A week from today I’ll be in Montana! During the Vegan Pressure Cooking book tour I’m introducing you to the activists in the communities I’ll be visiting. Today meet the phenomenal Bonnie Goodman, fellow vegan lifestyle coach and educator and founder of The Live and Let Livingston Potluck
Howard Lyman. Eco Elvis. Gary Yourofsky.
And now, Montana welcomes… JL Fields!
I’m mainly a food activist – sharing recipes and delicious samples is my bag, baby. When people taste something yummy and see how easy it is to prepare, that’s when they think “Hey, I could go veg!” (I know that’s what happened for me the first time we had Tofutti Sour Cream on enchiladas — thank you very much, Tracy Martin!!)
That’s why our group Live and Let Livingston is constantly sharing food and recipes: through monthly potlucks that are open to the public and feature short cooking demos, by participating in The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale, by offering vegan treats with recipes at The Livingston Art Walks, giving away kale or quinoa salad at health fairs, leafleting PCRM materials at cancer research fundraisers…it seems like we are always working on the next project.
Jen Nitz from West Yellowstone and Melisa Syness from Helena, helping out at the 2014 Park County Fall Health Festival.
So when JL announced a tour for her new book, Vegan Pressure Cooking: Delicious Beans, Grains and One-Pot Meals in Minutes, I just had to invite her to visit Montana! It’s a big state, with not a lot of people, so we have planned multiple stops in multiple cities; a vegan road trip to reach as many people as possible. Working on these events has made me reflect on the wonderful friends I have made here, and the rapidly growing vegan community in Montana.
The beloved speaker, joyful vegan, and author of The 30 Day Vegan Challenge, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau recently produced a podcast episode called Seeking a Sense of Community & Belonging: (Stage 6 of What Happens when you Stop Eating Animals)
I don’t mean to be bossy, but get this book. And listen to this podcast!
It was during this stage that Melisa Syness searched online to find local veg groups in Helena, and discovered Vegan Outreach. When she asked if there were any vegans in Montana, they sent her the names of 3 people:one in Billings (Lisa Kemmerer), one in Livingston (me), one in Missoula (Sue Eakins). I will be forever grateful for those introductions, because those people soon became my treasured friends. Next week, JL will meet them all except dear Sue Eakins, who we recently lost to cancer. Sue had the sanctuary New Dawn Montana, and we are happy to say that all of her animals found safe homes with caring individuals and other sanctuaries before she passed.
So our first stop in this Montana road trip will be in Billings, where JL will teach a cooking class at Natural Grocers and afterwards we will visit Lisa Kemmerer and her dogs. Lisa is a professor at MSU and author of several books, the most recent called Eating Earth: Environmental Ethics and Dietary Choice. Lisa just returned from India where she was working to help end water buffalo racing. We are eager to hear of her accomplishments there.
Lisa Kemmerer’s latest book – a must read for anyone who cares about the environment!
The next day we’ll drive to Livingston. (JL’s visit is inspiring all sorts of overdue home improvements at our house. For instance, we are finally installing a medicine cabinet in the bathroom and my hubby is fixing that 5 foot section of stair railing that’s been broken for 10 years, woo hoo!) Safety in the house, yo!! Methinks we need company more often.
On Saturday there will be a cooking class/book signing at The Wheatgrass Saloon, which is famous for their juice bar and their raw lunch bowls. They have been wanting to add hot food to their winter menu, so it’s a perfect time for JL to show them how to use a pressure cooker!
Next on the agenda, is an all-day event for me: our monthly Live and Let Livingston potluck!
Live and Let Livingston potluck, pics by Robert Howell Photography
I’m hoping JL will take a moment to relax while we set up at a brand-new location for this potluck – the newly built Livingston Food Resource Center, which features a gorgeous commercial kitchen and beautiful meeting room for the community. The theme for this potluck is “Potato Lover’s Month”… I’m thinking sweet potatoes in the pressure cooker will hit the spot. JL will be our featured guest, with either a small cooking demo or a mini-version of one of her Veg-Fest speeches!
Monday we’ll drive over the hill to Bozeman, for a book signing at The Country Bookshelf, followed by a stroll downtown, and another cooking class at the spectacular new Bozeman Library. On Tuesday we’ll travel to see Main Street Vegan Academy alum Melisa Syness in Helena – which is now home to Sue Eakin’s beloved Molly Brown, the famous cow who escaped the slaughterhouse in Great Falls in 2006. I hope to meet Andrea, the activist who took in Molly and her friend Mike; we are so grateful that they will live the rest of their lives in peace.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown’s 2006 escape from a Great Falls slaughterhouse.
A book signing at The Montana Book Company in the scenic Last Chance Gulch will be followed by yet another cooking class at Helena’s Natural Grocers.
After a couple of days of “real” work for JL (at the beautiful setting of Boulder Hot Springs) we’ll go to Missoula, for a busy day with three events. Missoula seems to be bursting with a new vegan scene! We’ll start with a cooking class at Natural Grocers and a potluck & pep talk with the Missoula Vegans group, which is growing like crazy on Facebook! I look forward to meeting with Krystal Downing, who brought Cowspiracy to Missoula last fall (the MT premiere, I believe), and Sarah Coffey, who posts gorgeous photos and info about raw foods.
The drive from Missoula to Spokane is incredibly scenic, and it’s in Spokane’s gorgeous Peaceful Valley (remember Benny and Joon?) that we’ll see my best friend since 7th grade, the beautiful, funny, and talented graphic artist Tracy Martin, founder of Rabbitron!
Tracy Martin is the graphic artist who creates fabulous billboards like these. Her website is a valuable resource for those who want to adopt and properly care for a rabbit. We’ll visit Tracy’s sanctuary, where we’ll be merely tolerated and absolutely adored by all manner of rescued mammals. We’ll also be terrorized by the mightiest pigeon in all the land: Wabba the Hut.
Do not try this at home. Wabba’s goal is to attach himself to your bare ankle like a clothespin of discipline.
Over Valentine’s weekend there will be many more adventures, and I’ll leave it to Tessa Trow & Josh Meckle of InVeg to tell you who we’ll meet and what happens next…
…in the meantime, THANK YOU JL – we can’t wait to see you and we hope you love Montana as much as we do!
Bonnie Goodman is a glass beadmaker and founder of Live and Let Livingston in Montana. She shares her studio/gallery Mordam Art with husband Parke, and lives with the best dog ever (like yours!), nine cats, and a parrot that meows.
Thank YOU, Bonnie, for planning such an extraordinary journey! I cannot wait to share my love of pressure cooking – and all things vegan – with you and everyone we meet in Montana!
2 thoughts on “Meet Bonnie Goodman and Live and Let Livingston”
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That sounds like such a fun road trip with neat folks! Hope you’ll tell us all about it!
I’m filled with gratitude for the opportunity! I hope to do some video blogging from the road, Betsy!