10 Questions: Vegan Rockstar with Priscilla Feral

For as much as I complain about social media, I feel so lucky to be in daily communication with people I normally would not have as much access through the magic of Facebook. Priscilla Feral, President of Friends of Animals (FoA) is one such example of someone I have “met” through social media but feel like is a real friend and is definitely an inspiration. Outspoken, passionate and deeply engaged, Priscilla is a powerful, confident voice for the animals, using her platform through FoA to advocate on their behalf, making particular inroads for wild animals that are so often ignored by other advocates but viciously targeted by the government, such as through hunting and “wildlife management” programs. FoA is really making a difference for all animals, though.

In addition to the work at FoA that keeps her very busy, Priscilla is president of the San Antonio, TX sanctuary Primarily Primates and has written three fabulous vegan cookbooks. An avid cook and gardener, Priscilla is a true example of living with principles and convictions and still enjoying yourself in the process. I am honored to shine a little spotlight on an activist who has created so much good in the world with so much more to come. Yay for this week’s Vegan Rockstar, Priscilla Feral!

1. First of all, we’d love to hear your “vegan evolution” story. How did you start out? Did you have any early influences or experiences as a young person that in retrospect helped to pave your path?

The evolution started in 1970 when I was lying on Muir Beach in California, and heard Melanie Safka’s song, “I Don’t Eat Animals.” I was looking at cows on the hillside and heard her compelling lyrics:

“I was just thinking about the way it’s supposed to be

I’ll eat the plants and the fruit from the trees

And I’ll live on vegetables and I’ll grow on seeds

But I don’t eat animals and they don’t eat me.”

That evening I was serving beef fondue to hippie friends from Berkeley and couldn’t eat it knowing the beef was animal flesh — something I suddenly realized I could no longer cook, swallow or indulge.

I didn’t know about a vegetarian movement at the time but was so struck by the lyrics of that song…