Arugula Microgreens, Vegan Action, and Ordinary Mindfulness
We had a sweet little Superbowl party at the homestead last
Sunday. Football grub included barbeque jackfruit nachos with avocado, lettuce,
tomato, red onion, sprouts, and vegan ranch dressing, and curry tempeh sliders
topped with coleslaw. We made iced tea and juiced a bunch of oranges. There was
homemade hummus with chia chips, and brownies and mangos for dessert. It wasn’t
a thrilling game, the halftime show was a bore, the commercials were nothing special, but our team won, so yay for that!
It was a beautiful day of blessings of family,
friends, food, and NFL football. My husband and I are so incredibly mindful of
the simple, good things in our lives. As time passes, I become more keenly
aware of the importance of the practice of giving thanks for the things that
many consider commonplace.
It’s the same impulse that dawns on me some mornings when I’m
putting on shoes while preparing to leave the house. There are times when I’m just
feeling blessed to have the shoes. Glad to have a warm coat. A hot shower. A
running car. My husband. Our animals. Shelter. Ample food. Clean water.
Mindfulness is a simple, incredibly powerful practice. More
than any other in my experience, the constant cultivation of mindfulness brings
happiness for things that too many of us presuppose we have coming to us. The
truth is, we have nothing coming to us. When we understand that completely, a
plate of jackfruit nachos on a Sunday afternoon becomes a celebration.
The calendar shows just 44 days until spring. This winter
hasn’t been as brutal as some, but it’s far from over. Still, changes are
afoot. The days are noticeably longer. The sun is powering up. The other day,
we saw sparrows taking stock of the birdhouse. And in a fit of craving, I
filled a big terra cotta bowl with organic seed starting mix and scattered
arugula seeds over the top. I placed the bowl on a heating pad, covered with a
dish towel, and am misting it every morning. A bowl full of spicy arugula
microgreens pulsing with fresh, raw flavor sounds like a good thing now.
We have a crowded kitchen counter too, holding jars of orange
peels soaking in white vinegar for a great, non-toxic house cleaner, our expanding
scoby hotel, green tea kombucha, raw purple cabbage fermenting into sauerkraut,
and alfalfa, daikon, green lentil, and broccoli sprouts. This weekend, I’m making
sourdough starter. I get the itch to homestead this time of year. Come summer,
all life moves outdoors and I make kombucha and sprouts on the run.
A couple of things are going on in the vegan community that
I want to touch on. The first is the backlash against last weekend’s Superbowl
ad – I won’t name the company – that made fun of vegans in its advertising. Pretty
much all vegans who watch football know what I’m talking abut. All I have to
say about this is that we should all chill. This is not the kind of thing that
we want to give our energy to.
Let’s avoid that trend of being offended so
easily. It’s become rampant, it’s shutting down free speech, it’s turning us
all into thin-skinned snowflakes. When we go against the flow, as vegans do, we
had better expect to rub others the wrong way. It comes with the territory of
being different. It’s all part of the hang. Relax.
The other, more worrisome thing that’s happening is the
numbers of longtime vegans who are leaving veganism, citing nutritional
deficiencies, anxiety, or digestive problems. It’s being seen in the online
vegan community more than anywhere else, among people who are considered
influencers, many of whom have brought thousands to the vegan lifestyle. And
now, they themselves are leaving it.
A new, plant-based diet is going to challenge us for a
while and may lead to mild deficiencies until we’ve figured out two things:
one, animal products are not nearly as nutritious as was once thought, and so a
diet void of animal products is not going to plunge us into malnutrition; and
two, the right balance of plant-based foods will not cause GI problems, anxiety
disorders, or nutritional disasters. I’m your walking, talking proof of that.
Like most vegans, it took a few years in the vegan lifestyle
before I figured out what my body needs and what it doesn’t want. That
awareness is always growing as my body and tastes change. Getting adequate
nutrition whether you eat animals or not takes research and effort. Since it’s
better for myriad reasons to not kill animals for food, I want to urge everyone
reading this to take on the challenge of adequate nutrition through a plant-based
diet.
I don’t think this trend of quitting the vegan life is
going to last. The pendulum will, as it always does, swing back and forth for a
while. But it’s my solemn belief that the whole of humanity is moving toward a
plant-based existence. I won’t see it in my lifetime, but it’s coming – by necessity
or by compassionate choice – there will be a day when we’ll no longer kill
others in order to eat.
We’re gearing up prematurely for summer, but it can’t be
helped. My husband and I are both talking boat plans. We’re dreaming of sun and
salt water. We’ve collected information on doctors and vets on Block Island and
Martha’s Vineyard, just in case, and put the numbers of most oceanside eateries
in our phones. He’s studying maritime charts and water routes to Southampton. I’m
thinking about what to carry in the boat and what to leave behind. I know it’s
early for all this. This girl lives for summer though, so I’ll ask your
patience while I dream and plan. Call it mindfulness of future events.
Barbie xo
