2/1 Top 10 List of 2011 Vegan Events
Yesterday I read that pop musician Jason Mraz has chosen a plant-based lifestyle and now I have yet another reason to listen to his CD’s. It made me think about the number of people I’ve encountered or read about in the past year, who have begun adding more plant-based foods into their diets or choosing to go this route entirely. There seems to be a large contingency of change agents participating in this wave, people impacting each others’ lives and embracing a healthier and more compassionate way of eating and living.
Then, this ruminating lead me to recall some of the stories and happenings of 2011 that affected change or awareness in this vegan wannabe world. So, I decided to share my very own Top 10 list of vegany events worth celebrating.
Here we go, to honor the David Letterman tradition of reading the list in reverse order, I’ll start with 10, even though these really aren’t in any particular order:
10. Former President Bill Clinton choosing vegan.
9. Oprah and her staff of more than 300 go vegan for a week, perhaps bringing the most media attention to plant-based eating in 2011.
8. Forks over Knives the movie hit theatres in May and brought a whole new level of consideration to the table for plant-based eating. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, please put it on your 2012 To Do list.
7. Meeting Rip Esselstyn, son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, both featured in Forks over Knives. (Remember, this is my top 10).
6. Learning that there is a website, SoyHappy that lists ballparks in the U.S. that offer vegan fare. The best part was learning that my very own Comerica Park, where the Detroit Tigers play was among those serving up veg style.
5. Finding the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine’s 2009 study revealing the most vegan friendly airports. Much to my surprise, Detroit Metro ranked a 100%, meaning that all of the airport’s restaurants offered at least one vegan option on the menu.
4. Attending Veg Michigan’s VegFest for my second year and realizing firsthand that the new, much larger venue was already too small for the swelling crowd interested in a veg lifestyle. Looking forward to 2012.
3. Being asked to cater several large private events last year and watching the mostly carnivorous guests consume every morsel of the vegan goodies like they would never get another bite to eat. Conclusion: good food is good food, people will eat it if it tastes good, that’s the only criteria needed.
2. Learning to dine vegan in cities where I have never been before with the help of Happy Cow, a site that lists vegan and veg-friendly restaurants and stores in cities everywhere. Some good old fashioned calling ahead worked well too, but Happy Cow gave us a jump start for where to look.
1. Celebrating my first full year being vegan in July of last year and publishing the Exploits blog, sharing in the journey with all of you. I am truly grateful for our adventures together.
What are some of your top 10 vegan happenings from 2011? Please share.
Have a delicious day.
Tags: compassionate eating, Forks over Knives, going veg, Happy Cow, PCRM, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, plant based diet, SoyHappy, Top 10 List of 2011 Vegan Events, trying vegan, trying vegetarian, vegan, vegan challenge, vegan experience, vegan wannabe
