Gene Baur

Gene Baur is an American activist and author, and co-founded Farm Sanctuary in 1986. Farm Sanctuary was the first shelter for farmed animals in the US. Not only does it provide a home for rescued farmed animals but the non-profit campaigns for laws and policies that support animal rights and veganism.

Farm Sanctuary was created after Baur spent time travelling around the US, learning about agriculture. He began investigating factory farms and slaughterhouses and came to the conclusion that the cruel conditions were unacceptable. Baur played an integral role in getting foie gras banned in California and in passing the first US laws prohibiting inhumane animal confinement.

Baur is also a talented endurance athlete and started competing in marathons and triathlons in 2012 to prove that a plant-based diet can fuel athletic performance.

As an author, Baur has published chapters in A Primer on Animal Rights: Leading Experts Write about Animal Cruelty and Exploitation and Running, Eating, Thinking – A Vegan Anthology. He has also featured in many other books, including being interviewed for Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Baur has written two books himself: Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, in 2008, and Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day in 2015, co-written with the author of Forks Over Knives, Gene Stone.