Elections notwithstanding, people—at least many of them—are becoming more accepting of those of us who are different. Or so it seems on the ground, in some places. A couple of weekends ago we attended the s’MAC DOWN in Bethlehem. In case you’re not from the Valley, s’MAC DOWN is an event where hundreds gather to compare vegan macaroni and cheese prepared by area restaurants. I don’t think that when I was younger—and vegan could’ve been considered a protected category—that there would’ve been a healthy line to get into such an event. But there was just a couple weeks back. Even after those who paid extra had been already allowed in and had been given a complementary glass of wine. It helps, as my family reminded me, that mac and cheese is something people tend to like in general. Being a vegan myself, I do miss cheese the most but vegan alternatives are getting better all the time.
People are slowly becoming aware that industrial farming of animals simply isn’t sustainable for our environment. It’s one of the largest pollution-generating capitalistic practices. It contributes to global warming as well as deforestation. And how many e coli outbreaks and animal diseases leaping to humans will it take until we realize we’re going about this all wrong? I became a vegan because it’s very clear that animals suffer as they’re being “processed.” I don’t want to be part of that. I understand that others differ in their opinions, which is one of the reasons I don’t write about this often. But attending events like this can be an eye-opening experience.
It’s safe to say that if eaters didn’t know, they wouldn’t be able to tell that this food was vegan. Things have come a long way on that front. Cheese and milk are fairly easy to substitute. (As is meat, it turns out.) Butter goes without saying because people warmed up to margarine decades ago and some margarine makers are now putting “vegan” on their packaging. I’ve been vegan going on a decade now. There are still places you can’t eat without violating your principles, but events like the s’MAC DOWN show that even non-vegan restaurants are willing to give it a try. And by and large they do it well. Of the nine samples we had (in compostable cups with compostable “plastic ware”) there was only one I really didn’t care for. A couple would’ve been very difficult to pin down as vegan at all. And then there was the fact that hundreds of people had paid to give this a try, and not all of them were young folks. It’s good to feel accepted, even when eating by my conscience.
