The Plant at Pier 3 Has Closed!

What bad news!  The Plant at Pier 3 has closed!  I found out when I went online to make reservations.

What a disappointment!

It was my favorite place to go for vegan options around there.

Now what?

An Open Letter to Tara Duggan of the SF Chronicle

Dear Tara Duggan,

Do you have any idea why the SF Chronicle has not reported on the news that James Cameron has invested in pea protein? 

This news story was carried by CBS.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/36394398/film-director-james-cameron-and-suzy-amis-cameron-launch-verdient-foods-inc-an-investment-in-the-saskatchewan-agricultural-sector

I think this is newsworthy!

Your faithful reader,

Tina Martin

James Cameron, Vegan, Is Investing in Pea Protein

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/james-cameron-vanscoy-pea-processing-plant-1.4295182

He says we can live without meat but won't, so simulated meat from pea protein may be the answer.
He points out that we should have a plant-based diet for environmental reasons.

Short Vegan Letter-to-the-Editor in Print

Well, they did print the letter I wrote yesterday.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/letterstoeditor/article/Letters-to-the-editor-Sept-19-12207179.php

Cosco Has Some Accidentally Vegan Items !

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=10089&catId=2

Willie Brown Needs to Connect the Dots for a Saner Diet

In yesterday's SF Chronicle, Willie Brown failed to connect the dots between a vegan diet and the environment.

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/san-francisco-chronicle/20170917/282020442466466

In response, I got this off to the SF Chronicle this morning (Monday, September 18, 2017)   around 8:05 am.

Before retiring as an instructor at CCSF in 2014, I taught and trained teachers on five continents--Oceana, Asia, North America, Africa, and Europe.  I recently did a vegan plate-to-plate pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago and in Madrid, Paris, and NYC.

I enjoy reading Willie Brown's column, but he needs to connect the dots.  In Willie's World September 17, he's gleeful about Bill Clinton's weight gain, suspecting that "he has ditched the vegan diet that he took up after his heart troubles and is now back to the cheeseburgers that made him great."  Then he extols Governor Jerry Brown as "the nation's leading voice on climate change" but ignores what Governor Brown said in 2015 about the impact of our diet on the environment :  "I think you should all be eating veggie burgers."

A Positive Response that Surprised Me

I really hadn't expected my two non-vegan friends to bother looking at my low-tech "talking pictures" on the subject of my vegan  plate-to-plate pilgrimage, and sure enough one of them said, "I'll read it later."  (There's nothing to read since it's a series of pictures accompanied by a voice.)

But the other strange sent me a very encouraging message:

I've just started watching your vegan adventures and am loving

your descriptions of preparing for travel and the stress it entails.

You're doing a beautiful job of illustrating your remarks.  I've never

done any of that (sadly) and salute your skills and sensitivities.

Can't see it in its entirety today but I will--thanks for sending it.

I am now an envious person--for your travel experiences, your

language skills (don't put them down) and your general grace.

Oh dear....!

Wasn't that a  kind response!?

The Magic Flute, SF--Accommodating except to Vegans

I had lunch at The Magic Flute with two friends who don't seem to know about the vegan movement.  They still regard vegans as I once did--as strange, picky eaters who don't know how to live--and that may be the attitude of the owner of The Magic Flute, too.

When I made the reservation, I asked about options for the "vegan among us," and his voice really did seem to become more tense.  He said that the server could walk me through the menu.

The menu has NO vegan entree.  I knew that from an experience eating there with friends a few months earlier.

Sure enough, when I got there, the spinach salad was all they could offer me.

One friend, a writer, expressed surprise that I was a vegan and said he was writing "about that."

The other friend asked, "How long have you been that way?"

The writer-friend, who moments earlier had said good things about Greens Restaurant,  said he could understand vegetarian, but vegan?

I briefly explained about the suffering of animals in factory farms--even those not immediately killed for meat-- and the environmental concerns with livestock.  I started an explanation of the artificial insemination of a cow but decided that wasn't perfect table talk.

The manager of the Magic Flute brought desserts that ignored vegans.  He didn't even suggest a vegan option.  He also brought complimentary bagnets to the table after we'd said no thank you.

He was accommodating to our friend's walker and other needs.

But there was no effort made to include a vegan.

Later, I sent these two friends the link to my "Plate to Plate Pilgrimage" but doubted that they'd even bother clicking on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDaIlEwQ8D0