Arkansas Vegan: An online community and information source for vegans and vegetarians in Arkansas.
Celebrate!
Every day is a holiday somewhere in the world, and every day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate our compassionate lifestyle.
July 4: USA: Independence Day
Late afternoon, July 4, 1776: the Second Continental Congress is in session, and the revised draft of the Declaration of Independence comes up for a vote by the representatives of the thirteen colonies. South Carolina and Pennsylvania vote no! New York abstains. Delaware can't decide. Luckily for the rest of us, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Virginia all vote yes. The rest, as they say, is history, and our national anthem is no longer "God Save The King."
We tip our tricorner hats today to North Carolina's sensibility in voting "yes" to adopt the Declaration of Independence, and here is the perfect way to celebrate the 4th in style: North Carolina Style Tempeh Barbeque.
USA
Americans consume about 26 lbs of rice annually per capita, yet only about 12 lbs of chocolate. Be sure to do your part to balance this out, by adding 14 lbs of chocolate to your diet each year.
July 14: France: Bastille Day
In the late 1700's the French people were growing very uncomfortable with the rule of King Louis XVI. The Bastille was a prison in which the King held political prisoners. On July 14th, 1789, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille and freed the prisoners. This rising of the common people became the catalyst of further action and the French Revolution was unstoppable. Just six weeks later the National Constituent Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a French document analogous to our own Bill of Rights.
A member of the Arkansas Vegan team has been to France several times and notes that the quality of food and drink are very important to the French people. France is unfortunately not as openly accepting of veganism as the US or UK. Read this interesting translated page to learn of some of the struggles a vegan doctor in France has encountered. Given the uphill struggle veganism faces there we think it is important to celebrate Bastille Day with some wonderful French Toast for breakfast and a dark French roast coffee to get your day off to a very, very, very fast start.
France
Gustave Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame, designed the internal supporting structure of the Statue of Liberty.
July 21: Sint Maarten / Saint Martin: Schoelcher Day (Abolition of Slavery)
This little island in the Caribbean has seen raiders from the native cultures of South America and later from the Spanish, Dutch, and French. Today the island is one of the Netherlands Antilles; the southern half is Dutch ruled and the northern half French ruled. Slavery was a part of their history too, and not long after the US abolished slavery it was also abolished here. The holiday is named for Victor Schoelcher, a French abolitionist who worked tirelessly to end slavery throughout the Caribbean. On July 12, 1848 France abolished slavery throughout all its colonies, but the holiday is celebrated on July 21st. Nowhere explains why the holiday isn't celebrated on July12th, but hey, it's the Caribbean, things just happen a little slower here.
For a taste of the Caribbean, try this: in your blender mix one pint of vegan coconut sorbet and one cup of pineapple chunks out of a can. Blend, pour into two tall glasses, and enjoy your very own vegan virgin pina coladas. If you want to go all the way you should garnish each glass with a maraschino cherry and another chunk or two of pineapple, but heck, this is about celebrating the end of slavery, not being a slave to your kitchen. Cheers! (Note: after having tried this you'll probably want to experience the fine culinary impact that rum flavor has when mixed with the coconut and pineapple. This one's for Schoelcher; I say go for it.)
Note: "Cheers" in Dutch is "proost" and in French is "À votre santé."
Sint Maarten / Saint Martin
The border between the two halves of the island was originally decided in a round-the-island walking contest. The Dutch got drunk, so the French covered more ground and their portion of the island is larger. That's Caribbean justice.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu is a collection of 83 tropical islands in the south Pacific and boasts more than 4000 years of history. Vanuatu was called "New Hebrides" by explorer James Cook, which is odd because the "old" Hebrides are icy cold rocky islands off the northwest coast of Scotland.
July 30: Vanuatu: Independence Day
This collection of tropical paradises was jointly controlled by the British and French governments, but in the sixties the locals started pressing for independence, and finally on July 30, 1980 their wish was granted. They have had some political turmoil, but otherwise life in Vanuatu is about as good as it gets. In fact, an independent organization called the New Economics Foundation used various criteria to rank the happiness of the world's people and found that Vanuatu is the number one happiest place on earth (sorry Disneyland). Palm trees, warm ocean breezes, the sunrises and sunsets, ahhhhh. To cap it all off, their national anthem is (I'm not making this up): Yumi, Yumi, Yumi. No word yet if they have love in their tumi, but I'm guessing they do. If you'd like to find these wonderful islands in Google Earth, fly your vegan satellite to about 17 degrees South, 168 degrees East and zoom in.
The national dish of Vanuatu is lap-lap. The recipes sound something like yam and coconut milk tamales but use ingredients we aren't likely to find in Harvest Foods. (That actually sounds pretty good - might be worth some experimenting!) Lucky for us though the national drink of Vanuatu is Kava, or Kava Kava as we know it, and Vanuatu has the most potent Kava in the world. The Kava drink is made from the ground root of the Kava plant and has an opiate effect on the body, giving it great power to help you sleep or just relax after a hard day. You can find Kava Kava supplements in many health food stores or many online sources. (Note: read thoroughly about Kava before taking it to make sure it is safe for you.)
