The controversial public figure appeared in the Bronx this past week to cut the ribbon on the brand new VBites Learning Cafe.  In the video below, Heather says:

“I had a dream about seven years ago to try and come up with a solution to get children to get off the fast food and save more animals, make them more healthy and ultimately save the planet. Unless we start reducing the consumption of meat and dairy there is no future for the children. It’s the biggest contributor to global warming. Hasn’t been acknowledged yet, they’ve acknowledged it as the second biggest contributer, but the consumptuon of meat and dairy is the biggest contributor to global warming. It will come out in a few years when we get brave enough to say it.”

Can I get an amen?

Say what you’d like about Mills, but I think she’s right on point and look forward to seeing what she has in store next!  Check out the video below!

While VegNews gave us a small taste of some of the award winners late last week for the 2009 Veggie Awards, we still were left in the dark for their pick of “Person of the Year”. Now that we have our copy in hand, we’re not the bit surprised to find Heather Mills as the top choice. From her new VBites restaurant to her acquisition of vegan meat and cheese brand Redwood Foods to a newly launched recycled clothing line — Mills has been at the forefront of the vegan movement this year.

No doubt, as evidenced by comments last week in our Veggie Awards sneak peek, there are some that are fuming at this pick. Mills’ baggage from earlier years is simply too much for some to believe that her activism is in the right place. “I don’t care if Heather Mills is vegan, either, she is, hands-down, one of the most nauseating and despicable beings on the planet, and not because of McCartney, either — because of her, herself,” wrote one commenter named Terri. “Heather Mills will and does adopt any cause she believes will gain her publicity,” wrote another named Phoenix. “When a worthy cause finds her out and stops giving her publicity, she’s off to anything else…”

It’s Mills consistency in the vegan scene, however, that is earning her more respect than ever. As VegNews writes, ‘Behind the scenes’ may not be the phrase that comes to mind when one things of Heather Mills, but maybe it should be.” In terms of her personality, Mills admits that a toned-down version may be better. “I can come off as lecturing,” she says in the interview. “Now I’m hitting 42, and I’m realizing there are other ways to show people that there’s a vegan, ethical, environmentally-friendly alternative.”

What do you think of the pick? Should Mills be honored for the work she’s done this year for the vegan movement? Or is it damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t?

Oh Heather, how you warm my heart so!

Heather Mills recently visited NYC to help open a new space for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children (HPAC). The newly renovated office will serve as a community gathering space and center for distributing the over $1 million in vegan food products that Heather donated in 2008.

In an exclusive interview with us just last year, Mills revealed:

“I mean my dream is to ultimately build a manufacturer in the Hunts Point area because they’re looking for more green businesses there. I’ve got lots of plans and they’re all nearly there.”

Looks like Heather is serious about her commitment to the Hunts Point area.

Visit the Hunts Point Alliance for Children website to learn more about their important note.

[Editor note: This story has been amended to include updated information.]

The occasionally controversial vegan business-queen is lending her fame to Viva – a nonprofit organization that aims to help people reduce the amount of meat they eat and encourage them to become vegetarian or vegan.

Mills will help promote Fruity Fundays, a new campaign designed to help people consume less meat. She says:

“Fruity Fundays is a great idea. People talk about going vegetarian once a week, or at least three times a week, and anyone can do that.”

Besides promoting vegetarianism, the group carries out undercover investigations to expose the abuse of factory farmed animals and produces information on how to go vegetarian and vegan including recipes and shopping guides.

We’re excited to hear about this new campaign and, as always, pleased to hear that Heather is involved. Keep up the great work, ya’ll!

via: thisisbristol.co.uk

Heather Mills’ new fashion collection Be@One launched last week and we’ve been quietly absorbing reaction to the recycled clothing line. Needless to say, “laughably horrid” is not something you want to hear after your first catwalk. Unfortunately, we have to agree that nobody we know would ever flaunt this stuff — something that goes against Mills’ goal of “highly wearable” clothing for the the “assertive, fashionable and eco-conscious person”. Seriously, some of these outfits scream “Austin Powers couture” and less something I’d pick up for a night on the town.

But here’s the thing: the idea is noble. As Mills notes on her site, “over a million tones of clothing and textiles are thrown into the rubbish bins annually. Many of these items could be resold or remade into something new and exciting.” We completely agree — and think there’s an opportunity to take surplus charity clothing and create something fashionably unique from it. We’re just not sure Mills’ vision fits the bill. However, as Heather recently tweeted, perhaps we don’t get it. “Don’t be surprised if clothes critics slate recycled clothing,” she wrote. “It’s not in all of there interests, they may not get their designer freebies.”

Hmmm — if reviews like “Frankenstein-inspired” and “horrible, painful, awful, deplorable” are being thrown around, I’m not sure people are missing the freebies. Here’s to hoping any future second collection makes a better impression.

Photo credit: Daily Mail via Treehugger

Warm up those clapping hands! It’s time to celebrate some of our favorite animal-loving stars!

On Thursday a slew of celebrities will be honored at Celebrity Catwalk — a special charity fashion show to raise money for National Animal Rescue.

The Catwalk will be hosted by Girls Next Door star Bridget Marquardt and will honor Heather Mills, Nigel Barker, Grammy award-winning singer Mya and Kimora Lee Simmons.

According to their site:

“Between 6-8 million dogs and cats enter shelters each year. Proceeds from Celebrity Catwalk go directly to non-profit organizations who work tirelessly to put a dent in those staggering statistics.”

The event will take place at The Highlands Hollywood on Thursday, August 27th. To learn more or purchase tickets, visit CelebrityCatwalk.com!

Heather Mills is a very busy woman. Not only is the celebrity activist busy with a new vegan cafe and frozen foods range — but she’s also getting ready to reveal a new eco-couture enterprise.

Dropping hints for us to follow and piece together, Mills will launch Be@1 this coming August 27th at the Highlands Hollywood in association with the charity event Celebrity Catwalk. The collection will restyle and recycle charity shop clothing — with one benefit, as Mills tweeted, being less waste thrown into the landfill.

At the end of July, the UK Evening Standard published a photo of Mills posing in one of the collection’s new outfits; sans price (but available upon request). We’ve no doubt that these will probably be expensive — especially since charity clothing tends to be a one-of-a-kind affair; unless they’re going with surplus swag. We also expect the entire line to be vegan-friendly — which will probably stir up the UK media to insinuate that Mills is somehow looking to steal Stella McCartney’s thunder.

Check out the splash page for Be@1 here. We’ll update with photos of Mills’ new line when it hits later this month.

Whether you like her or not, these days Heather Mills is the Queen V! 

Since it’s opening on July 4th, Ecorazzi has been diligently covering the success of VBites — Mills’ UK-based vegan cafe. And success it has been! 

Word on the street is that VBites is currently selling between 700 and 1,000 vegan products daily and changing the way many meat-eaters feel about VEG food! Mills recenetly revealed: 

“I can honestly say we have not slowed down since opening day. Watching carnivores arriving hungry, leaving satisfied then coming back with their families has been the best thing for me. I think VBites is perfect at Hove Lagoon, an ethical healthy filling station in a hive of fun filled activity.”

We can’t help but agree! 

Are you feeling hungry for a Mills creation? Visit VBites.com and get your vegan on!

While plenty of commenters have made remarks indicating as much, it’s now been made official that Heather Mills is the new owner of UK-based Redwood Wholesale Foods. The company owns such meat-free brands as “Cheatin’”, “VegiDeli”, and “Cheezly”. Besides being plant-based, all of their munchies are also free from hydrogenated fats, eggs, GMOs, cholesterol, artificial colors and preservatives.

Anyways, speculation that VBites will now become a part of the Redwoods lineup appears to be spot on. That, or Mills will just use the company’s resources to distribute the restaurant-themed snacks and dinners via her website. It also appears that she’ll work to expand Redwood’s market. An email sent to the site QuarryGirl.com from company executives indicates as much:

I just wanted to bring you up to date on the latest Cheezly developments. Firstly, Redwood Foods was just purchased by Heather Mills who is a committed vegan and a very dedicated animal rights activist. The original management team is still in place at Redwood and Heather will be a great ambassador for us and veganism in general. Secondly, we expect soon to be offering a new and improved shredded version of Cheezly here in the States. Thirdly, we plan soon to lower our suggested retail price for Cheezly to $5.99 and maybe a little lower. Lastly, we hope that it won’t now be too long before we start marketing other Redwood manufactured items in the US.

So, good news! Those of you looking for even more choices for meat-free goods at the supermarket may soon see Redwood Farms out there. As for rampant UK speculation that Mills is attempting to challenge the late Linda McCartney’s meatless brand as revenge against her ex Paul McCartney, I think it’s time to hang it up. Mills is genuinely vested in her business venture and commitment to expanding vegan and vegetarian foods. Let’s just look for the good here and be happy that there are more foods out there pushing the movement forward.

- Heather Mills reminding the world that she’s always been focused on charitable living.  We’re big fans of the Mills Machine around here and happy to see that she continues to put her money where her mouth is! 

via: metro.co.uk