Global Green Party Observations & Frustrations

A picture speaks 1000 words.
This past Tuesday, I was lucky enough to attend the Global Green Ecofabulous party in San Francisco. Global Green's mission is clean transportation, building green cities and schools, promoting recycling and clean water. As a VEGAN, these parties are always an opportunity to meet like-minded people AND maybe Orlando Bloom (I did get to see his cute lil' face close up) and Leonardo DiCaprio who hosted the event. Shamefully, Leo never even emerged from the VIP room upstairs. I did notice someone across the street covering up the huge Victoria's Secret picture of Giselle (his ex-girlfriend) in her bra. I saw the picture at the beginning of the night....about an hour later I see some woman placing a huge piece of butcher paper or something over the picture. Hilarious!

Complaint number 1: On the "green carpet," I noticed quite a few patrons of the party donning fur lined hoods and collars on their coats and plenty of leather. Most people pulled up in taxi's but some in their large SUV's and Towncar limo's. Two of the girls were self proclaimed "party crashers" who attend celebrity strewn events in San Francisco and write about it on some website. They obviously had no clue what kind of party this was because they were all decked out in their furs. Gross. Here they are, sweet talking a man out front.


Complaint number 2: The party was catered by WHOLE FOODS (where I always shop for groceries and most of my personal supplies.) I suppose Global Green thought this was going far enough. The menu consisted of: chicken skewers, lil' roast beef sandwiches, tons of brie cheese and some other cheese not sliced, just chunked on the plate. There were bruschetta, one with tomato and cheese, the other with salmon and cheese. Another plate consisted of pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, melons and some sliced baguette that was chewy and not good by itself. But, this was all I could eat being vegan and pregnant. I ate a few bites of fruit and bread as to keep from passing out. They had Hint water which I liked. That was the only positive on the food and drink side. May I remind you that none of the fruits listed above are in season. Let's guess how far those fruits had to travel to get to the party. UM, clean transportation huh? Those Costa Rican pineapples had to be transported by plane and truck which is clearly a HUGE waste. Why not teach your patrons a lesson on LOCAL SEASONAL foods!?! There are plenty of choices when it comes to locally produced cheese. Why not inform these people who are learning about GREEN CONCEPTS why its important to consider not only YOUR mode of transportation but how far your food travels to get to your plate?? OR, teach them about "fabulous" vegan foods? Millennium Restaurant would have been so honored to feature some of their foods at this event. They are strictly vegan and unbelievably delicious!

Complaint number 3: The fashion show disappointed me. There was one dress i loved. It will run you $3200. That sucks. The rest of the clothing was uninspired and really just run of the mill. I admire anyone willing to put up with the fashion industry, especially those using eco-friendly fabrics, but I expected more I guess.

I did meet someone very sweet named Maria who runs a clothing company called Marfar Designs. She makes tee's made from hemp and organic cotton. We discussed how difficult it is to meet people in San Francisco and that everyone is so damn clique-y. You gotta prove yourself to these Franciscans before they will give you a chance. Well, good luck Maria and Go VEGAN! (She guiltily admitted her leather boots were uh, real.)

Last but not least, thanks to the guy in the background of the top photo. He proved why a percentage of the population of environmentalists immediately turn people off from learning about the cause. He tried convincing me of creating "positive realities" in order to really turn this world around. So vague, so hippy-dippy that I honestly was ready to puke. I promise we are not all like that. I would never even call myself an environmentalist. My favorite quote of his was in response to a story I told him about giving a class I taught a list of the factory farms to avoid when shopping at the grocery store. Here it is: "You see, I totally disagree with that because you are giving them something they CAN'T buy instead giving them a list of some really GREAT FACTORY FARMS!" Aw, hell. Walk away Keri, walk away.