This starfish at the seashore, painted by me, in watercolors and then enhanced digitally, inspires appreciation and care for sea life. Vegan seafood is healthy to the sea. It's healthy for the body.
I love the beach and the sea. Vegan seafood is "no harm food." No harm to others and no harm to self. How great is that? It's healthy all around goodness. Being vegan is my personal choice and works well for me. I would never force my veganism on anyone, but I think eating more plant based food regardless of how you eat is good for everyone.
Making great vegan seafood cuisine encourages others to try more vegan style foods; even, if you aren't vegan! You certainly don't need to be completely vegan to eat some vegan foods. Showing the positive side of veganism inspires people to add these dishes to their menus and meals.
The sea constantly produces amazing wonders and beauty. I believe we should do that with vegan food. Produce amazing wonders and beauty! Make it great and..... they will come running!
The Party that Turned Vegan
I remember hosting a party years ago. I was the only vegan and would often be teased about eating rabbit food. So, I created two non-vegan dishes for my party guests. Then I created many vegan style foods wrapped around it. Primarily Mediterranean and Italian cuisine inspired vegan and vegetarian dishes. I made two more big entrees that were completely vegan, so I would have something to eat (and some left overs).
Guess what happened?
The biggest critics of vegan food and vegan eating (although they absolutely loved the non-vegan entrees), came back for seconds and thirds for all the vegan food. And you know what? I didn't even get to taste my two completely vegan entrees that I made for myself. They were gone! Everyone was asking for recipes. "Is this how vegans eat?" they asked. "Vegan food is amazing!" they beamed. "You should open a restaurant." they praised. "I'd eat like this every day of my life, if it tasted like this!" they proclaimed! I realized in that moment, the goal was met. Non-vegan people were excited about vegan food. All the preconceived misconceptions were washed away. Hooray!
Moral of the story.
My life lesson was that the best way to encourage people to try vegan food is to make it so amazing that they can't resist. Starfish at the seashore is about inspiring you to make dishes so amazing that no one can resist (even your biggest critics!) You don't have to be vegan to try vegan food. You don't have to have vegan guests to sneak in some vegan dishes. However, if you try it..... you might be pleasantly surprised!
