LISA BLOOM: Well, hello everyone.
And thank you so much for joining us here
at Talk at Google.
And we're here at Google LA.
My name is Lisa Bloom.
And I'm very privileged to have the opportunity
to interview Gene Baur.
I'll tell you about Gene in a second.
I'm a civil rights attorney here in Los Angeles.
I do race and sex discrimination cases,
police excessive force cases.
I'm also an author and legal analyst for NBC News.
And I appear frequently on CNN and another networks talking
about the big legal issues of the day.
But for today, I'm here in my role
as vegan and an animal activist.
I am personally a very passionate vegan
and animal rights person.
I've been vegetarian since 1977, vegan since 2009.
And I'm here to say that it's a very easy, wonderful life not
participating in animal cruelty.
I thought it would be difficult, but in fact, it's very easy.
But enough about me.
I'm here to interview Gene Baur.
Gene is the president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary.
And he's going to tell us more about that.
And he's also the author of this wonderful new book,
"Living the Farm Sanctuary Life-- The Ultimate
Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer,
and Feeling Better Every Day."
And who doesn't want to have all of those things?
So I'm going to interview Gene for a bit.
And then we're going to have questions and answers.
I always love live events because I
feel like it's a great opportunity for everybody
to participate and ask questions.
We're actually here live, in the flesh.
This is not TV.
So please ask us questions and please interact at the end.
And don't be shy.
I'm sure Gene is willing to answer any questions that you
have.
So, Gene, can you tell us a little bit about Farm Sanctuary
and how it got started?
GENE BAUR: Yeah.
Farm Sanctuary is an organization
that works to protect farm animals from cruelty,
to challenge the factory farming system,
to change how our society views and treats these animals,
and to promote more mindful compassionate living.
Most people are humane.
Most people are against cruelty.
But most people are unwittingly supporting a cruel system
through their food choices.
And this is something we grow up with.
I grew up eating animals without really thinking about it.
So at Farm Sanctuary, we just want
people to think about the way we're living.
And ultimately to make choices that
are aligned with their own values
that we can feel good about, instead of what often happens
when the topic of factory farming or animal slaughter
comes up.
People say don't tell me.
I don't want to know.
Because it's upsetting.
And the fact that it is upsetting
speaks to how it is not aligned with our humanity
and our compassion.
And we also grew up believing we need animal foods for health.
We need meat for protein, for example.
But we don't.
So a big part of what we do is dispel
these myths and these beliefs.
And so Farm Sanctuary is a place where the animals
are our friends, not our food.
We started by visiting factory farms
and documenting conditions, finding
living animals thrown in trash cans
or on piles of dead animals.
So it started as an investigation and an expose
of factory farming.
And partly to heal ourselves, as well as
to help individual animals, we started rescuing animals
because seeing horrible thing after horrible thing is
difficult. And it does something to you.
It does something to people that work in these industries.
And I feel bad for people that work at slaughterhouses.
I just saw something this morning
online about a case in Ohio where an egg factory and people
involved with it are being charged with slave labor.
So people that work in these places
are also not treated well.
To me, being vegan, really, is an aspiration
to live as kindly as possible.
And not eating animal foods and choosing to eat plants instead,
is a pretty easy way to do that.
And if somebody can't do it overnight,
they can do it incrementally.
And that's a big part of what the book's about.
LISA BLOOM: There's a great part in the book about small steps
you can take.
Because I think for a lot of people
the idea of going vegan entirely seems really extremely
and difficult and scary.
Even though I'm here to say it's not.
But I want to talk about those small steps in a minute.
But what is a Farm Sanctuary for people
who aren't familiar with it?
GENE BAUR: It's a sanctuary where the animals get
to live out their lives.
And we have three farms.
One in Watkins Glen, New York, one in Northern California,
and one in Acton.
And so if they're sick, we take them to the veterinarian.
Whereas on factory farms and in production,
if an animal is sick, they're oftentimes just left to die
or sent to slaughter.
Because, financially, if an animal's worth $10,
or if it's a chicken they're worth even less.
It's not worth it economically to spend $50 on a veterinarian.
So the animals are our friends at Farm Sanctuary.
And it's a place where people get
a chance to interact with them, to come up and give
a pig a belly rub.
Like 800 pound pigs, you walk up to them, you touch your belly,
they flop over for a belly rub.
LISA BLOOM: Aww.
GENE BAUR: We do other events at the farm
where we encourage people just to think differently
about these animals.
For Thanksgiving every year we do a celebration
for the turkeys, where the turkeys are our guests, not
the main course.
So we turn the tables.
And, of course, have vegan food.
LISA BLOOM: I always say, if we can pardon one turkey,
as the president does every year in the weirdest political event
of the year.
Every year, right?
That weird turkey pardon.
If we can pardon one, why can't we pardon them all?
And I've been to your Farm Sanctuary Thanksgiving event.
And it's a wonderful event.
And I encourage everybody to check that out.
GENE BAUR: But it's really true, though, how we
have this big public pardoning.
LISA BLOOM: It's so bizarre.
GENE BAUR: And at the same time, we
have millions of dead bird bodies
on plates around the country.
So there's this irony, and this disconnect, and this conflict,
in a sense, between sort of our humanity and our compassion
and our desire to live well without causing harm.
And one of the things that we say
is, if we can live well without causing unnecessary harm,
why wouldn't we?
LISA BLOOM: And I want to encourage everybody
to look at the books that are on your seats
and the seats around you.
Because there's just these beautiful
photographs in the book right at the beginning
and throughout the book.
As Gene says, a lot of times, animal rights things
can bombard you with these horrible videos
that are just very painful and difficult to watch.
This is the opposite.
These are beautiful images.
These are positive images.
And, frankly, it's kind of refreshing as somebody
who works in the animal rights movement
to see the positive stuff.
And to come at this more the carrot than the stick.
GENE BAUR: Yeah.
Seeing those ugly images is very painful.
And sometimes people do turn off to them
because they don't want to see it.
I think is important to know about that and be aware of it.
So I think those images are very helpful in terms of advancing
awareness about these issues.
But they can be very depressing too.
And we need to know that there is a solution.
There is something we can do to prevent
this abuse and this horror from continuing.
And the good news is that every day each of us
makes choices that can make a difference.
There's many things in this world that
are outside of our control.
And we feel helpless.
But when it comes to what we eat every day,
we have a lot of power over that.
And so being vegan for many people,
myself included, is a very empowering kind of statement.
It's something you can do.
It's very affirmative.
And you know, Farm Sanctuary, in this book particularly,
is really about taking steps and building momentum
towards living more mindfully, more compassionately, more
healthfully.
I went vegan in 1985.
And at the time, I was primarily concerned about animal cruelty.
And I didn't want to support that.
But I wasn't as health oriented.
So I was eating noodles and margarine
and not the healthiest things.
And as a vegan, you can eat Oreos and Coke.
And that's not the healthiest thing.
In recent years, I've become more,
I think, holistic in this.
And trying to eat more whole foods, all plant foods.
But more fresh plant foods, like fruits, vegetables,
less processed food.
So I think that's an important part of this as well.
Not only to leave animal foods off the plate,
but to eat whole plant foods.
And it's been estimated we could save 70% on health care costs
by eating a whole foods, plant-based diet
in this country.
That is massive.
If you think of the cost associated with health care.
And in addition to the pain and suffering people experience,
if we could alleviate that, it makes a lot of sense.
So what we're talking about is not
only aligned with our values, it's
aligned with our interests.
It doesn't make sense.
It's irrational to eat food that makes us sick.
But we do that in this country.
And we die younger than we need to.
We suffer from heart problems and cancers
that could be prevented.
Or the risks certainly could be lessened
by eating plant foods instead.
So this is about living in a way that is healthy for us and then
the environment.
The United Nations has put out a report
talking about how animal agriculture is
the top contributor to the most serious environmental problems
we're facing, including climate change.
United Nations talks about how animal agriculture contributes
more to climate change than the entire transportation industry.
So this is another thing, where by making food choices that
are mindful, we can take a bite out of all these problems.
So the more you look at it, the more sense it makes.
LISA BLOOM: So obviously, you're obese and disease-ridden
and protein deprived.
And probably have a very short lifespan ahead of you.
How old are you, if I may ask?
GENE BAUR: I am 52.
Gonna be 53 in a couple weeks.
LISA BLOOM: OK.
So I'm 53.
And one of the things that we always
notice when we go to vegan restaurants
is how everybody's in pretty good shape and pretty healthy.
And it's kind of a joke among vegans.
And another joke among vegans is the question
that we always get, which is, where do you get your protein?
And I don't mean that in a derisive way
because it's a legitimate question.
We've all been so brainwashed to think
that we have to eat animals or animal products.
Otherwise we just wither away from lack of protein.
So can you address that issue for those
who might be wondering?
GENE BAUR: Absolutely.
Well, we actually eat way too much protein in this country.
And that creates problems as well.
Excessive protein in our bodies creates an acidic condition.
And when you have that it has to be neutralized.
And oftentimes it is neutralized with calcium,
which is leached from our bodies, leached from our bones
and contributes to things like osteoporosis.
In this country we have a huge problem with osteoporosis.
And we also drink a lot of cow's milk.
But we've been told that drinking cow's milk prevents
osteoporosis.
So there's a disconnect there.
So excess protein is more of a problem
than not enough protein.
And there's protein in things like potatoes and broccoli,
believe it or not.
Not a lot of it, but there is some.
If you want higher protein content,
you can have beans, which have plenty of protein
and also a lot of fiber.
Tofu, tempeh, whole grains, quinoa
are good sources of protein.
Greens are good source of protein.
But eating a whole foods, plant-based diet
and eating a variety of foods is probably
the best nutritional advice.
And by doing that you'll get all the protein you need.
There's never been a documented case of somebody
who has had protein deficiency, if they have had enough food.
The only time you see protein deficiency
is if people are not getting enough food.
So if we eat just a whole foods, plant-based diet
in a variety of things, it does us very well.
LISA BLOOM: Yeah.
We really don't have any problem with protein deficiency
in America.
What we do have a problem with is fiber deficiency.
And so if you turn on the TV, you'll
see all these ads for yogurts and pills
that you need to take because you have digestive problems.
And I always want to scream back to the TV, just eat vegetables.
GENE BAUR: It's so true.
I mean if there's one nutrient that we
need to say more Americans need to eat, it's fiber.
I mean because that is linked to whole plant foods.
So that really is one of the most important messages.
So eating greens, eating big salads
with like beans on it and nuts or whatever you want to add,
croutons, there's all kinds of things.
You can make some amazing salads with a large bed of greens.
And arugula is actually a performance enhancer
for athletes.
What I found basically there is, you just eat the same foods,
you just have to eat a lot more, if you're training and burning
a lot of calories.
But these greens and especially arugula
can actually enhance performance.
I mention Scott Jurek before, who's an elite athlete.
He's written about this.
There's also a guy, Patrick Baboumian,
who broke the world record carrying
the most weight of any person.
And he's a vegan.
So he also might have some ideas about elite performance.
For me, I would just eat a lot more food.
And things like arugula, I found to be a performance enhancer.
But I'm also more of a distance person,
as opposed to, perhaps, explosive.
And so there are, I'm sure, plant foods that could be used.
I don't know enough about them, though,
to give you really solid advice.
But I would do it slowly.
And dates, for example, are pretty dense.
You probably need to go to dense foods, nuts.
You could probably make something
with a dried fruit and--
LISA BLOOM: Smoothies.
GENE BAUR: nut.
Smoothies are really great.
But dense foods, probably.
And you could put nut butters in smoothies
to get additional kick, if you needed it.
LISA BLOOM: I've also run marathons.
And I do a lot a long distance cycling.
And I get what you're saying that you're hungry.
And you're big guy, right?
I love smoothies.
In fact I had one this morning with peanut butter,
or almond butter, or with bananas.
It's also great if you're busy and you're on the go.
You could take it in the car.
There's a lot you can do.
AUDIENCE: Great.
Thank you.
LISA BLOOM: All right.
GENE BAUR: Thank you very much.
LISA BLOOM: Thank you everybody for turning out again.
Thank you Talk at Google and Google LA.
Really appreciate it.
And thank you so much, Gene Baur.
GENE BAUR: Thank you, Lisa.