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w i n t e r 2 0 1 7 | 2 1 IT REALLY STARTED WITH HILDA. Although he had been told of the cruelty of factory farming by his grandmother and had already converted to veganism at 23, it wasn't until Gene Baur visited a stockyard that his eyes and heart were really opened to the suffering of animals caught in what he calls the "horrific violence" of America's meat industry. As he passed a pile of supposedly dead sheep, one of them raised her head and looked him in the eyes. He knew, immediately, that he would rescue her from her misery. Nursed back to health, Hilda, as she would later be named, became the first resident of Farm Sanctuary, the animal rescue organi- zation that Baur founded in 1986. Today, there are three Farm Sanctuary locations—outside Ithaca, NY; in Orland, CA, near Sacramento; and in Acton, CA, north of Los Angeles—and thousands of animals have been rescued. The organization has become a movement with more than half a million followers and supporters, including Martha Stewart, Alec Baldwin, Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan Gosling and Jon Stewart (who, with his wife, is donating space for a fourth Farm Sanctuary to open in 2017 in New Jersey). Oprah Winfrey invited Baur to join her SuperSoul 100 of "awakened leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity." Baur (whose German name means "farmer") grew up in Hollywood and ironically did commercials for McDonald's and KFC when he was young. He went on to earn a Master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University and is now an Associate Professor of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloom- berg School of Public Health—an impressive resumé that certainly lends weight and credibility to his cause. Academics aside, Baur is also a sleuth, having gone undercover in the 80s to investigate animal abuse and was instrumental in helping pass the first U.S. laws to ban inhumane factory farming practices. Thanks to his work, even people employed in factory farming have become whistleblowers, alert- ing Farm Sanctuary to abuses and animals in need of rescue. Having published two books about his ethical and health-centered journey— Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food (2008) and Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day (2015)—Baur travels constantly to "proselytize," but encourages people to progress toward a vegan life- style at their own pace, perhaps beginning with "meatless Monday" and proceeding from there. He has recently started competing in marathons and triathlons, includ- ing an Ironman, to demonstrate the benefits of plant-based eating. Characteristically, Baur took The Clever Root's omnivore bent as a challenge rather than a roadblock: "I believe in inclusive veganism, not exclusive veganism," he says. He knows he needs to preach well beyond the choir if he's going to make a change in human consciousness. Baur's second book was published in 2015. Personality plus! Baur refers to animals as "individuals"—and Ebez the goat shows why. Farm Sanctuary locations are open for tours and adoptions. Go to farmsanctuary.org. Honey the pig was rescued from Wyoming, where she was paralyzed from the waist down. Pamela the hen. ■cr