lauren Ornelas

lauren Ornelas (with Nicholas at Animal Place), Founder and Director of the Food Empowerment Project.

lauren T. Ornelas is an animal rights advocate for more than 20 years and the founder and Director of the Food Empowerment Project and veganmexicanfood.com.

Ornelas was born in San Antonio, Texas[1] and grew up in Texas, where she became a vegetarian as a child. She attended Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio from 1984 to 1988. When in high school, she became a vegan and started her first animal rights group. She studied at St. Edward's University in Austin in 1990-1993, majoring in communications and minoring in political science.[1] In 1992, Ornelas founded the St. Edwards Animals Rights Society, which transitioned into Action for Animals after she graduated.[2] While at St. Edward's, nuns tore down her "Go Veggie" posters.[3] In the 1992-93 academic year, Ornelas was a recipient of the St. Edward's University Presidential Award.[4] She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Edward's. She continued her work for animals while attending university and eventually became the National Coordinator for In Defense of Animals.[5] She worked for In Defense of Animals from 1995 to 1999.

Viva! UK then asked lauren to start and run Viva! USA, a national nonprofit vegan advocacy organization, where she did numerous factory farm investigations.[5] Ornelas ran Viva!USA from February 1999 to April 2006.[6] As Viva! USA’s executive director,[7] in cooperation with activists across the country, she also brought corporate changes to such powerful companies as Whole Foods Market,[8] Trader Joe's, and Pier 1 Imports.[5]

In 2003, Ornelas appeared at the annual shareholder meeting of Whole Foods Market and spoke about the treatment and the lives of the ducks that were killed to be sold in Whole Foods stores. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was present and initially responded to Ornelas's speech dismissively. But a subsequent sequence of e-mails between Ornelas and Mackey, plus Mackey's reading of a dozen books on animal agriculture, resulted in Mackey becoming vegan.[9][10]

In a 2004 address to the Empty Cages Conference, Ornelas described the results of Viva!USA's campaign to get grocery stores to stop selling duck meat:

"Grocery store chains, Earth Fare, Huckleberries, our local co-ops and Wild Oats either stopped buying duck meat from the farms we investigated or duck meat altogether. In fact, Trader Joe's stopped carrying all duck meat and put a statement on their website testifying to the fact that this was done because their customers were concerned about the treatment of the animals. With Trader Joe's the goal of our campaign was achieved."[11]

In 2006, Ornelas’ desire to address a variety of social justice issues came to fruition with the opportunity to give a talk “Corporate Animal Farms: Exploiting Animals, Workers and the Environment, and Why You Should Work to Stop It” at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela. It was in Caracas that she noted that many of the issues being discussed revolved around food, from labor and immigration issues to water, animals, and the environment. Ornelas knew that being more responsible about what we eat was key to fighting injustice, and her idea for the Food Empowerment Project was born.[12]

Ornelas campaigns against chocolate produced by labor of West African slaves. "How can we say vegan chocolate is cruelty-free just because it doesn't contain animal products? If it comes from the blood and sweat of slaves in West Africa -- children, no less -- it's certainly not cruelty-free,” she says.[13]

Ornelas was one of several people who provided information used in the writing of the book Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism (2008) by Mark Hawthorne. She later married Hawthorne; they live in northern California.

Ornelas wrote a chapter of Lisa Kemmerer's 2011 anthology Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice.[14]

In California's 2008 Proposition 2 campaign, Ornelas was the Santa Clara County director of the YES ON 2 campaign. After Prop 2 won, Ornelas and other Prop 2 activists formed Santa Clara County Activists for Animals (SCCAA).[15]

Ornelas was Campaigns Director for Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition from March 2007 to July 2013.

Ornelas gave a talk on "The Power of Our Food Choices" at TEDxGoldenGatePark in San Francisco on October 9, 2013.[16]

Currently, lauren Ornelas oversees the all-volunteer non-profit Food Empowerment Project.[17]

Interviews

Articles

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Williams, Dave (2012-11-30). "A staunch advocate for food empowerment". The Community Voice 22 (33) (Rohnert Park, California). She majored at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas in communications and has a minor in political science.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Action for Animals Austin. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
  3. ↑ Garofoli, Joe (2004-02-08). "The Believers / What does it mean to eschew all animal products? Three animal rights ideologues on their moment of conversion". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2014-10-14. She started an animal rights club in high school, got arrested 'about 10 times' over the years, had nuns tear down her 'Go Veggie' posters in college, and constantly worked two jobs to support her activism
  4. ↑ "Past Presidential Award Recipients". St. Edward's University. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ornelas, lauren (October 2003). Rebel Yell! The Satya Interview with Lauren Ornelas. Satya. Interview with Rachel Cernansky. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  6. ↑ Ornelas, lauren (2012-06-18). "Finally … almost July 1, 2012". Food Empowerment Project. Retrieved 2014-10-14. One of these compromises was the delay in enacting the bill that would ban foie gras. Instead of taking effect the next year, they allowed a 7-year phase-out period.
  7. ↑ Dolan, Maura (2007-07-24). "Justices uphold kangaroo hide ban". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2010-08-04. Retrieved 2010-10-21. Lauren Ornelas, campaign director for Viva! Vegetarians International Voice for Animals
  8. ↑ Horovitz, Bruce (2003-10-21). "Whole Foods pledges to be more humane". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-10-14. 'It's a big deal for the animals,' says Lauren Ornelas, campaign director at VivaUSA, the domestic branch of the British-based animal rights group. 'Whole Foods customers don't like the idea of ducks whose bills are cut off.'
  9. ↑ Fishman, Charles (2004-07-01). "The Anarchist's Cookbook". Fast Company. Mackey did two things. He changed his vegetarian diet to vegan (he no longer eats food produced from animals, including dairy products). And he sent Ornelas an email telling her she was right -- not just about ducks, but about chickens, pigs, and cows.
  10. ↑ "Whole Foods Market to Create Humane Farming Standards". United Poultry Concerns. 2003-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-14. In addition to Whole Foods Market's corporate commitment to raise the bar, my research on animal welfare issues while in dialogue with Ms. Ornelas, convinced me to personally become a vegan. I believe a vegan lifestyle is the most animal compassionate lifestyle possible.
  11. ↑ Ornelas, lauren (2004-10-02). "Changing Corporate Policy". Animals and Society Institute. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Consumer campaigns work. We had activists and consumers all over the country, calling, e-mailing, writing letters, sending faxes, protesting—yes, protesting.
  12. ↑ Hawthorne, Mark (2011-05-24). "lauren Ornelas on Food Justice". Striking at the Roots.
  13. ↑ Harmon, Rashida (2012-04-24). "Vegan Women of Color Break New Ground". VegNews. ISSN 1544-8495. Retrieved 2014-09-29. How can we say vegan chocolate is cruelty-free just because it doesn't contain animal products? If it comes from the blood and sweat of slaves in West Africa -- children, no less -- it's certainly not cruelty-free
  14. ↑ Kemmerer, Lisa A., ed. (2011-05-23). Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07811-8. Lay summary. Foreword by Carol J. Adams. The chapter written by Ornelas is entitled "An Appetite for Justice" and appears on pages 152-160 of the book.
  15. ↑ McKenzie, Melissa (July 13–19, 2011). "Workers for the Wordless". The Santa Clara Weekly (Santa Clara, California: Santa Clara Eagle Publishing Company) 41 (26): 8. OCLC 39374271. Archived from the original on 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-04. 'Unfortunately, most people have little understanding of how animals in captivity, whether for entertainment or raised for food, suffer at the hands of humans. We believe if most people knew, they would stop participating in these cruelties,' said Ornelas.
  16. ↑ Ornelas, lauren (2013-10-09). "The Power of Our Food Choices". TEDx. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  17. ↑ Food Empowerment Project website

External links