By Lisa Rimmert, Director of Development

Terry Hagio is one of the activists making Team Vegan a success this year. Through her Team Vegan page, Terry was raising funds for outreach on Day One!  She’s raised over $100 so far, and she hopes to bring in $1,000 by June 30—to be matched dollar-for-dollar to make a huge impact on what work Vegan Outreach can do this fall. I asked Terry if I could highlight her campaign—and her work for animals—and she graciously agreed. Thank you, Terry!

How and why did you become involved in animal issues?

I went vegetarian in 1996 when I realized the food on my plate used to be alive. I went vegan in 2011 after learning about the horrors of the egg and dairy industries from my sister. Once I went vegan, I knew I had to do more and use my voice to help the voiceless by volunteering with organizations like Vegan Outreach, Mercy for Animals, and The Humane League.

What drew you to participate in Team Vegan?

I did my first race in 2011 and that was my first experience with running and fundraising. I have done some sort of “fundracing” every year since and love supporting amazing organizations that align with my beliefs, like Vegan Outreach.

Many Team Vegan members choose to complete a physical or other challenge to accompany their fundraising goal. What is your Team Vegan activity and how did you decide on it?

I have a new goal of running a half marathon in every state, so I picked the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in San Diego. I also have a bucket list item of completing a triathlon, so I signed up for the Chicago Triathlon with some friends in Chicago! I love finding new races in new places with friends! My last race of the year will be the running leg of a half Ironman relay in Austin!

Thank you, Terry, and best of luck on your half marathon and other runs!

If you’d like to show support for Terry and Vegan Outreach, donate to her Team Vegan page today! Every donation is doubled! Thank you!

By Josie Moody, Office Manager

Whether you are trying to satiate your own wanderlust or looking for a great gift for that vegan in your life, we’ve got the perfect suggestion for you: The Essential Vegan Travel Guide by Caitlin Galer-Unti.

If you’re vegan and you’re like me, you’ve probably read a lot of guides (including Vegan Outreach’s Guide to Cruelty Free Eating!) and thankful for every last one of them. The Essential Vegan Travel Guide is a wonderful addition to that collection, as it is a must-have for anyone traveling, whether nationally or abroad.

It’s no exaggeration that the word “essential” is in the title. Divided between both practical and fun sections, like How the Hell Do I Find Somewhere to Eat?, Preparing for Your Trip, and Emergency Recipes for the Road (like Couscous in a Coffeemaker!), Galer-Unti seems to have all bases covered.

I think what I like most about this book is the mix of technology and “old school” solutions and suggestions. The section Making Connections and Meeting New Friends is a great reminder of how you can use online resources to help you on your way, but what it really comes down to is getting out of your comfort zone and putting yourself in new situations to meet people.

This passage sums up the vegan travel experience nicely:

“…I’m going to put this out there: I enjoy travel even more as a vegan. Sure, maybe my restaurant choices are more limited, but that means I have to be choosier with where I eat. It means I can’t just settle down at the first (likely overpriced, tourist-trap) restaurant I find. And I eat so much better for it.”

In addition to authoring this great book, Caitlin Galer-Unti has a beautiful website that definitely deserves a look. The Vegan Word contains a wealth of additional travel tips and destination-specific information (as soon as I’m done writing this post, I plan on reading her post entitled Vegan Guide to Transylvania!)

The travel guide is available on Amazon via Kindle or Kindle e-book if you’d like to save it to your device and toss in your suitcase. Prefer the tactile version of books? It’s also available in paperback here.

 

You know times are changing when Texas opens its first all-vegan grocery store!

Excerpts from Austin.Culturemap.com, February 16, 2015, Austin’s first all-vegan grocery store opens on South First Street:

“Texas’ only all-vegan brick-and-mortar grocery store has arrived in Austin. Rabbit Food Grocery opened the doors of its new storefront on South First Street in early February after three successful years of online orders and pop-up shops.

“This process has been three years in the making — doing pop up shops around town —and it’s really exciting to have a storefront to walk in to,” says co-owner Jessica Morris who, along with Gabriel Figueroa, realized the dream of a fully operational grocery store catering to vegan needs with the help of a Kickstarter campaign. “

 

By Lisa Rimmert, Director of Development

I’m so excited to share with you all that my city of residence–Denver–is making progress by adding a type of vegan food that’s been missing in our community, and a type of vegan business that’s lacking in our movement: a soul food cafe that is owned and operated by two African American women, Chef Lonni Byrd and Juice-Master Caronne Porter! Love, Peace & Sol Cafe opens today, February 5th, and will be open every Tuesday through Friday from 8 am to 2 pm for breakfast and lunch.

Love, Peace & Sol Cafe hosted a preview day on January 19th, and of course I was there! The food was so impressive–it was high quality, very reasonably priced, creative, filling, and delicious. I was too busy eating to get an accurate count of attendees, but it was certainly over 20–and most of them were folks I didn’t recognize! I’m so glad this new cafe is introducing delicious vegan food to more people!

I interviewed co-owner, Lonni Byrd, and here’s what she had to say about the new venture:

How did you and Caronne meet, and how did you come up with the concept of Love, Peace & Sol Cafe?

Caronne and I met first through Facebook because of our mutual interests and friends. Caronne was living here in Denver, and I was living in Atlanta, GA at the time. We had the pleasure of meeting face to face when I came here for a visit in 2013 (we are both Colorado natives), and we became fast friends–more like sister-friends. We kept our Facebook connection, and when I moved back here in 2014, we naturally clung to each other, became very close, and supported each other through probably the toughest times in both of our lives. We have found a true sense of community in each other.

What did you do before starting Love, Peace & Sol Cafe?

What was your inspiration for starting Love, Peace & Sol Cafe, and what are your goals for the business?

Caronne and I both are plant based eaters, and we were growing increasingly tired of the lack of representation of foods of the African Diaspora in the vegan/veg restaurant community in Denver. Also, many times the excuse that people who don’t eat plant based diets give about not wanting to go veg/vegan is because the food is so bland, and they believe that vegan means quick steamed unseasoned broccoli. So we decided to fill the void to add some variety to the vegan/veg restaurant community, and prove to people that vegan food can be delicious. Our goal is to simply bring community together through food.

Why is your food vegan?

My food is vegan because I am, and my son is, and I hope one day that we all will be.

Is there anything else you want people to know about Love, Peace & Sol Cafe?

Yes! We are 100% non-GMO and use organic and locally sourced ingredients when available. We are not a gluten-free or soy-free establishment, however most menu options don’t include gluten or soy. The menu is revolving, so folks should call ahead or check our Facebook page to see the daily menu. We are a cash-only business. We will make a predesignated amount of food daily, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. We will offer Sunday Brunch service on the first Sunday of every month beginning in March.

Thank you, Lonni and Caronne, for filling Denver hearts and bellies!

In our latest video, we take you inside the ALL-VEGAN restaurant in Sacramento called Garden To Grill! Click the image to play the video, and let us know your favorite all-vegan restaurant in the comments below!

(click image to play video)

By Toni Okamoto

Join Michelle Cehn and I as we give you a peek inside one of the tastiest all-vegan restaurants in the Bay Area: Flacos Authentic Vegetarian Comida Mexicana!

By Toni Okamoto

It’s currently 43 degrees in Sacramento, CA and I’m wrapped in a blanket with the heater on full blast. Usually I wouldn’t be thinking about ice cream in this chilly weather, but New York City’s newest vegan ice cream shop has my belly grumblin’ for some creamy treats!

Read more about DF Mavens below:

Excerpt from Well+Good, January 12, 2015, Introducing New York City’s Biggest Vegan Ice Cream Shop:

DF Mavens just opened in the East Village, and it’s New York City’s biggest vegan ice cream shop yet, with all kinds of creative flavors, a juice bar, and other treats for the meat- and dairy-averse.

Situated on the corner of St. Mark’s and Second Avenue, the shop is owned by Malcolm Stogo, an ice cream business veteran who has a long list of frozen treat accomplishments. (He’s credited with inventing the Cookies ‘N Cream flavor, for example, in 1977.)

His first dairy-free outfit operates out of a small factory in Astoria and sells its 37 pints at natural food shops (and select Whole Foods) all over New York City. “The demand was there, so they decided they wanted to open a shop,” says the store’s general manager (and eight-year-vegan) Pamela Amatucci. “The idea is to eventually have a chain of them.”

Ice creams at the shop are made with a variety of “milk” bases—soy, coconut, and almond—which makes the flavors range in texture. Coconut milk-based options are creamier, for example, than almond milk-based ones, which are harder. There are also sugar-free options made with stevia, and all are gluten-free except for the Almond Cookie Monster. Prices start at $4.50, for one large scoop.

By Lori Stultz, Outreach Coordinator

Happy February, everybody! Is anybody else in complete disbelief that we are already through January? I hope everyone had a great first month of 2016. I know Vegan Outreach is off to a great start! We’ve got Vegan Outreach’s Director of Outreach, Victor Sjodin, doing some great work in India, and the rest of the U.S. Outreach Coordinators are back pounding the pavement since the Spring semester is now in full swing. I have no doubt that we are going to have yet another successful semester, changing a lot of hearts and minds.

Personally, my semester could not have gotten off to a better start. I first leafleted in Arizona at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, and I moved right into an eight-day leafleting marathon in Phoenix. My experience in both places was incredible! The students at each school I visited were extremely receptive; I had countless conversations with young adults who were interested in reducing and/or eliminating animal products from their diets. The most memorable interaction I had, though, was with Alissa and Carlton. Alissa and Carlton are both students at Glendale Community College in Phoenix. When I passed a leaflet to them, they immediately turned around to tell me that they were vegan. They enthusiastically explained that their lifestyle change was the direct result of receiving our leaflet last year!

I love running into people like Alissa and Carlton! It really speaks to the effectiveness of our outreach efforts on college campuses.

I have also really enjoyed being in Arizona because of the magnificent weather (it’s been in the 70s the entire time I’ve been here!) and because I have family and friends who live in the area. My aunt (who is also vegan) and I were able to spend some time together, and as always, we had a really nice time. She co-facilitated a partner yoga workshop, and I was honored to not only be a participant but also a demonstrator.

The following day, we went for a beautiful, 7 mile hike at Usery Mountain Regional Park in Phoenix. The warm, desert terrain was stunning! It was very different than the landscape I am used to seeing when I hike in Colorado and Wyoming. I wish I could have done some more hiking here, actually. I am looking forward to coming back and doing some more outdoor desert activities!

The same day we went to Usery Park, we also visited a really interesting and unique museum in Scottsdale called the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). MIM has thousands of instruments from all over the world; my aunt, uncle and I spent upward of two hours walking around and listening to really neat musical instruments from various countries. The museum is so big, though, that we didn’t make it all the way through before it closed! Nonetheless, I learned a lot and had a great time listening to types of music I had never heard before. Later in the week I had the opportunity to listen to my uncle, Maury, play blues music at a local restaurant during one of his weekly jam sessions. He is a very talented musician, and this was my first time getting to see him play live.

Another fun activity I got to do while I was in the area was a tour of the Desert Botanical Gardens. There is a magnificent exhibition at the gardens called Bruce Munro: Sonoran Light at Desert Botanical Garden. The exhibit showcased “eight large-scale, light-based installations using an inventive array of materials and hundreds of miles of glowing fiber optics.” Each installation was unique and beautiful in its own way and was placed among the various types of cacti and desert plants–it was absolutely breathtaking. Here are a few examples:

An igloo-like installment that was made out of plastic bottles

A large hanging piece that looked a lot like a DNA helix

Pretty cool, right?

And, of course, my time in Phoenix wouldn’t have been complete without checking out a few of the vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants around town. Dig into this…

Black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, ordered at The Cutting Board.

Roasted Vegetable Board and Tofu Lettuce Cups, devoured at True Foods Kitchen.

And Vegan Pho, enjoyed at Pho Cao (the restaurant where I enjoyed listening to my uncle play music).

I am already a bit nostalgic as I reflect on my time here in Phoenix, but I know more exciting adventures await. Until then…

By Lori Stultz, Outreach Coordinator

Spring has arrived! And as happy as I am to welcome the new season, I also wonder if anybody else has taken notice of the date and, like me, asked yourself where the past few months have gone. Can it really be April already?

They say time flies when you’re having fun, right? I also think time flies when you’re crazy busy. Hopefully it is a balance of both for everyone who is reading this. I’d definitely say that is the balance I’ve been doing my best to maintain since the last blog I posted about my tour.

Last time I wrote, I was wrapping up the month I spent leafleting in Texas. Since then, I’ve been to Colorado (for a week-long break at home), Tennessee, and Kentucky, and now I’m in Oklahoma! Well, I really should say we are in Oklahoma. A few weeks ago, I picked up my intern, Holly Brown, and she has been accompanying me on the road. Another correction: she has not only been accompanying me, she has been helping me tremendously and providing a huge source of positive and fun energy.

I have to confess that I was a bit wary about having an intern with me for five weeks and essentially being with someone else 24/7. As an introvert and a bit of a control freak, I was worried about the lack of privacy and the degree of compromise it requires to live on the road with another person. Holly’s presence, however, has been anything but difficult. It has been so wonderful to have her along for the ride! She is a bundle of giggles and is a natural leafleter! The first school we leafleted together, Vanderbilt University (in Nashville, TN), she jumped right in, and together we distributed 1,017 leaflets. It has taken hardly any time for us to adjust to living and working together, and truly, I haven’t just acquired an intern—I’ve gained an invaluable friendship.

So, without further ado, let’s meet Holly!

How old are you, and where are you from?
21 and Damascus, Maryland.

What school are you attending, and what’s your academic year?
Georgia Southern University, senior, graduating Spring 2016.

Tell us a little about your personal story-what was your “call” to veganism?
Luckily, my sister was already vegan and my mom and dad were also wanting to change the way they ate. We began by watching a lot of documentaries such as Forks Over Knives, Cowspiracy, and Vegucated and reading books including Main Street Vegan and The China Study. After learning all the horrors of factory farming, I went vegetarian and then vegan a few months later. Having the support from my family and working together was extremely helpful and made it a lot more fun.

How did you hear about Vegan Outreach?
I first heard about Vegan Outreach just from looking at online vegan websites, blogs, and recipes. I came across their website and then had the chance to talk to some Vegan Outreach volunteers at the Atlanta VegFest. I learned a little more about the work they do and their intern program and decided to apply!

What has been your favorite part about living on the road thus far?
So far, I think that my favorite part has been during leafleting when students stop to talk because they want to learn more and express their interest in helping animals. I have also really enjoyed meeting volunteers and spending time with our hosts.

What are your plans for the future?
In the future I plan to earn my masters in occupational therapy and continue volunteering in the animal rights field.

See? Who wouldn’t love Holly? Okay, okay. I know a short questionnaire is a bit different than living and working with her, but still-take my word for it. You would love her just as much as I do!

We are going to wrap things up by showing off some of the delicious meals we’ve had together since being on the road. These pictures are a mix between meals we’ve had at vegan restaurants, meals Holly and I have made for our hosts, and meals that hosts have made for me and Holly. Get ready to feel hungry! By the time you’re done looking at these pictures, I guarantee you’ll be wanting something to eat.

The first six pictures were taken when we ate at Avo, a 100% vegan restaurant in Nashville. (Note that Holly and I did not consume all of these plates by ourselves! There was a total of five of us trying out the restaurant.)

We started out with their Kimchi Spring Rolls.

Next, we tried their Tree Nut Cheese Plate.

For the main course, the five of us shared lasagna with a Caesar salad on the side,

Falafel with Hummus and Cauliflower Rice,

Veggie Spiraled Pad Thai,

and finished the meal with Lime-Flavored Cheesecake.

To express our thanks to one Tennessee host for letting us occupy his guest room and couch, Holly and I made this scrumptious mango curry stir-fry with tofu served over white rice!

Lastly, here are a few of the meals our hosts in Frankfort, KY, served us. They are artists by day but professional-level cooks by night:

Thai Curry served over rice noodles, potatoes (sweet and white), tofu, and green peas,

Vegan Dumplings and Sweet Sauce served with Pineapple Fried Rice,

Macaroni and Cheese with peas (the best combo ever), served alongside Barbecue Tofu and steamed kale.

And this was a lunch our lovely hosts packed us for a post-leafleting meal: white rice and flavored black beans served with faux chicken, Tofutti cream cheese, and homemade pico de gallo.

Holly and I have four leafleting-packed weeks ahead of us! We look forward to sharing more about our travels in Oklahoma, Texas (again), New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming!