Speakers
Gene Baur
Gene Baur is an activist, best-selling author, and president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, the first animal rescue organization dedicated to farmed animals. He is vegan and has been at the forefront of animal rights since he began the Sanctuary in 1986.
In the 1980s he began investigating factory farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses. Baur's investigative exposés and advocacy efforts on behalf of farm animals have earned international media coverage, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.
He has a Master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University, and has testified before local, state and federal legislative bodies, and appeared on various expert panels. In 1996, The Peace Abbey awarded Baur with its Courage of Conscience Award (other recipients include Rosa Parks and Mother Teresa).
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.
Michael Greger, M.D.
Michael Greger, M.D., is a physician, author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, among countless other symposia and institutions, and was invited as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous "meat defamation" trial.
Currently Dr. Greger serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States.. Dr. Greger is also licensed as a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition and was a founding member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Dr. Greger was featured on the Healthy Living Channel promoting his latest nutrition DVD and honored to teach part of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's esteemed nutrition course at Cornell University.
His previous books include Heart Failure: Diary of a Third Year Medical Student and Carbophobia: The Scary Truth Behind America's Low Carb Craze. Dr. Greger is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine.
Jae Steele
Jae Steele is a registered holistic nutritionist living in Toronto. She's the author of the Gourmand award-winning vegan cookbook Get It Ripe: a fresh take on vegan cooking and living (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2008). Her latest book, Ripe From Around Here: A Vegan Guide to Local and Sustainable Eating--No Matter Where You Live is due to be released this spring.
jae's great strength is in providing people with practical information for healthy living. It was her past experience working on small organic farms, her love of farmers’ markets and community-building, and the time she spent on the board of directors at her local food co-op that inspired the writing of Ripe From Around Here. The book underscores the importance of local, sustainable eating and living by helping readers deepen their understanding of organic and seasonal foods, and their positive impact on our health and our planet. While local foods is a big buzz phrase across the western world these days, jae makes a point of providing an informative resource from a non-animal-consuming, vegan vantage point.
When she has moments to spare from her midwifery studies at Ryerson University, jae lectures and leads workshops about eating well in everyday life, and posts whole foods recipes on her popular blog, domesticaffair.ca.
