This week Jay and I flew home from Missouri to California. I love sitting by the window on the plane and looking at the buildings and land below fade smaller and smaller until we are consumed by clouds and sky. And because we don’t have much greenery in Los Angeles, I especially love enjoying all the grass, trees, lakes, and the spacious beauty of the mid-west. While gazing out the window on our flight this week, I saw all the farms sprawling on giant plots below. So many crops! It was impossible to know what was actually growing down below, but I imagined corn, alfalfa, greens, and giant fields full of beans. I was so relieved to see the miles and miles of fresh food growing, and not the typical sight of animal farms. On this particular flight, I didn’t see any cows or factory farms below, just fields and fruit trees, which made me so happy.

As we elevated through the clouds, and the green view out of the window turned to white and silver, my mind drifted, and I realized that it is us who determine whether farms are raising animals, or growing crops! It’s all about supply and demand! If we demand animal products, people who own land will contract with the meat and dairy industry to make a living. If the demand for produce is high, farmers will contract with stores to grow plants for a living. When we buy food, we are directly responsible for the demand, that determines what people are producing on their land. And if the demand is for animal products, the growers are constantly on the search for procedures that will make things more efficient, faster, and easier, so they can increase their revenue. And that always means more suffering for the animals. But when the demand is for fresh, organic, fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains, then farmers use their acreage to grow crops. Fresh produce is then more available in more neighborhoods and in more stores, prices come down, our bodies get healthier, we spend less on health care, and more on vacations, travel, and fun, and much less of us suffer.

Every single one of us, every single day, are part of that election process, voting with our dollars, and not one of us can abstain from voting! I believe that the change you and I effect, every day is far, far greater and more impactful than any other election, at any other time! Our demand effects not only our own lives, but the quality of the lives of billions of animals, the individual farmers, big business itself, and the future of the planet. When I go to the market, hand my dollars over the clerk, and load my groceries into my car, I know I’m doing so much more than buying stuff and bringing it home: I’m changing the world!!

I believe in a gentle world for all of us. I believe in a world where we don’t have to exploit and enslave others, but lift others up while we lift ourselves up at the same time. I believe in health, love, kindness, joy, abundance, and peace. I believe that we are all the same, deserving of the same right and freedoms. And I believe that you and I can create it. I believe that we are indeed creating it every single day! Thank you for casting your daily ballot for peace!