Gene Baur

Gene Baur
Occupation	Activist, author

Gene Baur (formerly Gene Bauston) is an activist, author, and president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, a farm animal rescue organization. He is vegan^[1] and has been involved with animal rights since he founded the Sanctuary in 1986.^[2]

Baur was born in 1962, ^[3] grew up in Hollywood, California, and went to Loyola High School.^[4] 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, including commercials for McDonald's and KFC. During high school and college, he had various jobs, including dishwasher, day laborer, bartender, and teacher. In the 1980s he began investigations into factory farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses. Baur felt the conditions he observed were unacceptable, and these experiences helped motivate the creation of Farm Sanctuary. The Sanctuary's first rescued animal was a downed sheep found on a pile of dead animals behind Lancaster stockyards in 1986.^[2] Bauer has expressed concern about the impact factory farming has on the environment and on rural communities, and has visited communities negatively impacted by industrialized animal agriculture.^[5]

Baur's investigative exposés and advocacy activities have earned international media coverage, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times^[6] and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.^[7] TIME called Baur, "the conscience of the food movement."^[8]

Baur obtained a master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University. He has testified before local, state and federal legislative bodies. In 1996, the Peace Abbey awarded Baur with its Courage of Conscience Award.^[9][10] He was inducted into the United States Animal Rights Hall of Fame in 2001.^[11]

Baur in 2007

Baur played a key role in the passage of several animal-protection ordinances, including a 2004 California law banning the production and sale of foie gras,^[12] and a 2002 Florida initiative banning gestation crates.^[13][14] 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 Farm Sanctuary and Baur consented to pay a fine of $50,000.^[15] Baur was involved in passing a 2006 (repealed in 2008) Chicago ordinance banning the sale of foie gras^[16] and a 2006 ballot measure^[17] in Arizona banning gestation crates and veal crates.^[18] Baur and Farm Sanctuary were sponsors of California initiative (Proposition 2) to ban veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages^[19] which passed on November 4, 2008, when it was approved with over 63% of the vote.^[20]

Baur 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.

In March 2008, Baur released a book entitled Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food published by Simon & Schuster. It has appeared on the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe bestseller lists and was named to Booklist's Top 10 Sci-Tech Books: 2008.^[21] Baur's second book, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day, coauthored with Gene Stone (author of Forks Over Knives), was published in April 2015 and includes 100 vegan recipes selected by chefs and celebrities.^[22] It appeared on Publishers Weekly's bestsellers list.^[23]

Baur was featured in the documentary Forks Over Knives.^[24]

In 2012, Baur started competing in marathons and triathlons to demonstrate how plant foods can fuel athletic performance. He was featured in the May 2013 issue of Runner's World Magazine.^[25] In March 2013, he finished the Los Angeles Marathon.^[26] In July 2013, Baur participated in his first full Ironman Triathlon.^[27][28]

Baur participated in an Intelligence Squared U.S. debate on December 4, 2013, along with Dr. Neal Bernard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine arguing for the motion "Don't Eat Anything with a Face." Arguing against the motion during the Oxford style debate were Chris Masterjohn of the Weston A. Price Foundation and farmer Joel Salatin. The team arguing for the motion was declared the winner, after moving a significant percentage of the audience to vote in favor of their position.^[29]

Books

• Baur, Gene (2008-11-04). Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food. Touchstone. ISBN 978-0743291590. 
• Baur, Gene; Stone, Gene (2015-04-07). Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day. Rodale Books. ISBN 978-1623364892. 

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gene Baur.

• Farm Sanctuary home page
• "Making Hay with Gene Baur" - Gene Baur's blog
• Gene Baur talks about his book "Farm Sanctuary" in mp3 recorded July 25, 2008 in Sacramento, California