Interview with Dan Piraro!

Name: Dan Piraro
Born: Mid 1900's
Spouse: Ashley Smith
Home: New York, NY
Occupation: Painter, illustrator, award-winning cartoonist, and stand-up comedian
Official website: http://www.bizarro.com 

Are you vegan or vegetarian? 

"Vegan, of course.  As an avid opponent of cruelty to animals, I would never buy anything with dairy products or eggs in them as the production of these items involves a great deal of suffering.  Virtually all veal calves come from the dairy industry, even producers of so-called "free range" and "organic" milk sell their male calves to the veal industry.  If you're eating/drinking something made from cow's milk, it's because a calf chained in a box somewhere isn't."

How long have you been vegetarian/vegan? 

"Four years."

Why did you become vegetarian/vegan? 

"I visited a farm animal sanctuary one day and found out two things: the realities of factory farming, and the fact that so-called "food" animals are not just stupid eating machines that don't care if they live or die, which is what I'd sort of been raised to believe.  It took me one day of exposure to the truth to become vegan and i've never regretted it for a moment."

How and when did you first come up with the name "Bizarro"?

"21 years ago, when I was first offered a syndication contract, I came up with a list of names to call my feature. Bizarro rhymes with my last name, so it was chosen.  Not a very fabulous story, I'm afraid." 

How much has your diet/lifestyle affected your comics? 

"I always try to bring as much of myself and my perspective on life to my cartoons as possible. So as soon as I learned about factory farming I began to try to find ways to incorporate that info and those views into my cartoons. It took a while, but I began to find a voice for it and have developed it ever since.  It was the comics I did on this subject that drew me into the AR world.  Various groups began contacting me saying, effectively, "you're one of us!"  With that came invitations to speak at conferences and festivals, for groups, etc. and before I knew it, I was a fixture of the movement."

When did you start including vegetarian/animal rights themes in your comics? Do you believe this helps raise awareness of such issues for your readers and fans? 

"Throughout my career I've drawn comics criticizing hunting and clothing made of fur.  These seemed like direct 'cruelty for fun/vanity' issues.  I think because I was so heavily indoctrinated into meat-eating all my life, the fact that my diet fell into the same category just didn't occur to me until I learned about factory farming.  The really hard-hitting cartoons about animal rights didn't start until a few months after my conversion in 2002.  It took me that long to find a way to make it funny and provocative without being overly preachy.   To my pleasant surprise, I have heard from many readers over the years that have said that the info and cartoons on my website have led them to rethink their lifestyle choices."

Do you include these themes in your stand-up acts?

"Yes.  There's an entire section about animal rights in my comedy shows.  That, too, has been a learning process, which isn't over yet.  Finding ways to make people laugh and think, without being too preachy or making them defensive, is difficult.  I get better at it with each show."

If one of the actual "Three Little Pigs" was president, what would the White House be made of and what would they serve in the dining room? 

"I published a political satire in 2004 called, The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House in which the three pigs, Dicky, Rummy, and W, buy their way into the White House.  They take a country made of bricks, give the bricks away to their rich friends and leave a country made of straw.  The Big Bad Wolf comes along and blows the country down.   On the last page of the book I apologize to "actual" pigs and wolves, who are far less greedy and dangerous than humans."

What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment in life? 

"I hope I haven't made it yet, but I think my using my moderate fame to disseminate information about kindness vs. cruelty is my most important contribution to the planet thus far."

How important do you feel organic foods are in the diet?

"Extremely important.  Toxins are what cause cancer.  Animal protein in its purest form is toxic to an herbivore, add to that the extra crap that the food industry throws into our food supply, meat and veg, and you've got the current cancer and heart disease rates that consume American lives by the millions each year."

There has been a growing movement towards raw food diets. Do you try to incorporate much raw food into your diet?

"To be honest, raw food isn't as big an issue to me as veganism in general. What really kills us is animal protein and pesticides.  If I lose a little nutrients here and there by warming my food, I'm not all that alarmed."

Do you have any pets? "My wife, a full-time, freelance animal rights activist, and I foster animals regularly, so we don't keep permanent animals in the house except for two cats."

What are your feelings on vegan pet food?

"Cats are carnivores and have every right to eat meat.  The downside is that commercial cat food comes from factory farming, an industry we don't want to support.  As a compromise, we've found organic, raw cat foods that our cats like and we feed them that.  It's a bit of a compromise and I suppose everyone has to come to their own decisions about what to feed cats."

What are your favorite foods/meals? 

"Anything spicy."

Care to share a favorite recipe with our visitors? 

"My wife is a fabulous cook and I haven't the foggiest idea how she makes anything."

What is your favorite veg restaurant(s)?   

"Millenium and Herbivore in SF,  Candle 79 and Red Bamboo in NYC, Chicago Diner in Chicago."

What is your favorite quote or saying? 

"Humans aren't the only species on earth, we just act like it."

I have to say, it's a great book! Every fan should have a copy! Where should our visitors buy your book?

"The book is available nationwide at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and your local independent book stores. If you don't see it, ask them to order it. If you don't want to leave the house, you can get it from Amazon.com or http://budplant.com/product.asp?pn=BZA&bhcd2=1149093109"