Generation Vegan :: Podcast

There’s probably some lone vegan in the middle of nowhere who I hope isn’t reading this …. I do admit that only another vegan in the SF Bay Area can understand when I say that I am fed up with the vegan food selections. Or, at least, at the restaurants that I normally frequent. What is that saying, familiarity breeds contempt

On the bright side, that means more cooking at home and actually saving quite a few bucks because eating out is typically costs, at least, twice as much as eating at home. And, the quality of ingredients I buy at home is much better than the store (normally all organic, and seasonal produce.)

Our local Safeway’s is doing a good job at keeping our sweet tooth satiated. Peanut Butter Zig Zag, Cookies and Cream, and Butter Pecan. I remember when getting vegan ice cream was a special trip to a health food store – not any more!

For anyone with access to fresh, tasty tomatoes, you’ll love this recipe.

Angel Hair Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce
(from The American Vegetarian Cookbook by Marilyn Diamond)

Pasta:
8 oz angel hair pasta, cooked according to directions

Fresh Tomato Sauce:
3 lg ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2″ dice
1 lg garlic clove, minced (2 tsps)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsps diced)
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients for the sauce, mixing well. If you have time, let the sauce sit for 30-60 minutes. Add half the sauce to piping hot pasta, mix, and then top pasta with remaining sauce. This is a wonderful, very fresh, in-season sauce.

If you love garlic like we do, or if you live in Transylvania, double the garlic and it’s even more delicious!

Just in the last year or two, I was at some group gathering and the topic of Harry Potter came up. And someone naively admitted to not knowing who Harry Potter was. The rest of us laughed and joked, "Where have you been, living under a rock?"

That's how I feel about The China Study, at least in the veg community. Published in January 2005, this book was widely trumpeted and publicized as yet another way to prove the benefits of a plant-based diet. Everyone I know who read the book raved about it.

Yet I was resistant. Not to the book's message, but just to reading about it. I admit, I do have a bias. I went to hear Colin Campbell speak, and I felt alienated by his matter-of-fact introduction and use of animals in experiments.

Since I was already vegan, and have read more books on the subject than the average American, I didn't read it. But when a small group of us decided to gather to read non-fiction books about vegetarianism and animal rights, I suggested this title. I already owned the book, in hardback, and figured I might as well read it.

Just in the first 25 pages, I can tell this is going to be an engaging book to read and digest the facts it contains.

- The United States pays more for health care than any other country in the world.
- According to the American Cancer Society, men have 47% chance of getting cancer; women have a 38% chance.
- One in 13 Americans has diabetes (p. 14), which can lead to blindness, limb amputation, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, & premature death
- Heart disease kills 1 in 3 Americans (p. 15)

- "The answer to the American health crisis is the food that each of us chooses to put in our mouths each day."
- "In short, it is about the multiple health benefits of consuming plant-based foods, and the largely unappreciated health dangers of consuming animal-based foods, including all types of meat, dairy and eggs."
- "Impressive evidence now exists to show that advanced heart disease, relatively advanced cancers of certain types, diabetes and a few other degenerative diseases can be reversed by diet."

I haven't finished the book yet, but the book has given me a renewed apreciation for my good health. For anyone who lives in the Bay Area, our discussion is on Sun May 6th in SF at MaggieMudd ice cream parlor. And, yes, of course, they have many flavors of vegan ice cream.

Eat beans, not beings.

I remember working once with someone who noted every penny he spent. Personally, I'm one of those people who have never had a budget in my life. Alot of my enjoyable activities are not expensive.

There was a long period in my life when I was absolutely crazy over the vegan cupcakes produced by Black China Bakery in Santa Cruz. They cost $3.50 at Herbivore Restaurant in San Francisco. When Chris and I went shopping for other discretionary items, we'd often question whether we wanted this $10 widget or 3 cupcakes. Surprisingly, with such a tangible comparison, on more than one occasion, we did find we'd rather have cupcakes over the widget.

When it comes to groceries, I pretty much buy basic foods and occasionally splurge on luxuries like vegan Follow Your Heart Cheese or Vicolo's corn meal pizza crusts, and, of course, dining out.

With tax season looming around the corner, money has again been on my mind. Over a span of a couple of days, I had an opportunity to price two similar products.

28 oz can diced organic tomatoes in Pacifica at an independently owned grocery store, Muir Glen brand

28 oz diced organic tomatoes in Daly City, Trader Joe's store brand -

The Pacifica store wanted twice as much ( $2.99 ) as the $1.49 price tag at the Daly City store (which undoubtedly does more volume and since it's a store brand, it's cheaper)

So it does pay to shop ... especially since I often travel by Daly City so it's just as convenient for me to shop there as in Pacifica. Now I'm wondering what 28 oz diced organic tomatoes at Safeway, O Organics store brand would cost me ...

Sons born to women who ate a lot of beef during their pregnancy have a 25 percent below-normal sperm count and three times the normal risk of fertility problems

Is that evolution at work to save the cows? Now what about the chickens, pigs, ducks, goats, rabbits ...

It's not uncommon to be the only vegan in your family. And it's typical that it's our family that causes us the most stress on being vegan, unless they live far away. After all, food is the center of nearly every family event that I've ever attended.

Much as I would look askance at raw mashed potatoes made from cauliflower, my non-vegan Chinese parents may look at roasted yams and kabocha. But I wouldn't judge them too harshly. I've actually had dinner with a local vegan who picked out broccoli florets and strips of bell pepper from a vegan macaroni and cheese dish.

So for this family outing, I decided to take my family to Manzanita in Emeryville (like most people, I used to think this restaurant is in Oakland but it's actually Emeryville, right on the border), instead of our usual vegan lunch at Golden Lotus (we all enjoy the faux meats). Manzanita is macrobiotic food, and in many ways the total opposite of the Vietnamese fare at Golden Lotus -- no faux meats, simple foods, low sodium, and it all tastes so healthy.

While we were there, we noticed another man, who seemed like he could have been around my age, who brought his family to Manzanita too. His parents (who looked like senior citizens, like mine) looked at the food, served buffet style, and the Mom flatly refused to eat there, and walked out, saying she'd sit in the car while they dined.

My parents were a bit skeptical, but they willingly agreed to try it, and did try all the different dishes (about 9 different items). But, I think I was the only one who really enjoyed it. By 3 to 1, vote was the food was overpriced for its organic simplicity. But I like simple fare; for example, I like broccoli plain or am equally content to eat cooked Yukon Gold potatoes with a dash of salt.

Anyways, we all agreed that next time we'd go back to Golden Lotus. Their fu young is a very tasty dish, for vegans and non-vegans.

Oh! The coolest part of the trip was the drive back. It was gridlock going southbound across the Bay Bridge - looked like the newest parking lot in SF. Because we made a wrong turn somewhere, GPS eventually figured out where we were and directed us to travel on Adeline to Peralta to Mandela Parkway, where we were able to enter directly onto 80 and approached the bridge on the lanes to the right, which turned out to be exclusive to Fast Trak. So, we didn't stop at all, and were surprised and then gleeful to speed directly to the tollbooths while we imagined others were sitting in their cars frustrated and fuming by the congestion, and spewing exhaust into the air.

Some people have a real style when it comes to being an advocate. They can talk to perfect strangers, make appropriately zippy and persuasive responses, and really make it look easy.

What do I mean by fearless? It's when people are not bound by the norms of appropriate behaviour or what society says is "conventional". They have the inner strength and resolve to share their convictions, and they do it well and they do it happily. Being vegan is definitely the first step to being fearless, to make lifestyle choices that you know are morally right yet can be socially taboo (yes, even in progressive places like the San Francisco Bay Area).

Fearless advocacy is the next step. Walk the talk. Take our convictions of being vegan and become proud advocates. Yes, I'm an advocate and I'll leaflet and table and talk to people. But I haven't reached that state of being totally fearless. I would not feel comfortable walking through a packed throng of thousands of flesh-eaters holding a sign that says "MEAT IS MURDER" with a graphic picture of a bloody cow skull or running up to a total stranger wearing a fur coat and telling her nicely who died so she could be clothed in their skins.

But I've taken the first step and the second ... I've also stuck to my resolutions and been doing more leafleting. Since the end of January through now, I've been leafleting on 7 different occasions (ranging from 30 to 60 minutes each) and personally distributed over 1200 booklets Why Vegan, Even if You Like Meat, and Vegetarian Starter Kits.

the Vegan R/evolution: Perform a death-defying act!

Good news: in the Crocker Galleria mall in San Francisco, there is one restaurant that has a separate menu that is vegan, with about 20 items on it. This is substantially more than any of its competitors in the food court, such as 360 Burritos, Chili-Up, SF Soup Company, Chinese food, pizza, etc.

Bad news: This very same restaurant was entirely vegan, but recently closed to remodel its structure and its menu by adding a second menu of "seafood" (i.e. sea animals).

Medicine Eat Station has a flyer on its front counter. It basically says most of its customers were not vegan, and said they would eat even more at Medicine if they could eat sea animals.

So, the bottom line, money talks. Although, I should be practical in my retrospection: would it have been better for Medicine to close entirely, and a new restaurant move-in? What are the odds that the new restaurant would have been vegan, vegetarian, or substantially v-friendly? Probably not. So, in the long-run, it is better that a restaurant with substantial vegan food is successful, because there are already way too many restaurants without any vegan food. The best, in my opinion, would have been a successful all vegan restaurant.

But, as I've always said, to be successful, a veg*n restaurant needs to appeal to more than just the veg*n crowd to be successful. It needs cross-over support from the meat-eaters.

That said, will I go out of my way to eat at Medicine? When it was all-vegan, I enjoyed some bountiful and expensive meals. Now that it's a mixed place, well, my preference has always been to support entirely vegetarian restaurants. Although, there is an advocacy perspective to dining vegan at mixed restaurants (see my blog post from last summer about this.)

I was recently in the area for an all day work meeting and they had thoughtfully provided lunch that came neatly packaged in boxes or clear plastic trays. Un-thoughtfully, however, the box label of "Ham Sandwich", "Turkey Sandwich" screamed at my vegan sensibilities "Beware! Animals suffered and died to create these products". The individual trays of salads (mostly iceberg lettuce with boiled eggs or strips of chicken) did not look any more appetizing with labels that said "Chicken" or whatever. Yeah, I admit, I'm not a salad person, so even if it said "Vegan Salad with Vegan Dressing", I still would not have thought it an adequate lunch. (When I make a salad, it's green and red lettuce, some baby spinach, a few slices of avocado, handful of walnuts, a few slices of mandarin orange, some green onions, handful of chickpeas, and if I have it, some fresh tomato. Anyways, I digress..)

So, very close by was the Crocker Galleria. And I knew Medicine had re-opened. And I've also heard Kearny Street Pies has vegan choices. But I only had 30 minutes, I knew where Medicine was, and I'll confess to being curious.

Well, let's just say, I satisfied my curiosity and I will not make a special trip to return again. And, if I were stuck in a similar situation, I might even opt for the vegan split pea soup at the SF Soup Company instead. Was it that bad? Well, it wasn't that great, and it was expensive for a lunch - $9 for a small bowl of lukewarm rice with bite-sized pieces of cauliflower, sliced carrots, limp snow peas and a few pieces of tofu with some unappealing curry-colored sauce.

I know that every restaurant has dishes that are better than others, and maybe I just picked the wrong dish. But I'll be honest and say that I'm not in any hurry to spend any of my hard-earned money exploring the menu and avoiding the sea animals.

As I look back on 2006, it was a great year -- I had an opportunity to work with some amazing people to promote veg*nism and raise awareness of the horrors of industrialized animal agriculture. I found some yummy new vegan recipes. I read & discussed some good books about veg*nism/AR at the book club. And it was a good year for Bay Area Vegetarians (our local group, too!)

As I think about 2007, I know I definitely have some New Year's resolutions. Has anyone else been thinking of this? Do you have any resolutions regarding veg*nism or advocacy? If so, maybe we can support each other in our goals for 2007.

Here's what I think my goals are for 2007:

1) I want to do more cooking (so I am excited to see that already we have 2 Vegan Food Parties in January, and another 2 being planned for February) and try more new recipes. Being more confident and skilled in vegan cooking makes it easier for me to talk to others about how easy (and cheap) it is to eat vegan. Plus, in all honesty, I also enjoy eating :-)

2) I want to do more outreach, including getting back to college leafleting every month. I'm the first one to admit that leafleting isn't my favorite activity, but the reasons to leaflet at a college are so compelling, that I overcame my reluctance and pledged (to myself and to the animals) to leaflet once a month on my lunch hour. With 30 minutes, I distributed over 400 leaflets in Spring 2006. Fall 2006 was an overwhelming time at work for me, and I ate lunch at my desk every day, so I only went out once (100 leaflets). But, starting in January, I'm going to go back to leafleting at the college every month and try to do at least one other leafleting or advocacy activity on the weekend. Recent leafleting for Thanksgiving and today on New Year's Eve was excellent!

Outreach is important to me because when I reflect on why I wasn't a vegan earlier, it's simply because I didn't know. So now I want to share what I learned with others.

3) I want to meet and work with others who share my commitment to be an activist for the animals. When I make my annual sojourn to Animal Place, I want to know that I've helped in some small way to create a more compassionate and peaceful world for the animals.

This is the summary of events for 2006 for Bay Area Vegetarians.

- 85 Social Events (Restaurant Dinner, Vegan Food Party, etc.)
- 66 Advocacy Events (Letter Writing, Animal Cruelty protest)
- 32 Outreach Events (Tabling, Leafleting)
- 19 Education Events (Presentation, Class)

I continue to be inspired by the animals to promote veg*nism.
These photographs are critters that live happily at Animal Place, a sanctuary in Vacaville.

The animals shown here live at Animal Place, a sanctuary for rescued and abused animals in Vacaville, within an easy drive of the Bay Area. The critters who live at Animal Place are ambassadors of their species who have not been so fortunate, but they grace us with their presence as we strive to make the world a more compassionate place for all beings.

After listening to lauren Ornelas talk about her undercover investigation and seeing the video When Pigs Cry, reading The Pig Who Sang to the Moon, and being able to meet a pig in person: how can I not spend a few hours of my life every month working on their behalf. As my favorite PETA sticker says, Pigs are Friends, not Food!

I am grateful for the opportunity to work with so many other wonderful volunteers to help make the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond a more peaceful and compassionate world.

I wish you all a veggie happy new year!

And remember, Perform a Death-Defying Act: Go Vegan!

In many cities across the country, there are no vegetarian restaurants, or maybe just one. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have so many vegan and vegetarian restaurants that there's an annual survey to give bragging rights of who's the best.

We are pleased and excited to announce the results of the 2006 BEST OF VEG sponsored by Bay Area Vegetarians. So next time you're in the San Francisco or surrounding Bay Area and want to try the best in vegan and vegetarian dining, check out

http://bayareaveg.org/best06

I discovered a new vegan food that I really like.

Pecan pie.

Amazingly, I didn't even know this existed as recently as Saturday, or that some consider it a Thanksgiving dessert.

My gosh, what an uninformed childhood I had - I ate animals, never had pecan pie (or pecans, for that matter)....

This pecan pie stuff is amazing.

The first one I had was at Christine's Vegan Baking Class in SF on Saturday. I was hooked! Then Oli made a chocolate pecan pie. Just as I was raving how good it was, and he was kindly offering me the recipe, Alex laughed (at both of us) and said it was already on our website. So, really, I could have been having pecan pie since Febuary. Well, now I have 2 yummy pecan pie recipes and I just need some pecans.....

That's the beauty of getting together with new and old friends and everyone brings a vegan dish to share - the opportunity to try a lot of fantastic new dishes. Nearly two decades of vegan living and I'm still discovering new foods -- makes me laugh at the thought of someone asking me "What do vegans eat?"