It’s been
quite the last few days! For starters,
we just got back from my cousin’s wedding in Indianapolis yesterday. What a fun time and unlike the experiences
of a few vegans and vegetarians out there, we ate like royalty. We were expecting a meal to be created
especially for us but we kind of screwed up once we were able to eat. The food was set-up on a few tables and
since we weren’t told any differently, we just joined everyone else and looked
through the various dishes to see what was vegan. Surprisingly, quite a bit was.
We had pasta (not cooked with butter), salad, fruit, rolls, and grilled
veggies. I walked back to our table
with two plates in my hands, as did my wife, and we proceeded to eat our meals.
That’s when
my uncle walked over and asked if we had been served our meals. With a bit of a confused look, we told him
we thought that the food we had gone up to grab had been the meals we were
supposed to have received. Turns out we
had been wrong. Whoops! A minute or two
later and we were brought out individual plates that were set down in front of
us. What was presented was a plate of
potato wedges with herbs, grilled veggies, and a pastry that was filled with
mushrooms and some sort of sauce (which was amazing!). That by itself would’ve been great. Three plates! Since I wasn’t going to waste good food, and since I am a bottomless
pit when it comes to food, I nearly finished everything. Which helped since I needed the food to soak
up all the liquor I had. We had a great
time! It was such a beautiful wedding.
HOWEVER, the real reason I am writing this entry is to discuss the third annual Veggie Pride Parade that was held in Grant Park in Chicago last Saturday. It was our first time going and I would’ve missed it again had I not seen Dr. Oppenlander send a tweet out about the event. (I’ll be discussing Dr. Oppenlander in the near future) We had been meaning to go to the last two but just could never go with the way our work schedules were. With much excitement, we headed out on a wonderful Saturday morning and arrived at the lakefront with plenty of time to spare. How sad is it that I’ve lived in the Chicago area for most of my life and I’ve never really been to Grant Park before?
The event
was held across the street from the famous Buckingham Fountain with a tent and
stage with music playing in the background.
On one side of the stage there were a few tents up for sponsors and on
the other side a few tables up for various groups and activities. We walked up to the registration table and
signed in so we could walk along the parade route and we received our
nametags. After walking around the area
and taking pictures for a few minutes we were asked to form a line behind MissChicago, Marisa Buchheit, and a few others who were leading the parade. That’s right. There’s a vegan Miss Chicago.
How rad is that?
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| Can't beat that background! |
I must say
that I enjoy the vegan/vegetarian community.
I like it in all of its shapes and sizes. I love the hipster vegans in all their stereotypical glory. I love the wacky and wild vegans that wear
anything that’ll draw attention to themselves.
I love them all. It’s always fun
to see who shows up and wears what.
Outsiders might see some people at these events and go, “What was he/she
thinking when they wore that?” but I quite like it.
We started
the parade by going north on Columbus Drive, around the Art Institute of
Chicago, down Michigan Avenue, up Roosevelt Road, and then back down Columbus
Drive to where we began. It was a
longer walk than it appeared to be on the map, that’s for sure. However, it was fun! There was a lot of chanting, waving of
signs, various noise-making, and a whole bunch of good vibes flowing. Since I’m a bit of an introvert, I felt a
bit odd drawing attention to myself as we chanted random vegan slogans (“Go
vegan, go veg!”) but the more we walked, the more relaxed I became. Plus, it helps that my wife was there to
wave the metaphorical vegan flag. There
were plenty of cars driving by with people honking their horns, waving, or
taking pictures as they passed.
Who knows
how many people were actually curious to find out more about a vegan/vegetarian
life just by seeing us but it was fun being around people who had the same
interests as me. It’s kind of the same
feeling I get whenever I go to vegan or vegetarian restaurants. There are so few of us out there that it is
nice when you get the opportunity to surround yourself with others that are
like you, enjoying the same things as you.
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| Hope Bohenac |
After the
parade, we listened to a few speakers including Karyn Calabrese, Marisa
Buchheit, Hope Bohenac, Mikael Nielsen, and Vadim Moskalin. Dr. Terry Mason,
the Chief Operating Officer of the Cook County Department of Health, was
supposed to speak but I didn’t see him on stage. So I can’t say for certain if he was there or not. He may have appeared when I went to grab a
falafel. Bummer. I was really excited
to see Karyn Calabrese speak since we’ve been to every one of her restaurants
here in Chicago. Every one of her
restaurants has something unique about it and each has delicious food.
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| Karyn Calabrese! Gives sixty-year-olds a good name, eh? |
I enjoyed listening to Mikael Nielsen, the
national volunteer coordinator for Mercy For Animals, because the organization
he’s apart of does such amazing work (more on them in the future).
 |
| Mikael Nielsen |
I also liked hearing Marisa Buchheit since
it is cool to have a local celebrity who is vegan and can talk about her
lifestyle to groups other vegans might not reach.
 |
| Miss Chicago, Marisa Buchheit |
All were entertaining and interesting speakers. It was great listening to other
compassionate vegans speak out about topics they love.
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| The winner of the costume contest: a block of tofu! |
There was
also a vegan fashion show and a costume contest after the speakers were
done. They even had a raffle that I had
entered when we first arrived at the parade.
I didn’t expect to win anything because I have the worst luck. It’s just nice to support the cause, either
way. However, I was quite surprised to
have won a few cool prizes! I got a $25
gift card to The Chicago Diner (anyone who has read my restaurant review entry
knows how much I love that place), a $10 gift card to FlatTop Grill (not a
vegan restaurant but it has several vegan options), and – the best one of all –
a $50 gift certificate for a produce delivery service (basically, a week’s
worth of groceries). How cool is
that? We are definitely going to be
eating well in the near future!
I especially like the fact that
FlatTop Grill was there to promote their vegan options. I think that’s SUPER important! They’re not vegan but they know that vegans
like to eat. D’uh! Just be being there
and raising awareness in the vegan community, they just increased their
business. If more businesses promoted
vegan options to the world, imagine how much more money they would get, too? And you know what? I have never been there and I don’t know if I would’ve ever gone,
but because I have a gift card, I’m definitely going. And what if I like the food?
They just got themselves another repeat patron just by showing up to
some event the majority of other businesses ignored. And that’s not even taking into consideration the fact that I’d
clearly tell others and would promote the restaurant to other vegans or
vegetarians who might not have known about them. They were the ONLY ones there who weren’t 100% vegan or
vegetarian. Bravo, FlatTop Grill!
After the raffle, we pretty much
packed it in for the day. It was a fun
event and I would urge everyone to make it out next year! Show your support for all things veg! Even if you don’t walk in the parade or are
vegan or vegetarian, GO. You’ll have a nice,
fun afternoon near Chicago’s lovely waterfront. Did I also mention it’s free?
You can check out the Chicago Veggie Pride Parade’s site HERE. You should also join the meet-up group while
you’re at it and meet other vegans and vegetarians in the Chicagoland area.
I want to send a thank you to all
the volunteers that worked to put this thing together. Your hard work paid off! And to everyone else – keep calm and vegan
on!
You can follow Karyn Calabrese on Twitter at:
@KarynCalabrese
You can find Marisa Buchheit on a number of places but you
can follow her on Twitter at: @marisabuchheit
You can follow Mikael Nielsen on Twitter at: @MikaelRNielsen
You can find Mercy for Animals on a number of places but you
can follow them on Twitter at: @MercyForAnimals
You can follow FlatTop Grill on Twitter at: @flattopgrill
You can follow Dr. Richard Oppenlander on Twitter at:
@DrOppenlander
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