Well, I am geeking out!
I had the very good fortune to be invited to go to The 5th Annual Sonoma Veg Fest. As the name suggests it is a big celebration of all things Vegan. I will be posting further videos and pictures about all the wonderful vendors, products and information that I found during this all day event. I have to say that for me, personally, meeting one of my Vegan heroes, Patti Breitman, was the best part.
When I first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, I didn't have a high paying job (or any job for that matter), but that never stopped me from enjoying the wonders that this city has to offer. One of the ways I would fill my days was by just walking around. If you don't know this, San Francisco is only 49 square miles so it can be walked from end to end in just a few hours. It's one of the best cities to explore on foot, but I digress.
One of my favorite activities back then was to explore used book stores where I could browse rare or unusual books,especially to a kid like me from a small town in Texas. You must remember this was before we had access to Amazon and YouTube so variety of information could be very hard to find.
There was a book store on Polk and Bush streets that I used to frequent very regularly. One good day I found a book called How to Say No Without Feeling Guilty. Patti was one of the authors on the book and I was so moved by the message that I kept my eye on the Author's name so I could find other books in the future.
It was some time later in 2011 I found a book with the same author's name and I just had to get it. I had begun my journey into Veganism in 2003 so the title just confirmed that I was going to learn a lot from this book. Patti wrote How to Eat Like a Vegetarian Even If You Never Want to Be One. I think I read that entire book in one sitting. Yes. That's how we used to do what is now binge watching. I was "binge reading".
There were so many helpful tips and tricks to figure out your way if you are new to Veganism. It still keeps a special place in my bookshelf along with most everything else she's written over the years.
When I got to meet her in person and listen to her lecture at Veg Fest, I understood her message even better. Her educational speech was about some of the mistakes that she had made as a Vegan over the years. Of course, I thought she would talk about things like not reading the labels on products carefully or things like that which I bring up in my own book but that was not the case at all.
This lady is so gracious that she explained about things that "seasoned"vegans can probably relate to like I did. One thing she talked about was how she was a little too outspoken to new Vegans at the start of her journey because she felt at the time there was only a certain way to be Vegan.
The fact that she stood up as a celebrity and shared that touched my heart because it showed me that she is the real deal. We sometimes become so involved in our causes and our own perception that we forget that as Vegans or Vegetarians we are all looking towards the same direction in the compass of life.
I will admit that I have been guilty of this before. Her commentary reinforced my beliefs that the only way to make progress as a movement, social or otherwise, is to be kind to one another. Maybe consider this: If I am militant about being kind to all animals, that means that I should be at least as kind, or more so, to my fellow human beings. She helped me understand that it's detrimental to criticize and it's much more helpful to look at the fact that someone who thinks differently than us is still trying to help animals, be healthy, save the planet and all the lofty goals we all share.
Just to wrap this up: The thing that pulled at the strings of my heart during her lecture was that it's OK to be naughty once in a while and celebrate. Now of course I don't mean go kill a cow and eat it but the fact that we can cook the way I do. I know most of my recipes use more oil, carbs and unrefined sugars than most everyone out there, but that is why my blog is about Vegan Celebrations. What I mean by that is that there are special occasions like date night, religious holidays or in my case when I do catering maybe an awards ceremony or a gala. Of course at that time it's perfectly acceptable to indulge and throw a little caution to the wind. Sometimes even just after a hard day at work, we just need to treat ourselves.
In conclusion. It was a great honor to meet one of the people who has helped me and continues to inspire me on my Vegan journey. I have Patti on my list and so many others.
Who are the mentors or heroes who have helped you navigate this planet saving revolution?
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