Natalie Portman to Receive Vegan Activism Award

Actress Natalie Portman will be honored September 23 with an Ongoing Commitment Award at the 27th annual Environmental Media Association (EMA) awards benefit in Los Angeles. The actress first adopted a vegan diet after reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s animal-rights leaning book Eating Animals and is the producer/narrator of a new film based on the book. “I chose to adapt to a sustainable lifestyle after learning of the health risks and environmental effects that come with the mass production of animals,” Portman told Forbes. “To receive this honor is a valuable reminder to me that I am not alone in this fight.” Portman reverted to a vegetarian diet during her first pregnancy in 2011 but has hinted at returning to her vegan diet since her move to Paris—which she said is increasingly vegan-friendly. At the same EMA benefit, music mogul and vegan activist Russell Simmons will also be presented with the Mission in Music award for his promotion of a plant-based diet and work in abolishing animal cruelty.