Gene Baur
Baur in 2007
Born (1962-07-24) July 24, 1962
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Activist
  • author
Years active1986–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1985, divorced)​

Gene Baur (born July 24, 1962), formerly known as Gene Bauston, is an author and activist in the animal rights and food movement. He’s been called the "conscience of the food movement" by Time magazine, and opposes factory farming and advocates for what he believes would be a more just and respectful food system. Baur is president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, a farm animal protection organization. He is vegan[1] and has been involved with animal rights since he co-founded Farm Sanctuary in 1986.[2] Baur has authored two books and various articles.

Early life and education

Baur was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Hollywood, California, the oldest of six siblings.[3] He went to Loyola High School.[4][5] He attended Cal State Northridge where he obtained a bachelor's degree in sociology. He paid for college, in part, by doing background work in television and movies which included commercials for McDonald's and KFC.

To better understand agribusiness and its mindset, Baur obtained a master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University.

Animal rights work

Farm Sanctuary

Gene Baur at the Farm Sanctuary 25th Anniversary Gala in New York City

In the 1980s, after traveling around the United States and learning about agriculture, Baur began investigations into factory farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses. He believed the conditions he observed were unacceptable, and these experiences helped motivate the creation of Farm Sanctuary, which created the sanctuary movement in North America.[6]

Farm Sanctuary's first rescued animal was a downed (i.e. unable to stand) sheep who had been discarded on a pile of dead animals behind Lancaster stockyards in Pennsylvania in 1986.[7] The sheep, who regained her health and lived for more than ten years, was named Hilda. Farm Sanctuary continued to investigate farms, speak out against factory farming, and rescue animals, funding the fledgling organization by selling vegan hotdogs out of a VW van in the parking lots at Grateful Dead concerts.

Baur has expressed concern about the impact factory farming has on the environment, on workers and consumers, and on rural communities. He has visited communities and witnessed the impact of large scale animal agriculture.[8]

Legislative action

Baur has testified before local, state and federal legislative bodies and spoken to farming and policy organizations in efforts to reform the industry and improve farm animal welfare. In 2004, Baur gave a talk entitled "Animal Rights and Human Responsibility" at the United States Department of Agriculture headquarters in Washington, D.C., and in 2007, he was called to testify before the U.S. House agriculture subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry about the inhumane conditions common on factory farms.[9]

Baur in 2007

Farm animal confinement

Baur played a role in passing the first U.S. laws to restrict industrial animal farming systems. In 2002, Baur led a campaign in Florida to pass a ballot initiative banning gestation crates for pigs.[10][11] After the Florida campaign the Florida Elections Commission found that Farm Sanctuary, and Baur personally, had broken campaign finance laws. Farm Sanctuary and Baur consented to pay a fine of $50,000.[12]

In 2006, Baur was involved in getting a ballot measure introduced and passed[13] in Arizona which banned gestation crates and veal crates.[14] Baur and Farm Sanctuary were also sponsors of a California initiative (Proposition 2) to ban veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages[15] which passed on November 4, 2008, approved with over 63% of the vote.[16]

Foie gras

Baur played a role in a California law that went into effect in 2012, banning the production and sale of foie gras, which is made by force feeding ducks and geese and causing their livers to expand up to ten times their normal size.[17] He was also involved in passing a 2006 (repealed in 2008) Chicago ordinance banning the sale of foie gras.[18]

Vegan advocacy

In 2012, Baur started competing in marathons and triathlons to demonstrate how plant foods can fuel athletic performance. In July 2013, Baur participated in his first full Ironman Triathlon in Lake Placid, New York.[19][20] As a vegan runner, Baur was featured in the May 2013 issue of Runner's World magazine.[21]

Baur participated in an Intelligence Squared debate on December 4, 2013, along with Neal D. Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine arguing for the motion "Don't Eat Anything with a Face." Debating against the motion during the Oxford–style debate were Chris Masterjohn of the Weston A. Price Foundation and farmer Joel Salatin. The Baur/Bernard team was declared the winner after the majority of the audience voted in favor of their position.[22]

Baur was also interviewed on Tony Robbins' Blog and was regarded as "The Change Cultivator"[23] which featured him as a man on a mission to change cultural norms about the way society views animals and as someone who is influential in promoting a plant-based lifestyle.

Media appearances

Baur's investigative exposés and advocacy activities have been covered by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Time magazine,[24] the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times[25] and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.[26] In the early 1990s, Baur debated a meat industry representative on Larry King Live. Baur has been featured in documentaries, including Forks Over Knives[27] and A Cow at My Table.[28] He was an associate producer of the 2011 documentary, Vegucated. Also in 2011, Baur appeared on The Martha Stewart Show's hour-long episode on veganism.[29] In 2016, Baur was selected by Oprah Winfrey as an "inspired leader" honoree of Oprah Winfrey Network's “SuperSoul 100".

Books

In 2002, Baur wrote a chapter for A Primer on Animal Rights: Leading Experts Write about Animal Cruelty and Exploitation, edited by Kim Stallwood.

Baur was cited in the book, The Longest Struggle: From Pythagoras to PETA by Norm Phelps, published in 2007.[30]

Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, was released in March 2008, written by Gene Baur, and published by Simon & Schuster. It appeared on bestseller lists including those of the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe, and it was named as one of Booklist's Top 10 Sci-Tech Books in 2008.[31]

In the book, Eating Animals (2009), Baur was interviewed by author, Jonathan Safran Foer, about how he started Farm Sanctuary and his first rescue of downed sheep, Hilda.[32]

In 2011, Baur was included as a contributor in Forks Over Knives, a documentary film about plant-based eating and health.[33] The film has resulted in a website, companion book and cookbook for healthy eating.

In Voices of the Food Revolution,[34] a book about healing through food which was published in 2013, Baur was interviewed by author, John Robbins.

Baur also wrote a chapter for Running, Eating, Thinking - A Vegan Anthology (2014), edited by Martin Rowe, which delves into the mindset and dietary choices of vegan athletic runners.[35]

Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day, is Baur's second book, coauthored with Gene Stone (author of Forks Over Knives), and was published in April 2015 and includes 100 vegan recipes selected by chefs and celebrities.[36] It is Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award,[37] appeared on Publishers Weekly's national bestsellers list[38] and was named the 2015 book of the year by VegNews magazine.

In 2016, Baur wrote the foreword for the book, Vegan 1 Day: Stories of Living the Good Life by John and Carol Merryfield.

Awards

In 1996, the Peace Abbey awarded Baur with its Courage of Conscience Award.[39] He was inducted into the United States Animal Rights Hall of Fame in 2001.[40]

Baur received the 2017 Peace Award at the Golden West College's Peace and Equity Conference "for his lifelong dedication to animal welfare, sustainable farming practices, and compassion for all living beings."[41]

Books

  • Bauston (Baur), Gene (October 1, 1996) Battered Birds, Crated Herds: How We Treat the Animals We Eat. Farm Sanctuary. ISBN 978-0965637701.
  • Baur, Gene. Forward. Peace to All Beings: Veggie Soup for the Chicken's Soul by Judy Carman, (June 1, 2003). Lantern Books. ISBN 978-1590560051.
  • Baur, Gene (November 4, 2008). Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food. Touchstone. ISBN 978-0743291590.
  • Baur, Gene; Stone, Gene (April 7, 2015). Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day. Rodale Books. ISBN 978-1623364892.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Voerding, Brian. Farm Sanctuary founder in town to talk vegan Archived December 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, MinnPost.com, June 6, 2008
  2. ↑ Farm Sanctuary: Staff Leadership.
  3. ↑ Puskar-Pasewicz, Margaret (2010). Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism. ISBN 9780313375569. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ Interview with Gene Baur - http://reapmediazine.com/index.php/article-list/133-gene-baur-s-farm-santcury-19#.VcULSNko5y4
  5. ↑ Lochrie, Christy. Animal house Chico News & Review: May 1, 2008
  6. ↑ "Farmed Animal Sanctuaries: The Heart of the Movement?". journals.lub.lu.se. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  7. ↑ Worden, Amy (May 17, 2011). "Celebrating Hilda's legacy and Farm Sanctuary at 25". inquirer.com. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  8. ↑ Baur, Gene. A Foul State of Affairs: The Hidden Harm of Factory Farms in North Carolina, HuffPost, September 7, 2012
  9. ↑ McNeil, Donald. Livestock Where the Cows Come Home. The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Jones, Maggie. The Barnyard Strategist The New York Times Magazine: October 24, 2008
  11. ↑ Kuehn, Bridget M. (October 1, 2002). "Campaign to outlaw sow housing in Florida advances". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Florida Elections Commission, Case number FEC 02-093" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2007.
  13. ↑ Crawford, Amanda. Hog industry realities color Prop. 204 debate Archived July 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Arizona Republic: October 28, 2006
  14. ↑ Lovley, Erika. Pigs Win Bigger Pens in Arizona Ballot Fight The Wall Street Journal: November 10, 2006
  15. ↑ Rojas, Aurelio. 2008 Ballot Watch: Proposition 2: Standards for confining farm animals Archived August 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine The Sacramento Bee: September 27, 2008
  16. ↑ California – Election Results 2008 The New York Times
  17. ↑ Milionis, Allison. Protests target Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in effort to reform farm animal conditions Archived March 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. LA City Beat: January 20, 2005.
  18. ↑ Paulson, Amanda. A ban on foie gras? Could this really be Chicago? CS Monitor: December 13, 2005
  19. ↑ Baur, Gene. Postcard from the Road: Lake Placid Ironman Farm Sanctuary Blog: August 8, 2013
  20. ↑ Race Results Ironmanlive.com
  21. ↑ I'm a Runner: Gene Baur Archived June 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Runner's World: May 2013
  22. ↑ Don't Eat Anything with a Face Debate Intelligence Squared
  23. ↑ "The change cultivator". tonyrobbins.com. October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  24. ↑ Walsh, Bryan. The Morality of Mealtime. Time: March 30, 2011.
  25. ↑ McNeil, Donald G. Jr (January 2, 2004). "Where the Cows Come Home; Sanctuary Farm Applauds Ban on Butchering of Sick Animals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  26. ↑ Exclusive Gene Baur Extended Video The Daily Show.
  27. ↑ Forks Over Knives Cast and Crew page
  28. ↑ "A Cow At My Table". Top Documentary Films. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  29. ↑ "The Martha Stewart Show Goes Vegan!". One Green Planet. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  30. ↑ Phelps, Norm (January 1, 2007). The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA. Lantern Books. ISBN 9781590561065.
  31. ↑ Seaman, Donna. Top 10 Sci-Tech Books: 2008 Booklist Online: December 1, 2008
  32. ↑ Foer, Jonathan Safran (November 2, 2009). Eating Animals. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316086646.
  33. ↑ "Gene Baur". Forks Over Knives. June 18, 2014.
  34. ↑ "Summary/Reviews: Voices of the food revolution". buffalolib.org. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Running, Eating, Thinking: A Vegan Anthology". lanternbooks.com. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  36. ↑ Rodale Books. Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day Archived January 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Rodale Inc.
  37. ↑ "Books for a Better Life Awards program run by Scott Manning".
  38. ↑ This Week's Bestsellers: April 20, 2015 Publishers Weekly: April 17, 2015
  39. ↑ "List of Award Recipients | The Peace Abbey FoundationThe Peace Abbey Foundation". www.peaceabbey.org. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  40. ↑ "U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame". Animal Rights National Conference. Farm Animal Rights Movement. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  41. ↑ "Peace & Equity Conference 2017 - Golden West College". Golden West College. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
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