Vegan MoFo #31: What Does Vegan MoFo Mean To Me?

So, what does Vegan MoFo mean to me? Well, it's certainly been an adventure, and I am not going to lie to you fine people: I am stunned, astonished and not a little impressed with myself that I managed to post (and, for the most part, cook!) something every single day while taking care of kids, animals, housework, classes, reading, writing, life, the universe and everything. On the one hand, I feel pretty bad ass; on the other, I'm totally exhausted and may spend the next month eating PB & J. Or not.

Most of all, though, I'm amazed at the wonderful variety of vegan blogs out there, and the beautiful food everyone is making and sharing the recipes for; we have cooking ideas stockpiled for at least another month! It's encouraging to see so many smart, interesting people participating in this purely positive project, and the whole exercise has been very inspiring. As I'm fond of saying, the simplest way to convince someone that being vegan is easy (and it is!) is to feed them lovely, delicious food; everyone likes to eat, and once they've got some distance from their old SAD---that's Standard America Diet, but you knew that---approach to food and realize how much better they feel, they're more open to considering the serious implications of eating and exploiting our fellow creatures (especially since they no longer have bits of them stuck in their teeth). In general, this is much more effective than guilt-mongering or shock tactics, and understandably so: most people are hard-wired to go on the defensive when they're attacked, at which point they can't "hear" you anymore. My feeling is that veganism is more about spreading light than heat, and Vegan MoFo has done more than its share towards that end. So three cheers for everyone who participated, and here's to the next one (I should have recovered by then)!

(And Happy Halloween, too...go cook something involving a pumpkin!)