Every Animal is my Miss October - Part 3

Oct 21, 2008 by Lucille Giffone

Mary Max is a full-time activist who has awakened many people to the realities of animal cruelty. Mary is a Board Member of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Humane USA-PAC and the New York Coalition For Healthy School Food. She is also on Farm Sanctuary’s Advisory Council and on the Advisory Board of the League of Humane Voters (LOHV).

Mary is married to the well-known artist Peter Max whose psychedelic style made him prominent in the art world in the l960’s. Since then, Peter Max’s career has included painting for Presidents Carter, Ford, Bush, Reagan and Clinton, the Grammy Awards and the World Cup Soccer Tournament. He personally helped bring about the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.

LG: I know you follow a vegan diet. A lot of people don’t understand what is wrong with dairy foods.

MM: There are a few things about dairy. From one female to another, I don’t know if it would be called feminism, but I think it is not right as a woman to partake in injuring another female, regardless of species. All of these women who consume dairy are endorsing another female species as a baby making machine. Cows are not baby-making machines. Mother cows are as bonded to their calves as human mothers are to their babies. Mother cows bellow and bellow for days when their calves are taken from them and made orphans. It’s incomprehensible to me. You can’t just steal the young of another.

We’re the only species that drinks milk from another species. A giraffe doesn’t drink milk from a rhinoceros. People say I won’t eat veal, but they drink milk. The veal industry only exists because of the dairy industry.

For health reasons, dairy does not protect bones to prevent osteoporosis. The protein in milk is acidic. I am osteopenic, you know, not yet osteoporosis. My doctor, who is a very excellent doctor, told me I need calcium for bones, but not calcium from dairy because of the very reason I just mentioned.

LG: I’m vegan and I agree with you. However, for me it’s very easy being vegetarian, but sometimes it’s hard being vegan. Every now and then I grab that muffin from the local coffee shop on the way to the subway because I’m starving and I didn’t have time to take a non-dairy snack with me. I just wish there were more vegan restaurants around. How do you maintain being a vegan?

MM: Gosh, for me, it’s so easy. It’s just so easy. If somebody doesn’t have time to bring a snack, buy a banana or apple, or toast with jelly, toast with peanut butter. I wouldn’t say I knew exactly what to eat right away. I knew there was a period of transition, I knew I would have to figure things out. I was completely at peace because I knew this was the right way.

LG: Do you ever run into others who ask you why you are using so much of your time helping animals when there are wars and so many other problems in the world?

MM: Actually, just the other night somebody asked me that question. There are a lot of problems. If you’re passionate about people in India or Afghanistan, go do it, go help. If you’re passionate about helping children or the elderly or drug addicts, then work for that. I’m passionate about animals. Animals are the least spoken up for. Cruelty is cruelty, violence is violence, injustice is injustice. I wish people wouldn’t criticize others. Are we in competition who’s doing the better service work? Being a vegan is one solution for 8 or 9 problems. It helps global warming, cuts pollution, saves our water, saves our land, people wouldn’t be so sick and it saves animals from so much suffering. It’s all encompassing.

LG: There are so many animal cruelty issues, what advice do you have for others who feel badly about the ways animals are treated and don’t know where to start?

MM: Stop eating animals, it’s the number one thing. If that sounds too enormous, use basic common sense, remove one animal from your diet for a month. If you’re feeling good and positive, remove another animal next month. Do it incrementally. Explore fruits and beans and vegetables you never tried. Explore restaurants. It’s a misconception that by going vegetarian you won’t have enough food. Just the opposite. Typical carnivores eat a typical diet every day. Chicken and fries, steak and mash potatoes. When you become vegetarian, you get creative. You can take four different side dishes and have them replace the meat dishes. It’s amazing how you can make great meals out of so-called side dishes.

LG: Do you have any favorite books or videos that you can recommend to people who want to know more about animal issues?

MM: The film The Witness.

LG: Yes, that is one I know and like.

MM: Also, Earthlings . Joaquin Phoenix narrated that, it’s a long video, but good. The DVD called Eating is also good. And books? I would have to say Jana Kohl’s book A Rare Breed of Love. Gene Baur just wrote Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food. And I also recommend Matthew Scully’s Dominion.

LG: I really love your action alerts. They are informative, succinct and upbeat.

MM: Oh, thank you. I get a lot of information from various humane organizations. I have to condense it. Get to the point so people will find it easy to make the phone call on the issue.

LG: Tell people how they can sign up for your email action alert.

MM: Just to contact me at: mrsmax@earthlink.net. If they want to
sign up, give their full name, city, state and email address.