My Experience at The First Ever Valley Vegfest March 29th, 2014

My Experience at The First Ever Valley Vegfest March 29th, 2014 

 On Saturday March 29th, 2014 I had the great pleasure of attending the first ever Valley Vegfest held in North Hampton , Massachusetts .

 This was monumental for me and my area . This was not the first Vegfest I have been to ( It is the 2nd ) but, it was the first one in my home region and the closest one ever to be held in my home region as far as I know. So, as happy as I am for the existence of and to attend any Vegfest, I was extra happy for this one !
 It didn't disappointment me .

 The day started with us receiving raffle tickets and then being able to choose from more than 6 different prizes we'd like to play for . They were great prizes . I chose a visit to an animal sanctuary for me and everyone who lives in my household .

 We then preceded to walk into the room full of exhibitors where we walked from table to table meeting people and seeing what they were displaying and sharing . There were free hummus samples, free cashew cheese spread samples , and free " Way Better snacks " chips. That lady in fact, was giving out bags for free . I must tell you they are way better ! We found our favorite to be the sweet chili .

 We saw tables of vegan beauty supplies and sun tan lotion and received samples , we saw smoothies being made by a bicycle powered blender , Mercy for Animals and others with educational information they handed out free  , books that were being sold that I drooled over , animal sanctuaries inviting us to come see them ( One woman told us with a healthy glow that chumps most pregnant women's how the place was a sanctuary for her ), and of course there was food for sale - vegan cupcakes, various sweets and a peanut noodle dish among a few other things. We picked up literature , mingled , picked up stickers , mingled, and made our way to the first lecture we attended ..

 It was by Neil Hornish www.compassionatelivingproject.org   and www.humaneeducation.org . And he did a talk on " Diet and Environment ". It was educational for me though , I was not completely ignorant on the subject, and it was very enjoyable . He allowed a good chunk of the time to be allotted to a question and answers section and I quickly found I was in a room of very bright , intelligent , and caring people . The talk was not only about what impacts diet has on the land but, also on the native species of the land , and the people in other regions . It was great as I said !

 We went to three discussions which, because of the Q and A section Mr. Hornish provided were similar to the lecture in structure .

  The first one we attended was " Interacting with non-veg family members" led or moderated by Dr. Casey Taft , Ph.D. - I was glad to be there and I was glad to be able to respond to a few people's questions and offer some help and insight . For instance - " How do we approach Muslim people who have it in their religion to eat animal products ?" Me - " They don't have it in their religion the Koran  actually discourages it in places ( I had already stumbled upon that info ) I have info saved if you'd like my contact information ."
 Because , I have a peer support group for vegans living with non- vegans on face book link follows https://www.facebook.com/groups/veganslivingwithnonvegans/
When the discussion was over I stood up in the middle and told people this, with a stack of my business cards in hand and was greeted with many hands and found myself twirling in a bit of a circle as I handed them out ! :) Great times ! What party is complete without dancing ? :)

  "Effective Activism " with Pattrice Jones was our next discussion . A great one indeed ! At first as I was sitting there I thought " I'm in the wrong room I should be listening to the lecturer speaking in a different room at this time instead of this because, it's repetitive to me . " ( That is a downfall of Vegfests , you will have to choose between lectures/discussions/demonstrations some as, some are held at the same times :/ ) but, alas, I decided to stay and I'm very glad I did because, the discussion moved passed that and into some great fresh to me questions and responses . It was humbling and great to be in that room !

  The following Discussion we attended was " GMO food and Agrochemical concerns" with Ed Stockman, M.S. While attending this discussion I learned some facts, heard good news , and heard bad news . The good news being certain state initiatives and progresses toward getting GMOS labeled . There is no benefits or good news in favor of GMO food as far as I can see with my binoculars on or off. It was good to be able to take some sort of action , to sign that I'm pro labeling , and to take notes becoming better educated .

 " Raising Healthy Vegan Dogs and Cats " with Michael Roth , D.V.M. was the final discussion we attended . I enjoyed it . Though, I am well aware of the benefits of having the omnivorous dog species on a vegan diet and the benefits cats - natural carnivores, can experience on a proper vegan diet for them including taurine , I learned in the discussion . For instance , I had a rumor of onions being  potentially harmful  to cats confirmed by this vet . I learned about variety and ratios - protein , vegetable - grain needs for health, how dogs fasting for a few days until succumbing their stubbornness and eating new food isn't generally dangerous ,but how cats doing it can be ,and more . It was a comfy home-like  environment for me in this discussion room .

View the SLIDE SHOW HERE just click on the link - http://s1295.photobucket.com/user/SabrinaHull/slideshow/Valley%20Vegfest%202014/vegfest%20slideshow2