You are cordially invited to attend
United Poultry Concerns’ Fifth Annual Conference
On the topic of
Saturday, March 19, 2016, Berkeley, California

Conference Hosts: United Poultry Concerns,
Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy

Conscious Eating Conference Schedule of Speakers
Saturday, March 19, 2016, Berkeley, California

Full Bios and Presentation Summaries of 2016 Speakers

Hope will explore the recent shift in labeling animals processed for food and the misinformation around this new way of farming. Small scale animal agriculture is the latest craze. It is now popular to express that your eggs are cage-free and that your meat is organic. But is this trend really the answer to the plentiful problems of raising animals for food? What do the labels really mean? Is free-range better for the environment? Is organic more humane? Is there really happy meat? This presentation offers answers to these critical questions.

Hope Bohanec has been active in animal protection and environmental activism for over 20 years and published the book The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat? She is a nationally recognized leader and speaker in the animal protection movement who serves as the Projects Manager for United Poultry Concerns. Hope is also the Executive Director of Compassionate Living, a Sonoma County, California based vegan outreach organization and is the primary organizer for the Sonoma County VegFest. She is currently working on her second book, The Humane Hoax.

This presentation will deconstruct the myth that "free-range," farming is better for the environment and animals and will connect the dots between animal agriculture's destructive impact on the environment and wildlife species that are being eradicated due to the increasing popularity of free-range ranching and farming methods and habitat destruction. The products of animal agriculture—whether they come from massive commercial farms or small-scale free-range farms, are the leading cause of alarming environmental problems, and this talk will detail these facts and compare and contrast how a shift to a plant-based diet is the solution.

Edita Birnkrant is Campaigns Director of Friends of Animals, (FoA), an international non-profit animal advocacy organization founded in 1957. Edita runs FoA’s New York office and all national campaigns, leading efforts to ban horse-drawn carriages and other forms of “entertainment” that exploit animals, challenge the fur trade, transform policies for urban and suburban wildlife and birds, protect the last of America’s wild horses, and promote vegan living. Visit www.FriendsofAnimals.org to learn more about the organization and its initiatives.

Does being a vegan matter to the suffering of animals? In other words, does not consuming animal products really reduce harm to animals? While most people would respond, "Of course!", I argue that it's not that simple. I will address and answer this challenge — that individual veganism is inconsequential — known as the "causal impotence objection" to veganism. I will then discuss three conceptions of veganism, and advocate for one, Political Veganism.

Robert C. Jones earned a PhD in philosophy from Stanford University where his doctoral research focused on the moral significance of nonhuman animal cognition. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at California State University. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the National Museum of Animals and Society. Jones has published numerous articles and book chapters on animal ethics, animal cognition, food ethics, and research ethics, and has given nearly forty talks on animal ethics at universities and conferences across the globe.

	Michael Bedar is an avid plant-sourced natural foods researcher, writer and the co-director of the East Bay Healing Collective in Berkeley, California. After co-founding and helping produce the hit documentary, “Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days,” Bedar completed his Master’s Degree at the Cousens School of Holistic Wellness. He has now printed a widely acclaimed novel, Sweet Healing - A Whole Health Journey and has been touring and speaking with professionals and lay readers seeking wellness, from New York to California - with Europe coming next. Learn more about Sweet Healing at www.readsweethealing.com.
	Christopher Locke worked in the television industry for over a decade before pursuing his passion project, “Persimmon Takes On Humanity,” which is the thrilling first book of the young adult series, “The Enlightenment Adventures.” The enthralling story follows Persimmon, a compassionate raccoon, who teams up with a group of courageous critters who risk their own lives to rescue any creature they see suffering at the hands of humans. The epic tale both entertains and challenges readers to question what being humane really means. Since the book’s debut, it has received rave reviews from prominent leaders in the animal advocacy movement and readers alike, and been featured on numerous animal-friendly media outlets. Learn more by visiting Christopher-Locke.com.
	Ruby Roth is the world’s leading author and illustrator of vegan and vegetarian books for children. Her books have been featured on CNN, FOX, Today, and other major media outlets. Roth was teaching art at an elementary school when her students’ fascination with veganism inspired her to write That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals in 2009—the first book of its kind in children's literature. Vegan Is Love and V Is for Vegan followed. Today, these books have been translated into multiple languages. Roth has received international attention for her sensitive, yet frank advocacy of a vegan diet and lifestyle.

pattrice jones is a founder of VINE Sanctuary, an LGBTQ-led refuge for farmed animals that works within an ecofeminist understanding of intersectionality, as well as the author of The Oxen at the Intersection: A Collision. A former tenant organizer and antiracist educator who has taught college and university courses on the praxis of social change, pattrice writes and lectures frequently on the subjects of activist strategy and intersectionality, encouraging everybody to think more ecologically.

TheirTurn circumvents the mainstream media blackout on humane issues by producing and distributing provocative stories and targeting them to relevant audiences on social media. Donny will explore the importance of video in grassroots activism, show a few short videos that have gone viral, and explain how you can shoot, edit and distribute videos that can effect change for animals.

Donny Moss is the creator of TheirTurn.net, an online animal rights magazine with video and print news stories, commentary and calls to action. In 2008, Moss made BLINDERS, an award-winning documentary film about NYC’s controversial horse-drawn carriage trade. BLINDERS, which aired on the Documentary Channel, won a Genesis Award and was screened at film festivals nationwide. From 2009 – 2013, Moss led a successful campaign to end the political career of an elected official running for Mayor who, for eight years, blocked animal protection legislation in New York City. He is currently leading a grass roots campaign to compel the NY Blood Center to reinstate funding for 66 chimps who the organization abandoned in Liberia after experimenting on them for 30 years.

I did not grow up around chickens or other farmed animals, but meeting a chicken in a muddy shack in Maryland awakened my personal awareness of chickens, their feelings and living conditions. My experience with the hen I named Viva coincided with my discovery of the hidden suffering of billions of chickens buried alive in the modern poultry and egg industry. These revelations led me to "think like a chicken" so deeply that in 1990 I founded United Poultry Concerns, an organization dedicated to promoting the compassionate and respectful treatment of chickens and other domestic fowl including a sanctuary for rescued chickens. I will describe what I have learned about the emotional nature of chickens and their destruction by the poultry industry for nuggets and omelets. I will discuss what we need to do.

Karen Davis, PhD is the President and Founder of United Poultry Concerns, a nonprofit organization that addresses the treatment of domestic fowl in food production, science, education, entertainment, and human companionship situations. She is the author of several books including Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry and More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality. Award-winningly profiled in The Washington Post for her outstanding work for the birds, Karen maintains a sanctuary for chickens on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. www.upc-online.org