By Toni Okamoto
Michelle and I snagged my family’s Costco card so we could show you all the vegan options they offer! As you can see in the video below, they have TONS of stuff! Everything from a wide selection of non-dairy milks, to animal crackers, Hodo Soy products, frozen foods, and much more.
Different Costco locations carry different products, but the Sacramento one was fantastic! Let us know in the comments below the best scores you’ve found!
(click image to play video)
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 Lisa Rimmert, VO Director of Development
Monthly donor Steven Rouk volunteers his time for various projects to help people go and stay vegan. I hope I don’t sound too mushy, but he really is one of the most inspiring people I know. At 25 years of age, he has already done so much that’s worthwhile and world-changing–including supporting the work of Vegan Outreach! I’m thrilled to introduce Steven Rouk!
Tell us about yourself, Steven.
I try to do all of the things, which inevitably leads to disaster, and sometimes greatness. My life has always been a tug-of-war between the math / data / analytical side of me and the music / writing / emotive side of me. So some months, I’ll be spending 16 hours a day at my computer learning web development and analyzing data (recently, I’ve been working on creating an interactive map of factory farms in Colorado, as well as having recently founded the Boulder Data Science Meetup group). Other months I’m writing new songs on my guitar every night or trying to finish another novel (I’m currently publishing a novel to Instagram, one page per day, and also about to release a new song and music video). “Balance” probably isn’t the right word for my life, but if balance were to drink as much coffee as I do then it’d probably be somewhere close to me–caffeinated and over-ambitious.
I’m also really, really interested in the beautiful and vague notion of “impact”, especially related to animal rights and bettering our human societies in the most important ways. Reducing suffering and promoting well-being is what it all comes down to, really. At some point I’d like to start a company (or five) around these concepts. It’s on my bucket list – as soon as I finish recording my next album and get back from tour. (Joking! Sort of.)
How did you get involved in the world of animal protection? How about with Vegan Outreach?
It was a long, slow journey to veganism for me, with each step along the way prompted by a video or documentary. In the beginning, it was all PETA videos of factory farming. I’ve always treated food as a tasty thing to keep me fueled for the next adventure, so it took a while to fully break me of my deeply ingrained habits and completely live according to these new values I was forming. (I grew up in the South, so going vegan was essentially shunning half of the food groups I had known.) But, the magnitude of the issue implanted itself very firmly inside of me because of the sheer amount of suffering involved.
I eventually learned more about the environmental, health, and human rights aspects as well. The beautiful thing about the truth is that it’s a stubborn thing, fighting through any barriers if given enough time.
What drew you to Vegan Outreach’s approach, and what inspired you to support it financially?
I think leafleting is awesome and wonderfully effective. Imagine if every college student on every campus in the United States (nay! the whole world!) knew about the immense and completely unjust suffering of animals, and they all knew about the terrible thing that factory farming is. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Wouldn’t that create a massive influence strong enough to shift the current paradigm, with a whole generation empowered by the truth? Absolutely, and that’s exactly the vision VO is working towards.
We’re going to reach that day, and we’re going to reach it sooner than we all think. The question is, how will we have helped it get there? There are many ways that I’m trying to help advance the cause, but a no-brainer way is to throw some money to VO and other organizations that have such a huge impact. We all have individual battles to fight when it comes to this, but we absolutely must also support those who are helping pave the way in larger ways than we can do as individuals.
What barriers do you see that may keep young people from donating to support their favorite non-profits? What would you say to young people to encourage them to donate?
“Donation” is a dirty word to a lot of people, and truthfully I probably have a negative connotation with fundraising and donations as well. I hate asking people for money, and I don’t particularly like being asked either. So there’s a paradox, exemplified by this fictitious conversation – “That’s so awesome what you’re doing! Oh, you need money to continue…? Like… my money? Can’t you sell t-shirts on Amazon or something?”
We live in such a capitalist, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps society that we think you have to sell something to be worth something. The thing is… you don’t. We give stupid amounts of money to profit-hungry companies all the time, buying random crap that we don’t need and probably don’t even want. Why? Because that’s how our economy is structured, and marketers have gotten really good at selling us pants and gadgets and thingamabobs, regardless of whether we need them or not. It’s a vicious self-reinforcing cycle.
We all need to challenge ourselves to see through that, to see through the impulse to buy random stuff we don’t need, and to instead support people who are actually doing important work but who aren’t supported financially by our current system. Or you can buy random crap and donate to important causes, that’s totally fine too.
I don’t make a ton of money, but I’ve never regretted or missed a donation. Never. I’ve been mad at myself for spending too much on beer out at bars, or spending too much at restaurants, or whatever, but I’ve never regretted donating to organizations I care about.
I’m a fickle human with a very limited attention span and memory, so I make it easy on myself – all my donations are set up on a recurring monthly basis, so I never even have to think about it. It’s easier than buying my daily coffee, and way more rewarding. (Though, coffee is pretty great.) Every time I see that donation go out, I know I’m helping people do some of the most important work in the world. I’m helping to bring on the revolution, the next iteration of humanity, one totally unmissed donation at a time. And that’s so awesome. (VO didn’t pay me to write this, I promise – it’s really just that important and amazing to support the things you care about.)
What is your favorite vegan meal?
Honestly, I’m a bit of a utilitarian when it comes to food. Left to my own devices, I will eat pretty much the same thing for every meal: a baked potato (with a little bit of olive oil and herbs), slathered in beans, and covered in salsa. Or I guess I also make this thing I affectionately call an “Epic Salad” (trademark – just kidding), which is a huge pile of spinach, covered in the largest variety of fresh produce I can muster up – tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, carrots, obscene amounts of avocado, onion, etc. – and then drenched in a homemade olive oil vinaigrette with all kinds of herbs. I’m all about an easy, consistent routine so I can focus on my projects. If it weren’t for my girlfriend, I’d probably be downing Soylent three times a day by now.
Thank you, Steven!
And since he mentioned it, here’s where you can donate monthly to Vegan Outreach.
VO’s Director of Outreach, Victor Sjodin, is on week four of a ten-week leafleting tour in India. He’s been checking in with us to share stories of his experiences. This week, Vic gives us a glimpse into leafleting in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Greetings from India! We had a slow but pleasant day this past Sunday in the city of Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan. I was lucky to be joined by the crew of Angel Eyes Animal Welfare Foundation, a group affiliated with the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO). It was great to be helped by these selfless activists in their spare time. I found it very inspiring.
Angela is only in the tenth “standard” (grade) and already runs her own group at school and volunteers a lot. Divakar has his master’s degree, manages his mother’s clothing store, and has been volunteering for a year. Amit is a travel agent and is new to the group, and Abhishek is the glue that holds it together–a warm and energetic longtime activist who, even with a business, wife and young child, finds lots of time for activism.
Today was a bit slow at times, but the best part was that we reached mostly youth and we saw so many people reading the entire booklets–far more than usual. Perhaps only Mexico rivals India for the high percentage of cover-to-cover readers. It is so great to see! Interestingly, some people hesitate to take booklets because they assume they are for sale, but when they learn they’re free, they gladly accept them. We are also a curiosity and many come up to us for a booklet, which is very convenient.
As a Westerner, the strangest part of the day happened while I was waiting for the others outside of Albert Hall Museum, outside the zoo. All these grown men and then others wanted a “selfie” with me. They would say, “Excuse me sir, one picture please,” and I felt like a tourist attraction! I took pictures with 15 individuals in quick succession, which made me feel weird. Every day we take lots of selfies with people for no apparent reason other than that we are light pigmented. This happened at the zoo entrance too, and one selfie invariably leads to many. Jaipur is a big tourist city, and there are white people around, so I don’t completely understand it.
Globalization has definitely pervaded. There are American fast food chains everywhere. Kids here discuss the new season of Orange is the New Black with us, listen to the same pop music as we do in the U.S., and love Johnny Depp. They also associate eating meat at times with being modern and Western. We’re doing good here, and we see many people reading our booklets.
We handed out 1,500 booklets this day (February 7th) at Jaipur Zoo, Gaurav Towers Mall, and nearby areas in Jaipur. Thank you to activists Abhishek Singh, Angela Williams, Divakar Mehta, and Amit Sharma.
Namaste.
You can view photos from Vic’s tour on Facebook here. And be sure to subscribe to the blog for more updates!
By Toni Okamoto
Nothing says comfort like a big bowl of soup, and this particular bowl took me right back to my childhood home! It has the familiar taste and texture of chicken noodle soup, but without all the cruelty.
I originally saw this recipe posted by Justin Lewis, one of the contributors on my blog Plant Based on a Budget. I had been meaning to add more jackfruit recipes to the Vegan Outreach blog, and with his permission I was able to test it out for all of you!
If you haven’t cooked with jackfruit before, it can be a little strange. This recipe calls for you to let the fruit sit in broth for an hour. I made the mistake of not doing that, and began cooking on an empty stomach. Make sure you give yourself sufficient prep time to avoid hangry-ness*. After you let the fruit soak, the rest goes by quickly and easily.
I really enjoyed the recipe. It was perfect for this cold and rainy day!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Once it is all shredded, add one cup of broth to the skillet and simmer until most of the liquid is cooked off. At this point your “chicken” is ready for the soup. You can roast it in your oven to toughen up the texture a bit more if desired.
For the rest of the soup you only need to make some mirepoix, add the “chicken” and more broth, and whatever noodles you prefer.
If you give it a try, please let us know how you liked it!
*Hangry: When you get so hungry that you become angry.
By Toni Okamoto
I can definitely see Robin Robertson’s Cook the Pantry being one of my favorite cookbooks this year! She focuses on using staple ingredients paired with vegetables, and makes her recipes flexible for the reader to use what they have on-hand.
Since my favorite food is any kind of soup, I decided to try Robin’s Minestrone. In my version I added carrots, zucchini, and kale, along with quinoa and pasta stars. You can buy the bags of pasta stars in most grocery stores in the hispanic foods section — they are crazy cheap! I think I bought my bag for .32 cents!
This is another great recipe to rid your refrigerator of almost expired produce! It’s really flavorful, filling, and healthy!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes to soften. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in the vegetables, tomatoes, chickpeas, and broth. Season with basil, oregano, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the pasta or grain, if using. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed.
This recipe was appealing to me because I had never cooked with jackfruit. I see it trending online so I thought it’d be easy to find, but it was surprisingly difficult. I went to Sprouts, Raleys, Oto’s Japanese Market, and finally found it in the “Little Saigon” area of Sacramento at a market called SF Market. When I did find it, I was happy to see that it was only $1.39 per can. That’s a really great price for the meat in a sandwich.
It was easy to make and only took me 20 minutes to do all the cooking! The filling was delicious, the flavor was rich, and the leftovers kept well for a weekend lunch.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the jackfruit and chiles and cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Stir in the BBQ sauce, tamari, mustard, paprika, liquid smoke, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, to heat through and blend the flavors, about 8 minutes. Mix well, adding a little water in the mixture if it is too dry. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. When ready to serve, spoon the mixture onto the rolls and serve hot.
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?
Caronne has a business called G.H.E.T.T.O. Fresh (Gaining Healing Education Thriving To be Organic), through which she is a health/wellness, and self-care adviser. She educates people on the importance of plant-based eating and how it affects every aspect of our being (mind, body, spirit). She also makes and sells fresh pressed organic juices.
I have a business call ByrdFood Vegan Eats. ByrdFood started in Atlanta in 2011. I found myself heavily immersed in the Urban Agriculture community, and I was a new mom who needed to make some money but didn’t want to work outside the home. So, I did what I do best–cook! I started vending at local farmers markets using ingredients I had gotten from local farms. The business grew, and eventually my primary focus was on catering and personal chef work. I also ended up getting into food education, teaching classes on shopping healthy on a budget, and plant based cooking classes.
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!
By Toni Okamoto
I love soup season! You can pretty much throw whatever veggies you have into this soup and puree them. This recipe makes a HUGE batch, so if you don’t want a lot, feel free to cut it in half. I like to freeze the extra servings.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Put a large pot on medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the zucchini, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and leeks and stir.
When veggies are sautéed, add broth, potatoes, lemon juice, siracha and pepper. Turn heat to medium-low and let sit until veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.
To thicken the soup, use an immersion blender to puree — I recommend doing 2/3 of the pot. You can also use a regular blender if that’s what you have.
Serve hot and enjoy!
The Factory Farming Awareness Coalition (FFAC) has announced a new web page to empower advocates across the country to educate their communities about the animal welfare, social justice, and environmental impacts of factory farming.
Their page provides a one stop-shop for people who want to spread awareness, complete with public speaking tips, FAQ, and form letters for contacting local schools and community groups.
“After giving hundreds of presentations to thousands of people across the country, I have seen time and time again that given the right information, in the right context, people are grateful to learn the truth and are eager to make meaningful changes,” said Katie Cantrell, Executive Director and founder of FFAC.
People who are interested in educating their communities can visit www.ffacoalition.org/
(click image to play video)
By Toni Okamoto
This is hands down my favorite recipe EVER!
Ever, ever! It’s practically free to make, it’s really low-effort, and you can spice it up with either corn/ peas/ minced potatoes/ chopped cilantro/ diced tomatoes/ etc., or you can eat it plain like I do in the video.
The recipe was inspired by my mom, who likely learned it from my grandma. Both women are very deeply rooted in their Mexican cultural foods, so I was a little hesitant to share with her my veganized version. To my surprise, she loved it — and so did the rest of my family!
Mexican Rice was the first recipe on my blog Plant Based on a Budget, and you may also recognize it from our Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating. It’s been very well-received, and I hope you decide to give it a try. If you do, let us know what you think in the comments below!