It was a breezy, crisp September afternoon in 2005 the first time I walked through the doors of Cafe Gratitude on Harrison Street in San Francisco. After being described as a positivity cult with great vegan cheesecake, I thought… “well, heck, sign me up!” I figured this was a delightfully surprising, yet apropos twist during my very first trip to the Bay Area en route to culinary school in Fort Bragg.
When I walked through the door, I remember being greeted with love, openness and not a hint of painfully-forced faux enthusiasm. It was fun. It was packed. The vibe was amazing, throbbing, almost celebratory. And the cheesecake. Holy mother of cashews, it was revelatory. I had never had something as fresh, flavorful, decadent and dairy-free. It changed my perception for what a raw, vegan dessert could be. This was 2005, after all. NOBODY was doing gourmet raw, vegan desserts like them.
Needless to say, I was hooked from the get-go. Cafe Gratitude became my #1 destination during every business trip, conference and weekend jaunt to ‘Frisco. When I moved to the Bay Area for 7 months in 2006/2007, I LIVED at Gratitude. I got to know Cary, Ryland, Matthew, Terces, Mollie and the wonderful staff who birthed this beautiful place into the world. Fast forward to 2009, when I apprenticed with their head pastry chef, Tiziana, in the art of making raw, unbaked, vegan wedding cakes. I felt like part of this energized, inspired community. Not just a patron of the cafe… but a part of a movement. I never took part in the Landmark Form or any of the “required” trainings that the staff experienced. It was never about that for me. It was simply about surrounding myself with positive, creative, dedicated people who had a deep sense of ethics, values and principles. There was a deep commitment to fostering compassion, ecological stewardship and making damn good vegan food.
That’s why when I heard the news that the Be Love Farm is now processing animal products and flesh – it changed EVERYTHING for me. FYI – the Be Love Farm is the Northern California farm owned by Matthew and Terces, the founders of Cafe Gratitude. This farm supplies organic produce and food products to the Cafe Gratitude and Sage/Kind Kreme locations in Southern California. It was brought to my attention this week that they are now processing cheeses, bone broth and pastured beef from the cows on their farm. You can read the entire post (dated February 2015!) on their website here: http://www.belovefarm.com/week-eight/
The vitriol, disappointment and anger from the vegan/vegetarian community has been ferocious and palpable on social media, and rightfully so. People feel misled, deliberately lied to and that a business they’ve so lovingly supported for many years has lost it’s way. I understand. I feel that my hard-earned money has been used for purposes that are unethical, cruel and out-of-alignment with my values. And I strongly feel that a more public announcement from the company should have been made about the practices at the farm, not tucked away in some obscure blog post. And now, I’d like to add a broader perspective to open this discussion to the issues of integrity and transparency.
When I chose to move from a Standard American Diet to a vegan lifestyle nearly 20 years ago, I did so for a variety of reasons. Through diligent research, experimentation with my body, studying nutrition and ecology, and examining my own sense of ethics and morals – I came to a very simple conclusion: making the choice to be vegan was the single most profound lifestyle decision that would positively impact my own personal health and longevity whilst extending compassion toward other living beings and lessening the negative impact on our natural resources thereby preserving our planetary ecology. For human health, compassion toward animals and sustaining our environment – I feel that veganism is THE most ethical, loving and conscious choice humans can make as stewards and caretakers of the Earth.
Now people have brought up this point, “yeah, but you eat vegan food at NON-VEGAN restaurants, don’t you?” Yes, I do eat occasionally at non-vegan restaurants and choose to create more demand for vegan options at those establishments. However, it’s different when a business has been fully vegan for 12 years, creates a specific ethical culture as the foundation, and then suddenly chooses to generate a profit from the sale of animal products. It’s not something I can get behind and support in good conscience. Ethically, it’s a 100% non-negotiable for me because it’s out of alignment. In our current society, we vote with our dollars, as money is a physical embodiment of energy. And as of today, I’m not giving any more energy to the businesses associated with Be Love Farm.
And, ironically, the name “Be Love Farm” implies what, exactly? Be loving to whom? Humans, exclusively? Are you catering only to the desires and appetites of human beings while slaughtering animals for their consumption? Where is the love for the animals in this process? Furthermore, the term “humane slaughter” is the biggest oxymoron ever. Is there a loving way to stick a knife in a cow’s throat? To shoot a bolt into their brain and then carve up their bodies? I’m confused by the definition of “love” that’s being implied here. Sounds like what “Be Love” really means in this context is: “Be Conditionally Affectionate in a Subversive Way when it Suits Your Preferences, Appetites and Profit Margins.”
“There are no others.” I remember being struck by this powerful, very contemplative phrase staring back at me in the bathroom mirror at the San Francisco cafe in 2005. I thought to myself, “Well, if there truly are no others… that means we’re all one… that we all want the same things in life… freedom, joyfulness, love, liberation and a sense of fulfillment.” So, if that’s true, if there are no “others” and we can see that all living beings desire the same essential things in life… then how in the world can anyone justify taking another life to satisfy their own cravings or desires? If we are all one love, one life – then isn’t the act of killing another being… also killing a part of yourself in the process?
Maybe that’s the source of the deep psychological and spiritual rift that’s plagued humanity for millennia. So many of us have been conditioned to feel that it’s within our rights – whether driven by religion, law or simply habit – to take whatever we please for our own selfish desires, no matter the effect, pain or consequence for “others”. We use every excuse in the world to rationalize wars and genocides over land, natural resources, oil, food, money, religion, etc. But… if there TRULY are no “others” then surely we can collectively strive to create strategies that compassionately, creatively and sustainably care for our own lives while ensuring that everyone’s needs are met on a global level.
I think if people TRULY walked their talk, this world would be a much different place. There’s so much spiritual jargon and psychobabble about love, compassion and extending a sense of generosity, but few truly allow their actions to reflect the deepest expression of those values. If we are taking the lives of other sentient, feeling beings for profit – are these actions adding more love and compassion – or more pain and suffering – to the world?Vegan or not, I think it’s high time that people hold themselves to a higher standard of integrity, transparency and openness – OR – realize that others will hold them accountable to them. To me, that’s part of being truly loving – holding the people around you fully accountable when their words don’t align with their actions and deeds.
I’m not angry about this issue. Ironically, I’m grateful it’s come into the light for us all to look at. This situation creates the space for an an open dialogue about the real meaning of love, ethics, sustainability and compassion. I hope this situation motivates Matthew, Terces and ALL of us to examine if we are TRULY in alignment with our highest values, ethics and heart-centered motives… or if maybe… some of us are just bullshitting ourselves and making illogical rationalizations/justifications for our behavior and choices. Rather than getting pissed off, hateful and creating new enemies in the world… I’d rather invite an open, loving, honest and respectful dialogue about the situation while holding people to a much higher standard of integrity with the philosophies and viewpoints they so publicly espouse to uphold.
Much love and light always,
J-Wro
