How I Stay Vegan #3: Dealing With Bullies

Any vegan can tell you a story about a time when an omni gave them a hard time for being vegan.  It happens for lots of reasons.  Some people just don't understand what we do and why we do it, it's a fact of vegan life.  There are entire websites dedicated to it, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and endless jokes.  So what are we to do?  Well, here's my plan.

Arm yourself with the facts.  You've seen this idea come up many times over the blog posts here, and I believe it to hold true for dealing with anyone who is being a pain in the ass.  You are going to get some wild questions thrown at you by people who don't understand (i.e. "don't plants have feelings?" or "you still eat fish, right?"), and knowing what you're talking about will usually pee on their parade pretty quickly.

Ignore them.  This is a step that usually comes instinctually when someone is being a complete jerk and is harassing you just to piss you off.  Just walk away, or close your IM window, do what it takes to remove yourself from the situation.  If you can't leave, tell them (nicely) to stop.  If you play their game, you'll only fuel their fire.  Here's some good reading on dealing with bullies that is geared toward school kids, but applies well here because most antagonists are at the same level of maturity.

Lead by example.  You'll probably have people who are close to you that will give you a hard time for your vegan diet.  You can't ignore these people or educate them with facts because they just won't listen.  What to do?  Show them how awesome you are!  When they start seeing how good you look and feel, hopefully it'll quiet them down and maybe help understand why you do what you do.

Jerks are everywhere, so we have to learn to deal with them.  How have you dealt with ruffians in the past?

Stay Vegan!

Photo credit dennisandluba on Flickr.

How I Stay Vegan #3: Dealing With Bullies

View blog reactions

WANTED

VEGANS!

Someone has a link on their Facebook profile for this blog that's drawing a ton of people here.  I need to know who it is so I can go thank them (or pay them off!!).  If it's you, my secret blog admirer, please let me know.  

Or, if you know who it is, tell me. I'll reward you with a blog about how awesome you are. 

Thank you very mucho for everyones support!!

WANTED

View blog reactions

Fertile Eggs

Wifey here...

Vegan  dilemma  of  the  day,  fertile  eggs.

At  the  grocery  store  again,  recurring  nightmares  of  hideous  things.  Day  by  day  learning  to take  these  things  in  stride,  I  swear.  

So  this  couple  comes  through  my  line,  the  woman  starts  out  like  she  has  an  issue  with  something  that  they  previously  purchased  at  our  store.  She  started  talking  about  these  fertile  eggs  that  they  had  bought  a  few  weeks  prior.  She  was  still  speaking  in  a  tone  that  mocked  a  slight  upset  with  the  eggs.  Until  she  pulled  out  her  camera.  This  is  when  I  just  stood  still  for  a  moment.  Slight  dramatic  pause,  like  she  had  planned  this  all  out  in  her  head,  prior  to  coming  back  into  the  store.  She  must  have,  I  swear,  it  was  rehearsed.  She  gets  to  the  pictures  on  her  camera.  I  kept  thinking  the  whole  time,  "this  must  have  been  something  really  nasty,  really  really  nasty."  And  then  the  camera  screen  is  shown  to  me.  A  white  little  back  drop  with  sweet  adorable  baby  chicks  standing  by  each  other.  To  the  point  that  this  was  all  too  planned  out  and  well  executed.  I  just  stood  there  with  my  big  vegan  heart  sitting  on  the  counter.  They  incubated  the  fertile  eggs  to  hatch  baby  chicks.  For  what,  may  I  ask  were  they  hatching  the  eggs  for?  Oh  Easter  is  coming  up.  I wanted  to  scream  at  the  top  of  my  lungs.  By  this  time  other  workers  and  my  manager  had  come  over  to  see  what  the  heck  was  going  on.  The  man  and  the  woman  were  so  proud  of  the  fact  that  they  senselessly  created  animal  life  for  nothing.  Not  to  be  sustainable  in  the  egg  world  of  non  vegans,  just  to  prove  that  they  could.  They  went  to  all  the  trouble  of  buying  an  incubator  just  to  do  this.

Chicken  =  cute  fluffy  baby  chicks

Beef  =  cows

Veal  =  baby  cows

Pork  =  pigs

Sea food  =  sea animals

Why  is  it  that  people  are  not  seeing  the  correlation  that  these  sugar  coated  names  are  actually  referring  to  living,  breathing  animals?  You  bought  eggs,  fertile  eggs,  just  to  make  another  animal  on  the  planet,  for  nothing  better  to  do  with  your  time?  To  prove  the  point  that  you  could?

The  saddest  part  of  the  whole  thing,  I'm  still  pulling  food  out  of  their  basket  to  ring  them  up,  and  I  come  across  6  dozen  infertile  eggs  in  the  cart.  I  said  to  the  man,  "wow  that's  a  lot  of  eggs.  What  do  you  guys  plan  to  do  with  those?"  He  tells  me,  "oh  those  are  just  to  eat."

/rant

Fertile Eggs

View blog reactions

Vegan Support

I know that it might seem really easy for me to sit here in Northern California and tell people that staying vegan is a breeze.  We have vegan restaurants everywhere, shopping, farmers markets, and whatever else we might need out here.  I'm just preaching from the ivory tower, right?

Not exactly.

There might be more options available here, but I still need help.  I still reach out for guidance and support along my journey.  The internet has opened many doors for us to gain support and knowledge.  There are tons of vegan websites and forums, some are good and others are great.  After lots of trail and error and spending time on these sites, I'll share with you where I lurk around the web.

Post Punk Kitchen Forums - The PPK is full of knowledge and off the wall humor.  It's strictly vegan and they squash spammers very quickly.  There are a ton of different forums all with a defined purpose.  The Foyer is for the random life stuff, most of it is vegan related and always good for a quick laugh, and Food Porn is a great place to show off all the good stuff that you cook.  There are also forums for companion animals, health, gardening, and a ton of other things.  I recommend hanging around and watching the forum for a few days before you make your first post to get a feel for the way things work.  You'll find me there as theempire.

Veggie Boards - Veggie Boards is a great place for the beginning vegan to get their legs.  The forums here are for vegetarians and vegans, so not everything may apply to you, but many of the veteran posters are vegan and very helpful.  There's a much more conservative feel on veggieboard, so use a bit of caution when posting.  If you can deal with the GIGANTIC ad banner across the top and clunky navigation of the site, there is a wealth of information and support here.  You'll find me here as stay vegan.

Twitter - Like this really needs any explanation...  If you're smart about the people you choose to follow, Twitter can be like going to vegan school every day you log in.  I follow vegan chefs, animal rights activists, vegan moms, and Shaq.  Feel free to follow me and follow the people that I do.

There certainly are a ton more forums and social media outlets out there, but these are the ones that I regularly visits, contribute to and learn from.  So stop by and say hi!

Stay Vegan

Vegan Support

View blog reactions

Shopping Vegan and Its Effects

When we all work together and are asking the same questions, great things can happen.  This story shows what can happen.  

I've been a regular at the Whole Foods by my house since I moved here seven months ago.  I put my meals together there, buy vegan food and snacks, get  sandwiches and burritos from the prepared food bar.  I ask questions about what's new and vegan, and what's coming soon.  It's also probably safe to assume that I'm not the only vegan in this area that does this.  The combined efforts and shopping habits of myself and the other vegans in this area created a growing niche inside this particular Whole Foods.  So where is all this leading to?  Two days ago I went for a sandwich and to my surprise there was an entire corner of the cold prepared section full of raw/vegan food!  There was raw lasagna, cream cheese, veggie patties, sandwiches, and bread.  It was amazing!  It goes to show that when we're all making the same buying decisions we can directly affect those who do the buying, this is a fundemental principal of economics and free markets.

We buy food more often than we buy cosmetics and cleaning supplies, but in due time (and with all of us working together), we can show manufacturers that we aren't cool with animal testing, animal byproducts, or whatever else WE decide shouldn't be in the products we buy.

This certainly isn't a new idea.  Things have come a long way in the past 20 years.  The fact that most of us have a Whole Foods near us, or a farmer's market, or soymilk at the grocery store speaks volumes of the people who worked so hard before us.  Our buying decisions make it easier for us to stay vegan and for others to become vegan.

Look at it like every dollar you spend is a vote for the stuff you want to see on the shelves.  So get out and vote!!

Stay Vegan!

Shopping Vegan and Its Effects

View blog reactions

Raw Foodists

So this is the wifey once more...

Raw food for thought. 

So I work for a grocery store.  One that we shall not name, but be known is always named one of the healthiest grocery stores to shop at.  I hear different requests all day long. Eaters of all types of food. Different ethnic foods, "American" foods, you name it, we sell it.  I hear crazy allergies and dislikes.  I try to arm myself with the knowledge to help these people in their shopping experience at my non vegan store. 

Keep in mind, we sell meat.  I don't claim to know a thing about it.  I can't even remember what eggs taste like, let alone a large slab of beef with all the marinade shrink wrapped around it.  I do know all the vegan mock meats, tofu, cheeses, butters and such that is available. 

I have a very strong respect for folks who eat raw.  If everyone loved their veggies and treated them with respect while cooking and preparing.... wouldn't that just be wonderful?! 

So this lady came through my line today as I'm checking.  She had a couple of books with her and I glanced to see what they were.  Raw food "cook" books.  I asked the general question, "how long have you gone raw for?"  Two months. Okay, not such a long stretch, but who am I to judge the seriousness that someone puts in their mouth?  As I'm checking her food out while pushing it along the doot doot dooter, I came across cheese.  Let me rephrase that.  Multiple cheeses.  Not only cheeses, but two packages of bacon.  Okay, there went all the respect for that "raw" foodist out the automated sliding glass doors.  If we do something, we do it right.  We aren't just sometimes vegans.  We don't have some fish fillets every once in a while and tell people that we are vegan.  We don't forget to say hold the cheese on that salad, and if it comes to the table with the cheese on it, just say forget the hassle and eat it.  If you choose to be raw, can we least forget that milk is pasteurized?  Where does it say that smoked bacon is raw?  If you don't know, all milk is heated to kill bacteria.  Even this crazy vegan lady knows that!  All cheese comes from milk, so therefore it is not raw.  Well beyond the 104 degrees that labels the food as raw.  I don't want to come off preachy, but for real folks.  How can we not inform ourselves before being so proud to tell your grocery clerk that you are raw and then go have cheese in your cart?  Bacon???  I just don't get it. 

Even if you are buying for your non vegan/raw partner at home, we have had the discussion that we need team effort to stay in the game and score.  My husband respects me and I respect him.  Even if he does like everything so spicy that it makes your butt hurt on the way out, I always give it a try.  Maybe her partner should be purchasing their bacon and cheese, as not to make her look like a hypocrite.  She said that she didn't have a partner.  Can't get yourself out of that one so quick.

Sometimes I have some really funny stories to tell my husband when I get home about all the dumb stuff I see, but the icing on the cake had way too much non vegan butter and slipped right off the sides.  Glad I could vent.  Please remember to do it right. 

Every time.

Stay Vegan! Yippee!

Raw Foodists

View blog reactions

The Object Of Education Isn't Knowledge; It's Action

A quote of a quote really got me thinking.  A blog post today on chrisbrogan.com said, 

I came across a great quote by Thomas Kempis: The object of education isn’t knowledge; it’s action. How powerful is that?

Really though, how powerful is that?  The idea of action is really what drives us here at Stay Vegan.  Imagine for a second that you've been doing research on animal cruelty in factory farms and decide that you want to adopt the vegan lifestyle (or maybe you don't have to pretend because that's where you're at), what do you do next?  You're in the spot between stimulus and response.  I feel that spot is where this blog belongs.  It's here to help you take action confidently, having the experience learned from others mistakes (ours!).  So here's to keeping on with the keep on, and doing the right thing!

Stay vegan!

The Object Of Education Isn't Knowledge; It's Action

View blog reactions

What Does It Mean To Be Vegan?

Vegan was originally defined in 1944 by Donald Watson as:

Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals.

Pretty cut and dry right?  I thought so too.

The definition has been under some scrutiny in forums around the vegan community and I'm working on figuring out why.

As more and more people become vegan for different reasons this definition seems to be bent and molded to conform to others lifestyles, rather than them working to meet the definition.  We all have our personal reasons for choosing this lifestyle, but I feel that for us to most effectively convey the powerful message behind veganism we should all be speaking the same language and play by the same set of rules.

What if you aren't an activist or a vegan preacher?  What if you're vegan solely for health reasons, not for animals?  Why would any of this matter in your corner of the universe?  If all of us are consistently saying the same things and asking the same questions about the goods and services that we use and consume everyday, corporations will have no choice but to listen to us and make more things vegan friendly.  In turn, making all of our lives easier and the planet a little bit better place to live.

I don't intend for this to become an issue of "I'm more vegan than you," or a call to arms.  It's my way of clarifying my thoughts on this issue so the readers of this blog can have a better understanding of where I come from and my thoughts on this issue.

If you feel that I'm out of line, wrong, or have something to add please post in the comment section.  I would love to hear what you have to say.

Stay Vegan!

What Does It Mean To Be Vegan?

View blog reactions

Hilarious Vegan Cartoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zhL1YUd8Q

From bizarro.com.

I found this vegan cartoon today and figured that I should share it with those of you who haven't seen it yet. Hilarious!! I wish it was this easy to explain to everyone! This would be great to show people who are interested in becoming vegan or vegetarian. I wouldn't use this as my only reasoning, but it makes a great point very clearly.

Stay Vegan!

Hilarious Vegan Cartoon

View blog reactions

How to Tell Your Parents That You're Vegan

You've decided to adopt a vegan lifestyle.  That's awesome!  You have your diet planned out, restaurants to eat at, and places to buy animal free clothes on your map.  Now it's time to face the parents.  This can be a daunting task.  Are they going to be pissed?  Will they understand?  Will they be supportive?  There's only one way to find out - tell them!

There's a saying that "an idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan any day."  If you go into this with facts and a plan, you are a lot more likely to come out unscathed.  Better for you and for your family.  I'll assume that you've been vegetarian for a little while, so this conversation with your parents won't be coming totally out of left field.  I'll also assume that you are committed to making this work.  If you weren't you probably wouldn't have read this far...

Here's where the plan begins.  Arm yourself with as many facts as possible.  I mean real facts, not "I heard vegans live longer" or "milk is filled with pus."  Get the facts behind these statements so you can support your "presentation".  Define a clear reason why you want to change your life and become vegan.  PETA is a great place to start, but don't rely on them for everything.  Print things out if you need to.  Make a brochure or outline for them to follow while you're talking.  There are a million things you could do to beef up (pun intended) your "presentation" to convey how serious you are about being vegan.  This will have a double pronged effect; they will be impressed that you've done so much research and you'll become an aficionado on vegan lifestyle.  Browse through the Reasons People Don't Stay Vegan posts here at Stay Vegan for more info.

Do more research on nutrition.  One thing that I ran into with my parents were the usual vegan protein and vegan B12 questions.  Explain to them that a balanced vegan diet covers all nutritional needs (and have the facts to back that statement up!).  Also explain all of the good things that you're going to eat and cook (more on that later).  Again, research is as important for them as it is for you.  When I made the transition from vegetarian to vegan I spent the majority of my time reading and researching, and I feel it's had a profound effect on my life since.

Here's where you sell it.  Explain that all of this means no extra work for them (focus on the benefits).  You're going to help cook meals and make something for yourself so that you can eat dinner with the family every night.  Also, you're going to cook some meals by yourself for the entire family so they can see how great you eat.  I know I sound a little bossy, but this really works.  If you really want to sell this to them, you have to do your part too!  Cooking is the key for me to stay vegan.  Check out some great vegan cookbooks here at our bookstore.  Books like How It All Vegan and Veganomicon have great sections for beginner vegan cooks to help teach you how to work confidently in the kitchen.

Don't you feel good now that you told them?  It might have gone well, it might not have, but you did it nonetheless.  Nice job!  Not only are you a better vegan now, you're also smarter and better informed.

Stay Vegan!

How to Tell Your Parents That You're Vegan

View blog reactions

How I Stay Vegan #1 1/2

To further elaborate on How I Stay Vegan #1, let's talk about vegan cookbooks and recipes.  They're a source of inspiration for meal time.  Many of them are geared toward the beginning vegan and have very valuable resources in the first chapters about cooking basics, what to stock your pantry with, and how to read labels, and general help on staying vegan.  As a new vegan some of the recipes can seem a little daunting at first, with ingredients that you may have never heard of before, but with practice and patience it'll become second nature.  Let's take a look at a few of these ingredients so you can go into the kitchen with confidence.

• Tofu - Tofu comes from coagulating soymilk and squishing the mix into blocks.  Tofu comes in different densities, usually soft/silken, medium, firm and extra firm.  Each firmness has it's own uses and advantages.  For example, soft/silken tofu is great for making puddings and extra firm is great for slicing and frying in stir-fry.  Be sure to drain the water off of the block before using (unless the recipe says not to), and the more water you can squish out of an extra-firm block the better it will fry.  Tofu can be found at most grocery stores and is a staple in vegan food.
• Tempeh - Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans and has a much more dense texture than tofu.  Tempeh is sometimes used as a vegan meat replacement because of it's meaty texture.  Usually tempeh is soaked in water/brine or marinated before frying since it will take on much of the marinade's flavor.  Tempeh can be found in health food stores and Asian supermarkets.
• Seitan - Seitan is made from wheat gluten.  Gluten in bread is what makes the dough stretchy and the finished product chewy.  It's made by washing bread dough until the starch dissolves and the gluten is left behind.  Seitan is a great alternative to tempeh for vegans with soy allergies.  Seitan is usually used, like tempeh, as a vegan meat replacement.  It has a stringier texture that resembles pulled pork or shredded chicken.  Seitan can be found in health food stores and Asian supermarkets.
• Nutritional Yeast - Nooch (as it's referred to in the PPK) is usually used in place of cheese in vegan recipes.  It's also often fortified with vitamin B12, a vitamin crucial to good health and primarily found in meat.  Nooch can be used as a base for gravy, mock cheese, or sprinkled on top of pasta instead of parmesan cheese.  Look for it in the bulk section of your health food store.
• Textured Vegetable Protein - TVP is another vegan meat replacer that is high in protein and fiber and works great in the place of ground beef.  It usually comes in flakes and will need to be rehydrated before use, but read your recipe first.  Look for it in the bulk section of your health food store.
  

These are just a few of the more common ingredients you may come across.  None of them are expensive or difficult to use.  Give them a try and tell us how it goes!  

See also How I Stay Vegan #1.

Stay Vegan!

How I Stay Vegan #1 1/2

View blog reactions

How to Deal With Soy Allergies

Soy allergy is one of the most common food allergies. This can be a serious pain when you're vegan, and a deterrent to staying vegan. Many vegan food products, especially mock meat and cheese, contain soy. Relax, though, there is help! Here's a link to a great blog from fellow vegan blogger, snugglebunny!

Soy Protein Free Vegan Products

It's a great list of stuff that is animal and soy free. Check it out.

Food allergies can be avoided with some extra attention paid to label reading. Most food will be labeled as containing soy, wheat, or any of the other common allergies (except dairy and egg for some reason, wouldn't that make our lives easier?). Protein from soy is common in a vegan diet, so balance your meals with seitan, beans, nuts, or lentils to make sure that all of your bases are covered.

Stay Vegan!

How to Deal With Soy Allergies

View blog reactions

What Makes Beer Vegan? or Not Vegan?

Sometimes animal products pop up in the strangest places. Beer being one of them. The ingredients listed below are commonly used to treat beer during the brewing process. We go into detail below, and tried to keep it fairly simple without going neck-deep in the brewing process.

Before the internet it would have been extremely difficult to find which beers are vegan and which are not. Luckily there are many sites that pool info from their users to compile fairly complete lists of vegan options. The most thorough is barnivore.com. Check it out and see if your favorite brew is on there!

-Isinglass is used as to stabilize the foam or head and clarify beer. It comes from the swimbladders of fish (usually sturgeon) that are harvested for food. Collagen is the active ingredient that is gained from the bladders. This is more common in European beers than American brews (Guiness and Kronenbourg both use isinglass). Luckily the fish aren't caught just for their bladders!

-Gelatin as you probably know is a vegan no-no. It's made by extracting the collagen from the hides and bones of farm animals. The collagen does the same thing in beer that isinglass does, stabilize and clarify.

-Bone char is used to filter beer. Char is exactly what it sounds like, burnt bones. The process runs the beer through a bone char filter to remove impurities. This is the same process that makes processed sugar not vegan, but the sugar is heated to the point of it being liquid.

-Honey is sometimes used as a sweetener for beer. Who wants sweet beer?

Keeping these ingredients in mind, it isn't very common for beer to have an ingredient list on the bottle. Do your research before you tie one on and you'll only wake up with a hangover.

Lagunitas is a beer company that prints their ingredients on the label, "12 fluid ounces of malt, hops, yeast and water." And it's my favorite!


Cheers! Stay Vegan!

What Makes Beer Vegan? or Not Vegan?

View blog reactions

How I Stay Vegan #2

So, this is the wifey. Just life at its best. Taking the funny, day by day things that happen in my crazy vegan life, and telling my story. Even if you have a temptation, it helps to have someone around to bust your balls and keep you in check (please, no real busting of the balls, ouch). Surround yourself with other vegans, if you don't have a significant other. Start a potluck in your area. Get out and be your-vegan-self.

Funny things happen to me all the time, I learn some of my best life lessons in veganism through trial and error. But my husband and I are jokers. What fun would there be in life, if the vegan joke is always told by someone other than yourself? Nobody gets my vegan jokes anyways.

Stay Vegan!

How I Stay Vegan #2

View blog reactions

How I Stay Vegan #1

Here's a quick clip, by yours truly, about one of the many ways I stay vegan. Cooking is something that I'm passionate about, and I use that to reinforce my veganism. It's like an adventure every time I try to figure out what the hell we're having for dinner. If you can't cook, that's fine, but start somewhere. A house isn't built without its foundation. I've certainly burned my fair share of veggie burgers throughout the years.

This post was followed up with How I Stay Vegan 1 1/2.

Stay Vegan!

How I Stay Vegan #1

View blog reactions

Veganizing Recipes

I've been spending a lot of time watching the Food Network lately. And while there aren't many vegan recipes made on their cooking shows, I have been thinking a lot about how to make them so. Take this basil and pea soup by Giada de Laurentiis, all you have to do is replace the butter and cream with soy alternatives and skip the cheese garnish. We made it for dinner last night and it was really good. More of these to come and feel free to pass along any advice about freeing the animals from omnivorous recipes.

Stay Vegan!

Veganizing Recipes

View blog reactions

Eating Out

Everyone eats at restaurants. Duh.

This is how to find which restaurants can accommodate our vegan lifestyle.

Let's take a look at P.F. Chang's menu. They have things listed as Vegetarian. Unfortunately these things aren't as vegetarian-friendly as you might think. Fish oil is a common ingredient in their menu (and asian food in general, especially Vietnamese cuisine). Some of their vegetarian items are cooked with fish oil. This is a risky situation - Ask, ask and ask again until you get a response that you feel comfortable with. Most chain restaurants have a "secret" menu that lists all of the ingredients in their menu items. Smaller restaurants will usually have a chef that can help you on the spot. P.F. Chang's does have great vegan food, as long as you know what you're ordering (I.E. Coconut Curry Vegetables).

Some tips-

-Call ahead and ask.
-Check veganeatingout.com before you go (they've done a lot of the work for you!)
-Make friends with the manager(s). They'll give you the skinny on what the kitchen is like.
-Don't be too uptight to ask questions.
-If it sounds fishy, it probably is.
-Watch for words like creamy, deep-fried, confit, toasted bread (usually means with butter), Caesar, and alfredo.
-Ask what it's topped with (usually Italian food will be topped with cheese).
-Secret Sauce = Thousand Island dressing = mayonnaise = egg.
-A veggie burger isn't always vegan. Most restaurants serve Gardenburger Original that contains cheese. And some restaurants will dress the bun with mayo even if the patty is vegan (Houston's).
-Pinto beans and refried beans will usually be cooked with bacon and/or lard.
-Ask about salad dressing base. Many will be a mayo or egg based dressing.
-Ask deli-style employees to change their gloves before making your food (it's their job anyway).
-Assume dessert is out of the question, make it at home.
-Don't be scared to send your plate back, you are getting what you pay for.

-Avoid saying that you're allergic to diary/eggs/etc., doing so will dilute the impact when someone who IS allergic orders something.  If every vegan said they were allergic to these things and didn't get sick if there was minor cross-contamination, restaurants wouldn't take food allergies very seriously.  Follow the steps above to avoid resorting to this option.

Eating at (non-vegan) restaurants isn't totally out of the question, just arm yourself with knowledge before you walk in. These tips aren't everything that you need to know, but a good quick-reference. Experience will help guide your actions and decisions. If you don't ask, you don't know. I don't play that kind of roulette with my intestines.

Stay Vegan!

Eating Out

View blog reactions

Reason People Don't Stay Vegan #3

You can't get enough protein.

Really?

This is a question that I get asked by lots of non-vegans.  "How do you get your protein?"  I think that because of the association between muscle and protein, people assume that it only comes from eating meat.  In another great article by Reed Mangels, titled Protein In The Vegan Diet, we look at how much we need and where to get it.  

Protein comes from many, many vegan sources.  Most plants and vegetables have it.  A balanced diet will cover your needs for the day.  Mangels article has a great table of many vegan staple food items and how much protein they have.  It also has some formulas to figure out how much protein you need on a daily basis.

Here's how I look at it - When I'm planning my day in the morning and I know I'm going out for dinner or have a long day at work, I'll stack my protein in at breakfast.  If I'm going to be doing something that won't allow me to balance my diet for the day I eat a protein shake in the morning along with my multivitamin.  Here's an article on how to make a vegan protein shake. Snack on peanuts during the day instead of chips, or have a glass of soy milk with your lunch.  It isn't brain surgery, it's balance.

With some simple planning and eating a balanced diet, meeting your protein needs for the day is a breeze!  

See also, B12 in the Vegan Diet

Stay Vegan!

Reason People Don't Stay Vegan #3

View blog reactions

Reason People Don't Stay Vegan #2

I couldn't live without [fill in animal product here]!

Yeah you could.

This is a perfect example of mind over matter.  Like we've said in previous posts, staying vegan isn't difficult, it's different.  A major change like this takes a paradigm shift in your head.  

Figure out for yourself the real reason you want to abstain from animal products, and weigh whatever your cravings are against your reason.  I know why I'm vegan and I still get urges for pepperoni pizza.  I stop what I'm doing and ask myself if indulging in meat and cheese means more to me than my veganism.  The answer is always no, so I stay vegan and feel stronger after the craving is passed.

There are great alternatives to most meat and dairy products out there.  It can't be expected that these products are going to perfectly replicate the taste and texture of the real thing.  They do allow you to indulge while staying vegan.  Just keep an open mind while trying these out and you will find great ways to cook with them.

Have a crystal clear understanding of why you are vegan and use that to boost your willpower. If your reason is more important than a pepperoni pizza (or whatever it might be) you'll stay vegan every time!

Reason People Don't Stay Vegan #2

View blog reactions

Stay Vegan!

Stay Vegan is an evolving guide to help overcome the daily challenge to stay vegan. 

My wife and I are both vegan, and we certainly could have used the information here to help us out along our journey.  As time passes, and your knowledge base grows, staying vegan becomes second nature.  It becomes your life.

There are many reasons to be vegan, and none is better than the other.  I have my beliefs and you have yours.  The real truth lies in the fact that we are helping animals, the planet and ourselves.  Our goal here is to deliver information without judgement or preconception.  Just the facts, ma'am. 

I can't say that I know everything about being vegan.  I haven't met anyone yet who can.  What  I can say is we're going to do is share what we do know from our own experience and learn as many things as possible to circulate with our readers and the rest of the web.  It's an evolving guide.  Stay vegan!

Stay Vegan!

View blog reactions

Bookstore

The Stay Vegan bookstore is now open.  I've compiled a list of books that have helped me along my vegan journey.  There are cookbooks, animal books, and foodie books.  Follow the link on the right side of the page to give it a looksie.  This list will grow as the site does, so check back often.

Bookstore

View blog reactions

10 Questions with Chandra Gilbert

10 Questions is a series of short interviews with vegan restaurateurs.  We recently spoke with Chandra Gilbert from Cafe Gratitude.

Cafe Gratitude is a vegan restaurant with locations throughout the Bay Area.  They feature organic vegan food, sourced from local farmers.  The menu has many, many choices to choose from, including raw items, a kid's menu, juice, organic beer and an extensive dessert list.  I Am Innocent is an ice cream sundae made from nut milk ice cream, my personal favorite.  We sometimes make the trip from Napa to San Rafael just for dessert!

1.  Why vegan?

For my health, for the animals and for the earth.

2.  What is your restaurant's place in the vegan universe?

Cafe Gratitude !!

3.  Favorite dish?

We Are Whole - Macro Bowl

4.  Favorite wine/beer/soda pairing with that dish?

We Are Healthy - Green Juice

5.  Favorite quick dinner at home?

Roasted veggies, quinoa, tahini sauce!

6.  How often do you skip the main course and go straight to dessert?

Really - not often.  I'm more a savory type.

7.  Favorite vegetable and how do you cook it?

Brussel Sprout-pan seared in olive oil with garlic, lemon and salt.  The best at Cesar in Berkeley .

8.  Quinoa or amaranth?

Quinoa

9.  Thoughts on organic farming?

It's the only way to cause an abundant future for this planet.  Check out our be Love Farm in Vacaville.

10.  Ten words to describe yourself or your restaurant?

Cafe Gratitude - Vegan, organic, transformational, community.

Check them out at cafegratitude.com.

10 Questions with Chandra Gilbert

View blog reactions

Vegan Vitamin B12 in the Vegan Diet

After reading this article by Reed Mangels, Ph.D about vitamin B12, I realized that I don't know hardly enough about it. Research time!

What is it?

B12 is a vitamin that is only produced in bacteria and through synthetic means. It plays a key role in energy production, brain and nervous functions. B12 occurs naturally in animals from bacteria in their gut that is then processed through the rest of their body. A small deficiency in B12 can lead to fatigue, depression, and poor memory. In the worst cases it leads to anemia and severe nerve damage. From my own experience, it can help take the edge off a hangover (but that's another blog topic!).

What does it have to do with staying vegan?

For omnivores, getting B12 is as easy as eating meat. It occurs in high concentration in animal flesh. Vegans, on the other hand, need to supplement their diets to achieve the recommended daily amount (RDA). The RDA for adults is 2.4 micrograms per day.

How do I get my hands on B12?

This is the easy part. Take a multivitamin! Your bodies absorption rate of B12 is pretty low when it comes to taking vitamins. For example, my vitamin is Whole Foods brand daily multivitamin, it contains 25 micrograms. That's more than ten times the RDA! They supply the extra amount to cover for lost absorption. Fortified cereal, soymilk, and nutritional yeast are also great vegan sources, read the label to make sure it covers what you need.

And the funny part...

A quote from the article linked above says, "Although some vegans may get vitamin B12 from inadequate hand washing, this is not a reliable vitamin B12 source." Dammit.

Vitamin B12 plays a role in overall health, and is easy to overlook in a vegan diet. As always, if you don't feel right, talk to your doctor.

Stay vegan! Stay healthy!

Vegan Vitamin B12 in the Vegan Diet

View blog reactions

Reason People Don't Stay Vegan #1

It's too hard!

The first few weeks/months of veganism are a challenge.  Keep in mind that it's not difficult, it's different from what your are familiar with.  As soon as you acclimate yourself to reading labels, asking questions and doing some research it becomes second nature.  

It is easier to go through the drive-thru of your local fast food joint than it is to buy fresh ingredients and cook at home.  Cooking at home is an event!  It provides a great deal of satisfaction when you turn a few raw ingredients into a delicious, healthy meal.  A meal is a reason to invite friends or family over, a time to stop and reflect on the day, and a time to laugh and have fun.

Reading labels may seem like a laborious task at first.  Having to skim through all of those scientific words and try to decipher if they're animal or not can be a pain.  There are two things you may notice after doing this for a while - 1)  You start to eat more "natural" foods.  These foods tend to have less total ingredients in them, saving you reading time on the aisle.  And 2) Your eyes become a radar for animal ingredients.  Instead of deciphering each and every ingredient, your brain will be trained to pick up on the animal ones.  This will, again, save a ton of time.  Practice makes perfect, and if you slip up a few times the Vegan Police won't come knocking on your door.  Knowing what goes into your food is the crux to staying vegan.

If you don't know, ask!  There is a Russian proverb that says, "There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out."  If you don't know what something is made of, or if it is made with shady practices, ASK!  If you are eating at a restaurant and aren't sure about something on the menu, ASK!  If you can't tell if that belt you really want is synthetic or leather, ASK!  Is this beer filtered with bone char, ASK!  Do some research beforehand.  I think you see where this is going.  Remember, the shame lies in not finding out.

This is a basic primer to overcoming one of the challenges to staying vegan.  I could devote an entire book just to this subject.  Just keep in mind that knowledge is power and no one is going to look down on you for a few slip-ups.  It's happened to us too!

Additional resources-

Vegan Eating Out - A great site that lists what vegans can and can't eat in restaurants.

Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet - A great book for beginning vegans.

How To Eat Out As A Vegan - A how-to on what to watch for when eating in restaurants.

Reason People Don't Stay Vegan #1

View blog reactions