Farewell Casey Kasem, Humanitarian, Vegan and Advocate for Animals - and All-Around Great Guy

I was a huge Casey Kasem fan in the 1970s and 1980s, back in the heyday of the radio show he hosted, American Top 40.

Little did I know at the time that Casey was very political. In fact, he was a lifelong supporter of a variety of progressive causes, including the anti-nuclear movement, environmentalism, social justice and Arab-American rights. And guess what else? He was a committed vegan and an animal rights activist! He became a vegetarian in 1974 and a vegan in the early 2000s. 

With a heavy heart, I read of Casey's passing over the weekend. He died at the age of 82, after spending years combating the effects of Parkinson's disease.

He was a man of so many talents. Not only was he known as Mr. Top 40, he was also a master voiceover artist, perhaps most famous as the voice of the hippie slacker Shaggy in Scooby Doo.

Because Kasem was more famous as a nationally recognized D.J., most people probably overlooked all of the wonderful work he did to help animals. He was, for example, the national chair of the Great American Meatout, which sought to educate people about the harm and violence that came with meat consumption. In 2005, he received the Celebrity Animal Advocate Award at the National Animal Rights Conference.

In a 2007 interview with Dr. John A. McDougall, Kasem discussed his views on the treatment of animals. What better tribute to Kasem than to include his views here?

Here are Casey Kasem's reflections:

"Let's begin with the chickens. Put in those cages that are no bigger than a folded newspaper. Chickens have pride and a pecking order. When you consider that they are in there, some of them without beaks and some of them with beaks. Those that have beaks of course cannibalize the others, because they need room to move, they can't even move their wings. And of course their feet are getting tangled in the wire. And then there is one wire cage set upon another and another and another and another. And the feces fall on top of the heads of these creatures. As they are born and they happen to be born a male chicken, they are thrown into a plastic bag and they suffocate in the bodies of their brothers. And the female chickens, their beaks are put into a metal machine that cuts the beak off. Some of them don't survive that. They are made to create eggs and ultimately become food for animals I guess, if not human beings."

"The pigs are stored very often in the same way. In concrete buildings that are warehouse size. And in order to keep the floors of the building clean, they use ammonia. We know that pigs are much more sensitive in smell than humans are. Could you imagine living your entire life smelling ammonia, day in and day out, in a darkened room. Children don't know that those pigs don't get out and play in the mud, that those pigs are just products, treated like inanimate products."

"Then you have the calves, in their 2 by 4 prisons. Where they have no opportunity to ever feed on their mother's breast. The animal is immediately taken from the mother and the calf is put into this little stall. Not allowed to suck on anything, but just fed milk, so the price for their bodies can be a lot higher as they sell milk-fed veal to customers at restaurants. The mother, the cow. Never seeing their offspring, but being artificially inseminated, again and again and again, so that their udders will be full, because they are impregnated. And that means more milk for the dairymen. Their udder is so big, that they are literally on the floor. They too, hardly ever see the sun or the grass or graze."

"And this goes on and on and on. For all kinds of animals. Not to mention the ones that are being experimented upon. So, this is my priority. I feel that if I do nothing else in life, but can turn a few people around, I can do a lot to help the animals in their tortured lives."

"In protest against the animal industry, we have to stand up and let people know why it is that we don't eat cheese and we don't drink milk. Besides from the fact that it's not healthy for you, how very unhealthy it is for those animals who have just become products. They are not beings anymore in the eyes of the people who produce them."

"I believe that if in the 4th or 5th grade, children could take a field trip to a slaughterhouse, we wouldn't have to worry about people becoming vegetarians. It would be just automatic. It would happen in a day. Those kids would get such an eyeful and their teachers as well."

"I just think that Americans, who unfortunately grow up watching television, motion pictures, day in and day out, where there is so much slaughter of human beings. I would hope that they would recognize, that if we can go back to the very basic thing, that is not to want to bring death to anything, anything that has eyes and can run away from you. And realize that that is basically right and should be just core in our thinking, then that could be the beginning of really a new world order, ultimately. Because as long as we keep killing animals, I have a feeling that we're going to keep killing people. There is certainly a relationship there."

Farewell, Casey. Your wonderful voice of compassion and reason will always be missed!

On Celebs Who Go Vegan, But Not For the Animals

J-Lo and fur coat. Jennifer Lopez is the latest celebrity to convert to veganism for reasons that have nothing to do with animals. 

It seems like at least once a week, you hear about a celebrity who "goes vegan."

The latest convert to veganism is pop diva and actress Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a. J-Lo. J-Lo went vegan earlier this year, and she is now crediting the diet with leading to her abrupt 10-pound weight loss. She explained her reasoning recently to Access Hollywood:

I'll be honest with you guys, since I had the babies about six years ago, I had that really stubborn 8 to 10 pounds on me. People are used to seeing me be kind of thickish, but when I started eating [vegan], right away I dropped like 8 to 10 pounds. It was a real change, but more than that I felt better and people were like, 'Your energy's better,' ... everything's better.

In the Access Hollywood interview, there was one word J-Lo never mentioned: "animals." It's clear that Lopez did not embrace veganism for ethical reasons. She merely wanted to get rid of that 8 to 10 pounds she put on when she had babies. In fact, at one point in the same interview, J-Lo advises, "The truth is, even if you're 70-80 percent vegan, it's so much better having those vegetables, greens, plant-based stuff. It's going to change your health."

I know what you're thinking. "Huh? 70-80 percent vegan???" One cannot be 70-80 percent vegan, any more than one can be 70-80 percent kind, or 70-80 percent ethical, or 70-80 percent of anything that demands an entire lifestyle commitment. You either live that life or you don't.

What J-Lo probably should've said is "even if your diet is 70-80 percent plant-based." But I imagine these matters having to do with semantics are lost on the singer/actress. She is clearly not an ethical vegan. She is not doing it for the animals. In fact, J-Lo has been a target in the past of anti-fur protesters for constantly wearing fur coats.

I don't want to pick on J-Lo. Lots of celebrities have "gone vegan" for reasons that have nothing to do with animals. One of the recent big vegan crazes is the so-called "22-Day Vegan Diet." Such entertainers as power couple Jay Z and Beyonce have gone on it. Ashley (High School Musical) Tisdale has started on it.

Two years ago, actress Michelle Pfeiffer went vegan, after being inspired by a documentary about Bill Clinton's conversion to veganism. Al Gore also embraced veganism, citing concern over his health and "environmental ethics." (source) Singer Alanis Morissette claimed to be a vegan - then clarified that she was "80 percent vegan" - for health reasons. The liberal MSNBC commentator Al Sharpton told Oprah Winfrey that he went vegan and plunged from 305 pounds to 135 pounds (he actually looks too gaunt, in my opinion) as a result of an exercise regimen and a "sugar free vegan diet." (source)

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson recently boasted of 40-pound weight loss from veganism (to his credit, Jackson also cited the film Forks Over Knives as an influence, and has mentioned cruelty to animals as a motivating factor in his decision).

With the exception of Jackson, all of these vegan celebs have something in common: Animals aren't really on their radars.

There are a fair number of vegan celebs who put animals front and center in their justifications for being vegan: Woody Harrelson, Natalie Portman, Joaquin Phoenix, Russell Brand, Casey Affleck, Olivia Wilde, Ellen DeGeneres, Emily Deschanel, Russell Simmons, James Cromwell, the list goes on. These celebrities have been especially laudable in their unwavering commitment to the animals.

But the question arises: Are celebrities who embrace veganism for reasons that have nothing to do with animals helping the cause?

I believe they are. Hear me out. Sure, they treat veganism as a "flavor of the month." It is also true they're misusing and abusing the word in a way that reduces it purely to a dietary term, rather than an ethical lifestyle (which it is). How does one be a 70 percent vegan? It's impossible! And yes, their lack of compassion, their refusal to even devote a single sentence to the suffering of sentient beings, is troubling.

However, on the flip side, at least the health-conscious vegan celebs who avoid the "a" word are choosing the right diet. Remember when the Atkins Diet was all the rage and people were eating meat from sunrise to sunset? Ew. That disturbing trend gave rise to the dreadful bacon-eating hipsters who are so abundant these days. You know the type? They have bacon on everything: sandwiches, deserts, salads, pasta - you name it, they top it with bacon. I won't go so far as to say, "There's no getting through to these people." I used to eat bacon. Obviously, someone got through to me.

But at least with someone starting a vegan diet for health reasons, even if they only plan to stick with it for 22 days, there is some hope that their commitment might become longer term (look at Al Gore, who only intended to become a vegan temporarily, and no anticipates that he'll be one for life).

Mark Bittman

And look at Mark Bittman, author of the VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 cookbook. Initially, Bittman wrote his cookbook to encourage healthier diets. He now constantly wrestles with issues of animal ethics, even if he himself hasn't fully taken the big plunge into permanent veganhood (is that a word?).

For good or ill, in our contemporary culture of celebrity, people pay close - one might even say obsessive - attention to celebs - right down to what they eat on a day-to-day basis. The "foodie" culture is huge in North America and other parts of the world right now. It is true that some high-profile advocates of a "vegan diet" have focused almost exclusively on its nutritional value instead of animals.

Yet all of this attention to veganism has actually helped legitimize it. It has moved veganism into the mainstream. Twenty years ago, veganism seemed extreme. Vegan options were hard to find in stores, even harder to locate on restaurant menus. All of that has changed over the course of the last decade. Veganism has made a great leap forward.

So what do we make of a fur coat wearing "vegan" like J-Lo? Hey, she's reaching a far bigger audience than I am with this little blog mine. She could be extolling the virtues of putting bacon on everything. She's not. Other people will try veganism because she's doing it. And maybe one of those people will open his or her eyes to the suffering of our fellow sentient beings. Hell, is it naive or foolish to expect that one convert might even be J-Lo herself?

Whoever it is that's awakened, that is one more person in the trenches with us. One more light has gone on. That's one more man or woman who understands that what happens to non-human animals actually matters a great deal to us, both as individuals and as an entire species.

Signs of Hope in China

In China, where conditions for animals have traditionally been among the worst on earth for decades, Animal Rights activists are on the march. They're mobilizing as we speak, emboldened by basketball superstar Yao Ming, a retired NBA player who gained fame for his stunning performances on the court for the Houston Rockets.

Yao Ming is a superstar in China. So when he visited his homeland recently and spoke out against shark fin soup and the selling of bear bile tonics - both of which cause enormous suffering for sharks and bears respectively - his words influenced millions of people and helped strengthen China's fledgling AR movement.

The movement has been making tremendous gains over the last few years. They've enjoyed particularly strong success in the campaign against shipping dogs and cats to restaurants, and Chinese society is now moving away from that barbaric practice. Organizations such as the Chinese Animal Protection Network have been thriving since the mid-2000s. The Chinese are becoming much more receptive to pro-animal campaigns.

Moreover, more Chinese families are switching over to vegetarian diets. A new organization called POVchina (translation: Pioneer Vegetarianism of China) is an online resource for Chinese men, women and children who've removed meat from their diets.

And the wonderful group AnimalsAsia has functioned as a much-needed watchdog to monitor developments in China and across the rest of the region. They're sort of the Amnesty International of animal abuse in Asia.

These are but a few hopeful developments in the growth of the Animal Rights Movement in China. The internet has performed a valuable function in bringing a wide array of groups together inside the vast and densely populated country. Talk about a place that desperately needs such a movement. And when you begin to think that 10 years ago, there was very little in the way of animal rights agitation in China, recent developments are extremely encouraging.

The Big Vegan Chill

Back in 1983, a dreadful film called The Big Chill hit the theaters across North America. It depicted a group of narcissists - men and women in their late 30s (possibly early 40s) - who reunite after one of their friends commits suicide.

Most of the characters in the film had been activists back in the Sixties, but now they now - approaching middle age - they no longer cared about politics. They'd all grown cynical. Not a single one still held on to the idealism of her/his youth. They'd all wised up, joined the "system," and about the only thing they still liked about the 1960s was the music.

The Big Chill was a depressing movie because it reinforced Reagan-era myths that activists from the 1960s had all abandoned their political commitments. Reality was much more complicated than myth. Many people who'd been active in struggles for social justice still held on to their youthful ideals, which they took with them into their adult lives and sometimes even found ways of integrating them into their professions.

I bring up The Big Chill because nearly 30 years ago, it proved to be a useful myth in helping to make dissenters - people protesting nukes, U.S. involvement in Central America, homelessness, American investments in South Africa, etc. - feel even more isolated. If everybody ditches their beliefs with the approach of middle age, what hope is there for real and meaningful change?

I raise this issue because The Big Chill myth is still very much a part of our contemporary political landscape. And it has found its way into the vegan community.

Celebrities play a vital role in our culture. Like it or not, celebrities wield enormous influence. People from all walks of life pay attention to celebrities. Ordinary folks take their cues from celebrities, follow celebrity gossip in magazines and on the Internet and in newspapers, and the actions of celebrities matter.

Take veganism, for example. Celebrity vegans are able to spread the vegan message to millions of people, thanks to their high profiles. Which is why when they "jump ship," which some do, the effects can also be negative.

Recently, the media has made much out of high-profile celebrities who have abandoned veganism. These famous "ex-vegans" have gotten quite a free ride in the media.

"My vegan diet almost killed me," said actress, philanthropist and action star Angelina Jolie in 2010. "I joke that a big, juicy steak is my beauty secret. But seriously, I love red meat." (Source)

Meantime, actor Hugh Jackman wrote in the introduction to the latest edition Brendan Brazier's Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sport and Life that "there's every chance I will be vegan by the time you read" the book. The book was published last year. Jackman is not a vegan. (Source)

Actress Zooey Deschanel ditched veganism due to "food sensitivities." "I gave it a good try," she said. "But sometimes you need a little something, a little meat." (Source)

The press made much of Academy Award-winning Black Swan star Natalie Portman leaving behind veganism during her recent pregnancy. "If you're not eating eggs, then you can't have cookies or cake from regular bakeries, which can become a problem when that's all you want to eat," Portman told a local L.A. radio station in April of this year. (Source)

And the most recent celebrity to abandon veganism was actress Ginnifer Goodwin (pictured on the copy of VegNews above), star of several recent films and the TV series Big Love. I've blogged about Ginnifer here. Her support of Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Program was a constant source of inspiration.

Ginnifer appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in May and revealed that not only had she given up on veganism, she had also enjoyed meatloaf (with bacon on it) and a juicy hamburger.

I've posted the video here:

Ginnifer insists she eats "humane" meat in her home. "Wow, you've really gone over the edge now," said Jimmy Kimmel, when Ginnifer told him about her bacon meatloaf. "I'm glad you're back to the normal part of society."

I don't know Ginnifer. Based on all of the things I've read and heard about her, she certainly seems like a wonderful person with a lot of integrity and a strong conscience. She alludes to health issues in this video when explaining her reasons for ditching veganism. I like to think she engaged in a great deal of soul searching before moving forward with her decision. Clearly, it is important to her that she eats "humane" meat.

But it is sad to see Ginnifer leave veganism behind. It's like losing a powerful ally. Some vegans would scoff at such a statement. I can hear the naysayers: We make too big a deal of celebrities. What matters is what you, as an individual, decide to do in your daily life. Who cares about Ginnifer Goodwin? Or Natalie Portman? Or Angelina Jolie or Hugh Jackman? Or Zooey Deschanel?

But celebrities matter. They are newsmakers. They're hugely influential. Their actions matter. Their views influence others. The examples they set can both inspire and discourage.

Look at the promotional material distributed by PETA. Half of PETA's propaganda contains photos of celebrities who are either vegans or vegetarians. (Some of them, I swear to God, aren't either, but I give PETA some points for good intentions.) I just visited PETA's website. Sure enough, at the top of the Homepage, there is a picture of Hollywood stars Russell Brand and Kristen Wiig, voted "PETA's SEXIEST VEGETARIAN CELEBRITIES OF 2011."

When celebrities ditch veganism, like it or not, their actions are used by foes of the lifestyle to try to marginalize us, much like The Big Chill Myth was used back in the 1980s against activists. Jimmy Kimmel's words echo: "I'm glad you're back to the normal part of society."

Back to normal.

One can sympathize with someone like Zooey Deschanel, whose diet was so limited due to allergies that she didn't have many choices for her survival. And Natalie Portman had very real physical needs for certain types of foods she wasn't getting. And Ginnifer Goodwin's health issues are probably perfectly legitimate.

Yet, without being sanctimonious or self-congratulatory, we are still left to wonder about people who embrace and then abandon the vegan lifestyle.

Reading about these famous "ex-vegans" (actually, the term ex-vegan is absurd - either you're vegan or you're not vegan), one wonders what thoughts go through their minds. With those who embraced veganism for non-moral reasons - that is, purely for health - it is slightly easier to understand how they could walk away from it.

But, by their own admission, some of these celebrities were people who gazed deeply down into the abyss. They saw and felt the suffering that animals endured. They spoke out on behalf of the animals. They had epiphanies, awakenings. They were liberated from omnivorism, only to go back to the lifestyle. They woke up, then went back to sleep.

Ginnifer Goodwin, who used to see right through the myth of "humane meat," now touts her consumption of it. How can that be?

My purpose is not trying to pass judgment on these erstwhile, famous allies. Just trying to understand their actions.

"Ideas won by our intelligence, embodied in our outlook, and forged in our conscience, are chains from which we cannot tear ourselves away from without breaking our hearts," said the philosopher Karl Marx. "They are demons we can only overcome by submitting to them."

At the end of the day, in a world filled with so much tragedy and slaughter, it is hardly worthwhile to sit in self-righteous judgment of those who have looked into the abyss and then decided to walk away. At least they put two and two together at one point in their lives. At least they are capable of feeling compassion and being sensitive. The same cannot be said of a lot of other people.

Yet I reserve the right to feel sad about that video of Ginnifer Goodwin on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Hearing that laughter about meat, then imagining the suffering that occurs in order to put that meat on a plate, leaves even the perpetual optimist feeling forlorn.

Now Mike Tyson is on our side! Don't mess with Vegans!

Mike Tyson is now a vegan. You heard right! The Mike Tyson. A headline on the Vegetarian Star website pretty much said it all: "Mike Tyson Vegan - Won't Bite Human or Animal Ears." (Of course, that's a joking reference to when Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear in an infamous boxing match on June 28, 1997.)

In addition to being a vegan, Tyson insists he has "no drama" in his life at the moment. Tyson stars in a "reality" series on Animal Planet in which he races pigeons (!). (Source) I've never actually seen it, but maybe working with the pigeons had an influence on the boxing legend. Who knows? Tyson insists his first ever fight was in defense of birds when he was a young boy. (Source) Good for him! It's refreshing to know that we vegan/animal rights types have such a tough guy on our side.

Welcome to our side, Mike! We can use all the support we can get!

Kudos to Ginnifer Goodwin for Telling the Truth About the Dairy Industry

Ginnifer Goodwin, one of the wives on the hit HBO show Big Love, is teaming up with PETA to bring attention to the brutality of the dairy industry. Specifically, Goodwin and PETA are targeting the California Milk Advisory Board's (CMAB) "Happy Cow" ads.

As Goodwin explained: "In show business, we often have good reason for making people believe things that aren't true, but there is no excuse for CMAB's misrepresentation of the milk industry. Consumers deserve better than to be fed lies about 'happy cows.'" (Source)

Goodwin, a dedicated vegan, knows that dairy farms are dark places where stressed out cows are worked to the breaking point and kept in a constant state of pregnancy. When their babies are born, they are whisked off to be sliced up into veal.

We often fool ourselves into thinking there's nothing wrong with milk. But these "milk factories" are some of the most extreme forms of exploitation and violence against animals that one could possibly imagine.

So kudos go out to Ginnifer Goodwin for speaking truth to power. Hopefully her efforts will help educate people about the realities of this brutal and exploitive industry.

P.S. Another reason to admire Goodwin: She is an avid supporter of Farm Sanctuary - one of my favorite organizations - and she was the spokesperson for their Adopt-a-Turkey Program in 2009. She set the example by adopting an entire flock.

Right on, Ginnifer!

Animal Odds & Ends

There is a great interview with actress, comedienne and animal lover Betty White on USA Today's website. Have a look if you get a chance. Betty is saint-like when it comes to her love of animals and she has been an advocate on their behalf for decades. She has been receiving a lot of accolades lately, including a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award earlier this year, presented to her by pal and costar Sandra Bullock. Whenever Betty is recognized for her achievements, she always makes sure to give a plug for the animals that she loves so much. It is so great to see such a kind-hearted soul being honored - not just for her distinguished career in film and television, but for her tireless work on behalf of animals.

Figure skater Johnny Weir says he is spooked by threats from animal rights activists over his love of fur. Anti-fur activists have been bombarding him with all kinds of hate mail and complaints because he wore white fox fur on his outfit at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. (Source) "'Crazy Fur People' Force Weir's Hand," said a Reuters headline. A frustrated Weir told The Advocate magazine: "It's a dirty business, but it's a business; someone has to do it ... I appreciate a beautiful fur coat, I appreciate products made out of animals. I eat steak, I wear ice skates made out of leather. I have Ugg boots, so I guess I'm wearing sheep. I just don't like how animal groups go crazy about a fox or a beaver but say nothing about cows dying for shoes. They always seem to pick the cutest animals." (Source) Threatening Weir is an awful move and the animal rights movement would be wise to stay away from such counterproductive tactics. At the same time, Weir did recently announce that "faux fur" because he doesn't want the issue to undermine his chances of winning a medal. So the heavy-handed pressure tactics, while highly problematic in so many ways, did have the desired effect. Proving once again that militancy has its drawbacks and strengths.

Speaking of violence and the animal rights movement, my hero Gary Francione has a column on the website Opposing Views that is well worth your time to read. If you get a chance, please have a look at it. Like everything else Francione writes, this piece is thoughtful, brilliantly argued, and raises a number of crucial points. No wonder so many people consider Francione the greatest spokesperson for the cause of animal rights and animal liberation today. His no-nonsense wisdom is refreshing and always to the point. The movement is lucky to have such a figure at its helm.

Update: Wiseguy Joining in on the Hunt

Remember actor Ken Wahl, who won a Golden Globe Award for the CBS crime show Wiseguy? Well, the actor and animal rights supporter putting up his Golden Globe Award to help find the thugs who glued the beautiful cat Timothy to Interstate 90 in Minnesota last month. I blogged about Timothy a week ago. He has, sadly, died as a result of his ordeal. Since then, the reward money to apprehend the perpetrators has gone up to $12,000. Wahl is worried that the sadists who murdered Timothy will kill again, and he's probably right.

As Wahl put it:

Men who pick on cats are sick cowards that have control issues, since cats are half wild and independent. We’re not just finding a kitten killer, we are preventing this person becoming a serial killer. (Source)