Elaina Buress ’18 at the farm sanctuary in Orland, California where she interned.Elaina Buress ’18 at the farm sanctuary in Orland, California where she interned.

Elaina Burress ’18 has focused her studies on a mix of sustainable agriculture and food justice issues. Being passionate about animal rights and veganism, Burress wanted to spend her break working somewhere where she could learn more about these interests. Burress spent the month of December interning at an animal-rights focused sanctuary, gaining skills in animal care and utilizing what she’s learned in her studies at COA.

What was your internship?

All December I spent in Orland, California at Farm Sanctuary. They’re based out of New York, and then they have a shelter in Orland and then by Los Angeles, and they’re opening one in New Jersey. Gene Baur started it by following the Grateful Dead concerts and selling veggie dogs, which I thought was pretty funny. Everyone there kind of shared this vegan or at least animal-rights idea, so there was a common denominator there that made a really cool vibe. They see animals as valuable as humans, so when they get sick it doesn’t matter how expensive it is — they try everything they can before deciding they have to be put down…

“My food and social justice course last term made me think a lot about policy and how big of a role that plays in making changes in the food world” - Elaina Burress ’18.

Farm Sanctuary is a vegan animal rescue sanctuary, so they rescue farm animals that have either fallen from trucks that were going to slaughter houses or were sent in for various reasons or were left on a dead pile because they were premature, or different things like that. I was there as a shelter intern. We’d do basic things like cleaning but then we’d also get to do care-giving stuff and take care of the animals…and help with the rescue. So we’d go and drive to get rescues or bring them back, take care of the sick animals…And then every week there would be a class where me and the three other interns would go and meet the intern manager who would talk to us about a different vegan or animal rights issue. So we’d have conversations about, [say], leather and alternatives to that — should vegans wear things that look like leather? You know, different things that we could talk about and have discussions about.

You’ve studied a lot with food systems, right?

Yeah, I’ve been studying sustainable food systems and food justice issues. So I kind of want to figure out where veganism falls into that, and where I see myself being and working.

Food related things — which is obviously very broad — is such an interesting intersection of social justice and food systems generally and all these different things…

Yeah, it’s really big. I keep narrowing it down but at the same time I’m realizing how big what I’ve narrowed it down to still is. I’m definitely leaning more towards social justice and policy.

What are you thinking about post-COA?

My food and social justice course last term made me think a lot about policy and how big of a role that plays in making changes in the food world. So maybe headed there. As much as I loved being at farm sanctuary — and I think there needs to be places like that where animals can go — I want to work to make sure they don’t have to go there, and policy plays a role in that. But also working with families and food insecure families, and tying things together between those things. Which is what I want to do with my independent study [on the relationship between veganism and social justice] because I know that they connect and I want to know where I can be in that connection.