Seattle VegFest 2011

Last week I made a trip out to the great Northwest to visit family and my vacation just happened to coincide with Vegetarians of Washington VegFest in Seattle. What a great event! We arrived and went straight to a cooking demo class sponsored by Pacific Coast Co-op, a chain of natural food stores out west. The first recipe was Braised Kale with Chickpeas and Smoked Paprika. Not only did we get a good view of her making this recipe but we also got some good information in general on cooking greens. I’ll be the first to admit that greens are not my favorite vegetables and I need to do a better job at incorporating them into my diet, so I was the tiniest bit nervous about trying this dish, but it was delicious. Seriously. I added the ingredients to my Whole Foods list as soon as I made it home to South Carolina. I cannot wait to try it.

The second recipe was Spicy and Sweet Caramel Corn. This also was delicious. You know you have a cook recipe when you can taste all of the different ingredients and when I tried this caramel corn I could taste the spice of the cinnamon, the heat from the cayenne, the sweetness of the brown sugar . . . yum. 

After the class we wandered through the exhibit hall visiting vendor booths and tried all sorts of vegetarian and vegan food products, everything from Coconut Bliss non-dairy ice cream to Gardein “beef tips,” from cultured almond milk to Field Roast “sausage.” It was a great way to try new products without having to buy an entire package in a store. There were also samples to take away such as mini Lara Bars and Odwalla energy bars.

 

It was a good time, good event, brushing shoulders (sometimes literally) with other people who have embraced the vegetarian lifestyle. If there are similar events in your area do yourself a favor and check it out!

Now that you have the information what are you going to do with it?

Everyday we encounter bits of information. Some we ignore, some we file away for future reference (either figuratively or literally), and some information requires us to make a decision. Oprah Winfrey recently aired an episode of her talk show that I know many of you saw. It included video footage from a beef slaughterhouse. Interestingly, the knocking and sticking (rendering unconscious and bloodletting) were not allowed to be taped.

Outside of “What do you eat?” the most common question I get is: “Why did you become a vegetarian?” The reason is twofold: first, I believe eating a meatless diet is healthier than one that includes meat. The second reason is that I could no longer justify giving my money to a segment of the economy in which cruelty to animals is an industry standard. Groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Mercy for Animals have spent years documenting the horrors of slaughterhouses, pig farms, feed lots, layer hatcheries and more. Whenever I tell someone my second reason for being a vegetarian I never cease to be amazed by the response. I always expect an argument, but instead what I get are nods of agreement, tongues clucking in sympathy, and furrowed brows. They know just as well as I do what happened to the pig that suffered for their morning bacon, but they are happier not dealing with the information they have. They prefer to live in ignorance, they say. The only problem with that is they are not ignorant. They know what goes one and yet they still choose to partake.

I posted the video embedded below in my opening post on this blog. It is not pleasant, but I urge you to watch it.

If you understand the horrors of the meat industry and are okay with it, then fine, by all means keep sending them your money.