Puerto Vegan: A Community Dinner

Puerto Vegan: A Community Dinner
Lancaster Farm Sanctuary, Mt. Joy, PA

Puerto Vegan was the latest event at Lancaster Farm Sanctuary featuring a whole-foods, plant-based, traditional Puerto Rican dinner. The food was prepared by the very talented Maritsa Cortes. In addition to dinner, the event also included a live salsa band, a salsa dance lesson led by a professional dancer, raffles, and of course, the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the farm animal sanctuary and the wonderful beings that living there—horses, pigs, goats, ducks, alpacas, cows, and more!

Maritsa had the following to say regarding her motivation for putting together this fundraising event:

“Food is bonding. Food is healing, too. Cooking has always been a passion of mine and was a gift passed on to me by my mother. Food is one of the greatest bonds in Puerto Rican culture. When my mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, my whole world went dark, but I was determined to help my mother heal no matter what. There was some resistance from our family about the idea of my mother going on a whole-foods, plant-based (WFPB) diet because of our culture. Modern-day Puerto Rican food is largely centered around animal foods, but our food through history has been largely plant-based. Since going on a WFPB diet many months ago, my mother has healed greatly! She was able to stop chemotherapy and almost completely eliminate her diabetes and high blood pressure! Almost three years after her diagnosis, she’s finally healing. I want to share this healing with my community which is why we are throwing this event!”

The Food: