I went to Cleveland VegFest and was shamed for being a vegetarian. A lady with that glassy look that's often seen in the eyes of a tele-evangelist's groupie, approached and asked my husband and myself to watch a movie for a dollar.
She would pay us the dollar. It was worth it to her to expose us to the horrors of factory farming.
"Oh, no," we said. "We're aware."
My husband had the good sense to step back and to the the side. This gave her room to step in close to me. Too close. "Oh. Are you vegan?"
Damn. Her eyes were really glassy. She had that weird, spaced out, happy, crazy, possibly dangerous look. She may as well have asked me if I know her Jesus. And, had she asked me that, I would have said, "Why yes. Yes I do," then walked on.
But, no. All about honesty.
"Vegetarian." I said this nonchalantly and glanced at my husband who was now looking around the crowded convention center with the same distracted curiosity as a six year old playing outfield.
Happy lady's face darkened. Just for a minute. Having grown up with evangelical types who felt it was a duty to ask strangers if they knew where they would spend the afterlife if they died RIGHT NOW, my inner town crier started ringing her bell.
She pressed me to watch the video.
She started talking about factory dairy farms and did I know..
"Yes. I have youtube."
She moved in even closer to me and lightly grabbed my wrist. I could smell kimchee on her breath.
"My friend, I hope one day you will become vegan." She said with a smile a bit too big and eyes too sparkly.
And, I now understood why people mock vegans. Not that I agree with it. But, I get it.
To be fair, Vegfest was a Vegan fest. This I did not clearly understand. And though I feel that vegetarians and vegans are cousins so to speak, I guess I was wrong. Their reduction of carbon footprints is so much more important than mine, apparently.
Also, not all vegans are evangelical in this way. I don't think they are anyway. And, although I felt a smidgeon of guilt about eating cheese, it was only for a minute. I've been a vegetarian for 25+ years. I became a vegetarian when I learned about factory farming. See, my family had strong ties to the farming community. I spent at least two weeks every summer on my uncles' dairy farm. My brother is a small dairy farmer on the eastern shore of Maryland.
The cows on uncles' farm spent their days in the pasture, came in for milking, then went back to the pasture. The chickens had a cozy little coop with plenty of freedom to move and be chickens. Sure, not so great things happened on that farm as with all farms animals, those animals were butchered. However, they were not tortured their whole lives then butchered. And, yes. There is a difference.. in my opinion anyway.
When I learned about the cruelty that is imposed upon living creatures to serve the gluttonous behavior of people, I gave up burgers and gave my burger money to PETA. I also know my limits, economic status and level of discipline. I knew from the very beginning I wouldn't be able to maintain a vegan lifestyle in a disciplined manner. So, I let that go.
Like I mentioned earlier, not all vegans are obnoxious. No one wants to be judged by the food police and being pushy and judgmental is never the way to get people to see your point of view on anything. However, had I been a carnivorous tourist at Vegfest, I may have come away with a very different outlook on vegetarianism and veganism.
Joe and I got there later in the day. There was a nice offering of speaker and movies, but we missed the ones that we would've interested us. Therefore, we spent our time moseying through the crowded bazaar.
Sherman Alexie once wrote a scathing response to his imagined response from vegetarians in regard to his reminiscences about his excitement as he and family gobbled down a bucket of KFC when he was a child on the reservation. To the best of my memory, it went something like this:
"To all you vegetarians reading this and judging, I say FUCK YOU."
He then expounded on the economic disparity between having to eat, and being able to choose what to eat. His words resonated with me when I read them and again as my husband and I looked for a bar of homemade soap to purchase that perhaps was less than 12.00. Seriously, that shit was expensive. I'm sure it was great soap. But, here's the thing. We use good soap as a rule. Our skin reacts poorly to the usual soaps. And thankfully, we are blessed to be able to sacrifice the 6 or 7 dollars for a bar of quality soap. And when I say "sacrifice", that's what I mean. We don't buy a lot of frivolous items, so we can purchase 7.00 bars of soap when needed. But, 12 dollars? Hmm.. can't do it.
To be fair, the place was packed with people, which I thought was very cool. Pride fest happened the same day and the city was busy. So, our explorations were based on what booths looked interesting and weren't surrounded by a throng of people. I am sure that there were items more reasonably priced. We just didn't see them.
Plenty of food vendors were at the fest. Because we don't have the pleasure of having an Indian restaurant close by, we opted for, nay, ran, salivating to Choolah Indian BBQ. Had we known that this was a corporate run place, we would've chosen differently. The food was tasty enough, although not nearly as good as some of the independently owned places like Taste of Keralam or South Indian Cuisine (neither of which were at the event, that I saw. But they are very good). We both had the paneer which looked to be the fastest moving item. We later learned that it wasn't vegan paneer. Not cool Choolah. Not cool.
While the food was reasonably priced, and the mango exceptionally yummy. We needed something extra to quench our thirst. J. went foraging for liquid and came back with a bottle of quality juice made with organic fruits. I think it was organic. There was no label of any kind. Oh, the 16 oz. drink cost 10 dollars. He purchased the juice from one of the small independent businesses. We do understand price point and all that. However, 10 dollars for a bottle of juice is a bit out there. It wasn't juiced in front of him and while they told him the ingredients, they were busy and speaking quickly. So, we had no idea what we were drinking. It could've been merely a mixture of Tropicana Twisters with a squirt of lemon for all we know. Packaging is important. At least write on the bottle with a sharpie.
At any rate, a 10 dollar bottle of juice is not something that most people will be able to purchase on a regular basis. Especially if its pre-packaged, and really, even if it's freshly juiced.
There is a nice little vegan place close to me that serves pre-packaged cold pressed juices. They also have food. I would love to patronize them more often, but a cup of chili and juice cost 17.00. Can't do that on a consistent basis. However, it does look like their prices have become more reasonable. So, maybe I will give them another try.
My point is, if I had no idea what veganism is, and I had stumbled into Vegfest, I would really think that this is a lifestyle for affluent fanatics. Even if it was something I wanted to explore, the costs of products that I saw would dissuade me from doing so.
And here's the thing. I do believe that vegan and/or vegetarian diet is becoming a necessity. Anything that will reduce our carbon footprints is a necessity at this point. I would have liked to have seen more education and vendors that focused on growing your own vegetables. Grow your own veggies, make your own juices. Become a bit more self sufficient and help heal the planet. Maybe next year?
For now, I leave you with this quote from Sherman Alexie:
"How self-centered, how arrogant... Imagine the awesome privilege of living in a society where you get to choose what you eat at each and every meal. When I was a kid, I was a vegetarian and a vegan for long stretches... I was a commodity cheese-atarian."
And this one from Albert Einstein:
“It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”
She would pay us the dollar. It was worth it to her to expose us to the horrors of factory farming.
"Oh, no," we said. "We're aware."
My husband had the good sense to step back and to the the side. This gave her room to step in close to me. Too close. "Oh. Are you vegan?"
Damn. Her eyes were really glassy. She had that weird, spaced out, happy, crazy, possibly dangerous look. She may as well have asked me if I know her Jesus. And, had she asked me that, I would have said, "Why yes. Yes I do," then walked on.
But, no. All about honesty.
"Vegetarian." I said this nonchalantly and glanced at my husband who was now looking around the crowded convention center with the same distracted curiosity as a six year old playing outfield.
Happy lady's face darkened. Just for a minute. Having grown up with evangelical types who felt it was a duty to ask strangers if they knew where they would spend the afterlife if they died RIGHT NOW, my inner town crier started ringing her bell.
She pressed me to watch the video.
She started talking about factory dairy farms and did I know..
"Yes. I have youtube."
She moved in even closer to me and lightly grabbed my wrist. I could smell kimchee on her breath.
"My friend, I hope one day you will become vegan." She said with a smile a bit too big and eyes too sparkly.
And, I now understood why people mock vegans. Not that I agree with it. But, I get it.
To be fair, Vegfest was a Vegan fest. This I did not clearly understand. And though I feel that vegetarians and vegans are cousins so to speak, I guess I was wrong. Their reduction of carbon footprints is so much more important than mine, apparently.
Also, not all vegans are evangelical in this way. I don't think they are anyway. And, although I felt a smidgeon of guilt about eating cheese, it was only for a minute. I've been a vegetarian for 25+ years. I became a vegetarian when I learned about factory farming. See, my family had strong ties to the farming community. I spent at least two weeks every summer on my uncles' dairy farm. My brother is a small dairy farmer on the eastern shore of Maryland.
The cows on uncles' farm spent their days in the pasture, came in for milking, then went back to the pasture. The chickens had a cozy little coop with plenty of freedom to move and be chickens. Sure, not so great things happened on that farm as with all farms animals, those animals were butchered. However, they were not tortured their whole lives then butchered. And, yes. There is a difference.. in my opinion anyway.
When I learned about the cruelty that is imposed upon living creatures to serve the gluttonous behavior of people, I gave up burgers and gave my burger money to PETA. I also know my limits, economic status and level of discipline. I knew from the very beginning I wouldn't be able to maintain a vegan lifestyle in a disciplined manner. So, I let that go.
Like I mentioned earlier, not all vegans are obnoxious. No one wants to be judged by the food police and being pushy and judgmental is never the way to get people to see your point of view on anything. However, had I been a carnivorous tourist at Vegfest, I may have come away with a very different outlook on vegetarianism and veganism.
Joe and I got there later in the day. There was a nice offering of speaker and movies, but we missed the ones that we would've interested us. Therefore, we spent our time moseying through the crowded bazaar.
Sherman Alexie once wrote a scathing response to his imagined response from vegetarians in regard to his reminiscences about his excitement as he and family gobbled down a bucket of KFC when he was a child on the reservation. To the best of my memory, it went something like this:
"To all you vegetarians reading this and judging, I say FUCK YOU."
He then expounded on the economic disparity between having to eat, and being able to choose what to eat. His words resonated with me when I read them and again as my husband and I looked for a bar of homemade soap to purchase that perhaps was less than 12.00. Seriously, that shit was expensive. I'm sure it was great soap. But, here's the thing. We use good soap as a rule. Our skin reacts poorly to the usual soaps. And thankfully, we are blessed to be able to sacrifice the 6 or 7 dollars for a bar of quality soap. And when I say "sacrifice", that's what I mean. We don't buy a lot of frivolous items, so we can purchase 7.00 bars of soap when needed. But, 12 dollars? Hmm.. can't do it.
To be fair, the place was packed with people, which I thought was very cool. Pride fest happened the same day and the city was busy. So, our explorations were based on what booths looked interesting and weren't surrounded by a throng of people. I am sure that there were items more reasonably priced. We just didn't see them.
Plenty of food vendors were at the fest. Because we don't have the pleasure of having an Indian restaurant close by, we opted for, nay, ran, salivating to Choolah Indian BBQ. Had we known that this was a corporate run place, we would've chosen differently. The food was tasty enough, although not nearly as good as some of the independently owned places like Taste of Keralam or South Indian Cuisine (neither of which were at the event, that I saw. But they are very good). We both had the paneer which looked to be the fastest moving item. We later learned that it wasn't vegan paneer. Not cool Choolah. Not cool.
While the food was reasonably priced, and the mango exceptionally yummy. We needed something extra to quench our thirst. J. went foraging for liquid and came back with a bottle of quality juice made with organic fruits. I think it was organic. There was no label of any kind. Oh, the 16 oz. drink cost 10 dollars. He purchased the juice from one of the small independent businesses. We do understand price point and all that. However, 10 dollars for a bottle of juice is a bit out there. It wasn't juiced in front of him and while they told him the ingredients, they were busy and speaking quickly. So, we had no idea what we were drinking. It could've been merely a mixture of Tropicana Twisters with a squirt of lemon for all we know. Packaging is important. At least write on the bottle with a sharpie.
At any rate, a 10 dollar bottle of juice is not something that most people will be able to purchase on a regular basis. Especially if its pre-packaged, and really, even if it's freshly juiced.
There is a nice little vegan place close to me that serves pre-packaged cold pressed juices. They also have food. I would love to patronize them more often, but a cup of chili and juice cost 17.00. Can't do that on a consistent basis. However, it does look like their prices have become more reasonable. So, maybe I will give them another try.
My point is, if I had no idea what veganism is, and I had stumbled into Vegfest, I would really think that this is a lifestyle for affluent fanatics. Even if it was something I wanted to explore, the costs of products that I saw would dissuade me from doing so.
And here's the thing. I do believe that vegan and/or vegetarian diet is becoming a necessity. Anything that will reduce our carbon footprints is a necessity at this point. I would have liked to have seen more education and vendors that focused on growing your own vegetables. Grow your own veggies, make your own juices. Become a bit more self sufficient and help heal the planet. Maybe next year?
For now, I leave you with this quote from Sherman Alexie:
"How self-centered, how arrogant... Imagine the awesome privilege of living in a society where you get to choose what you eat at each and every meal. When I was a kid, I was a vegetarian and a vegan for long stretches... I was a commodity cheese-atarian."
And this one from Albert Einstein:
“It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”
