Imprisoned Eco-Activist Being Denied Vegan Meals: How We Can Help

The concept of "eco-activist" covers a lot of ground, e.g. someone working to get healthy meals served at their school or perhaps the local community supported agriculture group. It also includes people like Marie Mason of Cincinnati, Ohio who was arrested by FBI, Homeland Security and local police on charges related to two Earth Liberation Front (ELF) actions that occurred in Michigan in 1999 and 2000. As explaned by Suzanne Goldenberg in The Guardian, Mason is serving the longest sentence (22 years) "of any convicted animal rights or environmental militant, including several activists responsible for greater destruction." (See below for details on the "Green Scare.")

"It is obvious the government is trying to send a message—to have a chilling effect, not only on my action, which of course transgressed the laws, but also on 30 years of above-ground actions in the environmental rights spheres," Mason says while her lawyer John Minock, adds: "Giving her a 22-year sentence is like using a cannon to shoot a mouse. She is a 47-year-old, mild-mannered woman with no previous criminal record other than trespassing."

While an appeal has been filed, Marie Mason remains in prison and her requests for an adequate vegan diet are being denied (although the Federal Bureau of Prisons maintains a policy ensuring an adequate vegan diet for inmates). No matter where stand on the eco-activist spectrum, you can help Marie eat in a green and healthy manner while her case is reviewed.