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Violent Traditions Trump Social Justice/Free Speech in Lawrence, Kansas   (Will The Kaw Valley Seed Fair Come to Its Senses?)

1/12/2016

13 Comments

 

The Kaw Valley Seed Fair is held at the Douglas County Fair Grounds

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For two years in a row I was a vender at the Kaw Valley Seed Fair, an event originally started by the Kansas Area Watershed Council (but they are no longer involved) and attended by over 1000 people each year.  It is an annual free February event at the Douglas County Fairgrounds that allows people to freely give and take a variety of seeds. 

Unlike many of the booths there, my booth wasn't selling anything -- just giving away free vegan food samples, recipes, information and little packets of  kale seeds (below) from my garden that I had packaged on paper hearts inscribed with inspiring quotes.   I LOVED the seed fair.  I spent a week preparing for the event, and the positive response that I got from so many there, made it feel very worth my time.  The food I provided was the only really healthy gluten-free vegan food at the fair, and many told me how important that was In making them feel welcome at this event.   My information, pamphlets, and newsletters were for some, their first exposure to the science showing  just how powerful plant based diets can be in preventing or reversing diabetes, or heart disease and even some cancers.


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There were those who read my large banner (shown below this article) from a distance that suggested exploiting animals for food is normalized violence, and avoided approaching my table, as was their choice.  Likewise, some meat vendors there (Why are Meat Vendors at a Seed fair??)  let me know that they found my message offensive and wished I was not there. 

For myself and many of the vegans who came to the fair, the presence of booths there selling meat, dairy and eggs was disturbing.   At the very least It certainly was not welcoming for those who find killed animals and products of exploitation of other female bodies offensive.

But it never occurred to me that by simply promoting non-violence, environmental sustainability, and health, and responding to the questions people posed, I would find myself deliberately excluded from participating in this event, which they claim is because I supposedly made a child cry when I told them about the violence involved in eating meat.  An unnamed vendor claims to have overheard me talking to a child and her mother and complained to the seed fair, and without ever informing me of this, they proclaimed me, “not family friendly” and decided I could not table this year.  As far as I know, the mother never made a complaint.   Since my message was clear from a distance, any parent wishing me to not discuss this with their child could have easily avoided me.

What makes this all the more troubling to me, is that the seed fair board are not a group of intolerant fundamentalists trying to exclude a pro-gay message, (The usual folks who invoke, "not family friendly" in order to restrict expression of ideas that they disagree with.)  But people who probably share many progressive values with me like inclusiveness, nonviolence, tolerance for differing points-of-view, that it is an act of responsible citizenship to non-violently challenge injustice, that it is wrong to cause unnecessary harm to animals, and that it is unjust to prohibit the free, honest respectful speech of others simply because it challenges ideas or traditions that they are very attached to.  

Meat, dairy and egg sellers are allowed to promote the exploitation and killing of animals at a the SEED FAIR, But when a vegan points out the violence inherent in supporting or consuming these products, the vegan gets expelled for being, “not family friendly” and “unwelcoming!
Upon hearing what happened, one of my friends had this to say:
 
     " It is astounding to me how people hide behind a disingenuous “concern” for children to avoid the truth. What they are really afraid of is their children asking them questions they just don’t want to deal with or face. Children see the truth and they can handle it quite well.  Additionally astounding to me is how adults can abuse children ad infinitum with lies, without even blinking, but if another person offers their child the slightest inkling of truth, they rail against the “damage” we are dealing them. It is their own fragile psyche they are protecting, not their child's very fit one. "

And another friend shared
this article about similar types of pushback experienced by the author of several very popular children's books including, "That's Why We Don't Eat Animals."  Fortunately the Lawrence Public Library doesn't try to prohibit this message from children there.

My daughter had this to say, “This situation highlights an example of pushback from the locovore and “happy” exploitation movement and how people are so attached to violent traditions that they will find any  excuse to hang their hat on to exclude the voice of those advocating principled veganism and justice.”

[This was a revised (shortened) version of the article I posted yesterday, if you’d like to read the original article, with much more detail, it is posted here.]


[If you would like to read my commentary about the 2015 Seed Fair -- including the question that I wished I had asked the conscientious omnivores who stopped by my table, you can read that post here]

Seed Fair Organizer's Contact Info Can Be Found HERE.



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13 Comments
Keith Akers link
1/12/2016 01:24:41 pm

Laura's behavior is uncalled for, to say the least. Yelling obscenities into the phone, and threatening you if you talk to people about it? The fact that she doesn't want you talking to others is highly suspicious. What's worse than making the children cry, evidently, is making the adults mad or treading on their precious, though violent, beliefs.

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Andrea Gamber
1/12/2016 04:32:38 pm

This is crazy JoAnn!! I really hope the board comes to their senses. Children cry at the drop of a hat, that is no justification for kicking out a vendor.

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Victoria Hart
1/12/2016 09:24:18 pm

Thank you for your courage and bold educative efforts, JoAnn.

I sat down and wrote my thoughts on the matter, which I'll post in smaller, easy-to-read segments.

I agree with the comment from Keith Akers. It's my gut instinct that the accusation about making a child cry is NOT what the real issue is here. Had that been the case, I suspect you would have been alerted to the complaint immediately, with the intent of reaching a swift resolve of the matter. That would have been the professional, emotionally mature route to take. However, such was not the case.

I feel strongly that the REAL reason certain adults blocked you from this year's seed fair is that they simply preferred to run and hide from the same truth a friend told you regarding children and how well they handle the truth. From your blog post above --

"It is astounding to me how people hide behind a disingenuous “concern” for children to avoid the truth. What they are really afraid of is their children asking them questions they just don’t want to deal with or face. Children see the truth and they can handle it quite well.  Additionally astounding to me is how adults can abuse children ad infinitum with lies, without even blinking, but if another person offers their child the slightest inkling of truth, they rail against the “damage” we are dealing them. It is their own fragile psyche they are protecting, not their child's very fit one."

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Victoria Hart
1/12/2016 09:25:39 pm

(Continued) --

Well said! To which I would add these related links for further contemplation:

https://legacyofpythagoras.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/teaching-our-children-to-kill/

http://www.upc-online.org/bookreviews/141021_the_emotional_lives_of_animals_and_children_review.html

http://www.amazon.com/The-Emotional-Lives-Animals-Children/dp/1618520822

Note: The book cited in the last 2 links above -- The Emotional Lives of Animals & Children -- is by City University of New York developmental psychologist William Crain. Marc Bekoff, Ph.D., author and former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, did a positive review of Crain's book at psychologytoday.com, explaining that Crain writes about how children show a strong tendency not to see themselves apart from other animals and display "instinctive empathy" toward them. However, Bekoff says, youngsters are taught to detach themselves from other animals.

An Amazon reviewer of Crain's book (Mr. A. Kirby) has this to say, which I thought went straight to the heart of the matter:

"Moving and insightful. Makes you understand the many, often hypocritical and devious, ways in which children's natural affinity with non-human animals is repressed and distorted so that they can come to think of the manifold ways in which we exploit, abuse, mutilate and slaughter them for our own selfish - and nearly always unnecessary and unjustifiable ends as normal."

Knowing you as I do, JoAnn, I am 100% certain your behavior consistently displays a deep level of love and sensitivity in offering children the truth about so-called "food"/"farmed" animals -- whenever the situation calls for that honesty. I ask -- what good reason could anyone possibly have to withhold the truth from someone, which is, in essence, robbing that person of the opportunity to make their own decision as to whether or not they want to believe what you told them? Doesn't this apply all the more so if the truth being offered can empower others to right a moral wrong, prevent harm on a number of levels, and ultimately save lives? I don't know about you or anyone else reading this, but I was taught at a very young age that stealing from and hurting another for personal pleasure or gain is WRONG in every instance! Have the rules changed?

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Victoria Hart
1/12/2016 09:26:36 pm

(Continued) --

I challenge adults reading this -- PLEASE step up to the task of encouraging children to nurture their natural interest in animals and the environment. With the right guidance, children can and do grow into adulthood with enhanced empathy and a healthy sense of connection to all beings, as well as an appreciation for kindness -- all of which can fortify a sense of moral responsibility that reflects a sincere desire for justice for all. Why falsely lead a child to believe that our fellow animal brethren happily "give" their lives (and the lives of their children) to us, rather than telling them the truth -- that what we are doing is stealing from and killing someone who doesn't want to die and wants to live on their own terms, just as we do. At heart, I'd say that most of us -- and perhaps ALL of us -- recognize within ourselves somewhere, somehow, that the lives of animals we exploit and use (for food, entertainment, medicine, clothing, etc.) are not revered by us in any true sense of the word. Of course people know (at heart) that it is wrong to view animals as "others" who are different from us and therefore of lesser or no value. We know (at heart) that they are not merely things for our whims. Even children know these truths somewhere in their being. In fact, I'd say they have a clearer grasp of them than adults. So why prevent children from knowing the parts they and grownups play in that unjust "human domination" belief system, showing them that animals are hunted/captured/taken against their will or, far more commonly, forcibly brought into this world by humans, as "food/farmed" animals are, for instance -- only to be ripped from their families, exploited/commodified to the maximum profit, and whatever left of their lives is violently taken in the end,... just for a fleeting moment of tongue pleasure or other unchallenged, selfish convenience to us. It's not necessary or advisable to give the child gory details. The simple truth, spoken from the heart in only a few words, will do. Anyone able to do this should be cheered on and celebrated rather than scorned or disinvited to a "family-friendly" event, such as the Kaw Valley Seed Fair purports to be.

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Victoria Hart
1/12/2016 09:27:29 pm

(Continued) --

I am reminded of a related blog post I read not too long ago at
https://theveganofaus.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/why-cant-vegans-just-shut-up/.
It is well worth a read, especially for non-vegans.
Excerpt here:

"... we talk about veganism because no-one else bothers to do so. Every day 99% of the world goes about its routine of exploiting and killing other animals without a word uttered. If vegans talked about this massacre in any way commensurately to its sheer magnitude we could never shut up. Non-vegans hear about veganism, what, less than a hundredth of a percent of their waking hours? Sor-ry. Do you not realise that we hear about, and witness, your willful exploitation and killing of others every single day? You are fine with us being bombarded by the suffering and death of innocent beings but cannot stand to occasionally hear about the fact that we think it’s wrong? The fact that it pricks your emotions and that you might perceive it as an attack should be telling. Sharing the majority opinion does not automatically make your opinion any more valid than that held by a minority, nor make it rightly more permissible to express.
I expect that if we saw someone drop a lolly wrapper or cigarette butt on the footpath that you’d have no problem with my telling them it’s out of order. I expect that if we saw someone beating up an innocent person that you’d have no problem with my interjecting somehow. Yet you expect me to remain forcefully and fully silent on the fact that you intentionally kill 100+ animals per year just because they give your tongue goose bumps? I don’t know who coined the phrase but it’s a good one: 'I will not stay silent so that you can stay comfortable.'"

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Victoria Hart
1/12/2016 09:28:38 pm

(Continued) --

I hope you are able to get reinstated at this year's Kaw Valley Seed Fair, JoAnn, and a sense of professionalism is restored within its' confines. Seeing pictures on the internet of your background banner and table setup, I know I would have been one of those children who'd gravitate to your presence, as I was enamored by not only seeing pictures of animals, but also had a modest collection of plush/plastic toy animals myself my entire childhood, ...though I didn't know about the realities you try to educate others about. How I wish someone would have told me back then, as I think of all the harm I could have prevented just by changing my eating habits alone. Would I have gone vegan all the way, as a result from a simple truth offered to a child? I will never know, as that opportunity never materialized. Or perhaps it did, but an adult -- or group of adults, as in this case you blogged about -- quickly erased it, putting in its stead more absurd indoctrination and the pressure to conform; my memory of being given the truth could have very well been stolen away. How sad both scenarios are, not only for me, but for every child AND adult who hungers for the truth.

- Victoria Hart on 01/13/15

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Victoria Hart
1/12/2016 09:34:47 pm

P.S.
Oops! I dated my comment Jan 13, 2015... when it should have been dated 2016.

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mark gillono
1/13/2016 02:55:06 am

"I am always amazed at the intensity of some knee-jerk reactions. You know there’s something seriously wrong in society when people act like heroin addicts in withdrawal at the mere suggestion of a meat-free diet. I can’t help but imagine that all that rage is tortured animal energy manifested." ~Ruby Roth

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Sarah Brown
1/14/2016 12:03:02 pm

This quote by Ben Rattray (founder of Change.org) provides a good example that the Seed Fair Board might want to take note of....

“One of my younger brothers unexpectedly came out as gay, and then he said…. the thing that was most hurtful to him wasn’t watching people who were anti-gay attack him, but the good people who stood by and did nothing….people like me….it made me reflect deeply about who I was and what I wanted to do…. And eventually I realized that what I wanted to do was to empower other people to speak out and stand up on issues they cared about.....though there are campaigns on the site that I personally may disagree with… the best path toward citizen empowerment is not to try to press our thumb on the scales, but rather let people have power themselves….We wouldn’t remove petitions unless they have specific hate speech or they are bullying or they are potentially violent. Otherwise we actually feel deeply about our role as a platform… for free speech.”

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Judith fremerman
1/15/2016 08:31:48 am

People feel threatened by differences and are afraid of change. It's very sad that she handled it that way. I think it's great that you stood up to her,but unfortunately her fear of change took over.\ and her authority was questioned.

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Anna McCoy
1/16/2016 08:10:18 am

I have been teaching my students about how brave Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges were in living through and working to change people's minds about the unfairness of segregation. It was very difficult and they faced ridicule, censure, and even violence.
JoAnn is trying to educate about the unfair, to put it lightly, treatment of farm animals, those exploited for their fur, and those incarcerated for experimentation.
We have finally evolved to accept the LGBT community.
Now is the time to evolve to accept the non-human community into our consciousness for fairness and respect.

The board of the Seed Exchange is acting like the people who are still not on board with the eradication of segregation of communities that are not "like us."

Anna McCoy

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Judy Carman link
1/16/2016 07:27:11 pm

I was with JoAnn helping the day of the Seed Fair last year. I saw no evidence of her upsetting anyone. She is especially careful with children, and judging by how amazing her two daughters are, she clearly knows how to be with kids. She worked unselfishly for days preparing an enormous amount of food to give away with the goal of helping save animals and people's health. My job was to keep plenty of samples on the table. JoAnn spoke respectfully and kindly to everyone who chose to listen and offered literature to those who showed an interest. She is a shining example of someone who speaks up for the voiceless regardless of the cost to herself. As Martin Luther King once said "“Our lives begin and end the day we become silent about things that matter." The lives of billions of animals matter, and the health of billions of human beings matter, and JoAhh Farb has the courage to not be silent.

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