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On September 2nd, animal rights activists took to the streets of Manhattan to participate in an historic march for animal rights.  According to the grass roots organizers, the purpose of the march was “to raise awareness about the billions of animals who we needlessly exploit and kill each year” for food, clothing, entertainment and experimentation and “to oppose the mass animal oppression occurring every day around the world.”

Activists from all over the country traveled to NYC to participate in the march. Bob Ingersoll, a veteran animal rights activist who was the subject of the award-winning documentary film Project Nim, told TheirTurn, “This March will be one of the historically critical events in the effort to secure justice for all sentient beings, to end the use of animals as commodities, and recognize their equal right to live their lives free of human control and manipulation. That’s why I’m here in New York City, where the world is paying attention!”

Philly Stallone raps for 2,500 people at the rally before the NYC Animal Rights March

Simultaneous marches took place in Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Romania and London, which attracted over 5,000 participants:

Organizers of an animal rights march in Israel scheduled on September 9th expect 30,000 participants.

The Animal Welfare Collective at NYU and NYU Dining Services partnered to “veganize” a student dining hall for three days, serving plant-based, environmentally sustainable food in observance with Earth Day.

Anami Nguyen and Aneri Mehta, members of the Animal Welfare Collective, told TheirTurn that feedback they’ve received from non-veg students has been overwhelmingly positive. Even those who were disappointed to discover that the dining was serving exclusively plant-based foods returned to the buffet to refill their plates.

A student dining hall at NYU was “veganized”

While they wish that NYU’s vegan pop up was permanent, Ms. Nguyen and Ms. Mehta readily acknowledge that the event was ground-breaking and a sign that plant-based diets are becoming more and more mainstream.

In March, The James Beard House, an historic culinary center that was once the home of James Beard, hosted its first-ever dinner catered by vegan chefs. James Beard, a legendary cookbook author, teacher and chef mentor, elevated American cuisine starting in the 1940s. In the culinary world, no recognition is more prestigious than the award that bears his name.

Veganizer, a NY-based company that “veganizes” restaurants in an effort to expand the reach of plant-based foods, produced the James Beard dinner, bringing in four renowned vegan chefs – Adam Sobel, Chloe Coscarelli, Daphne Cheng and Jay Astafa. According to Veganizer’s founder Kiki Adami, the unprecedented event sold out in 48 hours and had a waitlist of over 70 people.

Veganizer’s Kiki Adami takes a selfie with vegan chefs Adam Sobel, Jay Astafa, Chloe Coscarelli and Daphne Cheng

Susan Ungaro, the President of The James Beard Foundation, told TheirTurn, “At the Beard House dinners, we want to reflect what’s hot and happening all over the United States, and tonight’s dinner is emblematic of the movement and change that happening in the way American’s eat.”

On April 2nd, hundreds of New Yorkers gathered in the Meatpacking District, of all places, for the start of the 10th Annual Veggie Pride Parade. “We made it ten years; I don’t know how!” joked Pamela Rice, who produces the parade and post-parade exposition in Union Square.

Pamela Rice, organizer of Veggie Pride Parade

While some onlookers laughed condescendingly at the participants, the vast majority laughed with them, remarking on the creative fruit and vegetable costumes and good energy that filled the streets of Greenwich Village. TheirTurn spoke to many people along the parade route to get their reaction:

Several people told us that they would read the pamphlets and consider making changes to their diets, but we suspect that’s not the case for the man caught on camera saying, “Bro. I guarantee this was commissioned by Monsanto.”

A giant pea pod asks onlookers to “Give Peas a Chance.”

The cure to many of our diseases and ailments is right under our nose, but the institutions that should be sharing this information are paid by corporations to ensure that we don’t get it. This moral crime is uncovered in an explosive new documentary film called What The Health, which will be available for streaming on Thursday, March 16th.

On March 7th, hundreds of New Yorkers attended the world premiere of What The Health. Co-directors  Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn held a Q&A after the screening.

Co-director Keegan Kuhn, Nutritionist Dr. Ruby Lathon & Co-director Kip Andersen at the world premiere of What The Health in NYC (Photo by Lukas Maverick Greyson)

Among the many shocking revelations in the film is that charities like the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association, organizations that should working to improve public health, are withholding life-saving information and promoting a harmful diet in order to curry favor with their corporate donors. “When I was healed, I couldn’t keep quiet,” said Dr. Ruby Lathon, a Certified Holistic Nutritionist who is featured in the film. “I couldn’t believe that there’s a secret out here that you can heal with food.”