Proudly Vegan in 2024

Break from blogging - I took a break from my blog last year as I didn't feel I had anything unique to say and I was not thinking my journey was all that different from other people who have made the switch to eliminating all animals from their diet. I am still struggling with the idea that I need to be original, but in the past few months, I have felt a huge internal personal push to advocate, witness and help create change.

Creating Change - How can one person create change? - That has been a very looming and nagging question for me this past year. My own journey to be vegan is solid, but how can I as one person influence others to consider changing what they have always done or always eaten to change their path even one meal? What are the best or most effective ways to create change and influence others that has lasting and positive impact?

My business, Curiosi-Tea House 2023 Stats - I looked at the impact our shops had. Curiosi-Tea House served over 11,000 vegan beverages, nearly 10,000 vegan sandwiches, and over 6,000 vegan baked goods last year in communities that have no other totally vegan options. That gave me a little bit of hope and a small sense of pride knowing that I created that impact. Eating Out - Even though I can read a menu, I make it a point to ask for vegan options or ask what food can be veganized when I go out. I think even just the act of asking servers (who usually check with the kitchen) what their vegan options are in any restaurant, creates awareness in getting them to consider offering cruelty free options to their customers. In that dialog, I have both suggested ideas and asked questions. Most of the time because I do not come across as demanding and I state my needs in a way that shows I genuinely have a desire to dine there, I have had a good conversation about what they can create for me that is vegan with an understanding that I simply cannot eat any animal product. So our discussion centers around the question, "what are my options?".

Advocating - This has been difficult to pin down for me in a way that I feel is impactful and also possible for me to do, and I very much desire to have my advocacy be impactful. I have noticed that my verbiage has changed a bit from stating that I eat only vegan to use the words cruelty free and sometimes have even boldly stated that I eat no dead animal, or never consume anything from a being with a face. I believe that, that gives people pause in their thinking that eating animals for our pleasure is cruel and wrong.

One Public Action - May 2023 we hosted our first Compassionate Living Festival. That was a small success, and are currently working on year two. I desire to make it bigger and more meaningful to the attendees to create awareness and dialogue. To get it off the ground last year, it was purposely pretty basic. We had vendors, music, some food and non-profits. This year I want to add speakers and bring in groups that are doing the difficult work through rescues and sanctuaries as well as advocacy groups. We will see!

Personally, through my business and personal social media accounts I am following dozens of Instagram and Facebook animal advocacy groups, sanctuaries, rescues, individuals and recipe pages, and liking their messages to increase their following. I think I could do more, but for now I am doing a lot of reading and a lot of clicking, but not a lot of commenting or posting.

Witnessing & Viewing Documentaries - My lineup this past year included Kiss the Ground, https://kissthegroundmovie.com/ (great for those who want a positive message) What the Health, https://www.whatthehealthfilm.com/ (informative on many levels) Cowspiracy, https://www.cowspiracy.com/ (graphic and yet thoughtfully done) Seaspiracy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q5CXN7soQg (trailer | on Netflix currently and one that took me 4 tries to complete. Not only the horrendous animal suffering, but I had no idea that human slaves endure years of torture on fishing boats yet today and it breaks my heart.) Dominion, https://www.dominionmovement.com/watch (full movie available free | very graphic and even the listing is documentary horror) You Are What You Eat - A Twins Study https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oygkWmXyOaM (trailer | on Netflix currently) Pignorant https://pignorantfilm.com (graphic on Amazon currently) I had to pause part way through as the content made me physically ill.)

I went online to try to have conversation about some of these in our private Mankato Vegan Facebook group after watching a couple of the more graphic films, but really didn't find many others who felt my desire to talk about or discuss them (reasons unknown to me). I still have a great desire to share this knowledge and open the general public's eyes and hearts to the horrors that are part of EVERY moment of animal agriculture no matter if we are talking about the cruelest - factory farms, or other smaller farms where animals might have a short glimpse of a life before they are savagely slaughtered while yet babies themselves. I would like to talk about this issue without the harassments that often follow public vegan thinking and sharing.

Holding back - Yet, I am still in a pause to know what I should do next. My inner voice wants to be bold and post links to all of the films on my personal FB page, and share pictures of the horrors of factory farming on my feed, but I do not know if shock and awe (or guilt and shame) is the best way to get the messages out there to get anyone to listen. Still, quietly sitting by is not my style when I know there is something more I could, would and should do. I expect that the universe will help me find the answers as it has brought me this far.