The world was in the hands of children, Saturday, playing with a beach ball likeness of the globe in Balboa Park. They also played bean bag toss with bags full of actual kidney, navy, and pinto beans. All of the fun in the name of environmental wellness, public health, and conservation.
"The key to social change is education," said Barbara Gates, founder and CEO of the non-profit organization Healthy Kids Happy Planet! She was one of more than 140 vendors at this year's San Diego Earth Fest.
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WATCH HEREGates is an advocate for empowering youth in creating a healthier, greener, kinder world. She's also the author of a children's book titled, "Jack and the Bean Stew," an ecofriendly version of the classic fable endorsed by PETA.
"I don't care how old you are, it's time to make a change to our eating lifestyle. If we don't make a change that's not fair to future generations," Gates said.
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This year's Earth Fest included more than the usual food and fun activities. There was an expansion of entertainment and educational opportunities. There was also a sense of creating community to combat the most recent attacks on the environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies by the Trump administration.
Just this week, a U.S. District Judge blocked the administration's freeze on funding for clean energy programs.
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“People are making the realization that they can’t table this off for another generation. The time to make changes in our lifestyles and in our industries is now," said Michelle May, director of San Diego Earth Fest.
Chloe Banaag is a third year student at UC San Diego studying social psychology with a minor in environmental studies. She and two other classmates hosted a festival booth representing students on campus with CALPIRG. Her group was there to protest big business polluters and to collect signatures for a petition supporting state legislation against the largest industries.
They also find themselves directly affected by the administration's unexpected revocation of international student visas at UCSD in the past couple of weeks.
“It’s really scary to know that if we’re out there at the forefront of social change that our lives and our education are at risk," Banaag said.
