On Saturday, April 25th YAYA members tabled at Central Florida Earth Day 2015 at Lake Eola. It was the 10th annual Central Florida Earth Day celebration, ringing in the 45th anniversary of Earth Day. Over 1,000 community members attended, with hundreds of sponsors, vendors, and other contributors participating. The event is organized by Vegetarians of Central Florida, to encourage sustainable and humane decisions at all levels, from individual and local, to corporate and governmental. Central Florida Earth Day is an all vegan event, in hopes of widening access of healthy and sustainable food decisions.
Attendees enjoyed speakers, food prep demonstrations, music, environmental education, humane education, and a variety of other activities. Speakers included folks from Vegetarians of Central Florida, The Girls Gone Green, and Teens Go Green. Aside from presentations, there was an abundance of tables and local vendors, to help support businesses and nonprofits that are attempting to make a positive impact on the community. YAYA tabled to raise awareness about the issues farmworkers face, to community members interested in more humane living. It was important that YAYA spread information about where our produce comes from at an event so focused on food sustainability. We wanted to ensure that the voices of farmworkers did not get lost amongst conversations surrounding humane food. Overall, the attendees at the event were receptive and interested in the information we were sharing. Although it’s unfortunate that farm worker issues are not more widely discussed, the community members at Central Florida Earth Day were willing to educate themselves on the work YAYA does, in order to be able to make more humane food decisions.
