In San Francisco 47 years ago, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor our planet and the concept of peace. March 21st, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, was planned for the first celebration. A month later, on April 22nd, Senator Gaylord Nelson founded a separate Earth Day focused on providing the U.S. with a day focused on protecting our environment from the ever increasing rate of industrialization & our careless attitudes toward Mother Earth. By 1990, Earth Day had gone global with organized events planned in 141 different nations. Today, more than 190 countries and one billion people demonstrate their support for our shared planet’s environment on Earth Day!
With terrifying statistics like this one: Livestock is responsible for 65% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide which stays in our atmosphere for 150 years! Or gems like this one: Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually which accounts for 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. I had no doubt that I’d be able to easily find an Earth Day celebration that not only taught us the importance of shorter showers, recycling, using public transportation and alternate energy sources but also focused on making a plant based diet a priority! When I reached out to the Earth Night celebration hosted by Connelly Ranch, here in Napa, only 2 of the 5 food trucks even responded when I asked if vegan food would be available. So, instead of staying local to enjoy my celebration, I headed down to Vallejo and hopped on the ferry to check out the San Francisco Earth Day event! Their website and Facebook page both mentioned the organic, vegan food court that would be available! However, after joining the march and wandering through the entire Earth Day street fair, I did not find a single food truck that served vegan food. Thank goodness I had several free Kombucha samples and a Clif bar to get me through the afternoon!
I’m sure you can only imagine how psyched I was to attend the 7th annual Berkeley Vegan Earth Day the following week! Finally, an event that brought the vegan and environmental communities together to celebrate a shared vision for our sustainable future. This non-profit event was hosted by Compassionate Living who reduced the vendor cost and ticket price so more of the local community could join in on the fun. Presentations ran from 11 a.m to 3:45 p.m. and included veganic farming, the environmental impact of animal agriculture and the devastating effects that the chicken and fishing industry have on our planet.
The David Brower Center was full of animal sanctuaries like FlipSide Sanctuary in Sonoma, Goatlandia Sanctuary in Santa Rosa and Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary in Stockton. Safe havens who were there to educate the attendees on what these sentient beings endure through the victimization of factory farming. Every time I visit farm animal sanctuaries and have the opportunity to rug piggies’ bellies and visit with the cows, turkeys and bunnies, I am reminded of why I made this incredible life change 10 years ago!
I got to nibble on delicious almond dips from la onda; sweet refreshing frozen ice pops from Fairyella; hand-crafted, small-batch kombucha from Health-ade and amazing raw, organic chocolate from Lulu’s Chocolate! My favorite find was the Handsome Carver’s organic nut butters. I’ve been adding the coconut cashew butter to everything I eat! While chatting with the staff, I learned that they also have a tent at the Napa Farmers Market so now I never have to worry about running out!
Some of my favorite eco-friendly vendors included the Clean Living Collection who offers organic, non-GMO tooth powders made with bentonite clay to detoxify and remineralize, turmeric to strengthen and whiten and cinnamon & cloves to aid in cleaning and healing. My teeth feel clean and healthy after using it. The founders of Klean Kanteen – the original steel water bottle company – were also there with their new California designed and made canteens & coffee cups. With concerns about continuing to manufacture their steel canteens in China, they founded Earth-in-USA. Using clay from right here in Northern California and working with local artisan designers, they’ve created lead-free, non toxic, totally sustainable alternatives to the steel bottles. I’ve been a member of Farm Fresh to You since the Sonoma Veg Fest last year. They offer home delivered locally grown organic produce and other unique hand-crafted farm products. They have got me completely hooked on fruit shrubs! Imperfect Produce was also there! They do an amazing job of gathering the “ugly” produce that usually go to waste on farms. Supermarkets and produce distributors reject these fruits and vegetables because they aren’t picture perfect (though they taste exactly the same). They will soon be delivering here in Napa Valley!
One of my readers, Valentina, also recognized me and we got to finally meet in person! I’m always so excited to meet my blog and Facebook followers! Good luck on your vegan journey Valentina!
It was a small but incredible event; I’ve already got it in my calendar for next year! With our typical Earth Day celebrations not making animal agriculture a priority in our climate change education, it is vital we support this event! So, always remember…take care of Mother Earth and eat, drink and be vegan!
***Upcoming blog posts: Napa Farmers Market and vegan tasting with five-course food pairing at Signorello Estate!
