I
learned something new on Sunday, (well, more than one thing actually) and that is, October
01 is the World Vegetarian Day, and one of the best places to be for awareness
if not celebration was definitely San Francisco. http://www.worldvegfestival.com/ World
Vegetarian Day was founded in 1977 by the North American Vegetarian Society
(NAVS) and was endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978. October
1st is the annual kick-off of Vegetarian Awareness Month. By informing others
about the benefits of vegetarianism, one can contribute to helping to create a
better world because vegetarian diet have proven health benefits, save animals’
lives and help to preserve the Earth.
The Bay Area is a special and idyllic place where people seem very respectful
of the veg-people (which will be my reference in this entry for vegetarians and
vegans) but probably some are fed-up with the extent of in-your-face activism as well. I
hear jokes from time to time, some verging on cynicism, and sometimes made by
the veg-people themselves when they learn where I come from. In their
apologetic or jokes comments lie the embarrassment caused by the knowledge of
other countries. I tend to ignore these comments and simply enjoy being in the
Mecca of veg-culture where the food options are boundless, creative, and thus very
impressive. I am the type of person who would walk into a veg-store and scrutinize
each and every item for the sheer love of learning. I know about marketing
strategies or sugar-coated capitalism blah blah… but I like the smells, the
looks and the ingredients of the products. I have taught classes on representation
analysis. Mostly the store designers are doing a good job so why not approach
it like public art-work? On the famous hippie street called Haight-Ashbury,
there is one vegan-burger restaurant https://www.veganburg.com,
which would be out of business in a couple weeks in most of the places in this
country and in the other countries where I lived prior to declaring this city my
soul-mate (with all its sins and flaws).
The
balance of the Veg Festival was well-maintained; clearly organizers and volunteers
were experienced. One could gobble samples (which goes against my veg-people
stereotype so it was a bit surprising!) and just leave the site, or go for a smarter
combo of a few sampling, chatting with people, attending some of the
lectures/talks by renowned veg-people in the field, and listening to live
music. There were twenty speakers in total and all concurrent sessions so you
had to choose. I wasn’t in a conference mode so I chose to attend only three,
and two of them were excellent both in content and the delivery of the talks: Will
Tuttle and Vaidya Prianka.
Dr.
Tuttle’s story left a more powerful impression on me, probably because I
admired the lifestyle he & his Swiss partner chose in this world: Living
and traveling in a caravan, not having a TV or health insurance (since they are
very healthy vegans, knock on wood) for years. They live in nature, as
independently as one can in this world, and working for a cause that one
believes in and trust the humanity. I’d love that! Feel free to check out his
life story online and how he became the person that he is today. 90 % of the
statements he made correspond so smoothly with the form of Islamic mysticism
that I have been reading and practicing in my own ways so it was reassuring to
listen to him and making connections throughout. Just serendipity.
Another
person whom I would highly recommend is: Neal Barnard who, similar to Dr.
Tuttle, feels very comfortable in his skin and makes jokes about where he comes
from (Fargo, N. Dakota!) Listening to him talk is a genuine experience even for
the skeptics like myself. I hope to meet him in person one day. Some of the
radical-sounding statements he brings up about dairy products have been worth
thinking about even if I can’t or don’t feel ready to practice (yet) Here is
one example: “Some foods are
fattening. Others are addictive. Cheese is both. Loaded with calories, high in
sodium, packing more cholesterol than steak, and sprinkled with hormones… if
cheese were any worse, it would be Vaseline.” Wow!
I
have been playing with the idea of vegetarianism since 2009 but it took me such
a long time to actually put it into practice. Why was I so hesitant? The community and its food rituals had the strongest impact on my daily food intake. A lot of unspoken 'stuff' protects the food culture, in fact, there
are many taboos around it. As travelers, most of us try hard not to offend the
locals while holding on to our health and beliefs on the road, right? The myths about veg-diets are
still powerful too (where do you get your protein from?) that it takes an extra
effort to behave in a kind, non-reactive way against the same tedious and
not-very-smart questions so much so that there are even guidelines for it. Listening to Neal Barnard, Will Tuttle, and Vaidya Prianka as the embodiment of
such kindness empowers any listener who is or was as hesitant as I was when it
came to practicing vegetarianism.
Becoming
an activist is a different and bolder step, and I have no intentions. However,
it shouldn't be too much to expect some respect and care (like the sexual
orientation) when you disclose yourself. If you are a young college student,
even as you are initially experimenting with it, depending on your personality,
you can immediately move on to the activism. I can picture my 20-year-old Self
doing it! However, if one is 30+ and take a decision to become a veg-person,
the chances are she is serious about it and will likely to continue with her practice
in a calm, as-a-matter-of-fact attitude. Of course, people do change, there is always room for it, but the youth can channel
their issues (rage, rebellion, love) in such fervent manners. They might
believe that they are vegan forever and any meat-eater (especially with a bad
sense of humor) is the enemy. As they experiment with sex (including their
sexual orientation), they experiment with food intake radically, only to realize
that they change and surprise (or disappoint!) themselves. However, it is nice
to see the many shades of gray between the black and white.
October
01 was a blue day in SF! A small plane on the crystal sky kept drawing white
heart-shaped clouds in the air. Whether or not it was related to the World Veg
Festival, I do not know. It was one of those stolen-from-paradise days in San
Francisco and I don’t think I have ever regretted paying yet another visit to
the Golden Gate Park… So long, until next time!
