Yesterday I took a long walk midday, for about an hour, and listened to the latest episode of Our Hen House. Jasmin and Mariann interviewed Liz Marshall about her recent transition from vegetarian to vegan. The conversation centered on activism.
I’ve been an activist my entire adult life. In college I dated an African-American man and, wow, was I blown away by my naiveté. I had no idea so many people would be opposed. In that moment, I vowed to do everything I could to try to eliminate racism. After graduate school, in my mid-twenties, I began working at a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered social service agency in Chicago. From that point forward, and to this day, I am devoted to eliminating homophobia (P.S. Same-sex marriage is now legal in New York and I’m an ordained minister. Just sayin’). I have volunteered for women’s rights organizations and led two feminist nonprofits that worked to eliminate sexism and violence against women.
Now I am a vegan. I question how much I have dedicated myself to the elimination of violence against animals. Sure, I blog and I know there are some elements of activism here. But am I really doing enough? After listening to Liz, Jasmin and Mariann’s conversation I realize that I am an animal right’s activist. Because each and every time I pick up a fork or spoon or straw I am actively choosing to not participate in the exploitation and mutilation of animals. Each and every time I tell someone I am vegan, and explain it’s because I do not want to harm animals, I am an activist. I have much more that I want to do in the realm of animal rights but, in the meantime, my active choice to not eat animals is a form of activism. I have to give myself credit for that.
Moving on to plant-based, animal loving food…
Saturday I reviewed Thrive Foods and introduced you to this salad.
I decided to bulk the salad up for a hearty meal.
I made black-eyed peas in the pressure cooker by sauteing banana pepper, garlic and cumin (a key ingredient in Brendan’s recipe) in olive oil. I added the black-eyed peas and water, locked the lid, brought to pressure and cooked at pressure for 11 minutes. After a cold water quick release I removed the lid (away from me), added iodized sea salt, a little more water and simmered on low for five minutes.
The result?
A fabulous raw and cooked lunch.
16 thoughts on “VeganMoFo 11: AR Activism + Tuesday = Lunch (Black-Eyed Peas over Cabbage Salad)”
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I love the cabbage salad. Yum!!
Oh my gosh, that looks so good! I was just thinking about ordering a copy of Thrive . . . you may have just sealed the deal.
Wendy, Brendan shares recipes that seem very inline with the way you eat. I think you’ll like it!
I think the links between veganism and activism against all forms of repression or inequality are really interesting, I know that Gena from Choosing Raw has blogged about this before. I have to admit that when I became vegan I didn’t see myself as an activist, but as you have pointed out, every time I make a decision not to participate in eating animals or the results of their exploitation, I’m doing something and making that statement. For me it also closely ties in with the environmental benefits too, I also feel a similar way whenever I choose to spend my money locally or on organic goods, which I can not afford to do all the time, but at least each time I’m being an activist for local business and local produce.
There are really great points, Laura. I do take much greater care in how I spend my money and I have consciously avoided clothes, shoes and accessories made from animal products. One more thing! YAY!
By the way, Gena wrote the awesome Vegan 101 post on the Ethics of Veganism right here on this blog!
This post makes me love you even more and feel honored to be “in real life” friends. I too was shocked to find out how narrow-minded some of my so-called “friends” were when I dated an African-American man not to mention how shocked and saddened I was when Proposition 8 passed in my state.
and as for activism: this perfect paragraph elicited chills from me: Because each and every time I pick up a fork or spoon or straw I
am actively choosing to not participate in the exploitation and
mutilation of animals. Each and every time I tell someone I am vegan, and explain it’s because I do not want to harm animals, I am an activist. I have much more that I want to do in the realm of animal rights but, in the meantime, my active choice to not eat animals is a form of activism. I have to give myself credit for that.
Thanks, friend. It’s nice to have you back in the U.S. I missed your posts!
I love how well you explained your animal rights activism. I really feel great about what I’m doing for my health, for the environment, and the animals every time I pick up a fork!
Yes!
Such a great post! I like the idea that every time we pick up a fork we are engaging in activism.
It reminds us that small things are big, yes?
That cabbage salad looks mighty tasty.
I hear you on the activism. We can always do more. At the same time, I think it’s important to realize that all people can’t specialize in all things. Some people are much better than me at getting the word out about AR. I am much better about dispelling vegan food myths.
That’s a really good point. Thanks for making it, Dynise.
this looks wonderful
Interesting to read 🙂 It’s striking that a lot of people who are activists for cause H, also are – or become – activists for cause P. It’s like that with many of my friends and also with me.
I had the same experience after listening to that episode of Our Hen House, it made me think about my activism. I can say that my blog and personal influence has opened the eyes of at least a handful of people to veganism and that makes me proud and even more motivated to keep doing what we do. Keep up the good work JL!!!