Tag Archives: veganism

To the Rescue

Posted on August 7, 2012 by in Activism, People, Vegan

An interview with Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary co-founder and The Lucky Ones author Jenny Brown by Nell Alk. Photos #2 and 4 by Derek Goodwin.

The Lucky Ones by Jenny Brown and Gretchen PrimackWoodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary’s sassy co-founder/director Jenny Brown can now add published author to her resume. The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight for Farm Animals came out five days ago and, with assistance from her co-writer and friend (“I couldn’t have done it without her!”) Gretchen Primack, the book offers an alternately tear-jerking, howl-inducing tracing of Brown’s courageous path to the present.

From losing a leg to bone cancer at just ten years of age to working as an undercover investigator at a Texas stockyard to creating one of the country’s premier safe havens for rescued farmed animals along with her husband, Doug Abel, Brown’s story is a remarkable one. Even so, we surmise that the stories of the animals saved and cared for by WFAS—individuals who thrive when respected and loved and who suffer greatly when marginalized and commodified—are the ones she most hopes people will take away from the book.

Personally, I took it all away, and it was a great pleasure to be able to chat with Brown about The Lucky Ones. (And you can chat with her yourself at MooShoes tonight for the NYC book release party.) Read More…

Illustrating the Problem

Posted on July 13, 2012 by in Activism, Arts & Entertainment, Vegan

A pictorial Q&A with artist and author Sue Coe by Nell Alk. Images courtesy of OR Books.

Cruel: Bearing Witness to Animal Exploitation

In her latest book, Cruel: Bearing Witness to Animal Exploitation, artist and author Sue Coe presents beautiful illustrations of the incredibly ugly brutalities of animal harvesting. Sketchpad in hand, Coe’s been granted access to places few industry outsiders have been, absorbing hellish scenes and putting them to paper. This is no small feat: animal exploiters generally try very hard to make their exploitations invisible, aided by consumers who try not to see. Tackling that problem from both ends, Cruel is as much a mirror as a chronicle, calmly but resolutely compelling readers to confront their own roles in the food system they’ve supported.

Observations and musings accompanying the visuals are as unflinching as the images themselves, and poignancy is in long supply. Coe’s portrayals demand an emotional response yet also ignite an intellectual one, with mostly grayscale (sometimes red-accented, sometimes beige-tinged) illustrations, handwritten notes, and sentences like these: “We have only partial glimpses of truth, as though illuminated by lightning only for a fraction of a second. If we could see what we have done to the earth, we would go mad with sorrow.” Read More…

(These) Children Are the Future

Posted on July 9, 2012 by in Activism, Kids

Written by Nell Alk. Photographs 1, 2, 3, and 5 by Cody Cha.

Welcome to YEA Camp!

Sleep-away camp: one of the great American rites of passage. The days-, weeks-, or months-long retreat to the wilderness that your adolescent self either excitedly anticipated or anxiously awaited (but almost always turned out to be really awesome). The adventure of living in a new setting and meeting new kids from other places. The allure of becoming friends with seemingly impossibly cool people in their high teens or early twenties (counselors) who would never have hung out with you otherwise.

YEA Camp

Generally speaking, summer camp is a blast for kids and teenagers. But what about the precocious ones who want to do something beyond campfires and kickball? The ones who care about animals, the environment, or human rights? Who see meat-laden menus or social clique-ing and think, “No thanks!”?

Nora Kramer, a veteran volunteer experienced in grassroots activism, came to their rescue in 2009 when, in grand activist tradition, she organized the solution herself: Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, which started as a single location in Oregon and has expanded to locations in California and New Jersey. In many ways it’s like a typical summer camp, with games and community-building and outdoorsy stuff. What’s different is that the kids spend much of their time learning to become better advocates for the causes that matter most to them. And the mess hall isn’t so much of an ethical mess, since it’s 100% vegan. Read More…

Roll On

Posted on June 28, 2012 by in Fitness, Health & Wellness, Vegan

An interview with elite athlete and author Rich Roll by Nell Alk. Photos 1, 3, and 5 by John Segesta. Photo 4 by Rick Kent.

Rich Roll

On the eve of his fortieth birthday, a battle-scarred, roly-poly attorney saw a trail of anguish stretching behind and a complacent midlife slump looming ahead. After an exhausting adulthood spent trying to conform to everyone else’s ideas about who he ought to be, the “rewards” of his labors in self-immolation—a struggle with full-on alcoholism, an unfaithful fiancée, and parents of the interminably disappointed sort—could have plunged him deeper into the abyss he knew too well.

Instead, Rich Roll decided he’d had enough. Read More…

A Checkup with Dr. Oz

Posted on May 25, 2012 by in Arts & Entertainment, Health & Wellness, New York, Nightlife, People, Vegan, vegan-friendly

An interview with Dr. Oz by Nell Alk. Photo #2: SPE, Inc/Dave Allocca.

Dr Mehmet Oz of The Dr. Oz ShowEveryone’s favorite sunglasses-donning, suit-wearing, alien-regulating duo returns to the big screen today in Men In Black 3 and Wednesday night marked the star-studded domestic premiere in NYC. We had a chance to chat with a few folks from the film, but one guest in particular took priority—Dr. Mehmet Oz. Cardiothoracic surgeon, teaching professor at Columbia University, and, of course, host of hit TV program The Dr. Oz Show, the good doctor slipped us in between other appointments to quickly share his professional opinion about lax nutrition training in the medical field and the health merits of veganism.

Your show has touted a plant-based diet for health reasons. Are you a vegan yourself?
[My wife] Lisa is vegetarian and she’s been vegan in the past. I don’t eat much meat, but I do eat a little bit.

Dr. Oz and wife Lisa at the premiere of MIB3

Dr. Oz and wife Lisa at the premiere of Men In Black 3.

We hear a lot of stories from people who say their doctor discourages them from going vegan, but we’ve also heard that most general practitioners only receive a few hours of nutrition-specific training. Can you speak to that?
It’s very true. Nutrition is taught at the very end of your class time and you’re not even paying attention. So we need to put nutrition back in med school. It was there a long time ago; we’ve forgotten about it.

What would you say to other doctors out there who think veganism is inherently unhealthy?
Most doctors wouldn’t think that if they knew anything about nutrition. People who are vegan or vegetarian usually live longer. So there’s a health benefit to it. What I think more about is: how accessible is it? Can you really do it? I think you can, we just need to teach people how to eat a little differently in order to achieve that.

What’s your favorite vegan restaurant in New York City?
Candle 79. I love it!

The Bitch Is Back

Posted on May 8, 2012 by in Health & Wellness, People, Vegan

An interview with author Kim Barnouin by Nell Alk.

Kim Barnouin, Skinny Bitch authorSkinny Bitch by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman catalyzed my own switch to veganism. Already a years-long vegetarian, I’d been delaying the inevitable until this irresistibly foul-mouthed twosome got through to me with their short and not-so-sweet tome. Since then, Barnouin in particular has been busy putting out follow-ups, among them Skinny Bastard (geared towards men, and also co-written with Rory Freedman), a couple of cookbooks, and a home, beauty, and style guide.

Her latest contribution to the cause is Skinny Bitch Book of Vegan Swaps. A spiral-bound how-to, it’s all about helping novice and veteran vegans alike negotiate animal-free alternatives. From decoding product labels (for instance, if it contains cholesterol, an animal was involved) to offering substitutes for all sections of the supermarket, this 13-part resource makes it easier for aspirers to make the switch and for converts to make the most of seemingly hostile territories—like airports, chain restaurants, and less-than-cosmopolitan cities and towns.

Below, Barnouin dishes, quickfire-style, about Swaps, raising a (mostly) plant-based little boy, and what’s up next in the Skinny series. Read More…