Kendrick Farris

Kendrick Farris is a three-times American Olympic weightlifter. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he placed 8th and in the 2012 Summer Olympics, he placed 10th. In 2013, he won the Silver medal at the Summer Universiade and won Gold at the Pan-American Champion in 2015.

During the 2016 Olympic trials – after Farris had been vegan for two years – he broke the US record by lifting 168 kg in the snatch and 209 kg in the clean and jerk. In the main games, he finished 11th in the 94 kg weight class.

Why Kendrick Farris is vegan

Kendrick Farris is vegan for the animals and for health.

Farris went vegan in 2014 and featured in the 2018 documentary The Game Changers, a film about the benefits of a plant-based diet for athletes. Since the documentary was released, Farris has continued to promote a plant-based diet and in 2026, Farris launched his FEED (Feeding Every Eater’s Development) programme – a school initiative to educate young people about food and help them make healthy choices.

Farris is a prime example of how you can build strength and muscle on a plant-based diet. The snatch, and the clean and jerk are two of the most explosive movements in the weight lifting world and his plant-based diet – combined with disciplined training – provided all the energy he needed to excel at his sport, whilst also providing anti-inflammatory benefits to help him recover from putting his body through a lot of physical stress.¹Physicians Committee. 2026. He Got Stronger Without Meat | Olympian Kendrick Farris. Youtube. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP8LmN1lM84 [Accessed 16 September 2026].

“I don’t necessarily trust the way the food is being processed. I don’t agree with the way the animals are mass-slaughtered. So that’s one thing that kind of got me looking at what they call a vegan diet. … My mind is extremely clear. I’m not easily flustered [now]. (…) I think a lot of people look at things as being restrictions, but that kind of shows me the way they view life. I don’t view it as restriction ― I look at what I can eat, what’s going to be the best source of energy for me.”²Cave, J. 2016. Kendrick Farris, The Only Male U.S. Weightlifter In The Olympics, Is Totally Vegan. Huffpost. Available: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kendrick-farris-olympics-vegan_n_57ab6be7e4b0db3be07ccc07? [Accessed 7 May 2021].