Vegan Senator Cory Booker Is Officially Running for President 

Longtime vegan and senator of New Jersey Cory Booker officially announced that he is running for the President of the United States in the upcoming 2020 election, intentionally choosing the first day of Black History Month to make the announcement. In an exclusive interview with VegNews, Booker shed light on his take on democracy. “You can’t just get caught up in a state of sedentary agitation and see things that really bother you and not do something to change that,” Booker told VegNews. The presidential candidate also explained his stance on food policy, stating, “The tragic reality is this planet simply can’t sustain billions of people consuming industrially produced animal agriculture because of environmental impact.” The former mayor of Newark has been vegan since the 2014 election and is very vocal about his love for plant-based food, pointing to New Jersey’s The Rutherford Diner, Philadelphia’s Vedge, and Brooklyn’s Screamer’s Pizza as just a few of his favorite restaurants. “Eat what you want, but do everything you can to eat in accordance with your own values, your own views, whatever they are,” Booker said. “And eat for taste.” Last week, former president Jimmy Carter announced his support of Booker for President. Senator Booker has been a staunch advocate of veganism for years, including through his recent support of vegan advocacy organization Encompass, whose mission is to prioritize racial diversity and inclusivity in the animal-rights movement and beyond. “The great thing for me, that I’ve found, as a plant-based eater for over 20 years and a vegan for the last five,” Booker said, “is that the food options are just getting better and better and better.”