Report on Bioneers Breakfast: Call for Follow-Up Action!!

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

Just thought I'd take a few minutes to offer a report on the brilliant Bioneers

Breakfast organized by Polly Strand this past Saturday morning. As many of you

are likely aware from the notes posted earlier to , Bioneers is an

environmental conference which takes place every autumn in Marin County. It

really is a stellar conference, attracting some of the big names in

environmentalism - Paul Hawkins, Cleveland & Amory Lovins, Anita Roddick, Julia

Butterfly Hill, and others. I attended the conference a couple of years ago as a

volunteer (for which one receives a heavily discounted rate), and was very

impressed with the wealth of ideas for implementing environmental solutions,

challenging business models and offering inspiration for individuals.

 

Not so impressive about Bioneers is the organizers' complete refusal to address

issues of food choices as they relate to consuming at the top of the food chain.

A loosely-knit coalition of activists, here in the Bay Area and elsewhere, has

attempted to engage the Bioneers over the past two years (and prior to), toward

two particular ends: (i) getting the menu at Bioneers to be completely

vegetarian, and preferably vegan; and (ii) having a speaker or a panel of

speakers to address the full conference on the environmental vegan imperative.

The organizers have been completely unresponsive, and our coalition has met in

frustration over what to do.

 

This year, our coalition decided to take a peaceful two-tact approach. Several

people - among them, Davy Davidson, Cathleen Young, and Cat Clyne (editor of

Satya magazine) - have been speaking with Bioneers' speakers sympathetic to the

issue of food choices and have been encouraging them to speak with the

organizers. All three women attended the conference this past weekend, and so

far, I've heard of some very encouraging conversations with the speakers. Yeah!!

 

Others in the coalition - Polly Strand, Kelle Kacmarcik, Cathleen Young (working

both sides of the fence!), Simone Spearman, Jason, Cindy Liang, K.B., and I -

were more keen to dump manure on the conference. Okay, I can only speak with

confidence for Polly, Kelle & myself on that one, but all of us were keen to

challenge the Bioneers more overtly. Wanting to attempt a peaceful,

non-confrontational tact, we chose to serve vegan breakfast treats to conference

participants as they entered the conference grounds. Along with the scones,

biscuits, pancakes, bagels, and muffins, we also offered copies of the latest

VegNews (we served up 250 copies! THANK YOU, Joe & Colleen!!), stacks and stacks

of PeTA's Veg Starter Kit, Polly Strand's own creative flyer with an " Organic

Standards Quiz " (addressing the fact the flesh and bodily secretions of animals

who are treated abominably can still be labeled " organic " according to the

national standards definitions), and other literature. Polly !

had made beautiful signs that were displayed prominently with our tables. One

set of signs featured a picture of Julia Butterfly Hill along with the copy,

" Veganism is about ... joy. " The second set of signs featured a blow-up of the

E-magazine cover about meat-eating and the environment (can't remember the exact

copy).

 

The leafleting itself was FABULOUS! The response was extremely positive (ya give

out free food & people respond positively - go figure!), and several folks -

veggie and non-veggie (!) - stopped to tell us that they absolutely agreed with

us that Bioneers, being an eco conference, should not be serving meat. People

raved about the food (Cathleen made mouthwateringly yummy muffins, Simone made

fresh-out-of-the-oven scones, Polly brought Tofutti cream cheese and jams, Cindy

& K.B. had made savory chickpea flour pancakes and regular streusel pancakes,

and I made scones), and the interactions were pretty uniformly *positive*. A

special side-note: Simone's precious 4-year-old daughter enchanted all attendees

as she approached them and asked, " Would you like to help the a-mi-nals? " as she

offered copies of PeTA's " Think you can be a meat-eating environmentalist? "

brochure.

 

At around 9:30 am (we'd arrived at 7:30 am), the flow into the conference had

reduced to a trickle. At that point, one of the organizers with whom we'd been

in contact came out and chatted with us for a bit. Not much to comment on that,

because most of the back-and-forth points had already been hashed out via email.

A little later, another organizer - a woman named Ginny - approached us. She

lashed out us, complaining that our setting up a booth outside the conference

was disrespectful. She didn't understand why we hadn't spoken to her to let her

know that we were going to be there (!!!). When we countered with the fact that

we had been trying to engage the Bioneers for years only to be met by a brick

wall of indifference, she complained that she didn't know what we wanted. When

we articulated points (i) & (ii) above, she said (in reference to point (i)),

" that will never happen. We will always serve meat. The organizers eat meat and

they don't see things the way you do. " I sa!

id that it wasn't a matter of perspective, it was a matter of science. She said,

" you'll always have an answer for everything " (thanks, mom! -- sheesh!!). Ginny

eluded to the notion that if a large number of conference attendees supported

our position, we might have a dialogue, but she didn't feel that was the case.

Simone countered that we had collected petition signatures last year. Ginny

asked how many signatures we'd received, and the answer was over 800 (the

conference attendance was about 3,000, so 800 is very, very good). Ginny said

that we should send her the petition, to which we responded that we already had

(!!!). Anyway, she was downright *hostile*, and as Simone pointed out then and

later, the most offensive aspect was the notion that the two founders and

producers of Bioneers - two people - should have exclusive say in a *policy*

matter on how Bioneers operates. The personal prejudice of two people is keeping

Bioneers from being expressive of true eco-values in t!

erms of the food they serve. What if they were in favor of !

nuclear power or gas-guzzling SUVs. Would the use of such nightmares still be

sanctioned by Bioneers?

 

Interestingly, while we were having our back-and-forth with Ginny, who should

walk over to our literature table but Julia Butterfly Hill. She stood at the

table, looking at our literature, but mostly listening in on our conversation.

After Ginny left, Julia walked over and spoke with us for about 20 minutes. She

said that it's been a huge uphill battle attempting to get the Bioneers to

embrace the vegan message. She further told us that she refuses to go to the

Bioneers' banquet because they serve meat at the banquet, so it's not a space

she can honor. It was very interesting. She felt that we should continue to

engage the Bioneers with petitions year after year and keep pushing. She was

very encouraging and offered deeply-felt solidarity. It was *really* nice.

 

Given all of this, I'm requesting that people do the following:

 

1. Write letters/emails to the local media indicating that you are dismayed that

an environmental conference in Marin would serve meat (you can cite some of your

favorite stats on why it makes no sense for people who are concerned about the

environment to eat meat):

 

Marin Independent Journal

Please send letters (no more than 250 words) to: opinion

 

Pacific Sun:

Please send letters to: letters

 

2. Write to the organizers of the Bioneers, urging them to get on track with the

inefficiencies of animal-based agriculture, even organic, free-range,

locally-grown meat, dairy and eggs, and the lack of sustainability represented

by such food choices:

 

Collective Heritage Institute

901 West San Mateo Rd., Suite L

Santa Fe, NM 87505

505-986-0366

877-246-6337 (toll free)

fax 505-986-1644

info

 

Thanks so much!!

 

Best regards,

Alka

 

Bioneers

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

Reading Alka's report reminded me of a couple of paragraphs

from Joy Williams' " The Inhumanity of the Animal People, " now

revised and included in the collection called Ill Nature. Here are

the pertinent paragraphs:

 

" Vegetarians do their best, but they seem to lack influence. A

recent article in The New York Times Magazine marveled over a

meeting between environmentalists and ranchers that took

place at a steakhouse in Orofino, Idaho, a restaurant described

as " a shrine to red meat and raw timber. " As the two groups

" sparred and joked over steak, " they realized they had a great

deal in common. They both wanted wolves, grizzlies, and open

spaces. They forged a new and potentially powerful bond as they

literally chewed the fat. A vegetarian could never come to such an

understanding with the Big Dogs. Never! (Particularly if he tried to

break the ice with George Bernard Shaw's witticism that " meat

eating is cannibalism with the heroic dish omitted. " The

ranchers and environmentalists together would throw him out on

his ass into the parking lot.)

 

The animal people have never been embraced by the

increasingly corporate environmental community. Mainstream

enviro groups, with their compromises and retreats, have lost

the moral background on the American scene in less than thirty

years. They've become ecowimps. Even the far from ecowimpy

Earth First! has never entangled itself in the briar patch that is

animal rights. To this group, farm animals are the problem.

Shoot Cows Not Bears, Earth First! exhorts in its Dada way. As

for the environmental philosophers, the Deep Ecologists, they

have never fully acknowledged the reality of the animals,

preferring to deal in the abstractions of biodiversity and species

instead. Although they call for a less human-centered ethic, our

ugly and troubled relationship with the nonhuman animal is a

problem they do not care to address. "

 

The whole essay as originally written is at

http://www.a-s.clayton.edu/criticalthinking/harper's%20on%20ani

mal%20rights.htm

 

Cathleen

 

 

, " Chandna, Alka " <alka.chandna@s...> wrote:

> Dear Friends,

>

> Just thought I'd take a few minutes to offer a report on the

brilliant Bioneers Breakfast organized by Polly Strand this past

Saturday morning. As many of you are likely aware from the

notes posted earlier to , Bioneers is an environmental

conference which takes place every autumn in Marin County. It

really is a stellar conference, attracting some of the big names in

environmentalism - Paul Hawkins, Cleveland & Amory Lovins,

Anita Roddick, Julia Butterfly Hill, and others. I attended the

conference a couple of years ago as a volunteer (for which one

receives a heavily discounted rate), and was very impressed with

the wealth of ideas for implementing environmental solutions,

challenging business models and offering inspiration for

individuals.

>

> Not so impressive about Bioneers is the organizers' complete

refusal to address issues of food choices as they relate to

consuming at the top of the food chain. A loosely-knit coalition of

activists, here in the Bay Area and elsewhere, has attempted to

engage the Bioneers over the past two years (and prior to),

toward two particular ends: (i) getting the menu at Bioneers to be

completely vegetarian, and preferably vegan; and (ii) having a

speaker or a panel of speakers to address the full conference on

the environmental vegan imperative. The organizers have been

completely unresponsive, and our coalition has met in frustration

over what to do.

>

> This year, our coalition decided to take a peaceful two-tact

approach. Several people - among them, Davy Davidson,

Cathleen Young, and Cat Clyne (editor of Satya magazine) - have

been speaking with Bioneers' speakers sympathetic to the issue

of food choices and have been encouraging them to speak with

the organizers. All three women attended the conference this

past weekend, and so far, I've heard of some very encouraging

conversations with the speakers. Yeah!!

>

> Others in the coalition - Polly Strand, Kelle Kacmarcik,

Cathleen Young (working both sides of the fence!), Simone

Spearman, Jason, Cindy Liang, K.B., and I - were more keen to

dump manure on the conference. Okay, I can only speak with

confidence for Polly, Kelle & myself on that one, but all of us were

keen to challenge the Bioneers more overtly. Wanting to attempt

a peaceful, non-confrontational tact, we chose to serve vegan

breakfast treats to conference participants as they entered the

conference grounds. Along with the scones, biscuits, pancakes,

bagels, and muffins, we also offered copies of the latest

VegNews (we served up 250 copies! THANK YOU, Joe &

Colleen!!), stacks and stacks of PeTA's Veg Starter Kit, Polly

Strand's own creative flyer with an " Organic Standards Quiz "

(addressing the fact the flesh and bodily secretions of animals

who are treated abominably can still be labeled " organic "

according to the national standards definitions), and other

literature. Polly !

> had made beautiful signs that were displayed prominently with

our tables. One set of signs featured a picture of Julia Butterfly

Hill along with the copy, " Veganism is about ... joy. " The second

set of signs featured a blow-up of the E-magazine cover about

meat-eating and the environment (can't remember the exact

copy).

>

> The leafleting itself was FABULOUS! The response was

extremely positive (ya give out free food & people respond

positively - go figure!), and several folks - veggie and non-veggie

(!) - stopped to tell us that they absolutely agreed with us that

Bioneers, being an eco conference, should not be serving meat.

People raved about the food (Cathleen made mouthwateringly

yummy muffins, Simone made fresh-out-of-the-oven scones,

Polly brought Tofutti cream cheese and jams, Cindy & K.B. had

made savory chickpea flour pancakes and regular streusel

pancakes, and I made scones), and the interactions were pretty

uniformly *positive*. A special side-note: Simone's precious

4-year-old daughter enchanted all attendees as she approached

them and asked, " Would you like to help the a-mi-nals? " as she

offered copies of PeTA's " Think you can be a meat-eating

environmentalist? " brochure.

>

> At around 9:30 am (we'd arrived at 7:30 am), the flow into the

conference had reduced to a trickle. At that point, one of the

organizers with whom we'd been in contact came out and

chatted with us for a bit. Not much to comment on that, because

most of the back-and-forth points had already been hashed out

via email. A little later, another organizer - a woman named Ginny

- approached us. She lashed out us, complaining that our

setting up a booth outside the conference was disrespectful.

She didn't understand why we hadn't spoken to her to let her

know that we were going to be there (!!!). When we countered

with the fact that we had been trying to engage the Bioneers for

years only to be met by a brick wall of indifference, she

complained that she didn't know what we wanted. When we

articulated points (i) & (ii) above, she said (in reference to point

(i)), " that will never happen. We will always serve meat. The

organizers eat meat and they don't see things the way you do. " I

sa!

> id that it wasn't a matter of perspective, it was a matter of

science. She said, " you'll always have an answer for everything "

(thanks, mom! -- sheesh!!). Ginny eluded to the notion that if a

large number of conference attendees supported our position,

we might have a dialogue, but she didn't feel that was the case.

Simone countered that we had collected petition signatures last

year. Ginny asked how many signatures we'd received, and the

answer was over 800 (the conference attendance was about

3,000, so 800 is very, very good). Ginny said that we should send

her the petition, to which we responded that we already had (!!!).

Anyway, she was downright *hostile*, and as Simone pointed

out then and later, the most offensive aspect was the notion that

the two founders and producers of Bioneers - two people -

should have exclusive say in a *policy* matter on how Bioneers

operates. The personal prejudice of two people is keeping

Bioneers from being expressive of true eco-values in t!

> erms of the food they serve. What if they were in favor of !

> nuclear power or gas-guzzling SUVs. Would the use of such

nightmares still be sanctioned by Bioneers?

>

> Interestingly, while we were having our back-and-forth with

Ginny, who should walk over to our literature table but Julia

Butterfly Hill. She stood at the table, looking at our literature, but

mostly listening in on our conversation. After Ginny left, Julia

walked over and spoke with us for about 20 minutes. She said

that it's been a huge uphill battle attempting to get the Bioneers

to embrace the vegan message. She further told us that she

refuses to go to the Bioneers' banquet because they serve meat

at the banquet, so it's not a space she can honor. It was very

interesting. She felt that we should continue to engage the

Bioneers with petitions year after year and keep pushing. She

was very encouraging and offered deeply-felt solidarity. It was

*really* nice.

>

> Given all of this, I'm requesting that people do the following:

>

> 1. Write letters/emails to the local media indicating that you are

dismayed that an environmental conference in Marin would

serve meat (you can cite some of your favorite stats on why it

makes no sense for people who are concerned about the

environment to eat meat):

>

> Marin Independent Journal

> Please send letters (no more than 250 words) to:

opinion@m...

>

> Pacific Sun:

> Please send letters to: letters@p...

>

> 2. Write to the organizers of the Bioneers, urging them to get

on track with the inefficiencies of animal-based agriculture, even

organic, free-range, locally-grown meat, dairy and eggs, and the

lack of sustainability represented by such food choices:

>

> Collective Heritage Institute

> 901 West San Mateo Rd., Suite L

> Santa Fe, NM 87505

> 505-986-0366

> 877-246-6337 (toll free)

> fax 505-986-1644

> info@b...

>

> Thanks so much!!

>

> Best regards,

> Alka

>

> Bioneers