Let's Make Plant-Based Cakes So Great that They Can Become the Default Cake

This is the e-letter I just sent to the person in charge at Wholesome Bakery:

Dear Mandy,

I just talked to someone at Wholesome Bakery on Divisadero, and she told me the best way to get details was to contact you at this address.

I'd like to provide a cake free of animal products for an event at City College on Friday, July 6.

The event is in celebration of Frida Kahlo Way, which Phelan Avenue has been officially re-named, and we'll have a cake for Frida Kahlo's 111th birthday.

I would like to discuss with you the possibilities for this cake.  The person in charge of this event (including the cake) thinks we'll have to have two cakes--one with eggs and other animal products, one from Wholesome Bakery because she wants a sheet cake on which the bakers could center a small but eye catching sequin Kahlo portrait sent to her by a Chicago friend. Then she was hoping for Feliz Cumpleaños in purple or turquoise. 

I told her that Wholesome Bakery doesn't do writing on cakes.  

I sent her the link for Wholesome Bakery and the beautiful layered cake you have as an illustration, and she agrees that it is "gorgeous and, of course, much healthier for everyone, including the planet."

I'd like to come as close as I can to getting the kind of cake that non-vegans would find appealing because I believe that once people realize how delicious and beautiful plant-based cakes can be, they will be willing to make the plant-based cakes the default cake.

In the meantime, we'll have to have two labels:

For those who really don't care about the suffering of animals and the degradation of the environment

For those who really do care about  the suffering of animals and the degradation of the environment

Could you and I discuss the specifics of the cake?  Your layered cake is beautiful, but a sheet cake would probably be better for the masses.  

Tina 

Tina Martin  415 624-7930

After Vegan Dim Sum at Koi Palace, where They Understand the Concept

http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2142233/gordon-ramsay-turning-vegan-hong-kong-chef-who-went-vegan

A manager at Koi Palace said that he knew about the vegan movement and was planning to extend the vegan options.  He also referred to a documentary he'd seen about a 20-year-old woman in Hong Kong who went vegan at the age of 20 and is just as heathy nw at age 56.

Trying to find that one, I found the one above.

The Best Japanese Restaurant is Vegan!

We celebrated Tom's birthday (belatedly) at Shizen, but we really didn't begin with dessert! Tom had a happy ending, but Bill had the "Surprise Ending," the roll that turns out to be very, very hot, requiring a particular liquid to put out the fire. (This is better than Russian Roulette.) Shizen was voted the Best Japanese Restaurant in San Francisco--worthy of Tom, who's studying Japanese, and Bill--and it's plant-based! The shirt I wore volunteering on this Pride Weekend explains the significance of that!

Michael Bauer Is a Defiant Denier as He Ignores the Plant-Based Diet; Jonathan Kauffman Has a Clue

After Michael Bauer's articles featuring hamburgers as "the least expensive" menu item (apparently clueeless to the real cost paid in environmental degradation and animal suffering), I was relieved to see the article by Jonathan Kauffman offering vegan and vegetarian dishes in the Mission. 

In "Best vegetarian dining in the Mission" Sunday, June 17, he names these items and restaurants:

Sushi at Shizen on 14th and Valencia
Pupusa at Balompie Cafe at 2249 18th at Capp
Thali at Udupi on Valencia at 2ast
Pizza with a cocktail at Beretta at Valencia at 23rd
Noodles at Cha-Ya on Valenica at 18th
Tasting menu at Aster on Guerrero at 22nd.

Michael Bauer at last MENTIONS Al's place "where vegetables star and meat is a side dish."

Raccoons, Dogs Protected while Other Animal Abuse Is Accepted

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/06/13/how-did-the-minnesota-raccoon-scale-that-skyscraper-superpowers-and-insatiable-curiosity/?utm_term=.a80b31c8e0c0

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Video-of-attack-on-tiny-dog-in-SF-leads-to-12995594.php

The two links above show our interest in and concern for the animals we don't torture, kill, and eat.

Michael Bauer, Denier of the True Expense of Beef

Michael Bauer may not be a climate-change denier (though maybe he is!), but he certainly is in denial when it comes to beef.

  In today's Chronicle he features Best Burgers at top 100 Restaurants;, saying that hamburgers are "the least expensive main course."       

https://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/Best-burgers-in-the-Bay-Area-from-the-2018-Top-12988119.php

In addition to his cluelessness on the true cost of beef, he chooses the best burgers for his restaurant list that already has excluded any vegan or vegetarian restaurants.

Lobbying in Sacramento for SB 100--and a Plant-Based Diet

Today Kathie Piccagli and I joined Mothers Out Front in Sacramento for a day of lobbying for SB 100, 100% clean energy in California by 2045. I was impressed by the knowledge not only of our team leaders but by the people on the teams. We were also re-united with other members of Mothers Out Front and their children, and I met Amanda Senior and Lisa Wong, two kindred spirits. Can you guess what the V stands for? Eric Lipsitt got us there and back in his all-electric Bolt.

I'd made some signs to take to Sacramento to remind people that our diet affects climate, too, but I wasn't allowed to take the signs into the building because of the sticks.  Before breaking off the sticks, I asked a passer-by to take a picture, and she kindly obliged.

After lunch I met two other vegans--Lisa and Amanda--who are also members of Mothers Out Front.

Heaven at Cybelle's with SFVS Members

Oh, if only all business meeting could be conducted at Cybelle's, as was our SFVS meeting this past Saturday, June 9, to discuss our 50th anniversary celebration at the World Veg Fest on October 27!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f3utnargp0rp1ra/AADhii9KbFTKtVgpgwnM81yXa?dl=0

Anthony Bourdain's Comments on Vietnmese Cooking, SF Meat

Speaking of San Francisco, Anthony Bourdain said this:

You go there as a snarky New Yorker thinking it's politically correct, it's crunchy granola, it's vegetarian, and it surprises you every time.  It's a two-fisted drinking town, a carnivorous meat-eating town, it's dirty and nasty and wonderful.  NY Times interview 2011

I was thrilled to see that he'd said Vietnamese food was the best in the world--until the example he gave was of a still-beating cobra heart.

May he rest in peace.

Recent Vegan Plates

There are some good vegan plates out there if we ask!  From top to bottom:  Cafeteria at Highland Hospital in Oakland; Farmshop in Larkspur; Wellness Central by Patricia Allen Koot; LaVier in San Rafael.  

A Search for the Vegan's iPhone

Before I fill out my sample ballot (and head towards the Y and then Oakland) this morning, I want to tell you about the adventures of Tina and Anna.

Anna suggested lunch at the Olive Gardens, and before we left, I looked up the menu and saw a PETA page saying that there were a lot of vegan options.  When we got there, the server told her there weren't many vegan options, so I showed her what I'd found on the computer at home.  

Then Anna gave me gifts she'd gotten for me on her cruise of Alaska--a pretty tee-shirt and some lovely tourquoise earrings,  and our dishes came.  I wanted to take a picture of the food, but my iPhone wasn't in my bag.  I could have sworn I had it when I left the house.  I thought I remembered looking at the time and seeing that I had two minutes to get to Vicente and 18th.  Anna asked me whether I'd like to check the car, and I said, "Oh, no!  I must have left it at home."  But she left the table to go look for it because she said I would be worrying about it otherwise.  I pled with her not to go, that I was sure I'd find it at home.  But she headed for the car, and I followed her (after telling the staff that we were coming back both to eat and to pay) because I felt more uncomfortable sitting there when Anna was looking for my iPhone than I did worrying about where my iPhone was.  

It wasn't in the car.  It occurred to me that when we got back to the table, all our food would be gone, but it was still there--if a bit cold.

Anna said, "I don't remember seeing your iPhone," and I said, I probably have a false memory of looking at the time when I was on the street."

Then Anna spotted it behind the salad bowl!  That's when we remembered that I'd gotten it out to show the PETA web page to the server!!!!!

Isn't that amazing?!  Neither of us remembered my getting it out to show the server the web page.

I'm grateful that when we returned to the table both the food and the iPhone were still there!

The Global Climate Summit Needs to Include a Plant-Based Diet

The Global Climate Summit to be held in SF September 12-14 really needs to educate on the importance of moving towards a plant-based diet, and so does CA.RISEFORCLIMATE.ORG, which is marching on September 8.

Here's a message I just sent to the SFVS board:

Hi!

Please forgive me if I've missed this in your messages and announcements, but I'm wondering whether the SFVS has filled out the form to be included in the September 8 Global Climate Summit

If your organization would like to be added to the website as a partner, please fill out this form: https://bit.ly/2s3uBBK

 and plans to attend the meeting on Monday, June 25th from 5:30 to 7:30.  I'd love to see SFVS listed with what I found online:

Join APEN, CEJA, Idle No More SF Bay, Jobs With Justice, North Bay Organizing Project, PODER, SEIU 1021, and 350.org with the support of the Peoples Climate Movement and over 50 other organizations on June 25 as we organize to build a bold, visionary action that demands real climate leadership to keep fossil fuels in the ground and move towards a just, equitable and resilient 100% renewable energy economy that rapidly expands economic opportunity, creates family sustaining jobs, and protects vulnerable communities, workers,and future generations. : Rise for Climate Jobs & Justice March on Saturday September 8th.

The whole world is coming to San Francisco for the Global Climate Summit from Sep 12-14.

Ihttps://ca.riseforclimate.org/mass-meeting/

Also, someone was telling me that our World Veg Fest will be on Sunday, October 28, but I have it down (perhaps incorrectly) as Saturday, October 27.  

See you all at Cibelles on Saturday!  (Noon?  I'd better take better notes!)

Tina

An Open Letter to the Host Who Served Pork

The host who served pork for the dinner promised Sister District supporters and donors sent a one sentence message with thanks and "I think it was a big success."

I responded.

You and Stephen Bronskill both spoke really eloquently.  It was exciting!  You have a lot of really supportive friends too.

Here's another cause we can all support, and we don't even have to drive to Modesto.    

We can do volunteer work for animal welfare and for the environment (all inhabitants) at every meal.

Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

A Question for Steve Newman of Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet

Dear Mr. Newman,

I am a big fan of Earthweek:  A Diary of the Planet and used to use it regularly with my students at City College of San Francisco.  (I'm now retired.)

What puzzles me, though, is that you never mention studies that show how our diet affects the planet.  

I thought you might mention the recent Oxford Study reported in Science, but I see nothing about that. 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth

Tina Martin, eating for the planet so the diary entries won't be so grim

Looking into Vegan Tours with dreamparisgetaway@vegnews.com

Here's the message I just got off to dreamparisgetaway@vegnews.com

I like the idea of taking a vegan tour with a group of vegans and supporting the vegan cause, but since I have friends in Paris and I know French (though not like a native), I'd like to check into what you have coming up later in countries where I don't have friends and don't know the language.

For example, will you have a tour of Rome?  I've never been there. 

I'd also be interested in Thailand and Russia.

Thank you!

Tina Martin, planning ahead. 

An Analogy after a Political Action Event

A friend (I sort of thought)  has worked hard to flip the states and had a political fund-raiser at her home last night for that purpose.  She promised dinner in return for our support.

Her guest gave a compelling speech, and I gave a donation.

Then dinner was set out, and it was a pork dish. 

Of course, I had plenty to eat at home, but I was disappointed.  Just this past week word came out that the kindest thing we can do for the environment (and that's not even considering the welfare of animals) is to have a plant-based diet.

Seeing that pork dish was like working hard to flip a state and finding out that people were still voting the same old way.

A Message to Peter Fimrite of the SF Chronicle

I sent the following message to Mr. Fimrite of the SF Chroncle:


Dear Mr. Fimrite,

Are you going to be reporting on the Oxford study led by Joseph Poore and recently reported in Science Magazine, the Guardian, and other media?

I follow your articles with great interest, but I think that the SF Chronicle under-reports the connection between climate weirding and what we eat or, to put it in more positive terms, the SF Chronicle needs to report more on ways we can move toward a plant-based diet in order to help the planet and all its inhabitants. 

Tina Martin

Science Journal Confirms What You Eat Matters!

Thanks to Carol Fregly, I have the news that the news is getting out that (like the title of the documentary I talked about yesterday) what you eat matters!

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth