Let's celebrate Earth Day over dinner!

The Halifax Association of Vegetarians (HAV) would like to invite you a dinner in celebration of Earth Day!

Local Source Market (5783 Charles Street, Halifax) will be opening their doors to our group on Saturday, April 24th. They will be serving a vegan/vegetarian and locally-produced dinner, starting at 6:30 pm. The dinner will include tapas/mezza, "family style" salad, main course, and dessert with tea/coffee. The cost is $26 per person (this price includes tax and gratuity). The event is BYOB, so feel free to bring a bottle of wine (better yet, a Nova Scotian and/or organic wine!). Wine glasses will be provided.

In keeping with our environmentally focused dinner, our guest speaker for the evening will be Gretchen Fitzgerald, the Director of the Sierra Club - Atlantic Canada Chapter. Her presentation topic is titled "Eat Your Greens - Vegetarianism and the Green Movement".

Within the environmental community, debate rages on regarding the benefits of vegetarianism/veganism versus being a "locavore" - eating foods grown or raised by local farmers. Many of us have stood in the grocery store debating the benefits of imported soy milk versus organic milk or even locally raised free-range turkey versus tofurky. The issues facing modern environmentalists are the same as those encountered by vegetarians and vegans: adopting a "different" or "constraining" set of ethics in a culture that values consumerism and choice. However, environmentalists definitely do not make the same choices when it comes to their eating habits. This may in part be due to the variety of people in the movement. For example, the origins of environmentalism in the Western world are linked to hunting and fishing traditions (protecting wilderness so their are more animals to hunt) and, to some degree, early scientific endeavors involving collecting specimens to document the diversity of life - the so-called "natural history with a gun." In my experience, some environmentalist do not become vegetarians to avoid the "granola" stereotype or because they feel they have already changed their lifestyles substantially in other ways to protect the Earth. My talk will discuss whether the choice to be vegetarian is always healthier for the planet, and point to options that will eliminate the need for choosing between buying local and being vegetarian/vegan.

This dinner has a limited number of seats, so reserve your spot(s) early! (Email halifaxvegetarians@gmail.com).