Gwenna Hunter (vegan): Encouraging Awareness and Empathy for Animal-People

Gwenna Hunter is the founder of Vegans of LA and Vegans for Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles, California, USA. Vegan Linked, a content creation and professional networking service based in the United States, interviewed Ms. Hunter in September 2021. “I began with working on my health by eliminating cows and pigs from my diet. And then the next thing I did: something called a Daniel’s Fast with a friend of mine. It’s where you abstain from eating anything from an animal. What I found at the end of that 28-day Daniel Fast was that I felt absolutely amazing. So, I went on a vegetarian journey for about eight years.”

“Fast-forward to 2016: I’m living here in Los Angeles, and I have a dream. I see this beautiful green pasture, and in the pasture is this very beautiful cow. I felt all of the cow’s feelings – consciousness, love, childbirth, thoughts, feelings towards human beings – I was the cow. And I realized that what I felt was the cow letting me know that this was a real experience. So, that shifted the way I saw reality because I realized that if cows love, so do chickens, so do pigs, so do turkeys, so do other animals.”

Ms. Hunter’s work includes a leadership role in the Los Angeles chapter of Vegan Outreach – a California nonprofit focused on ending animal-people exploitation. She coordinates the distribution of free meals and groceries so more people can try out veganism. “I feel like it is important for others to be vegan because being vegan is a way for us to end the cycle of violence on the planet. What we eat: we are participating in violence.” “Animals, to me, are so close to God because they don’t have to be taught how to love. Most animals, especially dogs and cats, come to this planet, and they know how to love unconditionally without anyone teaching them or telling them how to do it. So, it’s very important for us to become vegan.”