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Home  Media Press Clippings Peace of Pie: KVAL TV, Eugene, OR
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Pies For Peace
KVAL Channel 13 news
By Andy Peterson
EUGENE, OR
May 12, 2006
What's more American than mom and apple pie? A local rally for peace Friday afternoon had both. It was part of an effort by some local moms to make a more peaceful world for their children.
It's a peace rally, but with a tasty twist. A group of mostly moms, and a few dads, kicked off Mother's Day weekend by gathering to say that peace should be a priority. To illustrate their point, they brought pies to the party.
It was also unique, besides the pies, in that it brought some new faces to the table.
"These are people who have not been active heretofore," says activist Betsy Steffanson. "But they've said, 'Okay guys, that's enough. We're going for it.' "
"This began with a woman who is new to the response," says activist Susan Cundiff, "and it's a mother."
A mother named Diane Moen. She's the local team leader of the "Peace Alliance," a national organization working to give peace a debit in our national checkbook.
"And we can't not be working towards that," Moen says. "So, however much time and effort it takes, it's time."
So, why pie? It's a metaphor, for the budget of the Department of Defense, as shown by a pie chart. And supporters of the Peace Alliance want a small sliver of that pie, just two percent, to go towards a "Department of Peace."
"You can tell a lot about a person's priorities and their values by the way they spend their money," says Cundiff.
The Department of Peace would work on issues both at home, like domestic violence and child abuse, and abroad. The program, they believe, is not anti-war, just pro-peace.
"We believe a more positive outlook will say that we will win," Steffanson explains. "You know, you get a lot more flies with honey than vinegar."
And who taught you that? That's right, Mom. As for these moms, they want to make a change in the world.
"And," Moen says, "I think we're just getting started."
As for all those pies, most folks took them home, although one was delivered to Representative Peter Defazio's local office, to thank him for his support.
There will be another rally this weekend called the "Million Mom March," and they promise more pies! It's being held Sunday, Mother's Day, starting at the EWEB Plaza at 2:30pm.
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