When you are a vegan, it can seem lonely and discouraging to
have adopted a lifestyle that’s not mainstream, so when I strike up a
conversation at a food stop and discover a soul mate, it’s warm and fuzzy time.
Such an encounter occurred at the Public Library in
Fayetteville, Arkansas. I’d stop to
peruse their offerings - I was considering the latte with coconut milk or a
full-fruit smoothie -when my queries about vegan food brought a young woman to
my side who’d overheard my comments.
She was not purely vegan.
After a trial period of being vegan, she found the diet did not meet her
health needs. She eats free-range eggs and
sea food occasionally, but has eliminated meat, pork, poultry and dairy from
her diet.
Now in my book, that’s terrific. I was further heartened because she’s
young. She’s the future. It is my firmly held belief that her
generation will tip the scale when it comes to agribusiness and factory
farming. Her food choices multiplied by
millions of millennials will result in a seismic shift in our global practices
with respect to food production.
Who would have thought I would have such a spiritual
awakening over an apple with peanut butter? (That was what I chose for lunch there
at the Asaga’s Café at the Fayetteville
Library. Very satisfying.)
On the opposite end of the age spectrum, I lunched recently with
a woman who’s in her senior years. She
is a polite but firm advocate for animal rights. She eats fish and has not eliminated all
dairy from her diet, but she knows the issues and she’s heading in the right
direction.
And here’s the point – most of us, myself included, are not
going to become pure vegans overnight.
We might not ever be totally vegan; however, a move towards this
lifestyle in degrees has a tremendous impact on our own health, the health of
the planet, and the lives of farmed animals.
We shall soldier on!
