Most doctors don’t know much about nutrition. A sad fact, but true nonetheless. One of the best ways to promote veganism is to educate them about the benefits of a vegan diet. There are great books available on the subject such as The China Study, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, Dr. Neal Barnards Program for Reversing Diabetes, Healthy at 100, The McDougall Program, Eat to Live, The Vegan Diet as Chronic Disease Prevention and many more, plus quite a few DVDs. There are also outstanding brochures available from PCRM (The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine) that you can obtain for free here. So next time you visit the doctor for a checkup – or even if you have a friend in the medical profession - why not hand them a book or a brochure to help them learn the health advantages of a plant based diet? If you have an extra brochure leave one in the waiting room for your fellow patients. You may just save someones life. If enough of us do this we may just create a groundswell of support in the medical community that leads to real and lasting change.

One of the things most helpful to new vegans is the way that transition foods help to ease our journey. The term transition foods refers to fake meats, such as veggie burgers, breakfast patties, and not dogs. These foods are helpful when entertaining omnivores, and useful as convenience foods during the shift to more healthful eating. For many vegans they are the mainstays of their diet. We don’t recommend this because they are still processed foods, but we definitely consider them superior alternatives to the animal products that they seek to emulate.

Many companies that offer vegetarian versions of these foods could easily veganize them by removing the eggs and dairy. The technology has long existed to do so, and why they haven’t yet chosen to is beyond me. Since veganism has been so prominently in the public eye of late, this may be the perfect time to encourage them to take that step.

Two companies that have a strong supermarket presence immediately come to mind: Morningstar Farms and Quorn. Both offer vegetarian convenience foods, and both are widely available in mainstream supermarkets throughout the US. Morningstar already offers several vegan products but many of its most popular items (such as the breakfast sausage patties) still contain animal ingredients. Quorn has eggs in almost all of their products and therefore loses any vegan market share, and therefore many vegan dollars that might otherwise go their way.

If we let them know that we are out here, and that they lose money every single day that these foods aren’t vegan, then maybe they will come around. They both have easy comment forms on their contact pages that are just waiting for the vegan landslide to push them over the edge.

Here are the links:

Quorn: http://www.quorn.us/Contact/
Morninstar Farms: http://morningstarfarms.com/contact_us.aspx

Go get ‘em!

Just a few years ago I didn’t know any vegans. As a matter of fact, when I became a vegan, I was the first vegan I ever knew.  My closest friend, Maria, became vegan at the same time, so we were each the first vegan that the other had ever met. I’ve met hundreds of vegans since then, but I continue to be aware that the word vegan is a relatively new introduction to the modern lexicon. So much so, that many people still don’t really know what it means, and others have no knowledge that we even exist. Every now and then I still run someone who has never heard the word.

The companies who take the time and energy to make things easier for vegans (and as a byproduct of so doing get the word out there) deserve our thanks. Food companies, like Amy’s, who puts the word “vegan” at the beginning of the ingredient list on all of their animal product free offerings are doing us a great favor. They are exposing more people to the word and they are making it easier for new vegans who often feel that they have a daunting task ahead of them. I learned, as most vegans do, that the perceived difficulty is actually much greater than the reality, but in the beginning, little things like vegan friendly labeling are a great source of comfort, and even now they are helpful and appreciated.

The following is a list of companies that clearly label their products that are vegan. I would like to publicly thank them and encourage others to voice their support as well.  They are pioneers. Hopefully, someday, all vegan products will clearly be labeled as such, but for now these are the ones that are a step ahead.

Amy’s Kitchen
PO Box 449
Petaluma, CA 94953
amys.com

Fantastic Food, Inc.
Napa, CA 94558
www.fantasticfoods.com
800-288-1089

Simply Asia
PO Box 13242
Berkeley, CA 94712-4242
simplyasia.net 

Smart Balance
Heart Beat Foods
PO Box 397
Cresskill, NJ 07626-0397
www.smartbalance.com

Tasty Bite
Preferred Brands International
PO Box 3487
Stamford, CT 06901
www.tastybite.com

Thai Kitchen
Epicurean International, Inc.
PO Box 13242
Berkeley, CA 94712-4242
thaikitchen.com

Another thing that we can do is to encourage these and other companies, to make more of their vegetarian products suitable for vegans. In one move they’d get us, and the people who are sensitive to eggs and dairy too. Who wouldn’t want a bigger market share?

Take a moment to call or write, and let your voice be heard.

The Holistic Holiday at Sea (Taste of Health Cruise) was a great experience for us once again. This was our second time and we already plan to do it again next year. It is an unmatched opportunity to enjoy memorable vegan cuisine, see informative lectures from world class experts, exercise your mind and body, visit new places, and meet interesting and inspirational people.

One evening at dinner we were sitting with Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM and Christy Morgan, The Blissful Chef, having a conversation about the various ideas and tactics that the vegan community uses to spread it’s message. There is a level of dissent that can be troubling at times, and Christy in her blissful wisdom likened the players to the spokes of a wheel. They may not all line up perfectly, but they are unified in trying to accomplish the same goal. Moving things forward. Creating progress. We may have different ways of getting there, but we are getting there.

T. Colin Campbell, in one of his lectures, expressed optimism that we may now have reached the tipping point - and I wholeheartedly agree. We are so much further ahead of where we were just a few short years ago. Our message is reaching people, and whether we choose to stress health, compassion, religion, or the environment, the end result is the same. The more we influence others to adopt a plant-based diet, the better off we all are. The synergistic benefits of a vegan diet are potentially world changing. We may be idealist, optimists, cynics, or critics in our approaches, but we can all agree that our goal is a better world, one that may soon be within reach.

Let’s keep that wheel turning and we’ll get there someday.

We just watched the documentary film The End of The Line. It was an in depth look at the consequences of over fishing to our oceans and world. It was an excellent film. Definitely worth watching. There was one thing that troubled me about the film and I have seen it time and again. When they talk about what can be done to prevent the devastation that commercial fishing causes, the film advises how to choose fish that have the least problems. Perhaps line caught and non threatened species would be a better choice, it suggests. What it doesn’t suggest is not to eat fish at all. Not one mention of vegetarian or vegan diets as a possible solution. As a matter of fact when it comes to animal agriculture – be it fishing, or factory farming, be it the environmental damage, or the devastating health and economic consequences to our society – the best, most effective, most complete solution is always switching to a vegan diet. Granted at this time most people won’t do that, but why not at least say it, put it out there, give it as an option. Let it sink into the collective consciousness so that someday it is acknowledged as the logical choice that it is by more people.

I’m not singling out this film. We watched The Cove and Food, Inc, and numerous other documentaries in the last few years that all had the chance to offer eliminating animal products as a solution but did not. All were otherwise excellent films. Why won’t they say it? Most likely they don’t know it or practice it. If they do, then they either don’t think people will do it or don’t want to get sued. That means it’s up to us. We need to say something when these issues come up. We need to promote veganism as the solution that it is: the solution to over fishing, factory farming, the health crisis, animal cruelty, environmental destruction. When you see a film like this you also have an opportunity to educate the filmmakers. Write to them and tell them how important their work is and how offering a stronger solution might even make a greater impact. Let them know that you are a vegan and it’s easy. Maybe send them a book along with the letter.

I also just watched an Oprah episode on the diabetes epidemic. I like Oprah. She’s featured several vegan guests in the past and really wants to help people in general. Unfortunately, they featured a recipe for “healthy fried chicken” as an example of improved eating. Most diabetics die of heart disease. Animal foods cooked differently are not the answer for them. So, when I run my errands today I will take Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes and leave it on the book cart at our local hospital. I don’t have millions of viewers and maybe I won’t solve the health crisis, but if one person who needs the message picks it up, maybe it will make a difference for them. At least I’m putting it out there. It’s up to us to do what we can. Read, write, share. We’ll get the message out.

Just keep trying.

Last night’s vegan Oscar party was a success. The four and a half vegans present managed to sufficiently wow the ten omnivores with our food and charm. Hopefully they agree. I know they liked the food at least. It was also exciting seeing two famous vegetarians  (Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin) hosting the Academy Awards and vegan Woody Harrelson as a nominee. Maybe I pointed that out a little too fervently every time Woody appeared on screen but I couldn’t help myself. 

Parties like this are a great way to get together with friends and promote vegan cuisine in a very positive fun way. No preaching required. Just serve great food and answer any related questions that come up. Someone will always ask. The men talked about health quite a bit and the women discussed issues related to best documentary winner, The Cove, such as the rampant mislabeling of dolphin flesh as fish to fool consumers. Pretty egregious, mislabeling a mammal as a fish – not just a different species but different biological class entirely. Several of us also expressed our enthusiam for Food, Inc., The Cove’s very worthy contender. It was a hard call between the two. I was glad to see one of them win, and happy that they both got some well deserved exposure as a result of their nominations.

Several of our guests were kind enough to contribute to the menu, which consisted of Paula’s delectable hummus, Betsy’s amazing baked tofu – served with peanut sauce, and her mockamole (made with edamame) which is so good I could eat it every single day, Gary brought Quesadilla’s that were a big hit and an apple pie that I was very impressed with. He said the recipe was from The Conscious Cook. What a great book. Every recipe I’ve tried from it has been a winner.

We served back eyed pea and corn salad, spring rolls with spicy cherry sauce, potato skins with salsa, sour cream, and corn relish and a variety of crackers, crudités and other dips. Our son, Benjamin even made his first catering contribution ever. “Benjamin’s Delight” was celery stuffed with vegan cream cheese and olives. Perfect as a passed appetizer, with Benjamin doing the passing. He also helped me roll the truffles (aka Mignardises) in a variety of coatings – raspberry sugar, toasted coconut, and ground walnut with cinnamon. Benjamin later volunteered serving them to the guests, naturally taking a few for himself along the way. Judging by the number of seconds requested they went over well. That recipe will now be a staple. It is found in both The Best of Vegan Cooking and Great Chefs Cook Vegan. So easy, that I will never use another truffle recipe again. I also served the Happy Herbivore’s black bean brownies but we added peanut butter icing for a little extra drama.

At the end of the evening we tallied the ballots and gave out prizes for the most accurate predictions. The winners received AMC, Regal Cinema, and Blockbuster gift cards, as well as copies of The Future of Food.
I can’t resist an opportunity for activism. Even if it comes in a gift bag.

When we travel we try to always find out if there are local vegan eateries, and we often go out of our way to dine at them. We consider it both a joy and an adventure. So when we returned last week from Ecuador, where – in Quito at least – it appeared that every vegan restaurant in the city was either closed for Carnival or shut down for remodeling (a phrase that usually indicates closed forever despite its claim) we were already salivating at the thought of visiting one of our favorite places in Miami on the way home. We landed, went through customs, checked into the hotel to drop our bags off and since the room wasn’t ready headed straight there.

Om Garden is the kind of place that you may not notice from the street but you never forget once you’ve been there. The food is creative and delicious and you always run into interesting, friendly people, including the owner and staff. Dining there made us doubly happy to be back in the US. We love to travel but we also always love coming home. Especially when you find a place that serves raw broccoli capable of making you swoon. We don’t even like raw broccoli, but Om Garden’s broccoli salad is transcendent. It defies the laws of flavor and physics simultaneously.

Many of our culinary finds abroad have been equally delightful, such as the wonderful surfer owned Natural High Cafe in Puerto Rico and the gastronomic wonder of Joia in Milan, Italy where they even serve a vegan green egg. Check out their amazing cookbook to see for yourself, but you’ll have to buy it there – since it’s not available online. Closer to home we stumbled across Lovin’ Spoonfuls in Tucson Arizona when we were in town for the Gem & Mineral Show. They serve delicious food that you can actually even order online from BuyKind and have delivered right to your door almost anywhere in the USA. All of BuyKind’s featured restaurants have great food and it’s brilliant the way they package and send it.

We want to support these places because we enjoy them and we need to support them because otherwise they could go the way of a wonderful vegan restaurant that we discovered in Paris, La Victoire Supreme de Coeur (Supreme Victory of the Heart). It has been replaced with another ubiquitous Parisian foie gras tribute cafe. Both the food and the ambiance were incredible. Dining there was a pleasure for all of the senses, and yet, it failed…

It is a sad loss, but one that will continue to happen if we don’t do everything in our power to support and endorse the businesses that deserve our patronage. So go to vegan restaurants and stores whenever and wherever you can. What better way to honor the memory of  La Victoire Supreme de Coeur than to try and create the supreme victory of the heart that they dreamed of. Enjoy delicious new flavors and encounter like minded people, while also receiving the satisfaction of knowing that your support is helping to perpetuate businesses that are striving to make our world a better place – with both kinder and healthier hearts.

We have just returned from an amazing trip to the Galapagos islands where we were constantly reminded of the fragility and power of nature. One of our great concerns on this trip was if the food was going to be okay for us, but the National Geograpic/Linblad folks assured us that lots of vegans travel with them. And except for one mishap involving bacon in the black beans they did take remarkably good care of us, even going so far as to make us strawberry, banana, broccoli smoothies every morning per my request.

The bacon incident was near the end of the trip and the person who made the mistake felt just awful. It was a miscommunication with the kitchen, and except for the disgusting fact that I ingested a tiny fragment of bacon, it was actually an opportunity to both learn and teach. When mistakes like this are made it is easy to get mad but that only serves to reinforce the “angry vegan” stereotype. Stereotypes are bad for us because it makes it easy for others to dismiss us as fanatics. To them meat is food. They don’t see it yet for what it is – just as most of us didn’t at one time. A kind explanation usually makes a better impression than an angry rant. There are times when ranting is in order but a vacation and a protest are not the same platform. That is why when a zodiac boat full of our fellow travelers were worried about whether or not a baby sea lion on the rocks looked too thin I restrained the urge to say, “Why are you so worried about this one sea lion when you fill your plates with dead animals three times a day? They were cute babies too once. Veal still is a baby.”

I don’t think that would have gone over very well.

Restraint. It’s a good thing. That remark probably would have left them feeling very anti-vegan.

Even if I was right.

All Reasons are Valid.

We are witnessing a sea change. Things are happening now that even 10 years ago we would never have imagined. Veganism is in the public eye like never before. There have been bestselling books of all kinds focusing on different aspects of veganism, stories in the news and even on current event shows like ExtraTV, not to mention the wellspring of blogs and websites that are popping up almost daily. Sports figures are coming out as vegan, defying the stereotypes of vegans as unmanly. Popular television culinary gurus like Emeril Lagasse and Martha Stewart are featuring whole episodes on vegan cuisine. Oprah, Ellen, and other well known media figures have talked publicly about vegan diets in a very positive way. There is even action on the political front such as the passing of Prop 2 and moves afoot on Capitol Hill to introduce healthy vegan options to our nation’s school lunches (in an effort to combat the health crisis now plaguing our youth). Top quality documentaries exposing the dark side of animal agriculture and the health consequences of animal products have been released and even embraced by the public.

These are important events, perhaps heralding the next step in human consciousness, and we as individuals can help it along. We are part of it. Every time we sit down to eat we vote with our knives and forks for the world we want. This is an exciting time. It is possibly even the tipping point that will lead to a healthier, kinder, greener future for us all.

That is why it is more important than ever that we support one another. Divisiveness only weakens our message.

Which brings us to the question, why this blog, when there are so many others out there? It was inspired by an editorial comment in VegNews magazine. In the very same issue that featured a story about our wedding. The reader commented on an article about cancer survivor Kris Carr who had been featured in the Jan Feb 2009 issue, saying, “While it is admirable that Kris Carr converted to veganism, I am disillusioned by this article. Never once does she mention compassion for the animals or their horrific plight of misery in order to satisfy the palates of meat loving individuals. Without her disease, it is doubtful that Carr probably would ever have converted to veganism.”

It seemed to me that the reader was saying that health is not a valid reason to be vegan. This was not a new sentiment to me but never before had I been forced to think so deeply about it. I do not fault the reader for feeling this way. She obviously cares very deeply for animals as do I and is horrified by their suffering. It is the same reason that I first became a vegetarian. But, it was health that led me to veganism. After becoming vegan, and as I became more educated about the issues surrounding diet, I realized that as a vegetarian I had still been contributing to the problem of animal cruelty and abuse in ways that I did not fully understand before. Since I became vegan my health has improved, but so has my awareness, and one of the things that I am most aware of is that some people cannot see that connection, and others just don’t care. There are many new vegans in the world today that my husband and I helped to motivate in their decision, but almost all of them are vegans now because of health. Most of them had never even (and never would have) considered it before.

There were books and DVDs that we were able to share with them to help them in their journey but these were primarily health related. Many of them have had their compassion awakened as well. Not all though.

Is their veganism any less valid? Or that of someone who is vegan for religious or environmental reasons? I don’t think so. I believe all reasons are valid and that we ultimately share a common goal. We should rejoice and encourage one another. Regardless of someone’s personal reason the outcomes to the animals (less suffering), the individual (better health, physically and spiritually) and the environment are there. Maybe someday we will have a vegan world but it won’t happen all at once. Until then, every step taken toward veganism is a step in the right direction.

The awareness that food matters – for whatever reason – is bound to have consequences that reverberate throughout generations to come. 2008 and 2009 were amazing years. We should rejoice. Don’t stop striving for even more progress, but rejoice in the progress that we have made. Let us encourage and support each other for becoming vegan, whatever the reasons. They are all good, valid reasons and open us ever closer to accepting and understanding the others. This is how we will build the best future for us all.

Together.