COVID-19 changes the look of vegetarian community
July 15, 2020 – Nutritionist Deepa Deshmukh encourages vegetarians to get together to improve their health.
“[B]eing part of a community… helps keep us positive and feeling happy, which in turn strengthens our immune system,” she says.
While Deshmukh focused on community gardens and pointed out how exchanging tips with other gardeners improved crops and morale, she also stressed that groups which focused on nonfood interests also bolstered spirits. She lists gratefulness, nostalgia, creativity, new acquaintances; increased confidence, character and joy of life as plusses from any active community.
In my own life, I found that online nonvegetarian meetups downgraded my cabin fever during the COVID-19 stayhome order. I tried laughter yoga and writing meetups. The first group lifted my spirits for the rest of the day; the second helped me edit a short story about the effects of the coronavirus regulations on a community.
But back to Deshmukh’s suggestion as applied in south Chicagoland, community gardens are open south of 51st Street for you contemplative farmers who want to make gardening a we project instead of a me project. Just contact the Chicago Park District, South Region; suburban fledglingscan do the same or consult with the Forest Preserves. For south Chicagolanders who aren’t as lucky, the farmers markets have finally begun to open. For more committed fledglings, some urban farms provide incubator farms plus classes. (See my September 2018 article on urban farms.)
As COVID-19 moves closer to Phase 4, restaurants that only accepted online or takeout orders are moving to outdoor dining. By Phase 4 some will offer indoor dining with greater spaces at or between tables. So how will vegetarian meetups handle the push for smaller groups?
Smaller meetups already had small groups and never had the discounted meals enjoyed by the larger meetups.The larger ChicagoVeg and Taste of Vegan have opted for cooking classes and venues with lesser known speakers, which either attract fewer participants or offer wider spaces between participants. Potlucks will have to opt for larger areas, less participants or more sessions with limited admission; Taste of Vegan had already resorted to the third option so that more members could experience the fare of smaller restaurants.(See my December 2017 article on meetups.)
Before the stayhome order, the National Vegetarian Museum had places in south Chicagoland booked for speakers and the traveling exhibit through January 2021. After the order, they were canceled because of CDC requirements. So the museum had to reevaluate its approach. The new solution attracts well-known speakers and accommodates social distancing.
“Everything will be online,” says founder Kay Stepkin. Many doctors who apply plant-based principles in their medical care “are supporting us” and will speak online for future museum events.
Often those doctors need their own community for support. The Plantrician Project offers to increase their number “by educating, equipping and empowering … physicians, healthcare practitioners and other health influencers with knowledge about the indisputable benefits of whole food, plant-based nutrition.” Plant-based Docs, Plant Based Nutrition Movement and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine list those doctors by specialty or city.(See Resources –Educational or Support.)
Vegetarians of color who long for the tastes of their childhood, causes related to their neighborhood and role models that look like them find fulfillment in the nonprofit Food Empowerment Project and the activist Facebook group Vegan Voices of Color. (See Resources again.)
What communities do you use to boost your immunity?