The Farm

New York Country Hoe Down
August 1 & 2, 2009 ● Watkins Glen, NY

Speakers

Alexandra Jamieson is a professionally trained healthy gourmet chef, having studied at New York City’s Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. In addition, Alex is a certified health and nutrition counselor. She studied with ground-breaking pioneers in the field of nutrition at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Alex has been seen on Oprah, The Final Word, 30 Days and The National Health Test with Bryant Gumble, was featured in the award-winning documentary Super Size Me and authored the book, The Great American Detox Diet.

Amy Hatkoff is a writer, producer and advocate. With her new book, THE INNER LIVES OF FARM ANIMALS, she draws attention to the nature and plight of farm animals.  The book brings the intelligence, emotions and social nature of farm animals to life through the latest research, moving stories and soulful photographs.  Hatkoff is also the co-author of How to Save the Children, (Simon & Schuster, Fireside Press, 1992) and the author of You Are My World, How A Parent’s Love Shapes a Baby’s Mind (STC, 2006).  She is co-producer of Neglect Not The Children and The First Years Last Forever.  She continues speak for and write about children and animals.

Freeman Wicklund
Freeman Wicklund is the Director of Campaigns for Mercy For Animals. He has been active in the animal rights community for more than two decades and has founded several university groups and community nonprofits. His efforts helped secure Lakeville High School students with alternatives to dissection, helped end dog labs at the University of Minnesota, and generated a government report that details the harms caused to farmed animals for use in shaping agricultural policy in Minnesota. He has given thousands of presentations on animal rights to schools, community groups, and at conferences. He organized the first United States open rescue at an egg facility in 2001 and trained other groups in how conduct their own open rescues.

Kris Carr is a best-selling author, filmmaker and motivational speaker. She is the subject of the inspirational documentary, Crazy Sexy Cancer, which she wrote and directed for TLC and Discovery Health. Her awarding-winning books are must-have manuals for triumphing over disease while shattering stigmas and embracing a holistic approach to recovery. Carr teaches “boot camp” wellness workshops at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Kripalu, the Crossings, and the New York Open Center. She is a faculty member in the nutrition program of the Integrative Therapist Training, a 500-hour certification program created by Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation. Carr inspires countless individuals and their families to make the link between personal and planetary health by adopting a plant-based diet and improving lifestyle choices.

Jamie Cohen: A vegan since 1994 and a member of Farm Sanctuary since 1996, Jamie Cohen is a dedicated and compassionate activist, who has played an instrumental role in our efforts to rescue and protect farm animals. Always doing as much as she can to help animals, Jamie has happily welcomed several rescued birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, a dog, and a hamster into her life, sponsored a pig named Chris through Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-a-Farm-Animal Project, and become a valued member of our Friends of Hilda Club. At this year's Country Hoe Down, she is once again putting her passion and talent for cooking to good use by teaching us all how to get the most out of a vegan diet.

Mia MacDonald is executive director of Brighter Green, a Brooklyn, New York-based public policy action tank that works on issues ranging from the environment and animals to global development. She is a public policy analyst and writer who has worked as a consultant to a range of international non-governmental organizations – including the Ford Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund and the Green Belt Movement, as well as several United Nations agencies – on issues of environment, sustainable development, women's rights, gender equality, reproductive health, population, conservation, and animal protection. MacDonald is a senior fellow of the Worldwatch Institute, vice chair of the executive committee of the New York City Sierra Club, and has taught in the human rights program at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Gene Baur grew up in Hollywood, California and worked in commercials for McDonald's and other fast food restaurants. Today, he campaigns to raise awareness about the negative consequences of industrialized factory farming and our cheap food system. He lives in rural New York state and is the co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary. Gene holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University Northridge and a master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University. His book, entitled Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, was published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster in March 2008 and has become a national best-seller.

Susie Coston, Farm Sanctuary's national shelter director, joined us in March 2000. In the six years prior to coming to Farm Sanctuary, she worked for a veterinarian and at a sanctuary in West Virginia. Before that, she earned a master's degree in special education and worked with kids with disabilities. As a committed farm animal caregiver for more than a decade, Susie has been a mentor for many of her peers (who have started their own sanctuaries throughout the U.S.) and is well-known for bringing the animals' stories of love, loss and life to the public. Currently, she oversees a full department of caregivers, feeders, cleaners, and project workers at the New York Shelter, ensuring that hundreds of animals are given the best possible care at every stage of their lives. Aside from working at Farm Sanctuary, Susie cares for her own 10 cats, two dogs and two roosters.

Danielle Bays is the Advocacy and Outreach Manager for Farm Sanctuary, which means she gets to advocate for farm animals 24/7. Danielle grew up wanting to be a veterinarian and earned a degree in Animal Science from Cornell University before deciding there were a lot of other ways she could help animals. She dove head first into animal advocacy, got a Masters degree in Animals & Public Policy from Tufts University and has been campaigning for animals ever since. Over the last dozen years she’s told the truth about factory farming, exposed the global dog and cat fur industry, fought the proliferation of fur trim, advocated for wild and captive bears in the U.S. and abroad, and successfully lobbied for a number of animal protection laws — including a hard-fought ban on cockfighting in New Mexico. She’s organized protests, lobby days, feed-ins, candidate forums, and hundreds of other actions designed to bring about lasting change in policy and public opinion. Prior to joining the Farm Sanctuary team, Danielle worked with organizations such as The Humane Society of the United States, the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Animal Protection of New Mexico & Animal Protection Voters, and the Fund for Animals, and volunteered for plenty of others. Danielle is based in our nation’s capital. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter.

Jasmin Singer is the National Advocacy Organizer for Farm Sanctuary. Based in New York City, Jasmin oversees the Advocacy Campaign Team (ACT), making her Farm Sanctuary’s point-person for national and international farm animal activism. In addition to leading monthly activist meetings and regularly presenting at colleges, universities, and law schools, she has led workshops at both regional and national conferences. Jasmin’s workshops have been featured in such publications as The Village Voice and TimeOut NY, and her articles for magazines include "Avoiding Activist Burnout" (VegNews, 2008) and "Coming Out for Animal Rights" (Satya, 2007). Jasmin was chosen by VegNews Magazine as one of their 20 Activists to Watch Out For.

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