| World Vegan News | December 1 2007 |
We're in the middle of the hunting season in Wisconsin, America's Dairyland. Turkeys won't only be hunted, but will also be served as the centerpiece of most Thanksgiving holiday tables. People like me who prefer to enjoy the beauty of turkeys instead of their taste can feel a bit lonely in Wisconsin. That's why I love going to the annual Pre-Thanksgiving Feast. This event is organized by MARV - Milwaukee Area Resources for Vegetarianism. Even though this event is called the 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Feast, it has actually been going on for 13 years now. And I've been going most years ever since I came to Milwaukee, 12 years ago. The first 10 years however, it was called the "Vegetarian Pre-Thanksgiving Feast".
The Vegetarian Pre-Thanksgiving Feast had been a very successful event for 10 years. Especially the last years, we would have between 150 and 170 people join us to celebrate. The Feast consists of a buffet offering a sliced turkey substitute, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and chili. Besides these wonderful offerings, we also have buffet tables filled with dishes brought by the attendees - including a table with delicious desserts.
The only inconvenience I had as a vegan the first years of this event was trying to figure out which of the dishes brought by attendees I was able to eat. I often had to go with my rule that when in doubt, I would just not eat it. The last few years this event was on as a vegetarian event, this problem had been made less difficult by the introduction of color-coded clothes pins. All dishes containing dairy, eggs or honey would get their own color clothes pin. Green would be used for raw dishes. And three years ago, I couldn't have been happier when they made this event an all-vegan event. The only clothes pins that are left from the old system are the green ones.
It was definitely a very brave decision by the organizers to change this event to become all-vegan. When you manage to get 150-170 people together for a vegetarian thanksgiving feast, you can understand there was a slight worry that messing with the successful formula would mean a decline in attendees. However, Louise Quigley from MARV told me that "I did not notice any change when we switched from vegetarian to vegan" and "the only real change I sense is that it is simpler to be able to just say everything is vegan than to be sorting out for people which dish has what ingredients".
This year we had 153 attendees to our vegan Thanksgiving celebration. Some vegans, many vegetarians and also a few people who still haven't taken meat out of their diet. Everyone is always very welcome and the huge variety of dishes is definitely a nice introduction to the vegan diet.
Kathleen Mohr fulfilled the duty of welcoming everyone in a wonderful way. Donning her pilgrim outfit, she also read to us from "The Really Good Book". She is one of the many volunteers who put this event together each year and make it extra special. Jody Johnson always takes on one of the main coordinating tasks, including calling the attendees to find out what they are planning to bring to make sure that we will have a nice variety of dishes. She also helps people who have a difficult time figuring out how to prepare something vegan. David Palluch always puts a great literature table together, which features a wonderful variety of books, magazines and articles on vegetarian, vegan and animal rights related issues.
We're not able to stop the hunting just yet or make our state slogan something else than America's Dairyland, but we definitely can join forces and show how a Thanksgiving celebration does not have to include any cruelty. We had yet again a wonderful evening of great company and delicious food.
Reference: Go to Vegan Peace, for more photos of this event.
Editor's Note: We encourage our Country Coordinators and member vegan groups to regularly write in Vegan articles about Vegan Events and Activities or vegan philosophy. Thank you Wanda Embar, Country Coordinator for U.S.A. Wanda's website has a vast range of Vegan Resources for the U.S.A. and much more!
We take this opportunity to thank all our Country Coordinators and Vegan Leaders for promoting Veganism in their countries, to hasten a gentle world.
