Lovely day to become senior

What a lovely day for February, lots of sunshine with a crisp breeze. It is my birthday and I am very happy. I feel healthy and well and loved by many family members and friends. This morning I walked down to the new light rail station where members of the Community Council had organized a Tree Planting event in collaboration with Tri-Met (the local transportation company). People of all ages were invited to come and plant trees at what will be a wonderful meeting place for years to come. There were rocks to write your name on so that you could "plant yourself" with a tree to watch over in the coming years. There was music by local musicians and snacks provided by local businesses. It was very festive.
The project has been closely followed by student and community groups in Japan as a model of what neighbors, community organizations and public/private partnerships can accomplish, so there were Japanese banners posted along with colorful streamers.
I planted a few bushes and buried a rock with my family names on it. I hope I can remember where "my tree" is in the future. It is a wonderful idea to be connected to the community and nature in such a way.
Later tonight I will be surrounded by family as they toast my big day. My husband ordered a gluten free vegan cake for the event and I believe that all the food will honor my vegan lifestyle. What a joy to be moving in new directions as I earn my senior status. Best of all my bus tickets will cost less than half as much from now on. Pretty good deal to go from $2.50 to $1.00 over night.

It is wonderful to see people of all ages gathering to restore creation. I pray that we will all be more careful with creation so that future generations can enjoy lovely days in the sunshine amidst the plants and trees.  

Is this meat?

In experimenting with a vegan diet one of the highest hurdles can be entertaining your children and grandchildren. A while back I decided that I didn't have to prepare meat when my husband and I no longer eat it. I did still offer dairy however. But no more. I have been working at expanding my base of recipes and one of the expansions is to use frozen pressed tofu. It does have the mouth feel of meat which sometimes causes me to stop when I am out someplace and ask "Is this meat?" It tastes good to me in Thai foods, spaghetti sauce and other foods, but I figured getting it past my son and grandson would be a real test.
Luckily my daughter in law is a vegetarian so she is pretty happy with my cooking and my granddaughter is only three and just happy to visit. But my grandson is 10 and likes to eat the way his dad does. If his dad doesn't like it he won't eat it either. My son grew up on my cooking which was not vegan when he was a child, but because his wife is vegetarian and because they are both concerned about health he is pretty open to trying new things. 

I decided to invite them over to dinner and fix a vegetable soup with rice and to add the pressed tofu. Everything was ready when they arrived and I filled bowls and tried to act nonchalant. My grandson began to eat and then looked up at me quizzically. "Is this meat?" he asked.

Ah. Success. Both my grandson and son ate it up with enjoyment and my son even ate two bowls full.

Mouth feel. Interesting what a difference it makes.     

Talking about being vegan or vegetarian makes people nervous?

When I watched Cowspiracy I wasn't really convinced that talking about becoming a vegetarian or vegan (gasp) for the sake of the environment would make good people uncomfortable, but it is true. I am thinking more and more that such talk raises to the surface feelings that people have consciously or perhaps unconsciously buried in order to continue eating meat and dairy. At some level of consciousness people are aware that it is not the best for their bodies, for the environment and certainly not for the animals involved.
Raising one's consciousness to injustice of any kind is always uncomfortable. Twice in the last month I have been told by leaders in groups that have enormous influence that it is not possible to talk about the relationship of meat eating to the environment because it would make constituents unhappy.
This seemed at first to be unreal (or perhaps surreal!) but I have begun to experience this discomfort myself from people that I know well. When I bring up the subject there is a complete silence followed by a change of topic. 
One response was that being vegan would be a hardship for poor people since being vegan costs more. Wow!
All around the world poor people have little or no access to meat. In developing nations people strive toward a western diet based on animal products because it is a sign of wealth. Beans and rice, pasta and corn have been the staple foods of the poor. These foods are cheaper yet, as we have been learning bit by bit, they are also better choices for many reasons. In The China Study, (a decades long study of eating habits begun in the 1950's), it was shown that with increasing income people began to add more and more meat and dairy into their diets, and as they did, heart disease, cancers and diabetes entered into the population as well. 
I think people suppress concerns for their health and for the poor along with their natural compassion for animals in order to eat high on the food chain. The suppression of feelings creates dissonance that is played out in other ways, especially when values are in conflict. 
Time to go fix some lovely quinoa and vegetables.   

Compassionate Living

I have been watching a series of DVD's that address the meat and dairy industries and talking about them with my community of faith. Sometimes it feels like I am shouting in the wind but not this time. Not only are people very receptive, but many people are really working at cutting meat and dairy from their diets. This past week the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, an independent group of 14 experts that advises the Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) strongly suggested that Americans should eat less meat and one of the reasons cited, over and above personal health was damage to the environment. It was very energizing to hear people come back to one of the regular prayer groups I attend and say, "We heard that in our church before the Advisory Committee released information to the news." 

It seems right that people of faith regardless of tradition should be concerned about the health of the planet, justice for the poor who are being denied land to raise food crops although there is land for animal feed crops, the welfare of animals, and the health of every person. I was not really surprised to discover that there is a striking connection between people who are concerned about peace and justice in the world and people who do not eat animals: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare of Assisi, Martin Luther, Albert Schweitzer, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mahatma Gandhi, Casar Chavez, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King. The list goes on and it is pretty impressive. What surprises me is that I never really thought about the connection before. 

Today a friend sent me the following quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

"Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission--to be of service to them whenever they require it... If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." 

Apparently some people have been aware of this connection all along. I do think that there are many good faith filled people who are simply ignorant of the connection. I would like to help people make the connection. I am grateful to those who helped me.   


 

A lovely day...too lovely

It is 58 degrees outside and still climbing. The sun is shining on our solar panels and there is no need for a fire in the wood stove. I went out and swept the sidewalks, clearing the walkways of debris from the fir trees next door and the scratchings of our chickens. The plum tree is blossoming and the daffodils are blooming. I knocked one of the new buds off with my rake and felt really bad. The flowers are such a delight when they bloom. The only problem here is that it is just mid February. Too early to be so nice for so many days as we have had. On the east coast the temperatures are plunging and Boston is recovering from another foot of snow. I heard one man on the radio ask:

Where is that global warming that Al Gore talked about?

It is really challenging when some parts of the country are being hit with record levels of snow while other areas like California are experiencing drought. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have had lots of water but not enough cold to allow snow to build up in the mountains. The snowboarders in my family are unhappy. The valley farmers will be even more unhappy when they have not enough water for their crops this summer. I have a friend, Jeremy O'Leary, who called it "global weirding" since the warming earth was causing weird weather patterns that meant some areas, like the east coast, would have extreme cold in the winter while locations would be wetter, drier or stormier than normal. Weather extremes seem to be what we can expect.

It does however, feel nice to enjoy the sun and since I am not a hot weather personality and the summer may be really difficult, I best get out into the sun while I can enjoy it.

Change

My husband made almond milk for the first time. I have never made almond milk. He is very focused on our transition away from animal products which is very helpful to me since he has more time at home than I do. It was really pretty easy. 1 cup almonds soaked overnight in 3 cups of water. Drain. Put in the blender with 4 cups of water. (half at a time since the almond milk foams up nicely) and then strain through cheese cloth or use a press. Worked really well. I think I could do it myself if needed! Yesterday I went to see my daughter who just brought her son home from the hospital after 8 weeks in the neonatal unit. He was born early at three pounds. My daughter was very distressed to discover that the enhanced breast milk that her son was given while in the hospital contained bovine milk. It had not occurred to her that the hospital would add bovine milk to her milk along with nutrients. She was so conscientious about pumping milk so he would get breast milk instead of formula. She cried. No one asked her about it they just did it. There is a company that makes the enhanced milk for preemies with breast milk. It costs a lot more money and they don't sell it except to hospitals on a doctor's request. As a society we probably have no idea how often our foods are not what we think. It is almost Lent. For people in Christian communities that celebrate Lent, it is a time of prayer and reflection, a time to examine one's life and renew the commitment to be disciples. I do not like the idea of giving things up only to go back to them at Easter. If I give something up, it should be with the idea of long term change for the better. This Lent a number of people in my community are working to cut down on the consumption of animal products of all kinds now that we understand its connection to environmental degradation and climate change. It is going to be an interesting journey of discovery. So far I have had many conversations with people about how to cook tempeh, how to season tofu, what to eat in place of eggs or dairy yogurt and so on and Lent hasn't even started yet. I am not feeling somber. I have a renewed sense of purpose and it feels good.

Eating as a Spiritual Practice

When I eat I connect with creation in an intimate way. It has become important to me to know where my food comes from, how it was grown, transported, processed and how producing it might have affected other life. Is it local? Is it in season? Does eating it cause harm to my body, the human community, or any of my fellow inhabitants of Earth? These questions slow me down. I also ask myself if I am really hungry especially if it is between meals or I find myself thinking about grazing through the kitchen. To stop and think before I eat has made eating a spiritual practice. There is not only the satisfying of bodily hungry, there is the deep connection to all that is. I was at the Earth Care Summit put on by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon last month and one of the speakers made the comment that

We are only temporarily not soil.

That comment speaks to me and my own journey of faith. I remember a time when I thought that soil made vegetables dirty. I no longer think that and I no longer get excited by a little soil on my lettuce or celery. After all that soil is a remnant of the nourishing substance that allows the vegetables to grow. In the soil are the remains of other beings, plants and creatures that once lived and now assist after their death by nourishing seedlings that feed another generation. It is really quite profound. Soon it will be Lent and on Ash Wednesday when I hear, "Remember you are dust and to dust you will return", I will think, "Remember you are of the Earth and to the Earth you will return" because I believe that would be closer to the original meaning of the phrase

dust to dust

. (Dust makes me think of billowing dust bunnies under the bed!) The bodies we live in are of the stuff of the Earth. From the Earth comes the food that nourishes us. The Earth is where our bodies find a final resting place. This thought of the final resting place has led me to desire a green burial at death. At one time I believed that cremation was a better choice for the Earth but after doing some research I realized that is not true. Conventional burial - in a casket with cement grave liner - is anything but green or natural, but using fossil fuels to burn a body puts all sorts of noxious fumes into the air and does not return carbon to the ground... the carbon of the body. So natural burial is now my desire. There are several places near my home where this can happen. Some use biodegradable caskets while others lower the body to the ground in a shroud. There are places that make burial shrouds or a family can provide their own natural fiber blanket wrap. I like the idea of being wrapped and placed directly in the Earth. The idea of a casket with nails or locks always gave me nightmares as did cremation which I know is crazy, but somehow being placed in the Earth is comforting. I know I jumped pretty quickly from eating to dying but the two are closely connected. We eat to live and when we stop we die. How we eat determines the health of our bodies and contributes to the quality of our lives. The more spiritually connected to how I eat the more aware of connections I have become. Years ago I became a vegetarian after discovering how meat eating in the wealthy countries created famine in the poorer countries. One author suggested that if every person in the wealthy nations would give up eating meat just two days a week it would have a large impact on the poorer nations. So I gave up meat for myself and two+ others who would not do so though I still ate fish and diary products. I called myself a political vegetarian. Then when my youngest daughter became a vegan after learning about animal cruelty, I identified with that aspect - although as I have said before, I did not stop eating dairy because somehow I thought that industry was not so bad. (Little did I know.) After some time when I became involved in environmental issues I also discovered that animal farms were terribly hard on the land and water supplies. So I had an added reason for being vegetarian. About the same time, I stopped eating fish because of the effect that overfishing was having on the ocean. After the Tsunami and the Fukishima nuclear disaster I heard a talk by Helen Caldicott from the Physicians for Social Responsibility and part of the message called into question the safety of Pacific Coast fish. Again, there was that connection between food supply and all that happens. Now I have come to the conviction that eating foods that come from animal agriculture contributes more to global climate change than driving a car. And at the same time my fundamental aversion to killing anything has risen to the surface of my soul where it should have been all along. How could I eat animals or eat products that contribute to the abuse and death of animals when I go to great lengths to save and release a spider or fly or wasp that gets trapped inside a building? Some advocates for animals say that to participate in the animal agricultural industry by consuming its products requires a person to deny the innate human desire to live with compassion toward all other life. I believe that is true. I am working on compassionate living.

It has been a long time since I was here writing and much has happened. For a long time I was pretty down about the lack of response to Climate Change on the national and global levels and after a while I just couldn't write. Now it seems there is a movement in the air that I can feel hopeful about even though carbon levels in the atmosphere have gone over the 350 mark. Growing anticipation for the coming encyclical from Pope Francis regarding ecology is a part of the movement, but other reasons come from my own community experience and ever growing recognition of my own part in the climate crisis. This recognition of personal participation grieves me but at the same time energizes me to do something about it. In my work to change on the very personal level I have found many companions along the way and they inspire me. As we work and dialogue together, faith that real change is possible is once again taking root in my heart. I had a major reorientation of my thinking after watching "Cowspiracy" - a documentary that revealed the connection between animal agriculture, methane gas, and Climate Change. Although I have been a vegetarian for more than twenty years, I still consumed diary products. In fact, I relied on cheese for a significant part of my protein intake. I was really horrified to discover that eating dairy not only contributes to the accumulation of green house gases in the atmosphere, but the diary industry is more cruel than the beef industry. I was so sad one Saturday afternoon about 3 weeks ago that I sat down and cried. I cried for the unwanted calves that were brought into the world only as a means for their mothers to produce milk. I cried that the mother cows who wanted their calves cried when their calves were taken away. I cried because so many of those calves ended up as veal and never had a chance at life. I cried because I had eaten cheese that was made with rennet which comes from those dead baby calves. I cried because the mother cows are inseminated every year to keep their milk fresh for humans who don't need it. I cried because dairy cows only live about 6 years because of their harsh treatment. I cried because the connection between what humans eat and the changing climate is so strong and I just didn't get it. And after crying I made a decision to change. Once I didn't know, but now I know. No more dairy; not from cows or sheep or goats or any animal. All of the animals are treated the same when living in a modern industrial society and all ruminants produce methane. I will still eat the eggs that come from the chickens my husband and I keep, but no other eggs. We have six chickens. The oldest is over seven years old. We never eat our chickens nor do we give them away when they stop laying. They have the free run of our yard and we shut their coop at night only to protect them from the racoons who live near by. We don't use light or any other means to force them to lay eggs. We are happy for what they give us and they seem happy enough. I am sure that someone reading this may have a different perspective and I am more than willing to listen. It would seem harsh to get rid of them knowing how they could be treated somewhere else! They are our pets and they all have names. (Princess, Jackie, Rosie, April, Susie and Penny) I am learning to eat as a vegan and discovering amazing websites, books and blogs in the vegan world. I am very happy that so many of the websites that I have found present vegan living as a spiritual choice. That is the reason that fits best for me. A few weeks ago someone asked me what my spiritual practice was. I knew at the time that eating is my spiritual practice. Becoming a vegan has only intensified the practice. However can eating be a spiritual practice? Well that is for another blog. Maybe tomorrow. Peace. Valerie