of being a vegan. It’s "too constrictive", "too left-of-centre" or "just too hard". For me, however, there are many benefits and I find there are more every day: to rarely get sick, to have a lot of energy and to feel and look healthy are the major benefits. To be able to look each animal in the eye and know that they trust me is a very powerful and humbling experience..."

Graham Cole

Trustee of Vegan-Organic Network, U.K.

www.veganorganic.org

www.stockfreeorganic.net

"Most of my adult life I have gardened and grown food. Along with this I also went vegetarian, then vegan, to take the violence and cruelty off the plate and out of our gardens. I have been a full-time professional organic gardener for over 30 years, and on going vegan in 1992, also changed my gardening methods to Vegan-Organic or Stockfree-Organic, as is also known. This involves no animal manures, no blood, fish & bone fertilizers or chemicals, and uses fertility-building methods such as composts, leafmould, organic mulches such as chipped branch wood and straw, and the very important use of Green Manures - plants that cover and protect the soil and add nutrients when turned in to break down. In addition we practise crop rotation, minimum cultivation and sensitive soil and wildlife protection to increase abundant bio-diversity and yields. Fertility should be produced as much as possible on site - buying it in from somewhere else is unsustainable and stealing fertility from someone else. We are showing it works in all situations on all types of soil.

I look after a large private garden, sometimes open to the public, where these methods can be seen and I am a Trustee of the U.K.`s Vegan Organic Network that promotes truly sustainable Stockfree-Organic Farming and Gardening. We have several commercial market gardens and farms that are inspected annually under a Certification Scheme.

The way we produce food is fundamental and will benefit the world`s ecology, people, wildlife and resources if we move away from damaging, cruel and wasteful systems of food production. For me, going Vegan is one of the most important things we can do. It is a compassionate lifestyle and the answer to a lot of the world`s problems."

Maureen Collier

Secretary/Treasurer for
The Vegetarian/Vegan Society of Queensland, Australia
www.vegsoc.org.au

"I want to help as many people as possible to stop using and abusing animals, and to cause as little harm as possible, and hopefully, to leave the world a better place."

Elizabeth Collins

Abolitionist Vegan Blogger/New Zealand Vegan Podcast

www.nzveganpodcast.blogspot.com/

"I am a vegan who is spreading the message of the abolition of animal use in order to eliminate the property status of animals, as per the Abolitionist Approach. This is not because I am trying to "force my beliefs" on you or because I think I am special, it is because I am first and foremost a pacifist. I love animals, respect life, respect justice and most of all respect truth and logic. Reality is our friend and when we face up to it, it is truly worth it. Please become an animal lover and promote peace on earth - go vegan."

Jim Corcoran

Co-founder www.VegMichigan.org
Co-founder/director www.PlantPeaceDaily.org
Co-founder/director www.VegFund.org

"I became vegan after I learned of the immense suffering involved in dairy and egg production. As a progressive, I could no longer be involved in the exploitation of the female reproductive system and the early, painful deaths of other species for my selfish dietary interests."

"My epiphany came later in life, but none the less, radically changed my view of the world. My place and mission in life crystallized and I've been a devoted vegan activist ever since. Veganism embodies so many elements that are critical to living in harmony with the natural world and with other humans. It is paramount that our movement expands and makes converts in all walks of life."

Susie Coston

National Shelter Director; Farm Sanctuary

"As Farm Sanctuary’s national shelter director, I am very fortunate to be in a really good position to advocate for veganism. Because I get to directly introduce people to our incredible farmed animal ambassadors – all of whom have been rescued from stockyards, slaughterhouses, factory farms, cruelty cases, and other situations of abuse – and share their heartrending stories of survival, I see major transformations occur in people who visit Farm Sanctuary all of the time. The profound impact the rescued animals have on people just by being the unique and special individuals that they truly are is remarkable and is why sanctuaries are so very important in our movement. There is nothing else like the moment when a person meets a rescued farm animal for the first time and a light bulb goes on and a deep and lasting connection is made."

Dan Cudahy

Blogger: Unpopular Vegan Essays

www.unpopularveganessays.blogspot.com

"I'm an abolitionist vegan. I reject the notion that welfare reforms can ever provide any justice or meaningful protection to sentient nonhuman beings. I promote healthy and enjoyable vegan living as an imperative to respect the lives and the most basic moral rights of nonhuman individuals who are every bit as interested in their lives as we are in ours. It is only through dogmatic cultural prejudice and blind tradition and habit that we fail to acknowledge these basic moral rights. We have overcome similar prejudice in our societies over the past four hundred years in ending the sanctioned torture and killing of heretics and 'witches' and abolishing the institution of slavery. We can also overcome our prejudice regarding the view of nonhumans as commodities for us to exploit and kill. As a society, it will take a while to eliminate the prejudice, but as individuals, we can choose a paradigm shift and change immediately by going and staying vegan."

Brenda Davis, RD

Registered dietitian/nutritionist, author and speaker.
Co-author of The Raw Food Diet Revolution, Becoming Vegan, Dairy-free and Delicious, and Defeating Diabetes.
www.brendadavisrd.com

"Being vegan is about doing our part to transform this planet into a place of goodness and peace; a place where life is truly supported and cherished; where kindness and compassion are rooted in our souls. It is about doing our part to transform this planet into a place where violence and cruelty are mere shadows of what they once were, and where purposeful and unnecessary harm to living, feeling beings is unthinkable."

Chris DeRose

Founder of Last Chance For Animals, a national, nonprofit animal advocacy organization focused on investigating, exposing, and ending animal exploitation.
www.lcanimal.org

"I have tried to make this world a little better place to live for all beings and having caused very little to the earth's depletion by living a cruelty free life and not pro creating children but helping the ones that are here."

Linda DeStefano

Co-founder and current president of People for Animal Rights (PAR) www.peopleforanimalrightsofcny.org

"An aspect of my life mission is to have fun and enjoy life. Another aspect is to help alleviate unnecessary suffering and death for humans and other beings by raising awareness about speciesism, racism, sexism and other narrow perspectives which devalue beings. And my spirituality is to respect and protect nature."

Freya Dinshah

Co-Founder of The American Vegan Society
Author of The Vegan Kitchen
American Vegan Magazine Editor
President of The American Vegan Society
www.americanvegan.org

"Freedom is an ideal that in the minds of a growing number of people should be extended to the animals. We are saddened at the plight of so many of our fellow creatures, shamed that they are imprisoned and slaughtered to provide food for the table, dismayed at their loss of habitat caused by the expanding demands of the human population, and distraught at the many other abuses inflicted upon them in the name of science, entertainment, and so forth. This ideal exists in some traditions, or may spring forth spontaneously in the hearts of individuals. To change the appalling conditions that exist for the animals requires changes in our lifestyles. Reform depends on our individual actions, on the choices we make everyday."

Jay Dinshah (1933-2000)

Founder of The American Vegan Society
Author of: Out of the Jungle

"Not a religion, but a philosophy of life, veganism is an advanced way of living extending to all living creatures compassion, kindness and justice exemplified in the Golden Rule."

Katie Drummond

Freelance Journalist - True Slant

www.trueslant.com/katiedrummond/

"When I was twelve, my family bought our first computer, and I used it to find out what was really on my dinner plate. What I found horrified me - and my intuitive repugnance at the idea of consuming animal products was immediately validated by images, facts and a community of like-minded people. At twelve years of age, I became vegan.

I'm grateful for the dialogue and sharing of information and ideas offered by journalism, especially the transition to web-based publications. Veganism and animal rights have become one of my primary focuses as a journalist, in hopes that children of the next generation will find my voice online, and be changed the way I was."

Joan Dunayer

Joan Dunayer author of Speciesism and Animal Equality. A graduate of Princeton University, she has master's degrees in English literature, English education, and psychology. Her articles and essays have appeared in magazines, journals, college textbooks, and anthologies.

"Whenever you see a bird in a cage, fish in a tank, or nonhuman mammal on a chain, you're seeing speciesism. If you believe that a bee or frog has less right to life and liberty than a chimpanzee or human, or you consider humans superior to other animals, you subscribe to speciesism. If you visit aquaprisons and zoos, attend circuses that include 'animal acts', wear nonhuman skin or hair, or eat flesh, eggs, or cow-milk products, you practice speciesism. Those examples illustrate that speciesism is both an attitude and a form of oppression."

Wanda Embar

creator of www.veganpeace.com

"We can all play a part in lessening the suffering so many people and animals go through every day. The problems are big, but that shouldn't discourage us. Every positive change to someone's life, however small, is a step in the right direction. We should never allow ourselves to become either desensitized or to dismiss suffering which is often not in our view. We should never feel that trying to make the world a better place is beyond our reach."

"I became vegan in 1990 after reading about the suffering dairy cows go through in order to produce milk for human beings to drink. Veganism means a lot to me, because it is about limiting the suffering we ourselves cause to animals. It is something we have a lot of control over."

Pablo Fernández-Beri

Founder of the Coexistence Abolitionist Movement, www.AbolitionOFSpeciesism.tk
Co-founder of the Uruguayan Vegan and Vegetarian Union
www.UVVUruguay.blogspot.com

"Why I'm vegan? Because living vegan is the least we can do in order to respect all sentient beings. I follow the saying that goes "My freedom ends where other sentient beings' freedom begins". I follow the updated version of Descartes' saying: "SENTIO ERGO SUM" ("I feel, therefore I am"). Not only should we live a "physical" vegan life, but we should also be aware of the opposite to veganism: speciesism. Question speciesism, that is what "they" want you to believe in! Be yourself! Respect!"

Angel Flinn

Member of Gentle World; a vegan community and non-profit educational organization promoting the benefits of a vegan diet and lifestyle.
www.gentleworld.org
Contributor to Care2.com site
www.vegansolution.wordpress.com / The Vegan Solution blog

"With all the advancements of human 'civilization', our addiction to killing keeps us in the dark ages, in the world of savages. It stops us from cultivating our capacity for kindness, empathy, and justice; the very qualities we need to develop if we are to move forward into a safe and prosperous future, in which we do not fear one another."

"If we are to have a future, the people who live in that future will not be addicted to products that are a result of exploitation, suffering and environmental devastation. They will not source their food from animal farms or slaughterhouses, but from fertile gardens, vibrant orchards and veganic farms. These people will be kind, compassionate, gentle and just. Although such a quantum leap in perception may seem unlikely from the position we are in today, it is within this very change that our hope for the future lies."

Gary Francione

Gary L. Francione is Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law-Newark, USA

He is well known throughout the animal protection movement for his criticism of animal welfare law and the property status of nonhuman animals, and for his abolitionist theory of animal rights. He has authored several books.
www.AbolitionistApproach.com

"Veganism is not merely a matter of diet; it is a moral and political commitment to abolition on the individual level and extends not only to matters of food, but to clothing and other products, and to other personal actions and choices. It is important to recognize that just as an abolitionist with respect to human slavery cannot continue to be a slaveowner, an abolitionist with respect to animal slavery cannot continue to consume or use animal flesh or animal products. Veganism is also a commitment to nonviolence and it is imperative that the animal rights movement be a movement of peace and nonviolence."

"We do not need leaders. We need to recognize that each of us can–and must–become a leader if we have any hope of sorting out this mess that we call our world. That starts with our own veganism–not as some sort of “flexitarian lifestyle” issue–but as a basic, fundamental, and non-negotiable commitment to nonviolence. Ethical veganism represents our commitment to the notion that we have no moral justification for using animals–however “humanely”–for our purposes. It continues with our daily efforts to educate others in creative, positive, and nonviolent ways about veganism–something that each of us can do if we want to."

"As far as I'm concerned, veganism is the single most important form of social activism that anybody can engage in."

"Ethical veganism results in a profound revolution within the individual; a complete rejection of the paradigm of oppression and violence that she has been taught from childhood to accept as the natural order. It changes her life and the lives of those with whom she shares this vision of nonviolence. Ethical veganism is anything but passive; on the contrary, it is the active refusal to cooperate with injustice."

Rory Freedman

Wanting to bring veganism to the masses, Rory Freedman penned the #1 NY Times bestseller Skinny Bitch.

www.SkinnyBitch.net

"There's simply no excuse for the slaughter of a living being. And it's up to those of us who understand that to enlighten those who don't."

Valéry Giroux‏

Vegan jurist and PhD student working on the moral (in)justifications of speciesism. Her conlusion is that we should attribute the right not to be tortured, killed and/or enslaved to every conscious being and, therefore, abolish all form of sentient animal exploitation.

"When I realized that the differences in the way we treat humans and other sentient beings weren't suported by any morally meaningful differences among 'us' and 'them', I was chocked, horrified by the depth of the injustices and appalled by my own participation in our systemic abuses. From this point on, I try to do less harm around me and to act in a manner which is aligned with my values. The first step of this journey is to follow a vegan lifestyle and to try to give others the motivation to do so."

"In my view, violence, domination and oppression of the vulnerable are linked either to ignorance or to low self-esteem. Therefore, why not provide more information and more love to all people? This might be the way to get them to be more respecful and compassionate."

Derek Goodwin

Veganica
www.veganica.com
www.veganradio.com
www.theveganbus.com

"...What is the pleasure in killing an animal who wants to live? ...It is hard for an animal activist to feel compassion for hunters, but hatred leads to hatred, and violence to violence. As animal activists, we need to carry on and show by our example a better path. We need to manifest love into this world, and compassion."

"My ongoing project is photographing sanctuary animals and animal rights events. I am blessed to be able to contribute my talents to my favorite animal rights organization, Farm Sanctuary. I visit their sanctuaries at least twice a year and spend a few days communing with their wonderful animal ambassadors and trying to capture their spirits on thousands of pixels. My goal is to create images that become windows into the souls of the creatures, because beyond the appearance of their bodies their souls are much like ours. If I can relate that through my work then I feel my work can change hearts. One by one, we will light the candles to dispel the darkness of exploitation."

"...Being vegan tends to make us more aware of the impact we have on the environment. Once we begin to see all of the lies and inconsistency in something as basic as our food choices then we begin to see how that is tied in to things like land use, energy use, and consumerism. Once we begin to understand how animals are exploited then it becomes easier to identify the ways that groups of humans are exploited by other groups of humans. Veganism is a way of life that can open our eyes to many other ethical decisions we make each day with what we choose to buy, the companies we support, the way we conduct ourselves as ethical beings in the world. The goal is not to be so pure that we have to live outside of society in a cave. The goal is to integrate into society and influence the course of history towards a more compassionate future. When animals are treated well humans will be treated even better. When we decide that we are empowered by our food choices we become aware that every dollar (or Euro...) we spend is a vote for something. In Capitalism our money is what truly decides what is produced and what is discontinued. Our political vote is almost meaningless compared to this..."

Tim Gorski

Tim Gorski is the award-winning Director of Rattle the Cage Productions. He produced and directed the film "Lolita: Slave to Entertainment" which ignited a campaign to shut down the Miami Seaquarium. He field produced "At the Edge of the World" a documentation of the 2006 Sea Shepherd Anti-whaling campaign in Antarctica.
www.rattlethecage.org

"I am here to make some noise for those who do not speak human languages. I will die knowing I did the most I could to help alleviate the unnecessary suffering of animals at hands of humankind."

William Harris, MD

Author of The Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism Vegetarian Society of Hawaii (VSH) TV Coordinator Vegetarian since 1950. Vegan since 1963 (for ethical reasons both times) Vegetarian Society of Hawaii Newsletter Editor 1990-1996

"Why be a vegan? Well, why not be? All the essential organic nutrients required in the human diet (essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, & vitamins) are made by plants and micro-organisms, not by animals. Animal foods contain those items too, but since most animals have roughly the same nutrient requirements as humans, we get the nutrients second-hand. The unique ingredients in animal foods are cholesterol & saturated fat."

Caryn Hartglass

Executive Director of EarthSave International.

Host of Going Green with Caryn Hartglass
at www.EarthSaveTV.com

www.earthsave.org

"I was a teenager when I decided I didn't want to contribute to the pain and suffering of animals by eating them. It was a simple, somewhat instinctual decision, once I realized where meat came from. With time, the more I learned, there were no reasons not to live a vegan lifestyle."

"The possibility of a joyful, peaceful world will become a reality as more and more people choose to eat a plant-based diet. My passion is helping people discover that plant-based eating is not only delicious, but healthy and gentle on the planet."

Ruth E. Heidrich, PhD

Ruth went from cancer to the Ironman Triathlon, from nearly dying to being one of the fittest women in the world, and proved that a vegan diet can be the best diet for everyone, athletes included!

"I was a marathoner in 1982 and had been a daily runner for 14 years at that point when I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. In trying to find out why I, the healthiest person I knew, would get breast cancer, I came across the work of John McDougall, MD, who was doing research on the role of diet in breast cancer. He showed me convincing scientific evidence that eating animal foods could cause cancer. I enrolled in his clinical study to show that not only did a vegan diet prevent cancer, it could also stop it. So, no, I was not vegetarian before becoming vegan, I went directly to a vegan diet. In fact, there is some evidence that the dairy protein, casein, is a cancer promoter."

Sheldon Hey

Sheldon Hey is the inspiration behind the South African vegan directory. Vegan SA is here to make life more fun, enjoyable & less daunting in South Africa, for both existing and potential new vegans alike. We can help by encouraging people to take the leap into veganism, thus helping improve the lives of all animals.
www.vegansa.com

"I stopped eating meat as a protest against animal cruelty, and finally took the plunge to veganism once I could no longer justify to myself the consumption of dairy. Actions speak louder than words for me, anyone who truly cares about animals must get active and do something to help their cause."

Ken Hopes

Vegan Abolitionist

www.brockwayhall.blogspot.com

"... Living all my life in a culture where speciesism is so deeply and extensively rooted, and where the institutions of animal exploitation are largely taken for granted, even as an ethically motivated vegan, I had failed to recognize that eating animals is as far from a 'personal choice' as there could possibly be. It's a choice that profoundly affects the lives of sentient others. It's a choice that results in systematic enslavement, suffering, mutilation, rape, and violent death, for no better reasons than entertaining our taste buds. Understanding this, my thinking about animal rights and veganism would begin to evolve..."

"From the perspective of the vegetarian who accepts the use of animals short of killing them, eating dairy and/or eggs is flawed logic. In the modern system of production the dairy cows and egg laying birds are ultimately killed when their continued existence ceases to be profitable for the producer. Eating dairy and eggs directly supports that killing."

"Some of the worst cruelty takes place in the production of dairy and eggs. While labels such as “free-range”, “cage-free”, “organic” may in some cases represent slightly less cruelty; plenty of cruelty remains. So called “humane farming” practices have more to do with marketing and making consumers feel more comfortable about continuing to eat animal products, than protecting the interests of animals."

Jackie Horrick

Co-Founder of Alternative Outfitters Vegan Boutique

www.AlternativeOutfitters.com

"I became a vegetarian (and eventually vegan) at age 9 when I made the connection between the meat on my plate and the animals that were part of my family. Since then, I have always been an advocate for animals and always felt that it was important to educate those around me about the cruelty that went into making their food and their clothing. I also want people to realize that it’s not difficult to make kind choices. The alternatives are out there. That is why we started Alternative Outfitters. We wanted to show people you could still wear the fashions that you love without hurting animals. We still have a long way to go in the animal rights movement, but we have made a lot of progress since I was nine, and I know that with unrelenting perseverance we will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of animals."

David Horton

Author of Beyond Vegan
An active vegan animal rights advocate in Australia
www.veganwise.blogspot.com

"There is nothing separating any of us, be we black or gay or bright or poor or rich or human or animal or plant. We are all part of the one consciousness and our differences are to be celebrated not feared and certainly not taken advantage of. I believe we should say this gently but say it daringly, as if it is the most important thing in the world. Most especially we should emphasize that animals are not here to be used by humans in any way at all, nor that humans should exploit other humans either. There's no need to be associated with cruelty and there's no need to be wasteful. We should treat each other with respect and understanding even when we are not in agreement about important ethical matters."

"I really do understand the world from an animal's perspective and all I want to do is help them get free of the human enslavers. I'm sure I will pursue this advocacy till my last breath."

Rob Jackson

Education Officer, The Vegan Society, U.K.

www.vegansociety.com

www.veganorganic.net

"I've been Education Officer with the Vegan Society for 2 years, I speak to young people in schools and youth groups, or give presentations at festivals and events. For 2 years before that I worked on a stockfree-organic farm, which I loved - I could pick and choose fresh from the fields whatever I wanted, safe in the knowledge that no harm had been caused in producing it."

"I became vegan when I was 18, I'd been 'almost vegetarian' since around 8. As soon as I found out how eggs and milk were actually produced it all clicked together - no one cares about these animals, it's all about the money. I decided I'd take no more part in it. That was more than 10 years ago and I've never regretted it."

"Veganism can be explained very quickly: It is undesirable to cause unnecessary suffering. Using animals is unnecessary. Using animals causes suffering. It is undesirable to use animals. But for me veganism is part of something much bigger. I want to tread lightly on the earth, I want to enable freedom rather than oppression, I want to be kind and considerate, a help not a hindrance, I want to be a good example to those around me, I want to need less and want nothing. Veganism is just one thing that we can all do, and easily, which makes a massive difference in so many ways."

"My greatest ambition is to be part of a sustainable vegan community that can serve as a host for events and a point for outreach, as well as being a wonderful place to live."

Kathleen Jannaway

1915 - 2003 Early vegan pioneer and former secretary of the Vegan Society, United Kingdom

Co-founder of Movement for Compassionate Living

Author of Abundant Living in the Coming Age of the Tree

"As the environment crisis heats up, it becomes obvious that the Age of Man the Exploiter is over. He is wasting his resources and fouling his nest. The Age of the New Man is dawning. He bases his life on reverence for all life. The vegan is the prototype of the New Man of the New Age."

Melanie Joy, Ph.D., Ed.M.

Professor and Author of: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism, and Strategic Action for Animals.

www.melaniejoy.org

"Being vegan reflects my core value of nonviolence—toward other beings, the planet, and myself. It also reflects my desire to work toward living a more integrated life, as I strive to integrate my values and practices; body, mind, and spirit; and my personal life with my social work. Veganism is a prime expression of the reciprocity of cooperative power and compassion: what’s best for oneself is also what’s best for the other(s)."

Richard Kahn

Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations and Research at the University of North Dakota
www.richardkahn.org

"I am interested in developing educational platforms that illuminate the socially constructed nature of the concept of “species” through the reimagination of vegan teaching as a form of "total liberation pedagogy" that works against the oppression and domination of all of life. Such pedagogy does not seek to just destabilize human power in the abstract, but rather roots this in the need to support cultural and political practices that actively seek to overthrow speciesist relations across society. In my opinion, to put speciesism on the educational agenda in a major way is crucial now for a number of reasons. Primarily, because we live in a time of an unfolding mass species extinction event such as we have not witnessed on the planet for nearly 65 million years. The zoöcidal eradication of unprecedented numbers of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, insects and other animals that is now fully underway is analogous to the mass murder of American bison or the great whales that took place during the 19th century. Only there, species were driven to extinction at the direct point of the gun and harpoon; here, we must learn the ways in which speciesist ideology is folded into and intersects with nearly every array of social relations and institutional practice, including the institution of education proper. In short, we need to revision what it means to be human in an age of anthropogenic planetary crisis and ecological catastrophe. However humbly, I support the demand for such critical and visionary ecopedagogy and research through my work as a scholar, activist, and citizen of the world. Don't get mad, get vegan!"

Shari Kalina

Founder of Pangea Vegan Products. Shari was an innovator of vegan shopping. Pangea was founded in January 1995.
www.veganstore.com

"My main goal in life is to help reduce suffering (in human and non-human animals) in any way I can. Pangea grew out of a desire to spread veganism and the cruelty-free lifestyle to as many people as possible. I have always felt strongly that if we are to open peoples' minds to the realities of animal suffering in our lives, we must make the alternative (veganism) seem 'accessible' to them. I believe that Pangea (and other like-minded businesses that have followed in our footsteps) help people to see that it is not as difficult as they may have thought to maintain a cruelty-free lifestyle. We try to make it easy to find all the things they need to make the transition to veganism, and to reduce the stereotypical belief that being vegan means accepting a life of deprivation. Our goal is to remove that barrier and inspire people to follow their hearts."

"Veganism is a choice that positively impacts so many aspects of our world--not only the animals, the environment, and physical human health but also the whole spiritual and ethical state of our society. A single person's decision to change and practice a truly compassionate and nonviolent lifestyle touches so many other lives and sets such a wonderful example for building a gentler, more peaceful and ethical world--a world with less suffering, oppression, violence and pain."

M. Butterflies Katz

Vegan chef, writer, activist, veganic gardener, & 'vegan dog' innovater. A vegan for over 3 decades.
Co-author of Incredibly Delicious, Recipes for a New Paradigm by Gentle World www.gentleworld.org
Author of Metamorphosis: Poems to Inspire Transformation by Vegan Poet - www.veganpoet.com
www.thevegantruth.blogspot.com

"All humans are meant to be vegans. It is the single greatest lift to our self-esteem and a prerequisite for further elevation of consciousness. Once we stop exploiting animals, our guilt is removed, which opens the doorway to a wonderful world of REALLY knowing and Loving animals. For me, that is the greatest reward of veganism. Others include: better health, a clearer mind, a more expansive compassion for all, and the actual healing of our planet. Veganism is the answer to many of the world's problems such as climate change, deforestation, water pollution and other environmental concerns, as well as world hunger, obesity, uncountable ill-health conditions, violence and war. My life's mission is to impart this information to as many people as I can in such a way that it will inspire them to be vegan too."

Elliot Katz

Graduate of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
President and Founder of In Defense of Animals, USA
Father of two daughters, both vegan
www.idausa.org

"My life's mission as a veterinarian has been to minister to and care for the needs and welfare of other species. Since founding IDA, my mission has grown to protect the rights, habitat and welfare of individuals of other species, to change the ways in which society views and trusts species other than our own, and to raise the level of respect and responsibility for them."

Marti Kheel

Author of: Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective

www.martikheel.com

"In 1973 I became a vegetarian after a series of unnerving experiences in restaurants and grocery stores made me increasingly aware of the living beings that constituted "meat". As I learned about the horrific violence entailed in the production of all animal products, I became a vegan. My path to veganism entailed reconnecting with my original feelings of kinship with other-than-human animals. Just as environmentalists are reclaiming devastated landscapes, under patriarchal society, we need to engage in a process of reclaiming (or decolonizing) our emotions.

I see veganism as an act of resistance against patriarchal forms of dominance and control, and a concrete embodiment of an ecofeminist ethic of care. It is a protest against the reproductive control of other-than-human animals. I do not experience abstaining from meat as a form of self-denial. I am not denying myself the pleasure of meat. I am realigning my psychic and emotional energies in relation to all life and working toward a world of peace and non-violence for all living beings. As I wrote in my book, Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective(Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), "The appeal of vegetarian foods flows at once from an urge to resist patriarchal forms of dominance and control, and from positive feelings of empathy and care for the other animals with whom we share the Earth."

Michael A. Klaper, MD

Practicing physician since 1972 (MD - University of Illinois College of Medicine). Vegan since 1981.
www.vegsource.com

"My understanding of the health benefits of plant-based diets awoke at the same time as my desire to eliminate violence from my life to the greatest extent possible."

"We are not on this planet to 'subdue the Earth', we are here to take care of it - and each other. Only Love for all things and all beings gives this life meaning and purpose, and a vegan diet and lifestyle is an essential element of that Love."

Adam Kochanowicz

Host of "The Vegan News" at Vegan.FM
www.vegan.fm/news/

"I am a little embarassed to admit I sometimes blurt out things like "can I get that with soy milk? I'm a vegan" where anyone else would just leave out the last sentence. Yeah, perhaps I look like I'm showing off, and I am. I am proud to be a vegan and I am a huge show off because I'm passionate about influencing a cultural shift to non-violence."

Dennis Kucinich

Since being elected to Congress in 1996, Dennis Kucinich has been a tireless advocate for worker rights, civil rights and human rights. USA

"Choosing a vegan diet embodies my belief in the right for all species to live in peace on this planet. Peace is possible and we need to expand our thinking to include non-violence as an organizing principle in our society. Being vegan is a way of incorporating nonviolent action into everyday life."

Keegan (the Vegan) Kuhn

Activist/musician/staunch abolitionist
Creator of educational music project
True Nature
www.myspace.com/xtruenaturexmusic
Operator of Organic Vegan T-Shirts
www.myspace.com/vegantshirts

"The single most important environmental, humanitarian, and ethical decision we can make after abstaining from procreation, is to adopt a Vegan lifestyle. Virtually no other choice has as far reaching an impact as this simple altering of habit."

Jan and Dave Lajeunesse

Co-Founders of Albany Vegetarian Network, USA

"Over a decade ago our lives took on a transformation. The catalyst for this change was our son. One day he announced to us he had become vegetarian. Not familiar with vegetarianism, Dave and I were concerned for our son's health. We decided to research the topic to prove that being vegetarian is unhealthy. Our findings changed our lives. Unknowingly we had been contributing to horrific animal suffering, destruction of the planet, and installing disease into our bodies. After years of being vegetarian and eventually becoming vegan, our son Josh and daughter Kristin soon followed."

"The initiative to move forward can be challenging, whether your concern is for the animals, the planet, or your health. Anything is possible with determination. Education is not just for the classroom but in our everyday lives. A strong belief and respect for all life are wonderful guides."

Ellie Laks

Founder and Educational Outreach Director of The Gentle Barn Foundation, USA
www.gentlebarn.org

"I believe that we are all, every living being, the same inside even though we all have different bodies. I believe that all living beings are deserving of the same rights and freedoms. My role models never gave up on their dream, they never stopped marching and fighting for what they knew in their souls to be right."

"My life's mission is to be a living example of peace, kindness, compassion, and empathy for all living beings in everything that I do, say and eat. To walk softly and gently on this earth, destroying nothing as I go. And to teach love, true unselfish love (that is what I believe veganism is) to as many people as I can for as long as I am here."

Robin Lane

London Vegan Festival

www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/festival

"In 1982, at the age of 27, I became vegan, an event which was to alter the course of my life. I became a contact for an anti-vivisection organisation and dedicated my life to relieve the suffering of animals.

Later, I joined the vegan group `Life before Profit`, which campaigned against human and animal injustice. In 1989 I co-founded `Campaign Against Leather & Fur (CALF) `, a vegan group which promoted a lifestyle free of all animal products. I continued to run CALF for several years as a campaigning group, and during this time I sat on the Committee of the Vegan Society and produced Arkangel; a vegan/animal liberationist magazine.

At the Vegan Society AGM in 1996, the membership approved a proposal that the Society runs an annual vegan event. By 1998 this had manifested into the National Vegan Festival, the first of its kind in the UK. The festival proved to be a great success with 1,000 people attending. In 1999, founder members Robin Lane and Alison Coe took over the running of the festival, administered by CALF. Between 1999 and 2003, the festival was held at Conway Hall in central London. However, it became increasingly obvious that we needed to find a larger venue to accommodate the ever increasing numbers attending. In 2004 we moved to the substantially larger Kensington Town Hall and renamed the event the London Vegan Festival. The name change was prompted by the increasing number of regional festivals taking place around the UK including Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham and Wolverhampton. Vegan festivals have also taken place in France and Sweden.

The London festival has grown in strength, with over 2,000 people attending, and attendees have suggested that a larger venue is needed. The day is packed with a variety of talks, workshops, entertainment, yoga, meditation, food demonstrations and children’s activities. The main attraction is the delicious array of food including Indian and raw, and the ever popular Veggie burgers. A vegan bar is available as well as healthy juices. “Veganism has come of age” as one visitor noted!

James LaVeck and Jenny Stein

James Laveck and Jenny Stein are producers of the award-winning and highly recommended documentaries The Witness and Peaceable Kingdom. Together they founded Tribe of Heart, a non-profit educational and arts organization.
www.tribeofheart.org

"Our work as filmmakers has revolved around the awakening of conscience in the lives of ordinary people, and how this process leads to an understanding that we are all interconnected and that our choices can create more violence or more peace in the world..."

"It is time to stop selling off our movement's ethical foundations piece by piece in exchange for illusory short-term gains. It is time instead to devote our collective wisdom, energy and resources to creating the nonviolent culture our planet is crying out for. It is time to put our full support behind those developing a nonviolent cuisine, nonviolent clothing, nonviolent art, nonviolent education, nonviolent technology, nonviolent laws, and nonviolent foreign policy."

Home Leamohala

Co-Founder of OLA, Optimum Living Alliance 501(c)3
An educational organization dedicated to the Expansion of Compassion

www.ola-life.org

"Neither our health nor our happiness are dependant upon anyone else's suffering or death."

"The expansion of compassion has been a boon for humanity. The ongoing trend of abolition, emancipation, and liberation from separatist beliefs such as exploitation, oppression, bigotry, racism, and sexism, to name a few, has served to deliver us to a higher standard of conduct and hence a deeper sense of peace. As this trend continues we will surely find ever higher standards of conduct and their ensuing deeper levels of peace, for our family's, our children, and our Selves. In this way, Animal Liberation is synonymous with human welfare."

Alice Leonard

Owner of Angel Food - New Zealand

www.www.angelfood.co.nz

"I was vegetarian in my late teens and twenties, simply because meat repulsed me. In my thirties I lapsed, preferring to eat 'normally' but, by the time I met Billy Leonard in 2004, I was ready for a complete dietary overhaul. Billy has been vegan for more than 30 years and I found his ethics - and his way of living his ethics without compromise - inspiring.

I knew the time had come to align my own lifestyle more closely with what I felt was right. I immediately stopped eating mammals, had my last bite of chicken a week later and, within six weeks of meeting Billy, had cut out fish, dairy and eggs.

It was easy to do, because I already knew how much animal suffering was involved - all I needed to do was join the dots and make a choice that I would no longer be part of causing that suffering.I lost 10kg in three months, my skin cleared up and I'm much less prone to colds than I used to be.

But the physical benefits are minor compared with the psychological benefits. I used to turn away when I saw a cattle truck, because I felt guilty. Now I look those animals in the eye and feel very very sad. Sadness is a much cleaner emotion than guilt.

I set up a vegan food business, Angel Food. I import various vegan products and sell them through organic stores all over New Zealand. I developed my own recipe for vegan marshmallow mix and vegan meringue mix, and sell those here and all over the world. I also do a bit of catering, and in 2009 I started teaching vegan cooking classes as well.

Veganism isn't the answer for all the world's problems - but it's a very good start! And it's so simple, because it's something each individual can do for themselves; there's no need to wait for governments to sign agreements, etc. I find it extremely frustrating that there is so much resistance to taking responsibility for the harm that eating animal products does to the environment and our own health, let alone the animal whose body becomes a commodity. But I remind myself that a joyful vegan (to borrow Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's phrase) makes this lifestyle look much more enticing than an angry vegan, and I focus on the good things that are happening."

Loren Lembke

President of the Vegan Society NSW www.vegansocietynsw.com
She started the Sydney Vegan Expo in 2006

Creator of (vegan & delicious) Bounty Burgers
www.bountyburgers.com.au

Contributer: Natural Health & Vegetarian Life magazine.

"I am not a patient person by nature but the upside of that is I want a vegan planet – yesterday! We are all on this planet together at different stages of perception and insight which is why it is up to us to coax and entice others to see why and how they can give up all animal products. This is not an easy task as none of us like to leave our comfort zones.

The perfect circle in this cycle of butchery is first we don't allow these beautiful animals to live a natural existence, then butcher and cut them up and then, later, we ourselves require our bodies to be butchered when we become ill. And we wonder why modern disease and depression is endemic. What's wrong with this picture?

I still believe that vegan is 'the new black' and very soon we'll no longer be considered fringe element but will be respected for our wisdom and compassion."

Bob Linden

Host, producer, writer of the radio program GO VEGAN WITH BOB LINDEN
www.goveganradio.com

"As someone who won a hamburger eating contest in my teen years, I was seemingly an unlikely candidate to host the first mainstream media vegan & animal rights radio program. When I was cooking a chicken one night in my college years and looked down - and for the first time - recognized it was someone's body, and not some "thing", someone who obviously suffered pain and had to be killed to get to my frying pan, presumably all involuntarily (as much as TV ads would tell me that someone would want to be a Foster's Farm chicken or an Oscar Meyer wiener), I concluded I could no longer eat animals, and must quietly become the first "vegetarian" I knew. I would later learn of unbelievable cruelties associated with dairy and eggs, and realized that the only true "vegetarian" is "vegan". It horrifies me that the dairy and egg industries can hijack the word "vegetarian" and laugh all the way to the bank while people buy their products and continue to remain engaged in animal cruelty and murder, human health risks, and environmental devastation.

I never would have imagined becoming the first vegan talk show host, that after all my years in music radio management, the most important thing I would do in broadcasting was host the most important program in broadcasting? But who would have known that our diet which is MAD (Meat And Dairy) and is SAD (Standard American Diet) would be so BAD - and cause all of our societal problems - poverty, war, violence, world hunger, disease, global warming, deforestation, drought, resource depletion, erosion, desertification, energy crises - and the totally unnecessary suffering of countless innocent murder victims, one by one by the billions and billions. Thankfully, there's a solution, and holy cow, holy pig, holy chicken - it's also the most delicious and nutritious - it's to GO VEGAN! Each individual's action alone will save millions of gallons of water, tons of greenhouse gases, many acres of trees, thousands of animals. If you haven't already, please join us in this most noble lifestyle of environmental responsibility and peace."

Arthur Ling

1919-2005 Founding Director of Plamil Foods, United Kingdom

Honorary Patron and former President of The Vegan Society

"I have been aware over the succeeding decades of the steady progress of veganism, but feel it could have been advanced more comprehensively by vegans thinking at all times of ways in which to promote our truly humanitarian way of living."

Joanna Lucas

Joanna Lucas; blogger for: Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary, USA

www.peacefulprairie.org

"Many of us justify our endorsement of 'humane' animal products and our pursuit of welfare reforms by saying that the world is not ready to change, that it may never go vegan, that the most we can hope to accomplish in the meantime is to reduce the suffering of today's doomed animals. But this is not true. This is not a fact. It is a fear – a fear of action, a failure of will, a self- defeating attitude and, ultimately, a self-fulfilling prophesy. The truth is, the world can change. Indeed, the world has changed many times before, and it has changed in ways that seemed impossible at the time. The truth is, the world will change, but only if we work towards creating that change. It will stay the same if we, the self-proclaimed agents of change, encourage it to stay the same. It will change if all of us tell the whole truth that there is no such thing as humane animal farming, or animal use of any kind, the truth that the only humane alternative is vegan living, the truth that animal farming on any scale is an ethical and environmental disaster, the truth that animals are persons like you and me who happen to be nonhuman and who have the same inherent right to life and liberty as you and I. The truth that vegan living is not a 'lifestyle choice', but a moral imperative."

Cheryl Maietta

Co-founder: The Herbivore Awareness Project
www.allinharmony.org

"When I stopped eating meat, then dairy, eggs, fish... I did not know the word 'vegan'. What I did know was that all life is one and what we do to the cows, we do to ourselves. When I finally gave up the cream in my coffee, it was because I had experienced first hand (empathic connection) the pain of separation experienced by cows when their calves were taken from them. I knew that if I did not like to be fenced, other animals would not like it either. So I eliminated all behaviors and activities that involved exploiting animals or violating their natural rights. Later, someone told me that I was a vegan. And much later I realized that I really was just an awakening HUMAN HERBIVORE for whom such feelings are natural. After years of developing 'behavioral bridges' for the general public (those that allow people conditioned within one cultural paradigm to cross painlessly into another--- from violence-based lifestyles to nature-respecting and conscious lifestyles), my husband and I began the Herbivore Awareness Project. ... There are numbers of excellent resources now indicating that humans are herbivores. And we link to several of these at the Herbivore Awareness Project. But this change in direction, this ability to see ourselves (or not see ourselves) as an integral and naturally defined part of a naturally fecund ecology is at the root of resolving (or continuing) all human concerns....By natural design, all HUMANS ARE HERBIVORES. This simple realization restores peace, health, community and spiritual communion. It is our staff and our guide. Without this understanding, we are adrift. With it, our rightful place is fulfilled; we are restored."

Patty Mark

Founder, Open Rescue Australia
www.openrescue.org
Patty Mark founded Animal Liberation Victoria in 1978, Action Magazine in 1980, and Openrescue Team in Australia in 1993.

"I became vegetarian in 1974 after seeing 'goats head soup' at a roadside stall in Greece. Then in 1984 I visited a dairy cow feedlot and went vegan after hearing the cows scream as they were dehorned. This lasted six months, I found it very hard back then as there weren't many vegans around, and in the next few years I made around six attempts to stay vegan. Then in 1991 my 15 year old vegetarian son went vegan and from then on, with his inspiration, I made the final leap... of joy!"

"My mentors are the animals, especially the ones I've seen inside factory farms struggling against all odds to keep going."

"Being a vegan is a way of life, the more one knows about what is happening to the animals, there is no other choice."

"During the past 30 years I have been stepping across the line that humans draw to separate us from other animals. I hear their screams and witness their fear and suffering in hundreds of places including slaughterhouses, industrialized farms, darkened sheds, open paddocks, feedlots and inside transport trucks/ships on four continents. There was nothing humane on their side of the line. Humans are incredible animals, but we can also be a very selfish species. We can and must open our minds and hearts. Promoting and/or consuming animal products only deepens the rut that is grinding down our humanity, our health and the future of the planet."

Dr. Andy Mars

Ph.D. in Education, vegan since 1986, Board of Trustees of The American Vegan Society since 1987. Director of:
www.VeganCamp.org
www.VegKids.org
www.KidsMakeADifference.org
www.VeganSchool.org

"I became vegan before I ever knew that there was such a word and before I ever knew anyone who shared these views. Even without having such a word to define myself or without knowing anyone else who thought or felt the same, I felt very strongly about the conclusions of love to which I came. Then, finding that there was such a word, and that there were even vegans long before the word existed, has been wonderful. Even if I were alone in doing this, though, I still would rather walk this path of love alone than join others on a path lacking in such love."

"Being vegan is about love - about love of life. It is about how we love the life in our own bodies, it is about how we love the life of all animals, and it is about how we love the life of this planet. Living a vegan life, I try to love all life around me. Whether they are vegan or not, I try to treat everyone around me with love and respect. I try to set an example that I would like for all to follow. I invite many non-vegan friends over to my house for fully vegan meals. I dine out with non-vegan friends at strictly vegan restaurants. I do not use any products that ever were or came from an animal. I grow most of my food veganically. I try to live so as to maximize my positive impact on the world whilst minimizing my negative impact on the world. My house is solar powered. One of my cars is totally electric and it charges off of the solar panels on my home. My other car runs off of waste vegetable oil. The license plate is VEG NRG, (Veg Energy), and the license plate frame proclaims, "Where do you get your energy? Veggies power this car & driver." Not only am I & my car vegan, but my dog is totally vegan too. I run vegan camp, extra-curricular, & school programs for children. I take seriously and think carefully about every decision I make in life."

Mary Martin, PhD

Blogger: www.animalperson.net

"We were all brought up with certain stories about god(s), human evolution, and our relationship with the various species of nonhuman animals. These stories and the behavior that accompanies them make up what we call our "culture." Over time, some of the details of our stories--or even the entire stories themselves--have been proven untrue. This doesn't mean they have no value as stories in the annals of humankind; it just means we should adjust our behavior accordingly.

I believe it is our obligation to encourage our culture to shift toward true stories, particularly when the lives of sentient beings are concerned. We now know far more about the physical, emotional and even what might be called moral lives of many nonhuman animals. If justice is something we claim to care about, we must align our actions with that notion. We must deprogram ourselves from honoring certain animals over others--and from thinking about all animals as existing for us to use and manage--and stop using animals by becoming vegans."

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

New York Times Best Selling Author of: The Pig Who Sang to the Moon; The Emotional Lives of Farm Animals; When Elephants Weep; The Emotional Lives of Animals; The Face on Your Plate

Website: www.jeffreymasson.com

"Every single animal is as precious as any other animal, human or otherwise."

"I believe that in 500 years (maybe less) people will look back on us and wonder about many things. No doubt behavior we consider normal today will inspire horror in our more enlightened successors. War, for example. But I also think they may believe our disdain of insects is incomprehensible. Perhaps they will marvel that we could so easily cut down trees and perhaps even flowers. I am completely opposed to any form of animal exploitation, including animal experimentation, keeping animals in zoos or in circuses, (indeed any form of captivity for animals), the use of leather, fur, wool and silk..."

Armaiti May

www.veganvet.net

"I've been an ethical vegan for 10 years. One of my favorite quotes is Gandhi's 'You must be the change you wish to see in the world.' I like to carry vegan outreach literature in my purse and give to people when the opportunity to do so presents itself. Several times a month I do vegan outreach leafletting in Santa Monica to raise awareness about the plight of animals raised for food and encourage people to adopt a vegan diet. I would like to incorporate veganism and animal advocacy into my veterinary practice one day. Right now I have a house call practice in the LA area."

Vesanto Melina

Registered Dietitian, author, speaker
Author of Becoming Vegan and co-author of The Raw Food Diet Revolution
www.nutrispeak.com

"My life's work is to help people achieve diets that are healthy, delicious and easy, -- without eating animals and without relying on animal products."

Mateus Mendes

Professor of computer science and actively involved in the vegan movement. He is the founder of Centro Vegetariano (a Portuguese vegan project.)
www.vegan2050.org

"A vegan diet removes one link from the food chain, thus making it more efficient. Therefore, besides its ethical value, it greatly benefits the economy, the environment and your health. It's just the natural way to go."

Ross Mitchell

Vegan-Abolitionist Blogger in Scotland

www.bletheringvegan.blogspot.com

"Why are there the many millions of cows, chickens, pigs and other animals in farms and animal testing labs being exploited? It's because there is a DEMAND for them. The only way we can achieve the abolition of animal slavery is to break the DEMAND, it is no use trying to stop supply because if the demand is there then the supply will be refilled. I can think of no other compelling way to break this demand than by promoting veganism. Veganism is living the abolition of animal exploitation in our daily lives."

"Yes there are hardly any vegans in the world, and yes people have apparently been promoting it for years. But if you look at the mainstream animal "rights" corporations (and they are corporations) they don't explicitly promote abolition and veganism in their message, they are quite happy to act as advisers for the industry. When a corporation gives a 'proggy' award to Temple Grandin, who designs more efficient murder machines, you know that they are on a completely different side. There has never been a consistent abolitionist movement, it has always been "sign here, put your credit card number here, activism done." We have no idea how many more vegans there could be in the world if all the money (millions) and all the time we have wasted on pandering to the animal exploiters was instead spent on creative vegan education. Yes it's a slow process, and yes we are outnumbered, but it is a logical position that is beneficial to animals, humans and the environment. I have yet to hear a compelling argument against veganism and I'm starting to doubt one even exists."

Shaun Monson

Writer and director of EARTHLINGS; an award-winning documentary film about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets, entertainment and medical research. Considered the most persuasive documentary ever made, EARTHLINGS is nicknamed 'the Vegan maker' for its footage of animal shelters, pet stores, puppy mills, factory farms, slaughterhouses, the leather and fur trades, sporting events, circuses and research labs.
www.earthlings.com

"Most people simply don't know about the practices used to manufacture ordinary goods. People buy leather shoes, but don't realize or think about how the shoe is actually made. It's a shoe company, and that's all, as far as most people understand. When people become aware that in the manufacturing of shoes, cows have chili pepper rubbed in their eyes and have their tails broken, it becomes very difficult to buy leather shoes and most will more than likely stop. We have already seen this to be true as more people have become aware of the inherent cruelty in the fur industry. Vegan options in food, clothing, personal care, housewares, and entertainment exist at the same quality and value. When we choose non-vegan options instead, we are not only directly using animals, we are rewarding others for their treatment of animals by paying for these goods."

James O'Heare

Technologist of animal behavior
Author: Vegan Dogs: Compassionate Nutrition
Director: Vegan Dog Nutrition Association
www.vegandognutritionassociation.com
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

"Non-vegans are conflicted because of the disconnection between their opinion of animals and what they do to them. I see animals with a clear conscience."

"I am a vegan with a special interest in vegan nutrition for dogs and ethical behaviors. I am presently working on a project to present a behaviorologically oriented work on ethical behavior and how it relates to rights claims for nonhumans. I am a vegan for the same reason I and anyone else exhibits any other behaviors--because the reinforcers available for the behavior makes them more probable. I hope to be able to help others recognize the potential reinforcers available for tolerance related behaviors."

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Founder of Compassionate Cooks, USA
www.compassionatecooks.com
Colleen offers vegan cooking classes, cookbooks & DVD, lectures & workshops, blogs & podcasts, and is a VegNews Magazine columnist.
Author of: The Joy of Vegan Baking and The Vegan Table

"One of my goals in the work I do is to “take veganism out of the box” and encourage people to see that “vegan food” is food that everyone is familiar with – it’s vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, mushrooms, herbs and spices. People have a notion that vegan food is somehow alien food or food that’s in its own food group – but it really is everything you already cook with and already love."

"Can you eat this?' 'Are you allowed to eat that?' Can you eat bread?' These are some of the common questions non-vegetarians ask vegans, and here's the short answer: We can eat whatever we want. We're "allowed" to have whatever we want. Nobody’s stopping us. It’s not illegal. We don’t follow a set of dietary laws, and we are technically quite capable. It’s not a matter of not being "able to," it’s not a matter of "can" and "cannot." It’s a matter of not WANTING to. Being vegan is not about restriction. Or limitation. Or rules. Or doctrine. We're not forbidden to eat animals. We don’t WANT to eat animals. It's a choice - and a powerful choice that has the potential to heal the entire planet."

"When confronted by the ethical considerations of leather, many people exclaim that it is a mere by-product of the meat industry and is thus absolved of culpability. The truth is quite different. Far from the altruistic industry this perception implies, the leather industry is inherently linked with the meat industry, providing the latter with much-needed profits and incentive to survive. In addition to the abuse that takes place in the slaughter industry, the leather industry is also responsible for the suffering and death of animals targeted specifically for their skins. Add to that the huge amount of energy and toxins necessary to turn once-living skins into preserved hides, and you've got an industry that doesn't come out looking good after all."

Dr. Charles Patterson

Vegan animal advocate, social historian, Holocaust educator
Author of: Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust (Lantern Books, 2002) www.www.powerfulbook.com/

"My awareness of the scope of our society's exploitation and slaughter of animals has been a recent development. I grew up and spent most of my adult life oblivious to the extent to which our society is built on institutionalized violence against animals. For a long time it never occurred to me to challenge or even question it. Once I realized that the attitude behind animal exploitation was the same attitude behind the Holocaust, I began to see the connections that are the subject of my book."

James Peden

Co-founder of Harbingers of a New Age
(VegePet Products),USA www.vegepet.com

"It has been very satisfying to educate so many people on the advantages and possibility of the vegan diet for companion animals. There have been people who became vegan because they put their cat or dog on a vegan diet for health reasons using 'Vegepet' products and realized they would be better off as vegan as well."

Dan Piraro

Creator of the syndicated cartoon, 'Bizarro'

www.bizarro.com

www.bizarrocomic.blogspot.com

"Very soon after I began dating my wife I began to learn about factory farming, which I had never heard of before. They keep that industry and its practices very well hidden in the United States. I was appalled by it. Almost instantly, I became vegan. I decided I could not subsidise this kind of cruelty, simply for my own pleasure. I was instantly worried about all that I would have to give up, but soon found that veganism is much more a lifestyle of substitution than sacrifice. There are plenty of great alternatives."

"As a culture I think we are heading in the right direction. There are more vegan options in restaurants all the time, more products on the shelves. There is more positive information in the media about an animal-free diet than ever before and there have been more news articles on animal cruelty in the last 5 years than in the previous 100 years. The Vegan movement is moving ahead."

Judy Pokras

Founder and editor of
www.RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com

"My mission is to do everything I can to get the word out to as many people as possible about the benefits of the raw vegan lifestyle, so that more people will eat this food and they will open more restaurants and takeout stores, so that life will be easier for raw vegans and vegans, and so that humans worldwide will be healthier and happier and animals will be protected from the violence that humans have been foisting on them in the name of food and clothing and sport."

Eric Prescott

Co-founder and director of the Boston Vegan Association www.bostonvegan.org
www.vegandocumentary.com - 'I'M VEGAN'

www.peaceopie.com - His Vegan Pizzaria in Boston

"Exploiting our fellow animals for the sake of pleasure and convenience costs them dearly. Respecting their interests by being vegan costs us next to nothing. Not only is it the right thing to do, it has the potential to bring about significant improvements to our own lives and to our world."

Rosamund Raha

Head of Information at The Vegan Society
Editor of The Vegan magazine
www.vegansociety.com

"I am vegan because I care about animals (human and non-human) and believe that farming animals is unnecessary and exploitative. Taking milk and eggs from farmed animals is theft which involves the cruel separation of a mother from her young and leads to all of the animals involved being killed at a fraction of their natural lifespan. Human beings can be perfectly healthy without eating animal products and therefore I don’t see how this exploitation can be justified."

Mark Reinfeld

Mark Reinfeld, MS Holistic Nutrition,
Founding Chef of Blossoming Lotus Restaurant in Hawaii
www.veganfusion.com

Co-author of: The 30-Minute Vegan, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw, and Vegan Fusion World Cuisine

"The evidence continues to mount that including more vegan foods in our diet is one of the best things we can do for our health and the health of our planet - and besides, its cool to be kind!"

Lee Rhiannon

Lee has worked in the social justice and the environment movement for three decades. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and is a vegan.

Elected to the NSW parliament in 1999

"My life's mission is to be true to myself. I believe that our planet and all life is something to be treasured and respected; that all people have a right to live with dignity, decent living standards, and their human rights respected; and that all beings should be able to live free of exploitation. As I believe this I try and live this in my day-to-day life and in my interaction with my fellow humans and other species."

Anai Rhoads

Freelance journalist
Editor-in-Chief - www.AnaiRhoads.org

A dedicated activist and vegan, she is a proponent of activities which promote human & animal rights. Originally from Athens, Greece, she now resides in Washington, D.C.

"Having been a journalist and activist for the last 17 years, I have witnessed many horrors that have been inflicted on animals. As my work continued, I began to understand the negative impact dairy and egg farms were having on our planet's creatures and to our environment. The images and stories that I have covered over the years put a significant dent in my lifelong vegetarianism. As a pacifist, I could no longer justify my lifestyle, so I became vegan in the Summer of 2000 and never looked back. Going vegan has greatly altered my perception of the world and it has made me more humble. To me, my choice to be a vegan has not only helped serve animals, but in the end it has also saved my life. For this, I am most grateful."

Pamela Rice

Founder and Director of VivaVegie Society Non-Profit

"I believe in the vegan lifestyle, first and foremost, but not just for myself, for the whole world. I see it as the salvation for human health, for the tortured creatures in animal agriculture, and for planet earth."

Karin Ridgers

Karin launched VeggieTimes, the UKs only veggie newspaper supplement with nearly 1/4 million copies. Her sites are
www.veggievision.com
www.karinridgers.tv

"Go for it - make the most important decision you are ever going to make - one that can improve your health, the planet and save over 1000 animals - go vegan!!"

Allison Rivers Samson

Owner of Allison's Gourmet; an Online Vegan Bakery, Confectionery & Gift Shop.

www.AllisonsGourmet.com

"After learning of myriad benefits of a vegan lifestyle, I created my perfect form of activism by opening the very first online vegan bakery in 1997. Noticing that most people love sweets, I knew that capturing pure bliss in every bite would make it easy for even non-vegans to leave cruelty off their plates and their palates. Come enjoy a bite of sweet compassion at Allison's Gourmet... for the animals, the planet and the people."

Trisha Roberts

www.livevegan.net
www.youtube.com/livevegan
Liberation of Brother and Sister Animals www.lobsa.org

"I'm vegan because I'm against all forms of nonhuman slavery and murder. We cannot truly say we believe in peace, justice and nonviolence if we enslave, torture and murder billions of nonhumans each year all for our taste buds and other unnecessary products. I'm vegan because it is just and the way to peace and it also addresses climate change."

Joanne Rose

Founder, Vegan Vision - www.VeganVision.net
veganvision1.blogspot.com

Contributing writer for Vegan Voice Magazine
Vegan Actress and Model

"My mission is to continue to promote veganism and animal rights through out the rest of my life and have the world come to understand that vegan is the way. The Universe was designed for vegan living."

Dr. Kerrie Saunders, PhD

Author of: The Vegan Diet as Chronic Disease Prevention
She founded VeganSpeak MultiMedia. Affiliated with P.C.R.M. www.DrFood.org

"I have chosen to dedicate my life to the education and service of others, offering what I believe is a more evolved way of thinking about how our actions affect life on this planet and beyond."

Aaron Scheibner

Australian film-maker of 'A Delicate Balance'

www.adelicatebalance.tv

"Being vegan for me is about not eating my friend and recognising that they value their life just as much we do. I never thought I would be a vegan, it was something that I didn't think I could do or would even want to do - 'why would anyone want to be a vegan?, I used to think'. It wasn't until I met a young heifer named Scarlett in the NSW countryside that I thought otherwise. She suffered from calving paralysis after being impregnated before her body was ready. I saw her fade away to skin and bone despite the potassium she was given. This inspired me to change my diet despite my love for dairy foods.

I was further inspired to make A Delicate Balance after seeing how dry and barren the Australian countryside is. I had researched how this was mostly caused by animal agriculture and I wanted to help make a difference. I first wanted to make a film that demonstrated animal cruelty, but I realised that this was not something the general public necessarily wanted to see. After collecting research and interviews I decided to make a film that revealed the direct links between the consumption of animal based foods and diseases. Unfortunately, society is a selfish world and I figure that if people don't care for the animals then they have to care about themselves and their environment - this way the animals benefit also."

Nathan Schneider

Vegan-Abolitionist

www.vegan-abolitionist.blogspot.com

"The exploitation of sentient nonhumans should be abolished, not adjusted. We can only achieve this goal incrementally. As individuals, our minimum requirement is being vegan. This means we commit ourselves to recognizing and respecting the moral personhood of those who are not human. Accordingly, to the greatest extent possible, vegans do not participate in the exploitation or murder of nonhumans for food, clothing, entertainment, or any other purpose. Living happily, healthily, and unabashedly as a vegan sends a powerful message by itself. Though not obliged, we can also further the abolitionist cause by actively engaging others with creative, dignified, non-violent, and non-discriminatory education about the moral imperative of veganism."

"Veganism is the ethical perspective that rejects all exploitation of sentient nonhumans. Vegetarianism is the diet that rejects the consumption of "meat" from one or more animal species. Veganism is consistent with the abolition of nonhuman slavery. Vegetarianism is consistent only with the abolition of 'meat'. When the vegan ethic was formulated in the 1940s, vegetarianism was revealed to be terribly outmoded and deficient. It's unfortunate that vegetarianism managed to outlive the 20th century. "From chicken eggs and sheep hair, to rodeos and vivisection, all forms of nonhuman exploitation are undergirded by society's extreme speciesism. To reject only one form of nonhuman exploitation while ignoring the others simply makes no sense. Respect for nonhuman animals, if taken seriously, can only mean veganism. The movement for nonhuman rights finds manifestation within each and every vegan. Activists should never promote vegetarianism — it should be taken 'off the table'. Those interested in abolishing the exploitation of sentient beings should promote veganism as the requisite baseline stance against speciesist oppression."

Richard H. Schwartz, PhD

President of Jewish Vegetarians of North America
President of Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians
Member of Board of Councilors of the Vegetarian Union of North America (VUNA)
Director of Veg Climate Alliance

"My life's mission is to help make as many people as aware as possible that the world is threatened as never before by global warming, widening water shortages, deforestation, desertification and many more environmental and resource scarcity problems, and that significant changes, including a major shift toward veganism, are essential in order to move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path."

Rae Sikora

Co-founder of the Center for Compassionate Living and The International Institute for Humane Education

Co-founder, Plant Peace Daily
www.plantpeacedaily.org
Co-founder of: www.vegfund.org

"I was a vegetarian from the age of 15. Then, in my twenties I witnessed male calves being loaded onto a semi for shipment to a veal facility. I went around the back of the barn and witnessed the mothers crying out for their babies and some were pressed desperately along the barbed wire fence and many were cut and bleeding from trying to get to to the calves being taken away. I did not know what a vegan was. I did not know that word. After that I could not eat cheese anymore....my favorite addiction. Once you witness something that violent, you either act on it or you have to live your entire life knowing you are not acting on what you know."

"I think the most exciting to me is that our numbers are growing and we do not know what the tipping point will be when vegan becomes the norm and people will have to be apologetic for consuming animal products."

Ari Solomon

A prolific activist and writer for animal and human rights, his letters have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald and The Advocate. Ari is a columnist for The Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ari-solomon/

"Veganism is the practical response to a social injustice."

"We're not telling you what to eat, we're telling you what you're eating."

Cherie Soria

Founder of the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute
Author of Angel Foods: Healthy Recipes for Heavenly Bodies and co-author of The Raw Food Diet Revolution

"I became a vegetarian in my early 20's after reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and began teaching vegetarian cooking when I was 24. After joining PETA and EarthSave, I became a vegan, out of concern for the welfare of all beings."

Yolanda Soryl

New Zealand Vegetarian Society, Co-ordinator of the Christchurch Vegetarian Centre, Christchurch Vegetarian Families Group, Christchurch Vegetarian Youth Group, Vegetarian Lesbian Dining groups (Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland) and the Vegan Triathlon.
Mother of 4 vegan children.

"I resisted going vegan for a long time because I saw it as a deprivation and thought I would not be able to travel, have children and live in the 'real' world if I went vegan. (Veganism was virtually unheard of in New Zealand in the 1980's). But eventually, the link between the meat and the dairy industry became too much for me to tolerate. I realised there was no dairy industry without a meat industry, and I wanted no part of either. It became easy to go vegan, and it was a huge relief to do so. That was in 1989."

Charles Stahler

Co-founder of The Vegetarian Resource Group/Vegetarian Journal
www.vrg.org

"The Vegetarian Resource Group has promoted veganism daily for over 25 years. We have about 150, 000 visitors per month who come for helpful, positive information."

Gary Steiner

Department Chair; Philosophy Department, Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA., U.S.A.

www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gsteiner/

"More than fifty-three billion animals are killed worldwide for human consumption every year. That is just land animals; it doesn't include any of the sea creatures that we kill and eat. But we give little thought to the inner subjective lives of animals and the remarkable extent to which their lives are in important respects very much like our own. If we were to acknowledge the fundamental similarities between human and non-human animal life—for humans, too, are animals—it would be impossible for us to ignore the moral implications of the ways in which we use animals to satisfy our desires. The Western philosophical tradition has long argued that human beings are cognitively superior to non-human animals in virtue of possessing reason and language, and that this cognitive superiority entails a categorical moral superiority over animals. In my work on animals, I argue that capacities such as reason and language are irrelevant to considerations of moral status. The fact that animals have rich subjective lives that matter to them is sufficient by itself to confer on animals a moral status comparable to that of human beings, and it is incumbent upon us to acknowledge the extent of our moral obligations to animals."

Jo Stepaniak

Jo Stepaniak has been involved with vegetarian- and vegan-related issues for over four decades. Author of: The Uncheese Cookbook (including its tenth anniversary edition, The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook), Vegan Vittles, and The Vegan Sourcebook. Jo is a senior book editor with the Book Publishing Company and a professional mediator. Her award-winning column Ask Jo! appears on her website 'Grassroots Veganism'.
www.vegsource.com

"I remember seeing the word {vegan} in a national newspaper and hearing it on a national news report for the first time. I am always impressed when public figures pronounce it correctly. I have observed the meaning of the term evolve in the mainstream press from a 'restrictive diet' to 'an ethical lifestyle'. I have watched the number of vegan books and magazines rapidly expand over just a few decades and the number and quality of vegan retailers, restaurants, and products make a huge splash in the marketplace. I would never have expected that twenty or thirty years ago, and I am gratified to know that my work and efforts have contributed to these positive changes."

Achim Stößer

German Vegan Activist
Founder of Maqi - for Animal Rights; Against Speciesism
www.maqi.de
www.veganismus.de
www.antispe.de
www.govegan.de

"The false dichotomy that puts non-vegetarians on one side and vegetarians and vegans together on the other has to come to an end. As a matter of fact vegetarians stand on the wrong side; the same side as corpse eaters: it is the side of animal exploiters, those who keep animals imprisoned, mistreat and slay them to consume parts of their bodies, their menstrual products or glandular secretions. Hardly anyone would torture a cat or a hamster for an hour to get a cookie. But that is exactly what vegetarians do with chickens: for every egg one hen has to suffer one day ... therefore it is not only justified but inevitable to point this out with all clarity, unsparingly, drastically and without any euphemisms." (from 'Vegetarians are Murderers')

Lynda Stoner

Former Australian actress now the Communications Manager for the organization, Animal Liberation, located in Australia.
www.animal-lib.org.au

"Vegans are considered by many to be eccentrics in our society. That we are aberrant defies comprehension. We have chosen a lifestyle that does no harm to other species, causes minimum toxicity to the planet and does not contribute to Third world poverty. The conundrum is that the majority of society, who by their consumption of meat and dairy are directly responsible for the mutilation and chronic suffering of animals; ground, water and air pollution; Third world indebtedness and their own subsequent health issues are regarded as “normal.” Whatever combined environment-saving actions dairy and meat eaters undertake are tokenism in the face of the damage they are generating. We as a society also revere the great works and ideas of people such as Plato, Socrates, Einstein, Emerson, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Plutarch et al, yet refuse to give prominence to their strong commitment to the rights of animals. Western society would rather keep its collective head in the sand than switch to a simple change in diet which would ameliorate animal torture, heal the planet and reduce staggering costs to health systems."

"Social connections with like minded people are integral to the human condition. Your family may not agree with your life style choice, your peers may not agree, your school friends and work colleagues, so when you come into contact with vegans it is instantly binding. Even mentioning you are vegetarian, much less vegan, is frequently to trigger sarcasm and other forms of hostility. This stems entirely from guilt. If people were comfortable with consuming meat and dairy they wouldn’t feel the need to be obnoxious about veganism. They know, on a subconscious or even conscious level, that what they are doing is damaging on so many levels. That knowledge makes them feel bad about themselves so rather than changing their eating habits they go with pack behaviour. Veganism throws the mirror up and the reflection is not pleasant. Therefore to mix with people whose core values are similar to yours helps offset that negativity. Also knowing that the amount of people across the planet who “get it” is growing rapidly."

David Sudarsky

Founder of www.TheVegetarianSite.com

"Personally, I take the vegan ideal to its logical conclusion. That means no animal exploitation of any kind and no animal byproducts of any kind. While that may sound rather extreme to the average person, what is any ethical position really worth, and how seriously can it be taken by others, if it is followed only when convenient to do so?"

Will Tuttle, PhD

Educator, activist, musician, speaker
Author of The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
www.worldpeacediet.org

"I became a vegetarian in 1975 at the age of 22 while on a spiritual pilgrimage, walking from New England to Alabama. It was while visiting The Farm in Tennessee, a vegan community of about 800 people, that I actually became a vegetarian. Then about five years later, in 1980, upon learning of the suffering to dairy cows and hens, I gave up animal-derived foods and moved toward eliminating wool, leather, silk, and so forth. When I went to Korea in 1984 and lived as a monk in a Zen monastery that had been a vegan spiritual community for about 650 years, I felt the vegan spirit of kindness and respect to all living beings enter into the very core of my being."

"I have tried to be the change that I would like to see in the world, and to create verbal and musical expressions to inspire inclusiveness, wisdom, and compassion. I am honored to have been able to realize and express in some small way the vast and profound teachings of the interconnectedness of the welfare of all beings, and to have contributed in some way to our culture's necessary revolution. This is the vegan revolution, a benevolent revolution of radical kindness and inclusiveness that must break out all over the world as we awaken to our true nature and realize that all beings are deserving of kindness and respect."

Sharon Valencik

www.sweetutopia.com

She has two young vegan sons, shelter pets, enjoys traveling the world in search of vegan restaurants, & is active in the New York City/New Jersey vegan & animal rights community. She has been a vegan for many years & enjoys helping others to become vegan.

"You can enjoy a vegan lifestyle without having to give up the foods you love. I provide simple recipes you can use to get the tastes you are accustomed to, in vegan versions."

Krissi Vandenburg

Executive Director of Vegan Action, USA
www.veganaction.org

"The shining moments are the little things. The everyday things that have made veganism more positive, accessible, and enjoyable. These are all of the alternatives available in every grocery store and market, the vegetarian and vegan restaurants, and the passionate people dedicated to producing vegan alternatives in order to make the world a better place."

"My life's mission is to inspire as many people as possible to live a healthy, humane, and satisfying life. I try to do this everyday whether I am at work, at school, or presenting to 300 people at a conference. I truly believe that we all have the power to make a difference - to make a mark - by being the amazing, loving people that we are and inspiring and educating others to make the best choices they can make in life."

Christine Vardaros

World Class Vegan Cyclist
VegFitness columnist for VegNews magazine
www.VegNews.com
Spokesperson for In Defense of Animals www.idausa.org
Christine has never owned a car.
www.christinevardaros.blogspot.com

"I am a professional athlete so I may prove by example that top sport can be successfully accomplished on a completely plant-based diet. In addition, I am a health/fitness/nutrition journalist so that I may use my celebrity to disseminate correct information so that people can make educated choices when it comes to their health and moral obligation. It is especially important to me that everyone knows eating vegan is simple and easy and requires only basic foods that can be found in any supermarket around the world. Go Vegan and No Body Gets Hurt!"

Claudette Vaughan

Editor of: Abolitionist Online Magazine, Australia
www.abolitionist-online.com

"Why I’m Vegan: It is difficult to comprehend the scale and purpose of animal slaughter. It is difficult to ascertain why there is so much pain, bloodshed, wars and suffering in the world. The nonhuman animal kingdom are our younger brethren and the animal rights movement is committed to leading the animal kingdom towards its liberation. This evolutionary process can’t occur on a large scale if humans remain unchanged. As far as I am concerned, veganism is a large part of initiating that evolutionary process."

Marc Vincent

French Vegan-Abolitionist
www.vegan.fr

"With my girlfriend, Maryline, we decided to create our own national organization after seeing that there was no French organization which only promotes veganism as a moral baseline. Lots of French organizations focus on a specific animal exploitation, and we really think that it could create a sort of hierarchy between all the different exploitations. We think that all animal exploitation is bad, and the best way to stop all of them is to have people become vegan. We have to explain to people that nonhuman animals are sentient (like us), and this characteristic is enough to afford fundamental rights to nonhuman animals. Asking people to become vegetarian doesn't solve the problem: milk, eggs and all animal products kill animals. Animal rights activists should promote veganism. Veganism is the only way to take animal's interests seriously."

Tina Volpe

Author of: The Fast Food Craze; Wreaking Havoc on Our Bodies and Our Animals
Co-author of: The Missing Peace, The Hidden Power of our Kinship with Animals - www.missingpeacebook.com
Host of the top rated radio show 'Wake UP America' Contributing writer to 'Good Karma' Magazine
Speaker and Humane Educator

"I believe that we all have the love and compassion within us to stop contributing to animal suffering, damage to our planet and to one another .... it's the awareness that is difficult."

Rolanda Ware

Co-Founder/Director of EVOLVE! Campaigns (Embracing the Vision Of Liberation for the Voiceless and Exploited), a UK based non-profit animal advocacy organisation.

www.evolvecampaigns.org.uk

"I believe that being vegan is the most morally responsible, respectful and progressive thing any of us can do for the lives of animals, our own heath and the future of our planet. Personally I find that being vegan gives me an enormous sense of oneness with nature and an even higher regard for the animals I so enjoy sharing my world with. I have never looked back since I made the informed choice to stop contributing to their exploitation. My conscience is clear and it just feels so right. I urge all non-vegans to consider the consequences of their actions, renounce their violent habits and let their thinking truly evolve. Making the change to a cruelty-free lifestyle is not difficult these days and the rewards are huge. Veganism truly is great for the mind, body and soul!"

Debra Wasserman

Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Vegetarian Resource Group, which celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2007

Managing editor of Vegetarian Journal (a vegan publication) and author of SIMPLY VEGAN and other books.
www.vrg.org

"In 1980, while a graduate student at Georgetown University, I always found myself being one of only a handful of students interested in promoting non-violence while solving world conflicts. One day during a heated discussion with fellow classmates one person stated how could I eat meat; isn't killing animals violent? I immediately agreed with the point made since it was consistent with all my other values."

Donald Watson

1910-2005
Founder of The Vegan Society in 1944 (U.K.) - and originator of the word 'vegan'.

"...to feel that I was instrumental in starting a great new movement which could not only change the course of things for humanity and the rest of creation but alter man's expectation of surviving much longer on this planet..."

Dr. John Wedderburn

John Wedderburn founded the Hong Kong Vegan Society in the early 1990s

"My son (aged 17) became vegan when studying in UK. He came home for the Christmas holiday and said, "Dad, I'm a vegan." I said, "Don't be silly, only freaks are vegans. You need meat to be healthy. I know, I am a doctor." He said, "Dad, you are wrong!" We argued for three weeks until I admitted he was right and I resolved to become vegan."

Zoe Weil

Founder and President of the Institute for Humane Education
www.HumaneEducation.org
Zoe's blog - www.zoeweil.com

"As I learned about the suffering of animals in these various food industries, I changed my diet to reflect my values. I simply didn't want to participate in animal suffering and cruelty. I wouldn't eat my dog or cat or cockatiel, and when I realized that there was no fundamental difference between a dog and a pig, a cat and a cow, or a cockatiel and a chicken, I couldn't justify eating animals any more, as long as I didn't need to for my survival. I had pretended that because the animals I was eating were dead, and because their products (eggs and dairy) didn't cause death, I was doing no harm, but as I considered the economics of consuming these products – that my buying them was my vote that told the producer 'do it again' - I divested myself. Once I realized that my choices were, in fact, directly contributing to the suffering and death of animals, I chose a more humane and sustainable diet. Since becoming vegan, I've learned more about my food choices, so now I also endeavor to grow much of my own food, eat local when possible, and primarily organic."

Stephen J. Weierman

www.rantingsteve.wordpress

"While I sometimes eat at non-vegan restaurants, I always make sure that what I’m ordering is vegan. It isn’t that difficult; it doesn’t put non-vegans off; and it opens dialogue with non-vegan friends about why I won’t eat certain things. It also lets my friends know that veganism is something I take seriously, and that it matters to me to be ethically consistent."

"I’m going to just come out and say this. If you eat honey, then you are not vegan. If you eat cheese that was thrown in a dumpster, then you are not vegan. If you eat fish, chicken, or "seafood," then you are not vegetarian. A vegan is someone who, by definition, strives to abstain from using all animal and animal-derived products. Honey is a product of bees. Bees are insects. Insects are arthropods. Arthropods are animals. Ergo, honey is an animal product. Likewise, cheese comes from the milk of cows or goats. Whether or not it was thrown away is irrelevant. Likewise, chickens are animals. Fish are animals. Other sea creatures are animals. There are no "partial vegetarians." If you eat some animals or all animals, or only on certain days of the week, or only on holidays, then you are not a vegetarian. I am a vegan for ethical reasons. I do not wish to participate in the unnecessary and cruel use of animals. It is not simply a matter of not paying money for animal products. Animals are not here for us to use. Whether or not cheese is bought in a store or found in a dumpster, it is not food. If you call yourself vegan or vegetarian, but still eat animals or animal products, please stop confusing omnivores. Stop rendering the words vegan and vegetarian meaningless with hypocrisy and logical inconsistency. Stop using animals."

"As far as I am concerned, the only reason to be a vegan is ethics. If you are a vegan for your own health, then why avoid leather or other animal products? And if you use animal products, then you’re not a vegan. Being vegan has nothing to do with one’s own health; it’s about refusing to participate in the use and exploitation of animals. That said, in our society vegans have a moral obligation to take care of themselves and be healthy."

"Being healthy, bringing good vegan treats to the office, and sharing recipes with people, are all forms of subversive activism. When people realize that being vegan is not a form of deprivation, but a liberating decision, they’re more likely to think that they can do it and stop participating in the cruelty that they already know deep down to be wrong..."

Shirley Wilkes-Johnson

Founder of Go Vegan Texas! radio show, which has changed the name to Vegan World www.veganworldradio.org

"Veganism is a grass roots movement that is spreading globally and its roots are going deep. There is no power strong enough to stop what is happening - unless we destroy the planet first."

"Creating a compassionate vegan world is THE MOST important social change the world has ever seen. I want to get beyond this so we can just play. I am proud of being vegan and I think people treat you according to how you feel about yourself. I feel lucky that my veganism is, for the most part, respected by people that I know that aren't vegan."

Spice Williams-Crosby

Accomplished actress, stuntwoman, bodybuilder, nutritional author, martial artist, and certified fitness trainer. A 30 year vegan and the 1st Vegan body building squatting 315lbs and benching 235lbs. She has a Masters degree in Fitness Science and Holistic Nutrition.

"I try to live my life with using all my knowledge to guide me to make the right choices. If you change to a very healthy lifestyle and you set an example of love, and high energy then the world will come to you asking you the same question they ask me...'What do you eat that makes you look so healthy, full of energy and strong?' I just smile and proudly say, 'I am a VEGAN!'"

Roger Yates, PhD

A subscriber to the abolitionist approach to animal rights, and a vegan since 1979, sociologist Roger Yates has studied the social transmission of speciesism and investigated how and why modern human societies exploit and harm animals.
www.human-nonhuman.blogspot.com/
animalrightsviolations_site www.onhumannonhumanrelations.tumblr.com

"Advocates of veganism as the moral baseline of animal rights are engaged in mega-campaigning; a campaign against all forms of animal use and exploitation rolled into one. Every ethical vegan attacks animal abuse 24/7 - there is nothing more important at this current time than growing the numbers of vegans in the world."

"My recent publication, 'Rituals of Dominionism in Human-Nonhuman Relations: Bullfighting to Hunting, Circuses to Petting,' develops a critique which seeks to contextualise the powerful role of social rituals in shaping humans' speciesist relationships with other animals. My MA thesis was an examination of the British animal protection movement and my 2005 PhD dissertation is called 'The Social Construction of Human Beings and Other Animals in Human-Nonhuman Relations."

Benjamin Zephaniah

Musician, Poet, Novelist, Essayist, Actor, U.K.

Zephaniah started performing poetry when he was 11 and just realizing that his best friends were animals. So he decided to become vegetarian, then at age 13, he learned how milk was produced and went vegan. He is possibly the most filmed, photographed, and identifiable poet in Britain. He was encouraged to take his poetry to the world by Bob Marley. One well known poem is: ‘Be nice to yu turkeys this Christmas’.

www.benjaminzephaniah.com

"The idea of eating my friends really turns me off, but vegans really turn me on."