Originally this post started with my reaction to the Trump phenomenon. I’m revising it because that phenomenon is just the latest expression of a deep-seated trend in American history and culture, in fact in all of human culture.
I’m not adding an image to this post because I couldn’t find one that adequately expressed what I want to say. The image in my head is the Garden of Eden, a vision in which creation lives in harmony. That world was vegetarian, and no part of it was devalued in relation to another part. All the images I found either didn’t include human beings or, if they did include human beings, they were white only.
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Words have power. The vocabulary of bigotry and devaluation and exclusion eventually leads to violence.
Symbols have power as well. Images have power. Rituals have power. All of these are non-verbal expressions of ideas.
Those of us who hope for a just and compassionate society must increase our sensitivity to the impact of words, symbols, imagery and rituals and how they are understood and expressed in society. A first step toward stemming the tide of disrespect and violence in our world is stemming the tide of negative words and imagery by opposing it with positive words and imagery.
A starting place for me to begin to understand the origins of violence in our world and to oppose it is with food.
Food does more than nourish me. It is a central part of my personal symbolism. I express myself with the food that I make and eat and share with others.
Usually my food talks about good health and love and caring. Today my food needs to say something else. It needs to say, people of the world, unite against lack of compassion, hatred and violence. Recognize the seeds of it everywhere. Those seeds are hardly restricted to one group emanating from the Middle East.
I want to put out a challenge. I would like to invite all of us to commit to sitting down, once a week, with at least one other person with whom we can share our meal. Let’s make that meal vegan, and let’s be certain that either we grow and prepare every item on our plates, or we purchase Fair Trade, sustainably produced raw ingredients to prepare the meal. In fact, extend the process to everything on the table. The salt. The plates. The napkins. Find out what was involved in getting each item to your table.
Perhaps the near impossibility of fulfilling this requirement will serve to make us aware of the pervasiveness of thoughtless violence that implicates us all, the thoughtless violence that underpins massive cultural, ethnic, religious, racial, gender and species-directed violence.
This meal will be our regular weekly time to reflect on this violence that threatens to engulf creation, violence against animals “produced” on an impossibly massive scale just for slaughter, violence against our environment, and violence against our fellow human beings in so many ways and at so many levels.
For some of us, this reflection may lead to further social action. For others, the communal reflection is an action in itself. The power of one sensitized person is far greater than the power of one radicalized individual.
For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter, @vegwithleslie.
Most meals at our home are vegan. I take a long time shopping because I read the signs and labels and want to know as much as I can about every item and brand. My husband, bless his heart, has no interest in the reasons, big or small, of my shopping decisions. But he enjoys the meals and eats heartily. He’s not vegetarian, but he genuinely enjoys what I make. The man is 71 and very healthy, not on any medications. I like to think my choices are part of the reason. But he is someone who does not grasp the far reaching impact of our food choices, globally especially. He is a PhD and historian, kind and generous, but does not care about where his food comes from. Most people I know are the same way. Even so, I am not discouraged… because when I go to the store I find others like me, and they are passionate about choosing the right foods. I see more and more products becoming available, and more stores opening for those of us who care about these things. Our numbers are increasing. Our shopping dollars are weighing in and speaking volumes. I do like your challenge and I hope many give it thought and try it out.
Yes, we don’t always think about each of the steps along the path of something that lands on our table. Some of us never. I wonder if it’s even possible? I know it’s not possible, as I often say, to live without destroying other life, even if you’re vegan. I chose a limited challenge, but then I thought about things like . . . the salt. And it didn’t seem so limited. My gosh, the research that would have to go into doing this, and if you look far enough back along the path, I will venture a guess that there was abuse or violence at some point for something on the table. There are so many things I don’t think about. When I first started doing more vegan stuff, it took me a long time before I realized . . . my gosh, my shoes. My new leather clogs. It’s just hard to live in this world without compromises somewhere. We must compartmentalize or we’d be overwhelmed. We’d never be able to rejoice in our lives, and I think we’re meant to do that.
Yes, our shopping dollars are speaking volumes. I’ve been excited during the last year about some of the achievements here, and I’m inspired by the things that inspire you. We have so much more to do, and I include my own awareness in that. It was the main reason I started my blog . . . to use my writing to help me become more aware.
I cannot express how much I love the idea of sharing a weekly meal in this way. I am very conscious of my food choices but too often eat alone. I think the way to healing–ourselves, our communities, our world–rests in a loving, compassionate community.
Such a wonderful comment, Pam, and you said it so beautifully. Maybe we should think about a way a group of like-minded people could share a communal meal on a regular basis? Maybe related to the Foodshed Coop, at least putting out an invitation through them?
That sounds good. Let’s talk about that.