|
|
 |
 |
|
Josh Hooten
Age: 34
Home: Portland, Ore.
Livelihood: Magazine Publisher
“The inspiration for our clothing is the frumpy, shapeless, colorless look of the animal rights movement itself. We are activists and we want a closet full of shirts that show the world we have some energy and style,” says Josh Hooten, founding editor of Herbivore Magazine. Hooten’s discontent with drab “Got Tofu?” duds, coupled with a background in graphic design, led him to expand the Herbivore brand to include an array of funky, funny tees with a vegan bent. “This is a serious business we’re in and keeping a sense of humor can help keep burnout at bay,” says Hooten. And business is booming. In addition to the magazine and website, Herbivore recently added a store in Portland, Ore., and will begin publishing books later this year. Raising his daughter, Ruby, vegan, has prompted him to invent a new argument: “We’re making all her decisions for her until she’s older and can choose for herself. If your kid wanted to eat poop you wouldn’t let them, would you? Me feeding her tofu is a choice, just like you feeding your kid beef is.” There’s a t-shirt slogan in there somewhere…
|
Veronica Ibarra
Age: 33
Home: Madrid
Livelihood: Activist, Artist
When you look at a pile of grocery receipts, what do you see? If you’re Veronica Ibarra, you see art. Her latest installation, The Receipt Project, on display this past May in Madrid, is an entire room papered with thousands of grocery receipts collected by volunteers all over the world. With all animal-derived purchases underlined, the installation shows “the proof of what we consume, [which is] an activity that has an underestimated effect on non-human animals,” Ibarra explains. The installation is part of an international group show, Ni Musculos Ni secreciones (Neither Muscles nor Secretions), featuring the work of 17 vegan artists. An activist who communicates through art, Ibarra sees herself squarely as both. “My art is activism and my activism is art.” She loves to see how the two combine to change minds. “Last week this young girl from Germany wrote to me saying that she was very moved and cried seeing my animation The Little Bird Flies Away. She asked me lots of questions about veganism. Everyone will have some kind of response when experiencing my work.”
|
|
Dennis Kucinich
Age: 61
Home: Cleveland
Livelihood: Politician
Accompanied by his vegan wife Elizabeth, Congressman Dennis Kucinich spoke candidly to VegNews of his views on vegetarianism and animal rights.
VegNews: Congressman Kucinich, you were the only one to vote against the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act…
Kucinich: Oh, I know!
VN: What made you stand alone in that vote?
Kucinich: We have to change our policies in respect to lives of animals. There’s this whole structure in our country that uses animals and abuses them in research. My committee is looking at this right now. We want to see what kind of practices these laboratories are using. We want to see where they violate existing law, and where we need to protect the animals. You know, the idea of using animals for research really needs to be challenged.
VN: I’m interested in your stance that animal cruelty is directly related to human violence.
Kucinich: Well, there’ve been studies that prove that. Any time a person takes license to be cruel to an animal, that is a form of violence. And if you’re using violence against one species, there’s nothing in one’s thinking emotionally that puts up a barrier emotional or otherwise, to commit violence against other species. So that’s why I support the idea of a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Nonviolence, so we can look at violence in our society, including violence against animals. The goal then is to create a more nonviolent culture.
VN: I just have one question for your wife, Elizabeth. When you’re first lady, is your official cookie recipe going to be vegan?
Elizabeth Kucinich: Of course! (Laughter) Actually the recipe will probably be a vegan cheesecake. It’s my favorite!
|
John Mackey
Age: 53
Home: Austin
Livelihood: Grocery chain CEO
From a simple start in 1978 opening a garage-based health food store called “Safer Way” in Austin, Texas, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Markets, built an empire. This vegan grocery-entrepreneur has revolutionized the concept of eating organic, whole foods; the Whole Foods Market model makes shopping consciously convenient. Not content just to make thoughtful choices about the products he carries, he also treats the 39,000 people who work for his company humanely; Whole Foods landed this year as an impressive number five on Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. Mackey’s compassion for animals led to Whole Foods’ implementation of a humane production system to ensure the industry’s highest quality conditions for animals raised for food. Whole Foods Market’s stringent quality-standards program requires frequent auditing and compliance from animal-agriculture producers, making it tricky for even the slickest rancher to slip beneath this progressive company’s radar. With 30 years of vegetarianism under his belt, Mackey recently transitioned to ethical veganism after educating himself on the injustices of factory farming.
|
Dan Mathews
Age: 43
Home: Portsmouth, Va.
Livelihood: Activist, Author
From his humble beginnings as PETA’s receptionist to his rise at the notorious AR organization’s hobnobbing vice president, Dan Mathews has seen—and experienced—a hell of a lot in the last 20 years. The impassioned upstart has donned carrot costumes, rabbit outfits and even his birthday suit in provocative campaigns to draw attention to animal suffering, and gained notoriety for challenging the heavyweights in the fur-obsessed fashion world. Other career highlights include stints in foreign jails and psychiatric wards, the intricacies of which he outlines in juicy detail in his newly released biography,“Committed: A Rabble-Rouser’s Memoir.” There’s no telling what this sassy author-activist has up his sleeve next, but it’s bound to be provocative—and possibly involve nudity.
|
Stella McCartney
Age: 36
Home: London
Livelihood: Fashion Designer
Though born into a posh life as the daughter of rock royalty, Stella McCartney also grew up surrounded by a philosophy of compassion, modeled by her mother Linda. Sticking by those principles, McCartney has emerged as a design powerhouse, a fashion scion whose vocal anti-fur stance is well known in fashion circles. In addition to avoiding animal-based materials, McCartney often includes pro-veg slogans on her gear, like a jacket created for Adidas with “suitable for sporty vegetarians” on the sleeve. And she’s no shrinking violet, politely advocating for animals in an industry known for keeping injustices quiet—McCartney narrated a gripping PETA exposé, Fur Farm. With legions of fans clamoring for her designs at her eponymous boutiques as well as at H&M, Target and Adidas, she uses high style to draw attention to ugly animal injustices.
|
Travis Nichols
Age: 28
Home: Austin
Livelihood: Activist, Artist
What do unicorns, Omega Monsters, and a vegan Texan have in common? If you answered, “they don’t exist!” meet Travis Nichols. This 28-year-old artist from Austin creates cutie-pie unicorn art with a dead-serious message. “Animal rights messages come out in my art, but without going the bleeding-pig-on-a-hook route. “I don’t ever want to cram my beliefs down anyone’s throat, but I’m never shy about talking about what I believe if it comes up,” explains Nichols. Vegan for five years, Nichols creates environmentally conscious, low-impact art (check out ilikeapplejuice.com if you’ve got a blank spot on the wall above your sofa), draws comics for Herbivore and Nickelodeon Magazine, and plays in his band, OMEGA MONSTER PATROL!, which Nichols calls a “sci-fi synth-pop treat.” So what could be better than this Austin-based veggie fixing you a big batch of his famous curry? Well, according to Nichols, “Robots, monsters, costumes and lasers! ‘Nuff said.”
|
Wayne Pacelle
Age: 41
Home: Bethesda, Md.
Livelihood: Non-profit CEO
Almost everyone has heard of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)—but ask those same people who the current President of HSUS is and they might be stumped. That huge job is masterfully handled by vegan Wayne Pacelle, who has transformed the 53-year-old DC-based group from a low-key animal-welfare organization into one that’s not just dynamic, but supremely progressive in animal advocacy efforts. Pacelle’s vision for HSUS is for it to become the NRA of the animal-rights movement, and his zeal is working. He’s been especially successful delving into HSUS’ political projects, most recently in winning Constitutional rights for pregnant sows in Florida. For this serious activist, nothing less than an end to animals in circuses, laboratories and hunting grounds will do—and that’s truly humane.
|
Nathan Runkle
Age: 22
Home: Columbus
Livelihood: Non-profit Director
The founder and director of the animal advocacy organization Mercy for Animals (MFA) is a self-taught activist. Runkle started MFA as a teenager, and has grown up along with the movement. He cracked open and exposed injustices at the egg farms near his Columbus, Ohio-area home. After repeated refusals from the farms for a visit, Runkle and his fellow MFA members gave themselves a self-guided tour. During this visit, Runkle discovered a baby hen thrown in the trash with dozens of bird carcasses. He named the bird Hope, and his path of activism was set. Though the recent passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act makes activism a riskier undertaking, Runkle is undeterred. In true activist spirit, he says he’s more worried about the mistreatment of animals going unseen than legal action.
|
The SHAC 7
Ages: 20s
City: Detained in various jails across the US
Livelihood: Activists
Imagine speaking out for an idea you hold dear—the protection of all living things—and then as a reward for your conviction, you’re imprisoned as a terrorist. And not for a few days, but for a few years. That’s the exact, terrifying fate that befell the SHAC 7. Six of the seven arrested animal rights activists and members of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) were found guilty on March 3, 2006, of terrorism and internet stalking under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Serving sentences ranging from one to six years, Kevin Kjonaas, Lauren Gazzola, Jacob Conroy, Josh Harper, Andrew Stepanian and Darius Fullmer use their time behind bars to perform vegetarian outreach, and stay positive by communicating with supporters through their popular MySpace page.
|
Beth Shaw
Age: 40
Home: Torrance, Calif.
Livelihood: Health and Fitness Expert, Entrepreneur
Yoga junkies can attest, downward-facing dogs give you better abs than hot dogs—and nobody knows this better than YogaFit creator, Beth Shaw. Taking yoga and adapting the practice for a gym-going clientele, the mind behind the “YogaButt” explains her success: “I know that I am on the right path and am reminded of this every day in so many beautiful ways.” Community service is central to Shaw’s fitness empire—trainees are required to volunteer as part of their curriculum. “Everyone can and should make a difference—and it’s all those little things that people can do that add up to positive change.” Shaw recommends starting anywhere. “You can donate old towels and blankets to an animal shelter, you can read to the elderly, you can walk dogs at your local shelter. These things don’t cost anything and make a difference to society.” Shaw credits her veg lifestyle with her sense of compassion. “Vegetarians are one step ahead of the general public in terms of higher consciousness. The challenge then is to take that to the next level. Helping other living creatures is why we are on this planet.” Now that’s looking good from the inside out.
|
Russell Simmons
Age: 50
Home: Los Angeles
Livelihood: Producer
The term “mogul” isn’t thrown around lightly. To earn the distinction, you have to be bigger than life and tirelessly working on 18 projects at once. That schedule suits Russell Simmons perfectly. He’s built his empire, Rush Communications, one project at a time. It now encompasses Def Jam Records, Run Athletics and Phat Farm Apparel. Not stopping there, Simmons, a vegan, denounces factory farming and slaughterhouses, and participates in high-profile animal-rights campaigns. Add to that breathless résumé four children, campaigning to encourage voter participation, and an upcoming anti-Semitism project with Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio, and this man has earned his mogul status.
|
Marianne Thieme
Age: 35
Home: Maarssen, Netherlands
Livelihood: Politician
Europe seems to have the corner on progression. With ultra-humane penal systems, eco-savvy urban planning and relaxed social views, it’s no wonder the first government with seats held by an animal rights party is Holland. Thanks to pioneering politician and vegetarian Marianne Thieme, the Party for the Animals was born. Starting in 2002, Thieme and the party began their uphill climb, attracting more and more supporters and ultimately earning their first seat in the Dutch Parliament in 2004, followed by a second in 2005. Balancing her duty as chair of the Party for the Animals with authoring books like De eeuw van het dier (The Century of the Animal), Thieme is poised to become the face of a new Netherlands. Move over tulips and wooden shoes—Holland has a new, progressive symbol.
|
Forrest Whitaker
Age: 46
Home: Los Angeles
Livelihood: Actor, Restaurateur
A bit of trivia: Actor Forrest Whitaker’s first onscreen role was in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. His career is anything but trivial now: This veg A-lister recently won an Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Learning Swahili, the accordian, and packing on 50 pounds to play the part, Whitaker devotes as much attention to the development of his on-screen characters as those off—he’s a tireless advocate for animals, and is the owner of a raw-food vegan restaurant in Los Angeles. A trained opera-tenor and first-degree black belt in karate, Whitaker’s multi-faceted approach to animal rights definitely makes him a Hollywood legend in the making.
|
Zoë Stagg can’t wait for V.G. Burgers to come to San Francisco—she has her first order ready!
Back to top
|
|
|
