I just sent a message to Caleb Pershan, whose cover article "Cookies put to the taste test/Of 23 chocolate chip treats, we pick the top 10 in the Bay Area" filled the Food + Wine section of the SF Chronicle.

I

Vegan cookies?

Yahoo/Sent

• Fri, Dec 22 at 8:45 AM

  
  
• Dear Cabel Pershan,

  
  

  Please let me know if you included cookies free of dairy and eggs in the big spread in the SF Chronicle December 17.  

  
  

  Because we now know that for animal welfare and the environment, a movement towards plant-based is very important, I think for ethical reasons, periodicals like the SF Chronicle should always include plant-based food items.    

  
  

  Unfortunately, even "Modern Vegetarian" had chocolate chip cookies asking for butter and eggs.  

  
  

  I make chocolate chip cookies regularly, and non-vegan friends devour them enthusiastically.  

  
  

  Hopefully,

  Tina Martin

Then, as I was taking a picture of the spread, I caught the word "vegan"   It turns out that the chocolate chip halawa cookie from Reem's California scored in first place out of 23 chocolate chip cookies tested.  But even though the article identifies it as vegan,  the caption doesn't. If it had, it would alerted readers to the fact that vegan can be delicious.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/best-chocolate-chip-cookie-18459775.php

 I just sent a message to the planning committee of a party the AFT 2121 Retirees are giving.  Wendy is the person picking up dishes from the Jo-Jo Cafe on Ocean.

Thank you so much for this, Wendy.  I don't want to complicate your task or that of anyone else on this committee, but I would feel hypocritical if I didn't express a couple of thoughts:

1.  It's great that you can accommodate people who are gluten intolerant.  That's really an important health measure for some people.  

2.  Some people are to nuts, some are allergic to dairy--milk, butter.  There may be some who are allergic to eggs.   I'm not allergic to anything except the idea that we're torturing animals in factory farms and endangering the lives of workers, and almost all of our meat, eggs, and dairy come from factory farms, and animals that are really cage-free aren't sustainable.   Also, I believe that we really do need to pay attention to our carbon footprint, and vegetarianism helps moderately and veganism helps a lot.  So when we provide vegan dishes, we're doing it not for picky vegans but for animal welfare, workers, and the environment.   

Thank you for labeling the food so people know what's gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan.  

Tina

I suspect that people will ignore this rather than be confrontational about it.  I doubt that anyone will give me support.

We'll see.  In the meantime, here's a montage I made of some of the vegan dishes I've eaten so far this year.

 Blossom and Root Kitchen in Danville was our  "dining destination" yesterday, and we marveled over their cheese among many other dishes.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/vegan-cheese-climax-foods-18341676.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2ZjaHJvbmljbGUuY29tL2Zvb2QvcmVzdGF1cmFudHMvYXJ0aWNsZS92ZWdhbi1jaGVlc2UtY2xpbWF4LWZvb2RzLTE4MzQxNjc2LnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTcwMTY1MjUzODE3OA%3D%3D&rid=OTVhYjllOTktZTBjNy00NDgyLWIyY2ItMDYwNTljYzQ0OGM0&sharecount=MA%3D%3D

Have you heard of Climax Cheese?
 

 I almost finished my Thanksgiving montage greeting.  The second montage looks kind of crappy because the sentences, while sincere, stick out as "home made."  But I do feel grateful for all the delicious vegan dishes available.  (The ones on the first montage were dishes we had our week in NYC in November.)

The World Vegan Fest on Sunday, October 22 was held in the County Fair Building right next door to the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park--on 9th Avenue off of Lincoln--and I think it was a success in spite of being scaled down, with everything--including speakers and cooks--in one huge room--no breakout rooms.  

Three friends joined me at different times.  

More later!

 

Just ferried back from lunch with two friends in Sausalito, where we ate at the Spinnaker.  I think my vegan  pasta primavera (vegan pesto) was the best thing at our table!

 

I'm putting the happy ending at the beginning--this lovely vegan spread!  As you know, I'm paying attention to what "progressive" organizations serve.  I noticed that at the memorial for Father Louie, who promoted non-violence, there was no meat.  The key speaker last night at Bay Area Transit Rider First Awards was Nayeli Maxson Velasquez, a public transit advocate who spoke on her environmental concerns--causing her and her family to go car-free, one of the most effective ways to lower our individual carbon footprint. another way is to have a vegan diet, and someone had ordered quite an array of meat.

I'm happy that the person shown here is starting at the more environmental-friendly end of the table!

 

 

Phil Ting's Community Forum was held this morning at the east wing of the California Academy of Sciences, and it was really good.  At one point Phil Ting said, "We're our own worst enemy" in terms of wanting roads but not the gas tax, housing but not in our neighborhoods.  He also gave as an example "We know we should eat less meat and more vegetables, but we go on eating meat and not many vegetables."  

What about the breakfast offered, catered I guess by Constellation Culinary, which shows slices of meat to form its C.

Here's what I found online about the California Academy of Sciences:  

The Academy Café and Terrace Restaurant serve local, organic, and seasonal cuisine, while minimizing the environmental impact with reusable and compostable packaging and an eco-minded recycling program.

What about minimizing the environmental impact by offering plant-based?  

They did offer a generous serving of fruit.  But what about having a plant-based bun with some plant-based protein?  

I sent this message online on Monday, October 2, 2023:

...The breakfast town hall at the California Academy of Sciences was wonderful--really informative with everyone on the team working together. At one point Phil Ting said "We are our own worst enemies" in the context of wanting services but not taxes,  housing but not in our neighborhood.   Another example he gave was "We know we should eat less meat and more vegetables, but we eat more meat and fewer vegetables."  Since we know a plant-based diet is healthier, and plant-based is also better for the environment, could there be a plant-based option along with the sausage, egg, and cheese?   The California Academy of Sciences even had a display showing food and the carbon footprint of each.  I'm sure there are very few vegans at these town halls, but you'd be doing something good for the planet as well as the palate if  you offered a vegan sandwich with protein.  

PS  The beautiful fruit salad was appreciated even though it didn't substitute for a warm plant-based sandwich.

I really believe in supporting labor, but it's a shame when one good cause sabotages another, and when people who are so aware of the importance of advocating for jobs, pensions, and health benefits appear to be unaware of how they're contributing to animal abuse and environmental degradation through their diets.  People are aware of vegetarians now.  The lunch provided for us participants in a rally urging Governor Newsom to sign AB 316 were turkey, beef, and vegetarian.  There was no vegan offering even though it's now an established fact that having a vegan diet is one of the four most effective ways to lower our carbon footprint.  Not even the Doritos that came with our lunch were vegan; they had nacho cheese.

When I first got on the bus, someone was passing out pork buns.  Then a favorite supervisor, Connie Chan, came aboard to greet us and provide Mochi donuts--not yet vegan.  

I wish people understood that vegan lunches aren't for the tiny number of vegans that might be present but for animal welfare (and that continues human animals working in terrible conditions in factory farms) and the environment.

 

I went to the Bizerkeley Food Fest--all vegan food--this morning. We all got OVER 21 bracelets if we were of drinking age.  But I just ate.  I'd already begged the owner of a nail salon to let me use their bathroom because some of my early-morning kale-banana-tahini-almond milk smoothie was still with me.  I gave her a $5 tip even though she tried to dismiss it.  

I'll be back tomorrow with photos of the food!

 

 My friend Tom chose Sky Cafe, a vegan restaurant, for his birthday celebration even though he's not vegan. I made the cake in the forefront, and Sky Cafe made the lemon meringue pie. 

A few months ago we'd gone there after we saw something in the Food Section of the SF Chronicle on a vegan Eggs Benedicte!

We found them delicious and "convincing."  We tried some new dishes today:

Gracias Madre, where I went with Jeanne Tillemans and Tomi Cunningham shortly after it opened, with Vilma and Bill in 2013, with Jonathan for Mother's Day 2022, with these friends and most recently with Kathie Piccagli for her 80th birthday, is closing because of the "deterioration" in the neighborhood.  

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/gracias-madre-vegan-mexican-restaurant-closes-sf-location-over-deteriorated-city-conditions/#:~:text=Business-,Vegan%20Mexican%20restaurant%20Gracias%20Madre%20closes,say%20San%20Francisco%20has%20'deteriorated'&text=SAN%20FRANCISCO%20%E2%80%93%20After%2016%20years,Gracias%20Madre%20closed%20this%20week.

 

  Vegan Greek dinner with Mamma Mia

My newly-growing cucumbers, gift of Tom Shiosaka,  provided part of last night's Greek salad for our dinner to go along with a viewing of  the 2008 movie Mamma Mia.

I forgot to take a picture of the pilaf, and Erika brought a delicious carrot salad.

 

 I haven't yet tried the plant-based fish fillets I bought at Trader Joe's this morning, so this post may be more of vegan dilemma than vegan bliss.  I'm sort of in charge of planning the birthday lunch for a birthday group, and the person we're honoring (a wonderful guy) suggested dim sum at the Hong Kong Lounge on Geary Street.  I know it will be heavily meat, seafood, and eggy, which is unfortunate since there are restaurants that specialize in vegan dim sum.  But I don't think I have the "right" to choose a vegan place when no one has asked me to.  A few months ago, a member of our group did suggest that I choose the restaurant for her birthday because we so often eat at places with not many options for me.    That's when we ate at Wildseed.  Here's a montage of photos of what everyone could eat there followed by the 12-course Lunar New Year dinner the SF Veg Society had at Enjoy this year.  

Just to show how little some parts of  the world have evolved, I noticed in today's Food Section of the SF Chronicle (which reports regularly on climate catastrophe) these two headlines:  “a rare registered Jamon carver" and “Hot pot spot serves meat on a Ferris wheel.”  

 I don't know anything about this prisoner, but I am upset to learn that prisons don't accommodate vegan diets--just vegetarian ones.  That seems to be true of The San Francisco Chronicle's Food and Wine section too.  This is true in spite of the fact that vegan diets are much kinder to the environment than diets with animals or animal products and of course they're better in alleviating the suffering of animals in factory farms.  

Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, presiding over Tuesday's hearing, told Bankman-Fried's attorneys that she would not overrule Kaplan's rulings about access to computers, but that she would see if she could get the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to provide medications and a diet more closely aligned to the defendant's vegan preferences.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sam-bankman-fried-living-bread-water-jail-wont-abide-vegan-diet-lawyer-rcna101231

Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn said she doesn’t think the prison can offer vegan, only vegetarian, and she said she would look into the situation right away. Bankman-Fried is currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

I'm now listening to The Vegan by Andrew Lipstein on audio.  I saw a review from the Los Angeles Times (Stuart Miller) that ends like this:  "Herschel is the book’s only fully fleshed out character, and since he’s not only tough to stomach but an empty soul, “The Vegan,” for all its flavorful scenes, ultimately leaves you wishing for a little more red meat."

Unfortunate.

 

How wonderful to find this on our way from Manny's to the 16th Street BART station!  Volunteers for Food Not Bombs were feeding people what looked like a great meal.  I asked, "Anything vegan?" and they said, "It's all vegan!"  It's so wonderful when a good cause doesn't sabotage another!
 

 

Good news!  The next Climate Summit or Climate Change Conference COP 28 (November 30 to December 12) will serve mostly vegan food! 

https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/cop-28-uae-un-climate-summit-serve-mostly-vegan-food-leaked-controvers/

  A few years ago--maybe it was in Copenhagen?--they showed what each food selection did in terms of  the "weight" of the carbon footprint.  Here's something I cut and pasted from the article:

It comes after a pivotal study in Nature Food https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00795-w last month outlined the significant impact of animal agriculture on climate change. It found that vegan diets can cut planet-heating emissions, land use and water pollution by 75% when compared to meat-heavy diets. Similarly, a 2021 report https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00358-x in the same journal revealed that global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based food are twice as high as those from plant-based food.

I'm sorry to say that the delegate representing the host country is sitting beside a bottle of water--not his own water bottle.  But, hey, let's celebrate what we can!

 

I went to a lovely luncheon this past Sunday and brought two dishes--a vegan quiche and lemon cake.  The hostess very kindly provided two delicious salads (and even used vegan mayonnaise) as well as the not-vegan cheese and not-vegan croissants.  It was all very lovely.  

I noticed that one person, hearing that that I'd made the quiche and knowing that I'm vegan, served herself a miniscule portion of it.  But others seemed to like both of the dishes I made as well as what the hostess had prepared.

We all asked for her recipe for her cabbage salad, and she sent us the non-vegan mayonnaise version.

It saddens me to know that some people think a vegan diet is for vegans.  I wish they understood that it's for all animals (including human ones) and for the planet.