It’s All About Food

It’s All About Food – Madeline Alcott and Carter Dillard – 11.24.15

Part I: Madeline Alcott, Petit VourMadeline Alcott is the founder of Petit Vour, a luxury vegan beauty box subscription and boutique. Former nomadic teacher, Madeline’s business came to life after many years of green beauty enthusiasm and a dream of creating the ultimate ethical beauty destination.    Part II: Carter Dillard, Free Candy the ChimpanzeeCarter currently serves as Director of Litigation for the Animal Legal Defense Fund where he manages over half a dozen staff attorneys and dozens of participating pro bono law firms. Carter helped quadruple within less than three years the number of matters the organization had filed, and he has helped achieve judgments, settlements, and precedent that among other things replaced negligent management at public shelters, ended systematic abuses at factory farms and hunting facilities, moved wildlife from ramshackle roadside zoos into sanctuaries, improved standing for animal advocates, and halted false advertising of animal products. With his sister, Carter co-founded the organization Four Feet Forward, which helps small animal advocacy organizations with legal and media campaigns by offering professional services at no cost. He also serves as Executive Director of Uncrowded.org, an organization that simultaneously integrates human rights, environmental and child welfare advocacy by promoting smaller and more loving families.Carter previously served as General Counsel for Compassion Over Killing, where he settled a case that resulted in one of the biggest changes in animal product advertising in U.S. history, and as Director of Farm Animal Litigation for the Humane Society of the United States, where he helped orchestrate one of the only animal cruelty prosecutions of a corporation for factory farming. Carter began his career as an Honors Program appointee to the U.S. Department of Justice and later served as a legal advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the National Security Law Division. He has taught on the faculties or held appointments at Lewis and Clark Law School, Emory University School of Law, and Loyola University New Orleans, College of Law. He holds a B.A. from Boston College, a J.D., Order of the Coif and with honors, from Emory University, and an LL.M. from New York University where he wrote his thesis—on a deeply theorized right to have children—under Jeremy Waldron. Carter has written a dozen articles, including peer-reviewed pieces, on animal protection and human population ethics in journals published by Yale, Duke, Northwestern and other universities, and he currently sits on the Steering Committee for the Population Ethics: Theory and Practice research project at the Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford.

It’s All About Food – Jay Astafa, Kip Andersen & Keegan Kuhn – 11.17.15

Part I: Jay Astafa, Vegan ChefJay Astafa stumbled upon veganism as a teen, after witnessing the horrors of factory farming conveyed via an undercover investigation conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It was after this that Jay began fooling around with food. Immersed in the restaurant business since he was wee, his father’s pizza joint provided the testing ground he needed to develop his kitchen skills. When 3 Brothers Pizza Café expanded its offerings to include Jay’s vegan creations, The New York Times showed up. Thereafter it became a destination for animal lovers and lactose intolerants alike. Due to demand, the vegan options multiplied and, at 20, Jay hosted his first pop-up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. A runaway success, that’s when the catering calls started flooding in. Since May 2013 he’s been helming Jay Astafa Catering, which services clients from New York to Miami, baby showers to Bar Mitzvahs, weddings to movie sets, nonprofits to music moguls. Somewhere in there he managed also to attend both the Natural Gourmet Institute and the International Culinary Center. In April 2015 Jay executed his second pop-up dinner series, set at a Brooklyn townhouse, which garnered high praise and ample press exposure. And, this summer, Jay launched his latest pop-up series — PLANT by jay astafa — at a Chelsea art gallery. To top it all off, he likewise opened a 100% vegan eatery, 3 Brothers Vegan Café, the first of its kind on Long Island. At 23, it’s a wonder how much Jay’s accomplished. And this doesn’t even touch on his several T.V. appearances, a number that will grow by one quite soon. So stay tuned…Part II: Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, The Sustainability Secret: Rethinking Our Diet to Transform the World Kip Andersen is the executive director of Animals United Movement, a nonprofit dedicated to producing films and media promoting sustainable, compassionate, and peaceful living. He is the co-director of the groundbreaking documentary film Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. Keegan Kuhn is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, video producer, and professional musician. He runs First Spark Media, a video production company tailored to creating videos and films for nonprofit organizations and conscientious companies. He is the director of Turlock: The Documentary and Something To Be Thankful For, and co-director of the groundbreaking environmental filmCowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.

It’s All About Food – Michelle Schwegmann and Josh Hooten, Eat Like You Give A Damn – 11.10.15

Part 1: Michelle Schwegmann and Josh Hooten, Eat Like You Give A DamnJosh Hooten and Michelle Schwegmann are the co-owners of The Herbivore Clothing Company, a vegan clothing, cookbook and lifestyle store in Portland, Oregon’s own Vegan Mini-Mall, and online at herbivoreclothing.com. Founded in 2002, Herbivore makes clothing and accessories for people who like to fashionably proclaim their compassionate beliefs. Herbivore has published several books, including Yellow Rose Recipes and The Vegan Pregnancy Survival Guide. Josh and Michelle’s book, Eat Like You Give a Damn, is a cookbook and guide for new ethical vegans. It is named for the popular slogan they’ve had for years, and was named the readers choice Favorite Cookbook by VegNews Magazine in 2015. Josh and Michelle are parents to ten-year-old Ruby, whose daily vegan lunch you can see via the hashtag #rubybirdslunch.

It’s All About Food – Bob Comis, The Last Pig – 11.03.15

Part I: Bob Comis, The Last PigFor the first few decades of his life, Bob Comis was oblivious to the suffering of non-human (and human) animals. Thanks to the courage and bravery of undercover investigators who secretly capture and share footage of the twin horrors of factory farming and industrial slaughter, Bob was roused from his ignorance. He became a vegan, but quickly failed. Then he became a humane pig farmer, and quickly succeeded. He raised pigs for slaughter for ten years, until one day in January, 2014 a powerful vibration of empathy, compassion, and love overwhelmed him, and with the strength of the universal goodness that is our unfettered state of being behind him, he decided to quit pig farming, start a vegetable farm, and become a vegetarian (vegan, in January 2015). Today, when Bob pulls a beet out of the ground, or unearths a brilliant cluster of potatoes he is able to be fully present, which is very much the opposite of his experience when he farmed pigs, which he did from a distance, divorced from the moment, disconnected from himself. Bob is the subject of the upcoming documentary film “The Last Pig” by filmmakers Allison Argo and Joseph Brunette.

It’s All About Food – Judith Haskins and Élise Desaulniers – 10.27.15

Part I: Judith Haskins, Spiritual Meaning of Disease and ScienceJudith Haskins, younger daughter of Shirley and Morris Hyman, grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. She attended Music and Art High School and earned her degree in comparative literature from City College of New York and masters degree from City University in writing. Judith lived in La Jolla, California as well as on the Riviera Maya, in the Yucatan in Mexico. She has taught at various alternate and regular high schools in Manhattan, teaching English Literature and has been a vegetarian for 40 years and in the last five and a half years, a vegan. She decided, along with her mother and sister, Sally Laura, to publish her late father Dr. Morris Hyman’s manuscript, “Congenital, Alterable, Transmissible, Asymmetry: The Spiritual Meaning of Disease and Science.”Part II: Élise Desaulniers, Cash CowÉlise Desaulniers is an independent scholar and animal rights activist who published her first book on food ethics, Je mange avec ma tête (“I Eat With My Head”), in 2011. She co-authored two articles in the Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics (Springer 2014) and won the Quebec Grand Prize for independent journalism (opinion), for a piece on feminism and anti-speciesism in 2015. A frequent lecturer and presenter at colleges and universities, she lives in Montreal.

It’s All About Food – Jenny Brown, Woodstock Farm Sanctuary – 10.20.15

Part II: Jenny Brown, Woodstock Farm SanctuaryJenny Brown is a longtime animal rights activist and Co-Founder of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in High Falls, NY–one the country’s most recognized and respected sanctuaries for farmed animals. She previously worked in film and television until when she went undercover in Texas to film farmed animal abuse. That experience led her to dedicate her life to helping farm animals and raise awareness of their plight. Jenny’s story and the work of her sanctuary has been featured in the New York Times,Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show and more. She is the author of The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight For Farm Animals. You can read more about her and the sanctuarywww.WoodstockSanctuary.org.

It’s All About Food – Liz Ross and Keith Mullin – 10.13.15

Part I: Liz Ross, Coalition of Vegan Activists of ColorLiz Ross is the founder of Coalition of Vegan Activists of Color (COVAC), which collaborates with individuals and community organizations to mobilize vegans of color to initiate vegan outreach and animal rights initiatives. COVAC also promotes veganism while collaborating with other social justice organizations. Liz serves on the advisory board of Food Empowerment Project, a vegan food justice organization that encourages healthy food choices that reflect a more compassionate society. Liz also serves on the board of Black Skeptics Los Angeles, which is committed to building and promoting education and social justice work through a secular humanist perspective. As a former police officer, Elizabeth also raises awareness about the history and problem of mass-incarceration through presentations and group discussions, and volunteering for organizations that are working to counter its negative impact.Part II: Keith Mullin, Zippy’sDeveloping trendsetting products for over 20 years, Keith Mullin has developed unique, crave worthy, consumer packaged goods including the award winning Gamer Grub®, a snack formulated for videogame enthusiasts. As a serial entrepreneur, his innovative items in the marketplace also include children’s toys, electronics, and pet products. Mullin has successfully developed products for the undiscovered ‘white space’ within multiple industries. Mullin’s most recent brand, Zippy’s Veggie Bites offer a hearty amount of vegetables and whole foods in crunchy salad snacks. In January of this year, Riverside Capital acquired Bionic®, one of Mullin’s pet brands. Currently, Mullin holds four patents with twelve additional patents pending.

It’s All About Food – Joel Bourne, The End of Plenty – 10.06.15

Part I: Joel Bourne, The End of PlentyJoel Bourne is an award-winning journalist and former Senior Editor for the Environment at National Geographic. He’s covered major environmental issues for the magazine, including the global food crisis of 2008, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and California’s recurrent water woes. With a degree in agronomy, Bourne frequently reports on the global food system. Most recently he contributed two articles to National Geographic‘s ground-breaking eight-part series, “The Future of Food,” reporting on the agricultural land rush in Africa, as well as new sustainable methods of aquaculture being practiced around the world. His first book, The End of Plenty: the Race to Feed a Crowded World, will be published by W.W. Norton in June 2015.Bourne has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including CNN’s American Morning, CNN International, the National Geographic Channel, and the Diane Rehm Show. He has been a keynote speaker and moderator at major conferences in Washington, D.C., Denver, Chicago, London, Beijing, Moscow, and Bahrain, among other venues. Prior to his tenure atNational Geographic, Bourne’s work appeared in National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Traveler, Audubon, Science, Outside, and many other publications. He lives with his wife and three children in Wilmington, North Carolina.

It’s All About Food – James Aspey, Voiceless365 – 09.22.15

James Aspey is a 28-year-old vegan, animal rights activist from Sydney, Australia. In 2014, he embarked on an unprecedented and life changing challenge. James took a 365 day VOW OF SILENCE to raise awareness for animals and promote peace over violence. He did this while traveling around Australia, and also whilst cycling 5000 kilometers from Darwin to Sydney, in his popular campaign, Voiceless365. He then ended his vow, live, on Australia’s most popular morning TV show and now he’s sharing what he’s learned with the world! Find out more at www.jamesaspey.com.au.

It’s All About Food – Bruce Friedrich and Alycee Lane – 09.15.15

Part I: Bruce Friedrich, Animal Rights and Effective AdvocacyBruce Friedrich, Farm Sanctuary’s director of policy and engagement, oversees Farm Sanctuary’s work on legislation, litigation, policy, and engagement. Before joining Farm Sanctuary, Bruce worked for two years as a public school teacher in inner-city Baltimore (where he was his school’s “Teacher of the Year”), for six years at a homeless shelter and soup kitchen in Washington, D.C., and for 15 years at PETA, where he was vice president for campaigns. He is a popular speaker on issues of animal rights and effective advocacy, has appeared many times on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.  Part II: Alycee J. Lane, Nonviolence Now!: Living the 1963 Birmingham Campaign’s Promise of PeaceAlycee J. Lane is a former professor who taught African American literature and culture at UC Santa Barbara. She is author of Coming in from the Cold, a blog in which she analyzes political and social issues through the prism of Martin Luther King, Jr. s philosophy of nonviolence. A student of Engaged Buddhism, Alycee in 2012 participated in the year-long Commit to Dharma course offered by the East Bay Meditation Center under the tutelage of Larry Yang. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Howard University, Doctorate of Philosophy from UCLA, and Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall). Alycee currently lives in Oakland, California.