– Sir Roger Moore, less than a week after finally convincing UK supermarket chain Selfridges to stop selling foie gras, on being named the PETA UK “Person of the Year”.

Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and producer Wyclef Jean has been honored for his work to strengthen and inspire change in his native country of Haiti through his Yéle Haiti organization. The 37-year-old received the Ripple of Hope Award, along with rocker/activist Bono, at a ceremony thrown by The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

“As champions of justice, Bono and Wyclef have brought the national spotlight to human rights violations, empowered local activists, and transformed the lives of millions of people living in poverty from Port-Au-Prince to Darfur,” said Kerry Kennedy, founder of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. “Their efforts evoke the spirit of my father and we are honored to recognize them.”

Those attending the ceremony included Harry Belafonte, Matthew Modine, Ana Ortiz, Aasif Mandvi, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

More pics below:

I’ll just say it: here at the Razz, we’re pretty massive fans of Global Green USA! A mighty force in the field, Global Green works hard to create a more sustainable planet and to honor Mother Earth each day.

On Monday, I had the chance to spend some time with the GG crew at their 10th Annual Sustainable Design Awards in New York City. The annual ceremony honors green businesses, schools, governments, and utilities for excellence in environmentally-friendly projects.

A slew of well-known faces came out to support the organization, including actors Brian Cox, Tate Donovan, Tony Plana and many more. President of Global Green Matt Petersen told us:

“Tonight is another sounding of the alarm bell about global warming telling us we all need to wake up and take action. The people we’re honoring tonight are really the leaders who are showing us the way. You know, it’s the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and one of the reason we started these awards was to recognize those who are breaking down the walls that stand between us and a sustainable future, so it’s a very poignant and exciting evening for us. ”

And exciting it was! With a slew of innovative individuals and companies being honored for their hard work, the Global Green Sustainable Design Awards proved just how many people out there are taking real action for the planet. To learn more about this groovy organization, visit GlobalGreen.org. You can also view more pictures from the event below.

photo credit: Ty Marcum

Ashley Judd was honored last night as part of USA TODAY’s fourth annual Hollywood Hero Awards for her work as a Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS. The 41-year-old actress was modest in her acceptance of the award, telling USA TODAY’s Ann Oldenburg, “I’m just the front woman. I was just lucky that this wonderful organization was put in my lap and I had the opportunity to be involved with them.”

Joining the celebration in honor of Judd were Morgan Freeman, Mandy Moore, Molly Sims, Eva Amurri, Omar Miller, Debra Messing, and last year’s recipient Magic Johnson. “After I received the award last year,” said Johnson, “I said, ‘The next person has to be beautiful.’ They have to care about the community, give back to the community, do it with passion, love and a big heart. When I found out it was Ashley Judd, it couldn’t have been a better person. The only thing I don’t like about her is she’s a Kentucky Wildcat fan. Sometimes they play against my Michigan Spartans.”

Another revealing tidbit from the evening? Judd is currently pursuing a masters in public policy from Harvard University. Might we one day see her in politics?

Pictures from the evening below!

Jane Fonda

The actress, Vietnam activist, and workout guru was presented with the honor last week for her pioneering “green hollywood” efforts. Joining her in receiving eco-awards of their own was Yusuf – the singer once known as Cat Stevens – and Wolfgang Schäuble, the new minister of finance. Speaking at the private ceremony, which was attended by some of Germany’s industrial elite, Fonda said that educating women is the key to curbing population growth. “If we empower girls and educate them, help them use contraception without the risk of being killed, then we can reduce the malnutrition being suffered by billions.”

Writing on her blog, Fonda also remarked that she got a kick out of bragging about her green home in Mexico. “My ranch uses solar panels for hot water and home heating and solar photovoltaic cells for electricity and  I have a septic tank that recycles all water, including toilet water, so that it can be reused for irrigation etc.,” she wrote.” I also drive a Prius (Toyota Hybrid car). My daughter drives an old Mercedes that she fuels with vegetable oil that she gets from various restaurants around Atlanta.”

In response to hearing the news that he had been selected for the honor, Harrelson at first thought they had the wrong guy. Upon double-checking, however, he told Toronto’s The Star that “it means more than any award or accolade I’ve received.”

To be sure, Harrelson’s environmental record is impressive, but he thinks the award is more about discipline than anything else. “I don’t consider myself much of a role model at all. The reason they’re giving me this doctorate has to do with my getting ahold of a principle that I believe in and sticking to it,” he said. “Otherwise, I can’t think of any other aspect that I would even want my own children, much less other people’s children, to follow.”

Reaction to the honor has ranged from disapproval to applause — with one fellow Phd-holder saying that the actor has earned it. “I have an PhD too – earned through blood, sweat, and tears (from an Ivy league university to boot, if that means anything to all you mudslingers) – and in no way do I feel like this diminishes the value of a “real” PhD. He just earned it in a different way. It’s not really fair to criticize his honorary degree just because he of his economic or celebrity status; from what I gather, he earned (vs. won or inherited) his fame and fortune too.”

Check out pics of Woody at the premiere of his latest flick Zombieland below.

via The Star and CBC News

It’s coming.

VegNews magazine has announced that their most anticipated issue of the year, The 2009 Veggie Awards, has been packed and shipped to readers. Of course, the real world is just to slow for us — so we managed to pull some strings, send in some vegan-powered ninjas, and sneak away with a partial list of the 2009 winners. (We also bribed Editor-in-Chief Joseph Connelly with some free cooking classes from Alicia Silverstone; but he has absolutely no idea that she has no absolutely idea of this arrangement.)

This year’s poll was the largest ever — with nearly 35,000 ballots cast in over 62 categories!

Without further ado, here are the 12 winning picks we have in hand. Subscribers will get to enjoy the full meal shortly! Check them out after the fold:

VegNews Reader Picks:

Favorite Bakery: Babycakes NYC
Ecorazzi Says: No brainer. Babycakes have been rocking our tastebuds since owner Erin McKenna dropped the vegan naughty nosh on unsuspecting dessert mavens three years ago. Yum. This year we wrote about them three times — from Martha Stewart’s most recent promo to W Magazine’s praise of the cookbook with the same name to actress Lake Bell saying, “You don’t know its vegan, it’s so good.”

Favorite Vegetarian Meat: California Veggie Burgers by Amy’s
Ecorazzi Says: A savory blend of grains, organic vegetables, mushrooms, and walnuts. We hear unicorns make it.

Favorite Condiment: Vegenaise
Ecorazzi Says: Managed to score an endorsement from Gwyneth Paltrow in her GOOP newsletter. Unfortunately, she probably uses it on her turkey sandwiches.

Favorite Veg-Friendly City: New York City
Ecorazzi Says: Feel like getting a few biodynamic cocktails at Counter and then heading uptown for some Seitan Piccata at Candle 79? On a tighter budget? Maybe just some hand-cut fries at Pommes Frites and some vegan ice cream at Lula’s or Stogo? If you’re VEG in the Big Apple you can bet on one thing: you’ll NEVER go hungry!

Favorite Podcast: Vegetarian Food for Thought
Ecorazzi Says: Sick of sucky, boring podcasts that leave you feeling underwhelmed? Vegetarian Food for Thought is a comprehensive vegan podcast that celebrates being VEG in a fun, fresh way. So what are you waiting for? Get out those earbuds and turn up the volume.

Favorite Celebrity: Ellen DeGeneres
Ecorazzi Says: We called this one back in June in our Top 5 Vegan Celebrities of 2009 — which was odd, because the year was only half-over and it would have been pretty embarrassing if she’d started taking diet tips from Hillary Swank.

VegNews Editor Picks:

Product of the Year: Daiya Cheese
Ecorazzi Says: Daiya Cheese is to vegans what crack is to junkies. One bite of this ooey-gooey cruelty-free alternative and you’ll swear it’s the real thing. I mean if it’s good enough for Ginnifer Goodwin, it’s good enough for us!

Website Launch of the Year: CrazySexyLife.com
Ecorazzi Says: No questions asked, Crazy Sexy Life has redefined the way we view wellness. Loaded with some awesome contributors (including Ecorazzi’s own Michael Parrish DuDell), a well-stocked online store and a vibrant community forum, CSL is your one stop shop for all things positive. Make sure you check it out today!

Scandal Breakers of the Year: Operation Pancake (Quarrygirl)
Ecorazzi Says: If there’s one thing that vegan restaurants in and around Los Angeles learned this year, it’s that you better damn well know what’s in your food. Quarrygirl put into motion one of the greatest investigative reports we’ve ever seen from a blog worthy of a 20/20 special.

Veg Event of the Year: Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale
Ecorazzi Says: What’s better than a bunch of yummy vegan baked goods? A bunch of yummy vegan baked goods raising money for some awesome causes. On June 20 through June 28, Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale encourages groups across the world to celebrate their VEG pride with a vegan bake sale to support animal causes. Tummies full and money raised? We like the way that sounds!

Best Celeb Comeback: Alicia Silverstone
Ecorazzi Says: If you read the Razz on a regular basis, you know that we’re Alicia Silverstone CRAZY right now? This chick is back in action and ready to change the world! Grab a copy of her new book The Kind Diet and check out a behind the scenes look at her recent photo shoot.

Top Techie of the Year: Biz Stone
Ecorazzi Says: We love this co-founder of twitter and vegan activist for causing us to think in small, succinct sentences and expressing in 140 characters. (Just like that sentence! Damn, we’re good.)

Bonus! Click here to discover the 2009 Book of the Year!

Want to see the rest of the winners but haven’t yet subscribed to VegNews? You can pick up an advanced copy — or just celebrate year long with a subscription for a cheap $20.

Of course, the Copenhagen climate talks haven’t even started yet — but as the Wall Street Journal points out, “Europeans, like the Nobel committee, put more weight on intentions. Americans tend to focus on achievements.” Even the best intentions mean “jack squat” if nothing comes out of them — but as Obama said this morning in reaction to winning, he would accept the award as a “call to action” for all nations to address global challenges.

“They include peace in the Middle East, the threat from nuclear weapons, global warming, and the battles against poverty, disease, and injustice,” he added.

Only time and action will show how prescient the Nobel committee’s decision truly was.

Sporting a longer than usual goatee/beard, Brad Pitt took to the podium at the fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative to give an update on his Make It Right foundation’s progress in New Orleans. “I don’t know how we build any other way anywhere else,” Pitt said, addressing the audience in New York. “We can no longer tell ourselves that implementing this technology is too complex a problem because it’s just been proven on this little spot on the map.”

He also received an honor from the US Green Building Council for all the work he has done in expanding awareness on sustainable building — and improving the lives of people in New Orleans.

“‘Make It Right’ has exceeded my expectations,” he added. “Our criteria from the beginning were at odds, to say the least. We demanded that these homes be sustainable, that they have aesthetic qualities … that they be storm resilient and take safety in mind of the families who live there and that they would be affordable.”

While only 13 of the expected 150 homes have been built, Pitt reported that the benefits are already substantial. The average family pays only $35/month for electricity in one of the homes created by Make It Right. Plans are already underway for the next stage of the project — which will include eco-friendly duplex designs.

The Clinton Global Initiative ends today. For more information — and for videos from the three-day event, jump here.