Lierre Keith (; born 1964) is an American writer, radical feminist, food activist, and

radical environmentalist Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental mo ...

Biography

Keith attended Brookline High School in Massachusetts. She began her public involvement in the feminist movement as the founding editor of ''Vanessa and Iris: A Journal for Young Feminists'' (1983–1985).Lierre Keith CV
, Lierre Keith official website During this same period, she also volunteered with a group called

Women Against Violence Against Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

in Cambridge, where she participated in educational events and protest campaigns. In 1984, she was a founding member of

Minor Disturbance ''Minor Disturbance'' is the debut EP by the American hardcore punk band the Teen Idles, released in December 1980. It was the first release by Dischord Records. Comprising eight songs, ''Minor Disturbance'' referenced a number of issues pertin ...

, a protest group against militarism from a feminist perspective. In 1986, she was a founding member of Feminists Against Pornography in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

. She is a founding editor of '' Rain and Thunder'', a radical feminist journal in Northampton. As a radical feminist, and, more recently, as a radical environmentalist, Keith has had many appearances, interviews, and speeches around the U.S. and Canada. Keith was an early public advocate of the U.S. local food movement. In a 2006 '' Boston Globe'' human interest story, she said, "I like knowing that I'm supporting the local economy, and not corporate America." Her views have attracted negative attention from some vegetarians, what one journalist has called a "Vegan War". Illustrative of the heated political debate, protesters hit Keith with chili pepper-laced pies during a presentation of her book ''The Vegetarian Myth'' at the 2010 Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair.

''The Vegetarian Myth''

Keith's 2009 book '' The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability'' is an examination of the ecological effects of agriculture and vegetarianism. In ''The Vegetarian Myth'', she offers evidence of agriculture destroying entire eco-systems, such as the North American prairie. She also argues in favour of animal agriculture over plant agriculture, citing that the latter destroys topsoil, while animal farming rebuilds it.

''Deep Green Resistance''

Keith is associated with the

Deep Green Resistance Deep Green Resistance (DGR) is a radical environmental movement that views mainstream environmental activism as being ineffective. The group, which perceives the existence of industrial civilization itself as the greatest threat to the natural e ...

movement, and together with Aric McBay and

Derrick Jensen Derrick Jensen (born December 19, 1960) is an American ecophilosopher, writer, author, teacher and environmentalist in the anarcho-primitivist tradition, though he rejects the label "anarchist". ''Utne Reader'' named Jensen among "50 Visionari ...

, she co-wrote ''Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet'', published in May 2011.

Aric McBay Aric is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Aric Almirola (born 1984), American professional stock car racing driver * Aric Anderson (born 1965), American former football player * Aric Hagberg, American applied mathematician and academic ...

, Lierre Keith
''Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet''
. Seven Stories Press, May 2011. . Last accessed May 29, 2011. The book describes itself as a "manual on how to build a resistance movement that will bring down industrial civilization and save the planet", and "evaluates strategic options for resistance, from non-violence to guerrilla warfare, and the conditions required for those options to be successful". After the publication of this book, the authors co-founded an organization by the same name. Aric McBay left the organization at the beginning of 2012, however, attributing his departure to the cancellation of a transgender-inclusive policy by Derrick Jensen and Lierre Keith. Deep Green Resistance has disputed this account, saying that the women's safe space policy was one issue among many, and that the decision to restrict women's spaces was made by the women of DGR, and not by Jensen or Keith.

Women's Liberation Front

Keith is a founder of the

Women's Liberation Front The Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) is an American self-described radical feminist organization that opposes transgender rights and gender identity legislation. It has engaged in litigation on transgender topics, working against the Obama administ ...

, and, , serves as its chair.

Works

*''"Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It" by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, and Max Wilbert (Monkfish Book Publishing Company). 2021. *''Earth at Risk: Building a Resistance Movement to Save the Planet'' (edited by L.K. and

), PM Press, 2012, *''Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet'', Seven Stories Press, 2011, *''The Vegetarian Myth'', PM Press, 2009, *''Skyler Gabriel'', Fighting Words Pr, 1995, *''Conditions of War'', Fighting Words Pr, 1993,

Notes

External links

Official website
by Aric McBay, ''InTheWake'', ca. 2005.

Interview with Lierre Keith
by Ian McKenzie, on Why Agriculture is Destroying the Planet {{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Lierre American environmentalists American women environmentalists American feminists American non-fiction environmental writers Anti-pornography feminists Anti-prostitution feminists Critics of vegetarianism Living people Radical feminists 1964 births Brookline High School alumni 21st-century American women