Food

Vegetarian Food Festival Nourishes NYC

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Thousands packed the Metropolitan Pavilion on March 4-5, 2012 for the annual NYC Vegetarian Food Festival. The event, run by U.S. Veg Corp, featured multiple speakers, cooking demonstrations, and performances. Vendors offering food samples were popular spots for the enthusiastic crowd of attendees. Exhibitors included educational and advocacy groups, as well as companies selling vegan marshmallows (regular marshmallows contain gelatin, which is made from animal collagen), jewelry made of vegetables, and books. One new product I had never heard of was Sacha Vida, an oil made from the seed of the Amazon’s Sacha Inchi tree, and is very high in Omega 3 oil (sachavida.com). This is a healthy, more humane alternative to fish oil. See nycvegfoodfest.com and USVegCorp.com for info on future events.

Rynn Berry, Author of the Vegan Guide to NYC

 

 

An Evening with Frances Moore Lappe’s Small Planet Fund

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Frances Moore Lappe and daughter, Anna at the Small Planet Fund Gala & Auction

One of the reasons I love living near New York City is the opportunity to attend events like I did last night. I had the great fortune of spending an evening with Frances Moore Lappe, her daughter Anna Lappe, and 100 of their closest friends. It was the 10th Anniversary of their Small Planet Fund, and an auction was held to benefit this year’s grantee, Real Food Now (see realfoodchallenge.org). The event took place in a beautiful private loft in Soho, NYC, and guests included many from around the region who work to support local food production, fresh food access for all, and healthy options in schools — such as Catherine Gund, maker of the film “What’s On Your Plate?” and Bhavani Jaroff, of Slow Food Huntington. It was a pleasure to meet Frances Moore Lappe, whose seminal book “Diet for a Small Planet” published in the 1970s created such a wave of awareness, and it is doubly inspiring to see how her daughter Anna has followed in her footsteps. They co-authored the book, “Hope’s Edge” several years back, and each have newer books out since then: Frances has written “Eco Mind” about the psychology of changing our attitudes towards the earth, and Anna has written “Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It.” See smallplanetfund.org.

Dr. Melanie Joy Speaks on “Carnism”

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Dr. Melanie Joy

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset, NY hosted a presentation by Dr. Melanie Joy, a social psychologist and author of ”Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows.” Clearly a provocative topic, I salute the UU for creating this forum. Dr. Joy’s main theme is that most people who don’t live on farms don’t think about the killing that goes on to produce their food, and in fact this is partially due to the fact that it is hidden (somewhat intentionally) from most of us. Many people who are trying to be more conscious are switching to more “humanely raised” meat. However, she made a good point in asking audience members if they would feel ok about eating their golden retriever after a few years because it had a good life, running around, doing dog things. But this is what happens to other animals, and it is culturally accepted. With gentle warnings, she showed a few brief clips of scenes from factory farms, and discussed the idea of “carnism” (a term she coined), or meat-eating as “normal” and “necessary,” as we are raised in the western world to believe. Being that her own father is a commercial fisherman, Dr. Joy also spoke about the cultural and familial aspect of our dietary history. My kudos to the crowd of 75 people who held a thoughtful, positive, and respectful discussion afterwards. It gave me hope for our ability to become more aware even on very uncomfortable topics, and for the human mind to evolve towards less violence in the world.

Veggie Pride Parade, NYC 2011

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Having recently seen the powerful documentary Earthlings, which is a painful reminder of the animal abuse that goes on to bring us food, clothing, and entertainment, today’s Veggie Pride Parade in NYC was a joyful celebration of why I became vegetarian 20 years ago. The Parade, organized by the Viva-Vegie Society, gives me hope that more and more people are awakening to the cruel facts, and making changes to improve their dietary choices, for their health, the animals, and the environment. It was colorful and fun, with great speakers, and free vegan food!

Organizer, Pamela Rice (r) and friend (l)
Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns, addresses the crowd

Gene Baur, Farm Sanctuary, & Pamela Rice, Viva-Vegie Society, and friends lead the parade
True Eco-fashion; a necklace made of radishes : ) Creative!

Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center event

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The Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Children’s Environmental Health Center (CEHC), run by esteemed environmental pediatrician Dr. Phil Landrigan, held its annual luncheon in Greenwich, CT on May 9th, 2011. Dr. Landrigan helped get lead out of gasoline in 1978, and also advised the EPA in the 1990s, leading to the Food Safety Protection Act. Several hundred activists and young mothers attended this event, and they were treated to an organic lunch and an expo with organic baby products. CEHC is at the cutting edge of knowledge about chemicals that can negatively impact a fetus or baby. They are gaining increasing knowledge about hormone-disrupting chemicals such as BPA (bisphenol A) which is used in some baby bottles, and tends to feminize male fetuses. New York State recently banned the sale of BPA baby bottles thanks to work of breast cancer groups. CEHC notes that BPA is also found in tooth sealants but in low quantities, as well as in cash register
receipt paper.

Dr. Phil Landrigan and Beth Fiteni
(L-R) Laura Weinberg, Karen Miller, Beth Fiteni at the Greening Our Children expo, Greenwich, CT

Urban Roots Film

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I just saw the new documentary Urban Roots, about the growing interest in urban farming in the economically stressed city of Detroit, MI. It was made by a young film-maker from Detroit who wanted to tell the story of local people who are turning vacant lots into places to grow food and build back the community, where old and young alike can have a role. The most inspiring stories were of people in a drug rehabilitation facility who had to do community service hours. They worked at a local urban garden, and got so much out of it that they kept working there even after they completed the required hours. One said, “what I once took from the community I now am giving back.”

It also covered the obstacles faced by urban farmers in terms of cooperation from the city, even despite the benefits the urban farms bring. The city zoning laws aren’t necessarily keeping up with the will of the people to feel the empowerment of being able to grow their own food. See UrbanRootsFilm.com for ways to be involved.