lauren T. Ornelas is an American animal rights advocate for more than 20 years and is the founder of the Food Empowerment Project.

USA's executive director,[8] in cooperation with activists across the country, she also brought corporate changes to such powerful companies as Whole Foods Market,[9] Trader Joe's, and Pier 1 Imports.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was present and initially responded to Ornelas's speech dismissively.

"[12] In 2006, Ornelas' desire to address a variety of social justice issues came to fruition with the opportunity to give a talk "Corporate Animal Farms: Exploiting Animals, Workers and the Environment, and Why You Should Work to Stop It" at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela.

Ornelas knew that being more responsible about what we eat was key to fighting injustice, and her idea for the Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.)

[14] Ornelas was one of several people who provided information used in the writing of the book Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism (2008) by Mark Hawthorne.

Ornelas wrote a chapter of Lisa Kemmerer's 2011 anthology Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice.

Ornelas gave a talk on "The Power of Our Food Choices" at TEDxGoldenGatePark in San Francisco on October 9, 2013.