World Veg Fest Diversity

I was so impressed by the World Veg Fest Diversity!  Here's the link to a "talkie" I made about it.

World Veg Fest

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

An Open Letter to Soleil Ho, Who Sounds Wonderful!

Dear Soleil Ho,

 I was happy to read that the next restaurant critic of the San Francisco Chronicle would "confront questions of ethics and social justice."    Since both environmentalists and animal welfare activists are urging a move towards a plant-based diet, it would be wonderful if articles always considered vegans.

 To the credit of the SF Chronicle, Jonathan Kauffman reported on Manu Gaji's "vegan turn" in a full-page article on November 25.

 But I saw "Our favorite new cookbooks of the year,  and I didn't notice a single one that was vegan.  I wanted to be sure, so I went on line and did a search in the two-page article for "vegan" the results were 0. 

 What a wonderful change you could make if you always asked restaurants for a vegan entree as well as other dishes.  Asking and reporting would show restaurateurs that plant-based dishes and vegan diners are valued.  You could show your readers too.

 I acknowledge that there are more vegetarian articles than vegan ones.  I sometimes think that vegan is where vegetarian was about twenty years ago.

 I just checked out your podcast, and I see that you're way ahead of the rest of us!   I hope this means more respect shown to plant-based diets and those of us who choose them.  

Now I'm a subscriber of both  The Racist Sandwich and Popaganda as well as the SF Chronicle.

I'm looking forward to your moving the Chronicle forward in the new year.

 Lots of good wishes,

 Tina Martin 

The U.N. Recognizes Beyond Meat as a "Champion of the Earth"

https://www.beyondmeat.com/whats-new/view/the-un-recognizes-beyond-meat-as-a-champion-of-the-earth

The United Nations has recognized Beyond Meat as a "Champion of the Earth."

Beyond Meat Uses MUCH Less Water than Beef from a Cow

Beyond Meat "worked with the University of Michigan to lead a 3rd-party, peer-reviewed Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) comparing the environmental impact of making a 1/4 Beyond Burger versus everything that goes into making a ¼ lb. U.S. beef burger.

The LCA study concluded that The Beyond Burger uses 99% less water, 93% less land, generates 90% fewer Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGE), and requires 46% less energy than a beef burger."

This is what I copied from this link:

https://www.beyondmeat.com/whats-new/view/a-burger-with-benefits

WOW! FFAC Really Gets Things Done!

I mentioned the gala FFAC, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, had last Sunday.  Today I got a chain of responses from the people working for the FFAC.  I'm impressed!

Oh, this is a wonderful response!  I'm really going to make every effort to make an additional donation before the end of the year because you are clearly using funds very productively!

Here are a couple of the e-mail addresses for people who would benefit from hearing from you:

Anya Deepak, who's with both SF Department of the Environment and WEN, Women's Environmental Network:

lavanya.deepak@sfgov.org

Maia Piccagli, head of the San Francisco chapter of Mothers Out Front.

maiapic@gmail.com

Joyce Ganthavorn, who's WEN's secretary:  wenbayarea@gmail.com

Will there be a report after the presentation at the SF Department of the Environment?

Thank you all so much!  You're my heroes!

Tina

On Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 4:06:13 PM PST, Monica Chen <monica@ffacoalition.org> wrote:

Hi Tina,

Thanks for your email.  I will be presenting with one of my interns at the SF Department of the Environment this month!  Hopefully we can schedule more presentations with them specifically about Green Monday.  Additionally if you have the email addresses of anybody I should be in contact with at WEN (or any other organization), please do introduce us.

Thank you so much!

Warmly,

Monica

On Wed, Dec 5, 2018 at 11:49 AM Amy Laff <amy@ffacoalition.org> wrote:

Hi Tina,

Yes! We have begun speaking to the SF Board of Supervisors!

I’ll connect you with others on out SF Green Monday team. I’ll  be sending you a Green Monday Packet within the hour.

Welcome to the SF Green Monday Citizen Lobbyists team! 

Respectfully,

Amy

Amy Halpern-Laff

Director, Strategic Partnerships

Factory Farming Awareness Coalition 

(480) 215-2710 m

On Dec 5, 2018, at 11:41 AM, Rachel Shippee <rachel@ffacoalition.org> wrote:

Hi Tina,

Thank you for your message. I am grateful to have your monthly support and I appreciate you thinking of us for an additional EOY donation. 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the gala. I apologize for the dessert situation. We will do a better job of securing them next year! 

I CC'd Amy Halpern-Laff, our Director of Strategic Partnerships, on this email. She worked directly with the Berkeley City Council on the Green Monday initiative and will be able to answer your questions. 

I also CC'd Monica Chen, Our Bay Area Director and Intern Program Coordinator, so she can work with you to set up presentations with the groups you mentioned. 

All the best,

Rachel 

On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 11:55 AM Tina Martin <tina_martin@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Dear FFAC,

I am giving monthly to FFAC, and at this time I can't increase my monthly amount, but as soon as I can, I will.  I may be able to make an additional end-of-the-year donation.

I really enjoyed the gala this past Sunday.  The food was delicious (even though the dessert disappeared before it was served), and I was so impressed by the interns and all they're doing under the leadership of Katie Cantrell and Monica Chen and others.  I was really excited to meet and hear Kate Harrison, and I'd like to take whatever action I can to get the SF Board of Supervisors to be pro-active like the Berkeley Council.

Do you have any suggestions?  I have some contact with WEN, the Women's Environmental Network, and the SF Department of the Environment.

Thanks for all you're doing.

Tina Martin

Links to Videos of the World Veg Fest Presentations

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrBBUuTzBsLLQLZs0zu5Qh7f5Nc3tAc5z

The above is a link to all the video-taped presentations at the World Veg Fest on October 27, 2018.

This is the presentation Greg Rohrbech gave of the history of the San Francisco Veg Society:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t4wpcaERqY&index=2&t=0s&list=PLrBBUuTzBsLLQLZs0zu5Qh7f5Nc3tAc5z

An Open Letter to Kate Harrison, Leader of Berkeley Council's Green Monday Resolution

Dear Kate Harrison,

I'm so grateful to you for the resolution that you led the Berkeley Council in passing!  I'm glad I got to shake hands with you and thank you after Katie introduced me to you and your husband.

Has something been written up about what you've done so far? I don't mean the press releases and articles from September, when your resolution was first announced.  

  I know you said you had your first Green Monday this past week  "and nobody died."  But you spoke of only 9 people.  Was that just for your Berkeley Council?  I was hoping you were going into schools and libraries.  Did anyone observe Green Monday besides you council members?

Do you have pictures of what you ate after the food provider expressed belief that he could come up with a whole vegan lunch?   (I'm going to be something together at the end of this year to answer that question, "What do vegans eat?" to show how many possibilities there are.   I'm going to show what I ate!)

You said during your talk that we shouldn't hesitate to ask for your help in getting Green Monday started in our cities.  Could you help us get it started in SF?  Of course, a lot of councils don't meet on Mondays, but I assume it could be any day of the week.  

If you have a starter kit, I could share it with SF's Department of the Environment and WEN (Women's Environmental Network).  

I don't know why SF is lagging so far behind, but I guess no city can keep up with Berkeley.

Many thanks,

Tina

FFAC Gala on Sunday, December 2

Chouquet's Came Through with the Best Thing on the Table!

I had misgivings about going to a French restaurant whose menu didn't show any accommodations for diners who want to support a plant-based diet for animal welfare and the Good of the environment.  I called ahead of time, and the person I spoke to didn't seem to believe there was any way to accommodate vegans but said she'd look into it.

I looked up an explanation in French for how restaurants can benefit by offering vegan entrees even if they serve  meat eaters too, and I found a good one. 

https://malou.io/decryptage-pourquoi-tendance-vegan-profitable-restaurant-omnivore/

But I forgot I had it when they were, after all, quite accommodating.

What they came up with was colorful and delicious. 

Then the SF Bach Choir sang it's annual revision of the Boar's Head: 

          Advice for the modern host:
          You need not kill the thing you roast.
          In faith whereof I propose this toast:
          Ally ally al-ly oxen free!

COP 24 Needs to Promote a Plant-Based Diet

Dear Staff of COP24,

I just got a news release on the various measures that COP24 will take to keep their carbon footprint as small as possible and to sent an example, making COP 24 sustainable.

Please remember food!  It's very important to educate on the importance of moving to a plant-based diet.

Last year at COP 23, I heard that more than 60% of the food choices were meatless.  I hope that this year they can also be free of animal products altogether with no more than 40% containing dairy, eggs, or meat.  

I also heard that at the COP23 in Germany, the carbon footprint was put on each food item made available.  I've never seen those pictures, but I'd like to.  Could you make them available?  Can you use them again?

Lots of good wishes,

Tina Martin.  

Shouldn't SF Department of the Environment (and Environmental Organizations) Pass Resolutions to Support a Plant-Based Diet?

I finally got the right e-mail address to Anya Deepak, who works for both WEN and The SF Environment.

It sounds as if WEN is also timid about making a policy statement in spite of the fact that the United Nations, Berkeley, Germany, and Turin, Italy (among other places) have a mission statement/resolution/policy.

Berkeley announced its policy of having vegan and official meetings and educating and promoting a Plant-based Monday.  They're educating through libraries and schools.

In Turin, Italy the mayor led in passing a resolution to promote plant-based food for the good of the environment.

In Germany, the Minster of the Environment said there would be no meat served at official meetings, and the COP 23 held there (before this resolution was passed) made sure that at least 60% of their dishes were meat-free.  They had the carbon footprint in front of every dish.

 I think SF Environmental Department should have a policy statement, and I think Mothers Out Front should too.  So much is about educating so that people can change harmful habits.  Here are some links to articles that could help educate and inform. I've just copied and pasted.

German Environment Minister  bans meat at official functions  Feb 22, 2017

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/germany-meat-ban-environment-ministry_us_58ae1b24e4b01406012f962b

 Berkeley passed a resolution requiring vegan food be served at city events and meetings once a week.  mid-September 2018

 https://abc7news.com/food/vegan-mondays-coming-to-berkeley/4263636/

 Turin focuses on plant-based  December 2016

 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/11/turin-italys-first-vegetarian-city

Stefania Giannuzzi, the deputy mayor behind the initiative

Turin's new Five Star Movement mayor, Chiara Appendino, presented her new council's five-year political programme on Tuesday, which included plans to reduce the amount of animal products eaten in the Piedmont capital.

It is the first time the promotion of a plant-based diet has been included among the political aims of a local government in Italy.

“The promotion of vegan and vegetarian diets is a fundamental act in safeguarding our environment, the health of our citizens and the welfare of our animals,” the programme stated.

The council says it will spend the next five years educating the city's children about the issues surrounding food in order to reduce the amount of animal products eaten by future generations.

Donating on Giving Tuesday--to Environmental Groups that Mention a Plant-Based Diet

I really like the women in Mothers Out Front, but I was compelled to respond to their plea for donations by declining with this explanation:

Hi!  I'm donating to environmental groups that  mention the importance of our diets in the scheme of things.  I'm afraid Mothers Out Front is too timid about this and may even consider it a form of "fanaticism."

I really like the group, but I'm disappointed that you continue to ignore this.

I will donate, however, to WEN, and I make automatic payments to other environmental groups.

I hope you'll understand my frustration and not just be put off by it.

Do you have any idea when Green Movie Night will be re-scheduled?  I'd really like to attend that!

I hope to see you soon--maybe sooner than you hope to see me!

Tina

I then contacted WEN, Women's Environmental Network, and left this message:

I'm looking forward to the next Green Movie Night.  The one I was planning to attend was cancelled because of toxic air, and I hoped that would be only a postponement.  In the meantime, I'm making donations to environmental groups that mention the importance of a plant-based diet in our effort to combat climate warming.  Could you tell me what information you have put forth on this aspect of sustainability?  

Thanksgiving at Encuentro Pop-Up in Oakland

More on the SFVS Veg Fest

As you can see, whole families came out for the 19th Annual World Veg Fest, and a lot of the rooms were packed. It was a treat to see Patricia and Dave Koot of Wellness Central, who provide wonderful dinners and speakers/documentaries every Wednesday evening at Opera Plaza--sponsored by SFVS and friendly to animals and the environment! Next to them you see Patly Rohrback and Christy Griffin. Speakers included Chef Babbette here with her signer. Scientist Julie Sinistere was also an engaging speaker.

World Veg Fest Very Well-Attended and Diverse

The World Veg Fest on Saturday, October 27, 2018 was a huge success-- well-attended, stimulating, and--best of all--diverse.  Kudos to Greg and Patly Rohrbach, Festival Organizers,  and the rest of the Festival Team, San Francisco Veg Society board members, and volunteers who carried this off!

Plant-powered athletes Monk & the Plant Powered Bothaz spoke about gaining strength--both physically and spiritually--after giving up meat and dairy.  I want to get the names of the other two men.  The man on their left, Cam F. Awesome, the #1 heavyweight boxer in the US, introduced them.  (I was trying to get pictures at three different presentations going on at the same time--a total of 27 plus all the vendors and volunteers.)

The cooking demonstrations included RG Richgail Enriquez on Filipino vegan dishes as well as Joe Geeseman on Russian ones, showing how we can keep ethnic and family traditions without causing animal suffering and environmental degradation.

Grey, the Vegan Rapper, closed the program with a funny and warm tribute to his girlfriend, whose decision to stop eating animals, eggs, and dairy products was for both of them!  "My girlfriend says we're going vegan, we're going vegan!"  He said that changed his life for the better in many ways--health, strength, and career when his vegan Thanksgiving rap went viral.

In addition to the cooking demonstrations, there were  more than 18 speakers between 10:30 am and 6:00 pm and 9 cooks, including Patricia Koot of Wellness Central, who was also a vendor, here with her husband and partner at Wellness Central.

A Vegan Analogy: Fair Trade Coffee

How often have you heard a friend, who's made an animal-free dish for you, tell those who aren't vegan, "And I made another cake for you"?

Another version of this is when the non-vegans like a dish a lot and ask for the recipe, which is free of animal products.

"But you can add eggs and milk," the cook says.

These good people--and I acknowledge that they are better people than I am--are acting as if the vegan choice were based on allergies rather than on concern for animals, the environment, and social justice.

It's as if they were saying, "I got fair trade coffee for Tina, but don't worry.  I have the regular coffee for the rest of us." 

An Open Letter to Sarah Fritsche with Thanks for "Our top vegetarian restaurants"

This is the letter I just sent to Sarah Fritche after reading (more than two weeks later) her September 30th spread  "Our top vegetarian restaurants" in the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Food section.

Dear Sarah Fritsche,

Thank you for your two-page spread "Our top vegetarian restaurants," which I just found today, when I was going through my vacation packet.  (For more than you want to know about the complications getting the promised vacation packet, I'll send a separate e-mail.  Maybe you know who would LIKE to read it.)  

I missed your spread when I was in NYC enjoying its Eat for the Climate Week, September 24-September 30.  

You had a good list, naming all but three of my favorite places, and I appreciate your beginning with "It has never been easier--or more delicious---to embrace a plant-based diet."

Those of us following and promoting a plant-based diet for reasons regarding animal welfare and the environment know that it's not a great sacrifice because, as you say, it's delicious, and we really want people to know that.

I plan to write a letter to the SF Chronicle, but before I do that, I'd like to name the three you didn't mention and also add a note of caution.   

First the caution:  It's easy to find vegetarian dishes.  It's rare to find a restaurant that doesn't include at last one warm entree that's vegetarian.  I think it was in 2013 that the National Restaurant Association recommended that all restaurants have at least one.

But it's not as easy to find dishes that are free of dairy and eggs, as I found out after I realized dairy animals and hens/chickens aren't treated much better than animals killed for meat.

I understand that the word "vegan" can be a turn off.  (At one time it made me, in my meat-eating days, cringe.  Even when I was a vegetarian, I cringed a little at the extremist sound of vegan.)  But if you could use the word plant-based, I think that would send people on the right path.   I hope all restaurants will be encouraged to have at least one warm plant-based entree.  Taking off  the cheese or hard-boiled egg from the vegetarian entree does not create the perfect vegan dish.  

I was surprised that you omitted the Loving Hut from your list.  I admit that the Supreme Leader video makes me squirm, but I think their food is good, and they can be found on Irving, in the Westfield Shopping Center and other places.  What about Enjoy?  There's an Enjoy on both Kirkham and in Chinatown.  

But I think you'll be happily surprised as I was as a diner by Cybelle's Front Room Pizza on 9th near Judah--and right across from an ice cream place that has 12 kinds of vegan  (pardon me--plant-based) ice cream.  The manager of Cybelle's has a daughter who is vegan, and she wanted to be able to enjoy the taste and texture of  all the dishes she enjoyed before she became a vegan, so she created an astonishingly good menu.

One more thing--the most important of all:  The San Francisco Vegetarian Society is celebrating its 50th year with the 19th annual World Veg Fest on Saturday, October 27.  Would you like to do an article on that?

Here's a link:

WORLD VEG FESTIVAL

Ananda Fuara Had More to Offer than the Beer Fest 'n' Vegan

Ananda Fuara had more to offer than the Beer Fest 'n' Vegan I went to afterwards to.  

What Scientists Say about Reducing Meat and Dairy

Here's a link to the October 10, 2018 article in The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/10/huge-reduction-in-meat-eating-essential-to-avoid-climate-breakdown?CMP=share_btn_fb

I'm taking this directly from  One Green Planet:

According to a comprehensive new analysis on the ways in which our food system impacts the environment, global meat consumption needs to be cut enormously if we hope to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) and prevent seriously dangerous climate change effects as our world population skyrockets to 10 billion people in the coming decades.

By just how much does meat-eating need to be reduced, you ask? This latest research, which was published in the journal Nature, estimates that the average world citizen needs to eat 75 percent less beef, 90 percent less pork and half the number of eggs they currently consume in order for us to avoid a climate catastrophe.

And here in the U.S. as well as in other wealthy Western countries like the U.K., the necessary cuts need to be even greater since people in these nations currently consume more animal-sourced foods on average than those in developing countries. To be specific, U.K. and U.S. citizens need to begin eating 90 percent less beef and drinking 60 percent less dairy milkwhile increasing their consumption of beans and pulses between four and six times, the research team concluded.

In the words of one of the researchers, Professor Johan Rockström at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, “Feeding a world population of 10 billion is possible, but only if we change the way we eat and the way we produce food. Greening the food sector or eating up our planet: this is what is on the menu today.”

Even Mel's, Our Old 1960's favorite, Has Evolved

A friend and colleague at CARA took me to lunch at Mel's Diner yesterday, October 11, and I saw that even Mel's has evolved and is now indicating on its menu what's vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.

I had the avocado toast, from which she'd removed an egg and added a side dish of ground peanuts.  

May Mel's continue to evolve.

Eating for the Climate Week in NYC, Day 2

Mothers Out Front Omits Diet

There was a very pleasant gathering of SF's small group of Mothers Out Front and kids in Precita Park today, Sunday, October 7.

There were several dishes that were, perhaps accidentally, plant-based, and I understood that the cake was not.  What shocked me was that on the list of 'What Should Mothers Out Front SF Tackle Next?"
there was no mention of eating for the climate!

I think there may even be a resistance! 

Look at this:

I gave our two leaders Kathie Piccagli and her daughter Maia a copy of Nil Zacharias' book Eat for the Planet, and after talking to Anya Deepak of Women's Environmental Network and SF Department of the Environment, I thought she was the perfect one to get the third copy.  She told me that the city workers were advised not to vote meat and to go easy on the cheese, but they weren't really willing to follow this directive.  Experts in the field were brought in to educate them, and they became a bit more convinced.

Eat for the Climate Week in NYC My day 1

Jonathan met me at the airport and led me through Port Authority and back to his neighborhood, where we left my suitcase and went to Spring Natural Kitchen 474 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024!

Vegan NYC Eat for the Climate Week, September 24-30

It was "Eat for the Climate Week" in NYC for several of the days I was there!  I'm going to post photos of dishes and a tiny bit of commentary on the places I ate them--just, of course, to help the climate along.

Vegan Exchanges between "The Saint of the Tenderloin" and Commonplace Me

I was so thrilled to find out that OWL's dynamic president was (and is) vegan.  She's originally from the South and still speaks with a Southern Accent, but she's a "steel magnolia" in the best sense of the term--someone who's strong and feisty.  In fact, Kevin Fagan of the SF Chronicle did a feature on her when she retired from her Presbyterian ministry in the Tenderloin after 40 years, and he said she was called "The Saint of the Tenderloin."

Now we exchange all the good news we hear or read--action furthering the vegan cause.

Today she wrote to me right after eating at Cybelle's Front Room, the one on 9th near Judah.  She was thrilled to find the enormous vegan menu and to hear from a server that the vegan items are "very popular."  She said she went there to try out the Impossible Burger and "was just blow away by all the other choices--even a Beyond Sausage corn dog!"  She said the sweet potato fries were the best she'd ever eaten.

She also told me that right across the street the Holey Gelato--vegan gelato--also gives 10% discount to anyone over 60!

I responded right away!

Dear Glenda,

At this very moment I was getting ready to send you two links for very good news on the vegan theme.

I LOVE Cybelle's, which I first learned about first-hand when our San Francisco Veg Society met there in June!  I was enraptured.  (Would you like to join our group?  You'd be a wonderful asset!)

Since then I've taken two meat-eating friends there and given them the vegan menu.   Their dessert is good too (beignets), but we wanted ice cream, so Lennie (the owner whose daughter Christa has gone vegan and created the menu) suggested the 12-vegan ice cream place across the street. I think YOU told me about Holey Gelato a while back, but I didn't know about the discount for the people over 60!  They were closed until 1:00 PM, so we went down to the ice cream shop between Irving and Lincoln and had their chocolate vegan ice cream--delicious!

Here's something that bothers me:  The SF Chronicle didn't have anything in their food section during Climate Week to acknowledge the connection between what we eat and how the climate is changing.  As far as I know, they didn't report on The World Resources Institute's Cool Food Pledge either.  But in one of the articles I'm sending you, it says "First announced at the Global Climate Action Summit in September 2018..."  

I'm about to write another letter to the editor because what the SF Chronicle DID do is oppose Proposition 12, the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, because since Prop 2's passage "California egg production has dropped significantly and egg prices have risen by 33 percent."  I always feel for the people who are making a living from selling eggs, but I also think its' good the California egg production has dropped.  

Here are the two articles I read today--NOT in the SF Chronicle!

23 New York City Restaurants Are Serving Meatless Meals in Honor of Climate Week!

23 New York City Restaurants Are Serving Meatless Meals in Honor of Climate... Today, September 24th, marks the beginning of the 2018 Eat for Climate Week, an annual event designed to raise a...

WeWork, Morgan Stanley, and University Campuses Join Pledge to Offer More Vegan Meals to Reduce Climate Impact

WeWork, Morgan Stanley, and University Campuses Join Pledge to Offer More V... To help facilitate the planet-benefiting trend towards more plant-based foods in dining centers, a new initiativ...

---