Famous Vegans - Nellie McKay

Nellie McKay at Farm Sanctuary's 25th Anniversary Gala, 2011.

Nellie McKay

Born Nell Marie McKay on April 13, 1984. She is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She was born in London, but moved with her mother to New York City when she was two. She briefly worked as a stand-up comedienne, but then switched to music. You can check out her music and her website.

She has been an animal rights activist for most of her life, following her mother's example. In 2004 she became vegan. Her album Pretty Little Head features the song Columbia is Bleeding, about Columbia University's animal testing. For more information, check out PETA's website Columbia University Cruelty.

Nellie McKay's Columbia is Bleeding:

Quotes by Nellie McKay:

"I was fortunate enough to go vegetarian with my parents. The sight of caged and suffering animals in animal rights literature elicited an instant response of sadness and anger."

"Seeing pictures of animals in laboratories and farms just horrified me. The idea of a cage, of limited movement and of mothers being separated from their babies, brrrr. That just strikes you as immediately wrong. Children have a natural empathy with animals. They carry around a teddy bear and are taught to love animals. All those fairy tales have animals in them. Then kids are taught to accept their exploitation and death."

"Schools should not only offer students alternatives, they should completely remove dissection and vivisection from their curriculum. Knowledge without compassion is useless."

"My mother got into animal rights at the time when most parents would be indoctrinating the more callous way of life. So I became a vegetarian. I’ve been vegan for about nine months [interview 2005] and I know I’ll never go back. But it took ten-plus years to become vegan. I’ve known all this time what battery hens go through. I just couldn’t do it. I know how hard it is."

When asked what made her go vegan, she answered:

"We were on tour, we were at a kind of loading center for cows—I don't know if it was for auction or transport to slaughter or to another feedlot—it was out west, where sometimes it isn't so hidden. I was at Denny's ... and I really wanted a brownie with ice cream. And I didn't get it, I guess that was kind of the turning point. ... It wasn't like I saw something that bad, I had just wanted to go off of dairy and eggs for a long time"

"I think people...they don't want to hear it, because they love their food so much. It's all about the food."

"I think we need more vegan junk food. ... So many people don't respond to animal rights as a whole because they know they will have to change their lifestyle so drastically. Why not make it easier for them?"

"When you grow up with animals, they tend to be dogs and cats. So you know them and learn about their personalities. This gives you empathy. You see that they have distinct personalities and beings. They are not machines, like they are sometime treated in this culture."

"If you look at a picture of say, a duck being made into foie gras, there are people who can look at it and then look away. There are people who can look at it, think about it, but kind of ignore it. While other people look, think, and realize they just can’t do this anymore."

"Every outrage deserves attention. In terms of scope, ending factory farming and our relationship to animals as food is key, because from there, victory in other areas is inevitable."

"The biggest thing you can do for the animals, the earth, and humankind (including yourself) is to switch to an animal-free diet. It may not be easy, it may not be instant, but start and watch the world change for the better."

Quotes are from her 2005 interview with Satya, her 2009 interview with Planet Green, her 2008 interview with Bobby Allyn and her 2009 interview with PopMatters.