EVEN interview with lauren Ornelas
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FROM

Eugene Veg Education Network (EVEN)
March 2016

I think what makes veganism hard for people is a variety of things. One is that in the US we are very much geared towards individual needs and wants, which allow us to look past anything that is not about ourselves. People say that it is their right to eat “meat” without thinking about how it impacts others.

The word vegan should not just be used when referring to people who choose not to eat animal products because being vegan includes doing our best to abstain from participating in the other ways animals are exploited, including animal testing, wearing them, etc.

Veganism is simply about one's ethics and not contributing to the suffering of others.

Introduction

lauren Ornelas is the founder/director of Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.), a
vegan food justice nonprofit seeking to create a more just world by helping consumers recognize the power of their food choices. F.E.P. works in solidarity with farm workers, advocates for chocolate not sourced from the worst forms of child labor, and focuses on access to healthy foods in communities of color and low-income communities.

While lauren was the director of Viva! USA, she investigated factory farms and ran consumer campaigns. In cooperation with activists across the country, she persuaded Trader Joe’s to stop selling all duck meat and was the spark that got the founder of Whole Foods Market to become a vegan. She also helped halt the construction of an industrial dairy operation in California. She served as Campaign Director with the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition for six years and has made a TedX presentation, The Power of Our Food Choices.

Please read the entire inspiring interview here (PDF).

lauren ornelas

poultry slaughterhouse demo
Monthly outreach at the Petaluma Poultry Slaughterhouse

farm worker child
Child of farm worker with new backpack from Food Empowerment Project, 2015 School Supply Drive

food is power

Please read the entire inspiring interview here (PDF).


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