They were like, why don’t we, like, put together all of our resources and put
some food in brown paper bags and go feed the homeless?
That’s how pretty much it got started. It was just an idea, and we ran with it.
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Something that I’m
very passionate about is individual and small group grassroots activism. Each of us as has
the power, on our own or in joining together, to take action right now. I’m honored to
have the opportunity to highlight such inspiring activists, like Anita Krajnc of Toronto Pig
Save in this video and today, the Brown Paper Bag Movement.
This group is doing inspiring work bringing quality vegan food to the needy of New York
City. Their work speaks to the importance of making veganism and real food in general
accessible to people in situations of economic disparity and people who live in food deserts,
meaning areas without any access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. And even beyond
that, it speaks to the importance of taking action into our own hands and making a difference
for others in this world rather than waiting for someone else to do so.
I had the honor of speaking with four of the brown paper bag activists and wanted to share
with you the genesis of their work in their words.
Yeah, hi, my name is Jesse.
I’m Zach.
I’m Miranda.
Hi, my name’s Matt.
With the Brown Paper Bag Movement, it’s a program where me and a bunch of my
vegan friends decided that we wanted to help the less fortunate.
Some of us were already going out doing clothes drives. I forget who mentioned it,
but they was just like, why don’t we, like, put together all of our resources and put
some food in brown paper bags and, like, go feed the homeless?
We started participating in this group called the Meeting of the Minds. Some
people in this organization had started the Brown Paper Bag Movement and they were feeding
the homeless, and at that time they were serving animal products. When we went home that night,
Zach wrote a beautiful letter basically just asking for any donations, any vegan donations
from a lot of companies that we actually support ourselves, and saying, you know, we’re feeding
our brothers and sisters. We had a really good response from that.
Most vegan companies are small Mom and Pop companies, and they’re in it for
the right reasons, and they’re excited to help, you know, like, the idea of them helping
with feeding the homeless is great to them.
Like a lot of companies, such as Field Roast, Tofurky, Enjoy Life, Earnest
Foods, a whole bunch of vegan companies sent us a lot of donations, so we were actually
able, for the next Brown Paper Bag Movement, to create all vegan brown paper bag meals
for the homeless people in New York City.
Jesse: We make vegan sandwiches for them. We put vegan energy bars, with, fruits and
vegetables in brown bags. We also give out toothbrushes and socks and other hygienic
items, soap, and we bag up probably four or five hundred bags and we hit the streets of
New York City.
So, we went out with over three hundred bags, with so many people…
I think the first time we went out, it might have been twelve, maybe fifteen people,
and we had maybe like a hundred bags of food. And, fast forward to today, we have no shortage
of supply of people really. Last night, we did about three hundred bags of food, I’m
pretty sure, and it went like in two hours, so that’s how much of a necessity it is.
I think it’s easy for people to assume that those who live on the streets will or even
should take whatever they can get. But being homeless doesn’t remove one's humanity. Let’s
hear about the reception the brown paper bag movement has had among the needy of New York
City.
Everybody is so excited, you know. A lot of these people are laying on the streets,
you know, they have nothing. They’re laying there with no socks, no shoes. They have nothing
to eat. They’re very happy and excited to get anything, and you know it’s heart-warming
to be able to help these people. You know, it really touches your heart and it inspires
you to do it even more, because there’s so many people out there that need this. When
they see somebody that is out there to genuinely help them, they open up, and they tell you
about them, and it’s amazing to see all the stories and you know, to connect with
these people.
We met a lifelong vegetarian. He’s been on the streets, and he was so happy and
grateful to just be receiving good food. And one of the funniest things we’ve learned
is that they have standards just like everybody else. Like, they don’t want to be eating
bologna sandwiches. When we went out the first time, like they were telling us, no, do you
have any peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Like, you know, they don’t want to eat that
garbage either. So, that’s been the most beautiful thing. Like, companies giving from
the bottom of their hearts. Like, not expecting money or anything in return. Just wanting
people to just be fed, and it’s just so beautiful.
Like, I offered a lady a bag, and she’s like, no, I don’t want it. I guess like,
prideful. And I was like, it’s vegan and it’s organic, and she was like, really,
cuz that’s all I eat, and we started to talk about factory farming, and why it’s
important to eat organic. Like, for me that gave me a lot of motivation, cuz like her,
who doesn’t have that many options, she can’t just like go shopping whenever she
wants to, to still be, like, a stickler for what she puts in her body.
This other company Acure Organics had sent us five hundred body washes, and
one of the guys that we had given a bag to had opened up the bag and seen the body wash
and he’s like, oh, my gosh thank you guys so much, like a lot of people donate stuff
to us and I can never even accept anything ‘cause it’s all like poison and just chemicals,
and so he grabbed a whole bunch more body washes from us and, he’s like this is going
to last me so long, so, yeah, that was really memorable for me, just seeing that they do
care about what they put in their bodies and on their bodies, and that is something that’s
important, not just to us but to everyone, you know?
The Brown Paper Bag Movement reaches beyond the streets of New York City in raising greater
awareness about food inequality, the marginalization of the needy, and a general consciousness raising
about extending compassion to all beings.
We’re just trying to inspire people to, you know, give back to the community,
help less fortunate, and to seek enjoyment from helping others, not enough people in
society want to help others. Whether it’s helping animals, whether it’s helping fellow
humans, we need to get back to sharing and caring and, with compassion and empathy for
everybody. You know, it’s not just about your immediate family and friends, but everybody
matters. Everybody needs help, and with the Brown Paper Bag Movement, it’s been a great
way for us to help the community, and these people really need it, so I encourage anybody
to, you know, go out there, whether it’s a Brown Paper Bag Movement, or it’s just
you by yourself to try to help others, you know, a dollar, a sandwich, you know a bottle
of water, anything. You know, people need these things. We need to not just drive by
all these people but try to help them.
You know, for us, we’re creating awareness for others, you know, like, this is the whole
planet thing. We need to all start showing compassion to everyone on the earth, you know?
They’re really special moments that, even though it’s be like, thirty or forty
seconds that I spend with a less fortunate person who doesn’t have much. Like, just
looking in their eyes, and like, you see the despair on their face when, like, nobody’s
looking at them, they’re just walking past them, and it’s like, you just showed them
twenty pounds of gold or something, and they’re just like, yeah, man, thank you.
This is action that you can take in your own area and the brown paper bag activists are
more than happy to help.
That’s all you need. A few people, a few bucks and you write a few letters. I
didn’t believe that these companies would send out so much stuff and, like it was just,
very inspiring to see.
I mean, it’s something that can be done by yourself, if you want to do it
with your friends, whatever you like to do. But a little goes such a long way. Take whatever
change you have at the end of the week, buy a few ingredients, create a few bags, just
like that, just goes such a long way.
It’s really about, like, just finding the time and effort to make a few meals. It’s
doesn’t have to be as many as we do. It’s doesn’t have to be a thousand, you know,
it could be five meals, whatever. Just showing that compassion and love to others is a huge
step, you know, just having the awareness that there’s others. You know, there’s
times where we might be going from work, or coming home, and we have something, and we
see someone, and we’re going to give it up to them, ‘cause it’s just that compassion
of all the time knowing things need to change, you know?
I’ve included contact information for Jesse, Matt, Zach and Miranda and the Brown Paper
Bag Movement as a whole in the video description below and on this video’s blog post if you
want to reach out for help getting started in your area
Making real vegan food more accessible is so important, and I’ll be creating more
videos on some other movements working towards this on different fronts with urban rooftop
gardening, community agriculture in food deserts, connecting local gardeners with food pantries
and more, as well as an entire series of videos on eating vegan affordably.
I will include links on the blog post for this video to some of these projects and resources
if you want to get involved or if you yourself are struggling to find fresh, real food.
I hope that you found this video inspiring and motivating. I’d love to hear your thoughts
on the Brown Paper Bag Movement and what these activists have shared. Let me know in the
comments!
If you liked this vide give it a big thumbs up and share it around to help inspire others
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want to help support Bite Size Vegan’s activism, check out either of the support links in the
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army icon there or the link in the sidebar. Now go leave vegan, reach out to others, and
I’ll see you soon.
And feeding the homeless people. You can go on Instagram and hashtag #BPBM: Brown
Paper Bag Movement. There’s tons of us out here, I’m one of them. You can tap me on
the shoulder, I’ll put you in, I’ll put you down.
Bless you and keep doing your good job, though. Your good job that they’re not doing, though.
They sure want to help us, but they’re not doing nothing. Thank you, sir.