Maine 1975: Pros and Cons: Participants Evaluate the Congress

From Vegetarian Times, no.12:

PROS & CONS

What were the strong and weak points of the congress? We asked people to give us their opinions so that we could pre-sent a balanced evaluation. The over-all response was gen-erally favorable, but two criticisms came up frequently and more often than others. The first one was that too many lec-tures were scheduled at the same time (as many as 15 lec-tures, scheduled at the same time), making it impossible to hear all the speakers. The second most frequent criticism was related to food; "too bland", "not enough variety", etc.

A sampling of assorted opinions follows...

"It was a wonderful experience to meet vegetarians from all over the world, I enjoyed it, but I there should have been different kinds of diets to meet the needs of different kinds of vegetarians, particularly for the Indians - there should have been more spicy food available for them..
- Leslie Avvai, Imperial, Calif.

"It was good & bad. The morning sessions had too many speakers at one time, there were too many topics that I wan-ted to attend. I thought there was a lack of spiritual community, but it was exciting to be with all the different people from all parts of the world..
- Michael Belanger, Caribou, Maine

"I think it's time we became more outwardly oriented, we should be educating the public instead of talking to our-selves. Other than that, it was fine. It was an educational and spiritual experience. I feel strengthened in my beliefs"
- Alex Hershaft, Washington, D.C.

"It was great."
- Charles Bailey, Baltimore, Md.

"I liked the congress, but too many talks were scheduled at once, the food was OK, but I would have like more raw food. The cafeteria was too noisy. I liked the yoga classes and I learned a lot about meditation. I learned a lot about natural hygiene too.
- Marty Baker, Laffayette, Ind

". . . there's been no orientation towards young people..."
- Dalton Good, Worthington, Pa.

"I've never been in a crowd of people who have been as friendly and as positive as the people I've met here. There haven't been any age, national, racial, or religious bar-riers at all"
- Joselyn Mack Balta, N.D.

"There should have been more emphasis on animals. I'd like to see a more humane emphasis in the movement.'
- Maureen Koplow Lindenwold, N.J.

It was a very good congress, very good speakers, etc. I liked the food, I think a lot of us overindulged..."
- Gayle Stewart, New York City

"I'm enjoying the congress, but I'm enjoying the people more. It's organized well, variety-wise, but so many of the classes occur at the same time I can't see all I want to."
- Hollis Warner Riverhead, N.Y.

"It's not political minded. People here are talking among themselves, we're not pushing vegetarianism in a political sense. I like to see a political emphasis."
- Andy Calafut, Clifford, Pa.

Very nice, very nice. I bless, I pray, I posture for the success of the congress. (Are you going to take my
picture?) I invite you all to India in 1977".
- Yogi Shanti Bombay, India

"This is my first congress, and from this one I can say that I'm definitely going to be showing up at the next one."
- Saul Forbis New York City

"...we need something like this very very badly for mil-lions of reasons, not the least of which is the welfare of animals and the welfare of starving people."
- Nathan Annenberg New York City