I have just officially experienced the longest hiatus from Beans Not Bambi ever. It’s been over 6 weeks since my last post, and the last several were recipes. It has probably been months since my last “real” post. Why? Well, I could blame work, distractions, lack of material. But that’s not really the case. There have always been work and distractions. And goodness knows there’s loads of material at all times! I am inclined to blame some of my writer’s block on an overabundance of interesting topics, but that too is a poor excuse.
I believe the root of my block is more likely related to some mounting frustration. It often feels like I make the same arguments over and over again. Having a burning desire to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, it’s only natural to want to somehow feel like you’re being heard, right? It can be frustrating (though not defeating) to surround myself with people who see things so differently (or not at all). When I choose to surround myself with like-minded people, we sometimes end up all preaching to the choir.
So many issues have popped up in the past few months – a record number of Pennsylvania bills protecting animals from cruelty have been introduced already this session; the horse meat “scandal” in Europe reached the mainland and has at least brought to the forefront the discussion of eating animals (how do you define animals as edible vs inedible?); Whole Foods has announced a mandate to label GMO food; more and more celebrities are speaking out as vegans; Dr. Fuhrman is on the Dr. Oz show again; Schools in LA adopt Meatless Mondays to promote healthy school children; more and more veg options are finding their ways to mainstream restaurant menus; I’ve heard the word vegan more than ever – On TV, in the grocery store, from friends, everywhere.
When Justin Timberlake dressed up as dancing, rapping tofu, suddenly all felt right with the world. If you haven’t seen his SNL skit, you can watch it here. It is hilarious, adorable, and even thought-provoking. It is enough to give me great hope. To remind me to keep speaking up. That people are listening. People everywhere are waking up to a reality they had previously overlooked thanks to our culture, our traditions.
This summer brings the Vegetarian Summerfest, Humane Lobby Day, the pending opening of a local farm sanctuary right outside of Pittsburgh, the Walk for Farm Animals to benefit Farm Sanctuary, and so many other ways to get active. That is, after all, sort of crucial to this whole activism thing, right? It’s all about promoting change – seeing something that needs to be changed, and getting active about making that happen. No matter how easy or hard the battle, no matter how mainstream the message begins to get, and no matter how many people you keep reaching out to.
There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle.
~Robert Alden
And I’m back 🙂
Britton Mills says
Do you know when the Farm Walk is this summer?
CBummer says
Yes ma’am! It’s Saturday September 21st 10a-2pm at the Southside Riverfront Park. Here’s a link to register: http://events.walkforfarmanimals.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=622