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...

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Guerra Meats on Taraval Goes BEYOND MEAT!

A lovely and very fit young woman at the YMCA in Stonestown recently got married and told us we could see the wedding pictures on Facebook.  I saw reference to this young couple being vegan, and I wondered whether that was a joke because her father owns Guerra Meats on Taraval.

Today she was on the treadmill next to mine, so I asked her, and she said that she is a vegan, and now her husband is too.

I mentioned Beyond Meat, and she said her father sells that too!

http://guerrameats.com/contact.aspx

Back to Cybelle's for Another Delicious Meal

My friend and neighbor Anna and I went back to Cybelle's today.  Anna especially liked the Impossible Burger.  (We ordered both the Vegan Mermaid Sandwich and the Impossible Burger and tried both.)   

I also found out about the Brewfest n'Vegan Easts on Saturday, October 13 in Soma, where I hope to go with a friend visiting from Bisbee, Arizona!

After lunch we went acros the street where they have 12 vegan ice creams, but they weren't open until 1:00 so we went towards Irving and on the block between Irving and Lincoln, we found an ice cream shop where they have a chocolate vegan ice cream, and that was "closure" for our meal.

Open Letter #2 to Amy Dean of Crumpets and Tea

This is my open letter to Amy Dean, whose staff includes the people you see below--including one with  a vegan tattoo!

Dear Amy,

I was at the Legacy Film Festival this past Sunday and saw your lovely Tea and Crumpets room.  I was hoping that you now had a vegan tea--scones,crumpets, and other pastry free of dairy products and eggs, plant-based sandwiches, etc.  I was sorry to hear that you haven't yet succeeded in incorporating that into your tea service.  

I had hoped to treat a couple to tea at your place for their anniversary this month and/or for his birthday in October, but I don't want this to be a problem.

Can you tell me when you think you'll be ready to accommodate vegans?

As you may have heard, since I last wrote to you a couple of studies have pointed out how positive a step  a plant-based diet is for the environment.  You may also know that Berkeley Council, with this in mind, have passed a resolution that they will have only vegan dishes at their meetings and will have a meat-and-dairy-free day every week all government offices and will will encourage restaurants to offer more plant-based dishes while libraries and schools educate on this issue.

Many thanks if you've read this far.

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

Tina Martin

City of Berkeley First in Nation to Declare a Plant-Based Monday!

So...even if Michael Bauer of the SF Chronicle appears clueless, here's some good news in Berkeley, taken directly from Kate Cantrell's e-newletter.

After months of work by FFAC's Director of Strategic Partnerships, Amy Halpern-Laff, the City of Berkeley just became the first in the nation to pass a Green Monday resolution!

This is not just a symbolic victory. The resolution states that:

• The City Council will eat vegan meals before city council meetings
• All city-owned or -operated facilities will only serve plant-based meals on Mondays
• All libraries and community centers will host educational programming and displays
• The city will work with local restaurants to encourage them to feature plant-based Green Monday specials.

The resolution is already garnering lots of media attention, from ABC 7 news to SF Gate to LiveKindly.

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

https://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Vegan-government-Berkeley-City-Council-bans-meat-13232485.php%22Scientific

https://www.livekindly.co/berkeley-first-u-s-city-adopt-green-monday-campaign/

Michael Bauer's Lack of Consciousness

In yesterday's SF Chronicle, Michael Bauer, writing about Mina, who has Egyptian roots and 44 restaurants including 252 California, credit Egypt with being the real inventors of foie gras.  He based this on Egyptian hieroglyphics of ducks being force-fed.  He wouldn't want us to have made any progress in how we treat animals since Egyptian times.

Then, we he mentioned massive changes in the 33 years he's been the restaurant critic, he mentioned the economy, SF "as a beacon, an epicenter of food trends like open kitchens, communal tables, small plates, blending of bars and restaurants, organic sourcing, shorter menus, and a living wage.  He didn't make one mention of vegan or vegetarian, and maybe that's why SF has not been a leader in this important area.  Other cities are doing much better. 

It was disheartening that Justin Phillips didn't mention any vegan or vegan friendly restaurants in his long list of new restaurants:  Aar (where Aziza used to be), Isla Vida (Afro-Caribbean on Fillmore, connected to Farmerbrown in Tenderloin), etc. 

Open Letter to Seed the Commons

I really regret missing the gathering Sunday, September 9th. I hope there will be other such events. Do any of you know about the COP 23 labels on food according to their carbon footprint? I heard about this but never saw any pictures. I'm disappointed that the "In the Balance" display by Yunwen Tu (which Tara Duggan of the SF Chronicle reported on August 9, 2018) isn't on exhibit except Thursday nights at the Academy of Science. One other question: "What We Eat & How It's Grown: Food Systems" will be the focus at the Global Climate Action Summit on Thursday, September 13. How can we follow that? (I don't think we mere mortals are invited in.)

The Museum of African Diaspora Has a Chef-in-Residence

https://www.moadsf.org/chef-in-residence/




Bryant Terry, the author of Afro-Vegan, is MOAD's chef-in-residence!