pattrice jones

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pattrice jones is an ecofeminist writer, educator, and activist. She is the co-founder of VINE Sanctuary in Springfield, Vermont, an LGBTQ-run farmed-animal sanctuary.

jones has been an activist for social change since the 1970s. She stopped eating meat when she was 15, the same year that she came out as a lesbian. She later became vegan, as she felt cows and hens were being sexually exploited for their milk and eggs.

jones’ veganism is rooted in the morals of compassion and love. She claims religion holds no ground in her activism or her animal sanctuary. jones believes that religion at its core will always encourage heteronormative and patriarchal rulings, ideals that are not consistent with her sanctuary’s founding principles of protection and equality across all species.[1]

Around 2002–2003, jones was attributed to being the main organizer of the Global Hunger Alliance (GHA), an international network of several activist organizations that were coordinated in preparation for the 2002 World Food Summit. The GHA networked with 90 other "supportive" organizations from around the world, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and Uncaged Campaigns.

jones has also made stands against war by being one of the partners responsible for creating the Global Boycott for Peace.[2]

In 2012, jones became involved in a battle over the lives of Bill and Lou, two oxen at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont. After one of the oxen, Lou, became injured, the school decided to slaughter both and serve them as food in the dining hall. Students and animal rights advocates protested, and jones offered the oxen a home at VINE Sanctuary. The college ultimately euthanized Lou. The controversy made national headlines. Jones wrote about the events in her book, The Oxen at the Intersection.

Career

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jones' essay "Stomping with the elephants: feminist principles for radical solidarity" is included in this book.

In the year 2000, jones and her partner, Miriam Jones founded Eastern Shore Chicken Sanctuary in rural Maryland. Neither had worked in animal rescue prior to establishing the sanctuary. Their decision sprung from living close to “large-scale industrial chicken farms and slaughter facilities,” where seeing dead chickens, who had most likely fallen from trucks on their way to the slaughterhouse, on the side of the road was normalized. After finding a chicken that survived, the two took it upon themselves to care for it and build their haven from there.[3]The sanctuary was relocated to Vermont in 2009 and later renamed VINE ("Veganism Is the Next Evolution") Sanctuary.

Writing and lecturing

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jones writes and lectures about animal rights from an intersectional approach, connecting speciesism with racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. She argues that women are more likely to be vegan because they live their lives on more concrete, compassionate principles than men.[4] Her work extends to all media and can be found in Bangladesh, Italy, Pakistan, South Africa, the U.S, and Canada. She has given presentations in different settings, including the World Food Summit in Rome, the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, and the Sustainable Development Conference in Islamabad.[2]

jones is an educator and taught a social activism class at the University of Michigan. She’s also helped to arrange “programs concerning racism, sexism, and economic exploitation at the Baker-Mandela Center for Anti-Racist Education.”[2]

See also

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Selected publications

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References

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  1. ^ Berendt, T. (2018). Bovine Benefactories: An Examination of the Role of Religion in Cow Sanctuaries Across the United States. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
  2. ^ a b c Best, S., & Nocella, A. J. (2006). Igniting a revolution : voices in defense of the earth. AK Press.
  3. ^ Abrell, E. L. (2017). Saving animals: Everyday practices of care and rescue in the US animal sanctuary movement Available from APA PsycInfo®.
  4. ^ Claudia Alonso Recarte. (2013). Intersecting Spaces and Species: Women´s Bodies and the Domestic Sphere in Animal Rights Activism. Investigaciones Feministas, 3, 85–98.
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Vine Sanctuary