Gene Baur | |
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 Baur in 2007 | |
| Born | (1962-07-24)July 24, 1962 (age 62) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1986–present |
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Gene Baur (born July 24, 1962), formerly known asGene Bauston, is an American author and activist in theanimal rights and food movement. He’s been called the "conscience of the food movement" byTime magazine, and opposesfactory farming and advocates for what he believes would be a more just and respectfulfood system. Baur is president and co-founder ofFarm Sanctuary, a farm animal protection organization. He isvegan[1] and has been involved withanimal rights since he co-founded Farm Sanctuary in 1986.[2] Baur has authored two books and various articles.
Baur was born inLos Angeles and grew up inHollywood, California, the oldest of six siblings.[3] He went toLoyola High School.[4][5] He attendedCal 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 forMcDonald's andKFC.
To better understandagribusiness and its mindset, Baur obtained a master's degree in agricultural economics fromCornell University.
In the 1980s, after traveling around the United States and learning about agriculture, Baur began investigations intofactory farms,stockyards, andslaughterhouses. He believed the conditions he observed were unacceptable, and these experiences helped motivate the creation ofFarm 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 atGrateful 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]
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 theUnited 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 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 banninggestation 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 bannedgestation 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]
Baur played a role in a California law that went into effect in 2012, banning the production and sale offoie 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]
In 2012, Baur started competing inmarathons andtriathlons to demonstrate how plant foods can fuel athletic performance. In July 2013, Baur participated in his first fullIronman Triathlon in Lake Placid, New York.[19][20] As a vegan runner, Baur was featured in the May 2013 issue ofRunner's World magazine.[21]
Baur participated in anIntelligence Squared debate on December 4, 2013, along withNeal D. Barnard of thePhysicians 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 theWeston A. Price Foundation and farmerJoel 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 onTony 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.
Baur's investigative exposés and advocacy activities have been covered byABC,NBC,CBS,CNN,Time magazine,[24] theLos Angeles Times,The New York Times[25] andThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart.[26] In the early 1990s, Baur debated ameat industry representative onLarry King Live. Baur has been featured in documentaries, includingForks Over Knives[27] andA Cow at My Table.[28] He was an associate producer of the 2011 documentary,Vegucated. Also in 2011, Baur appeared onThe Martha Stewart Show's hour-long episode on veganism.[29] In 2016, Baur was selected byOprah Winfrey as an "inspired leader" honoree of Oprah Winfrey Network's “SuperSoul 100".
In 2002, Baur wrote a chapter forA 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 bySimon & Schuster. It appeared on bestseller lists including those of theLos Angeles Times andThe Boston Globe, and it was named as one ofBooklist'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 inForks 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.
InVoices 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 forRunning, 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 withGene Stone (author ofForks 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 byVegNews magazine.
In 2016, Baur wrote the foreword for the book,Vegan 1 Day: Stories of Living the Good Life by John and Carol Merryfield.
In 1996, the Peace Abbey awarded Baur with its Courage of Conscience Award.[39] He was inducted into the United StatesAnimal 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]
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