Please note the following post is intended to assure those concerned about traveling to Texas that they can still attend the IFBC and support El Paso. We are not intending to divide our audience on issues not related to food blogging.

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In May, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the “Heartbeat Act” and passed the most extreme abortion law in the country. We have heard from some in our community who feel this is just one more Texas stance which takes the state off their potential travel list.

El Paso Takes a Stand

But El Paso, where our conference will take place in March, is not the equivalent of Texas. El Paso’s entire state delegation opposed this bill and one representative, Bill Moody, took action against that cost him his very powerful role as Speaker Pro-Tem.

Supporting El Paso

It is not unusual for El Paso to take a stand against Texas mandates. “The City of El Paso was granted a temporary restraining order against Gov. Greg Abbott’s mask mandate ban, allowing the city to continue with its mask protocol that went into effect Wednesday, Aug. 18. Masks must be worn while in any indoor facility,” said Sunny Tsai from Spectrum News 1.

We understand some of our audience is concerned about traveling to Texas; there are arguments for and against expressing your views via your attendance at events like the IFBC. We are not trying to take a stand either way.

But El Paso is not Texas. It is a border town located across the river from Mexico with a unique culture and food that’s not typical Texas. We picked El Paso because of its bi-culturalism.  The city has a high vaccination rate. It’s one of the most diverse and progressive border regions in the world. In fact, while Texas has its own power grid separate from the rest of the United States, El Paso is part of the grid serving 14 Western states, two Canadian provinces, and part of Mexico. El Paso is on a different page, and power grid, than the rest of Texas.

Attending IFBC in El Paso

You might or might not have considered whether to attend the 2022 International Food Blogger Conference based on its location in Texas. It might be the food, content, speakers, sponsors, and fellow attendees are what is important to you. If, however, politics, pandemic policies, or women’s rights have entered into your thinking, please consider that just like all Texans are not alike, all cities in Texas or not alike either. Please help us in supporting El Paso, an incredible multi-cultural border town, by participating in IFBC22.