Recommending "Eat for the Planet"

Here's what I've written on Amazon for a short review of Eat for the Planet:  Saving the World One Bite at a Time by Nil Zacharias and Gene Stone.

This book is a clear, concise, well-illustrated and well-documented guide to how our choice of food can better affect the world we live in.  Nil Zacharias is my hero because his podcast interviews bring so much hope of and for a changing world--a better, healthier, more compassionate world--and this book furthers that cause.  I'm buying multiple copies to give as gifts to people who really do care.

Eat for the Planet is a well-illustrated and well-documented must read

Showing Kitchens HOW to Make Vegan Food

More places want to include vegan options on their menus but don't know how.  Here's what Kristie Middleton and her Human Society are doing.  (Copied from the transcripts of her interview on One Green Planet, Nil Zacharia's podcast.

...we were very fortunate to bring on several food service professionals who had decades of experience in working within that field, who we could use to advise us on best practices, and then ultimately, what we decided to do was develop a culinary program. So, now we have several chefs on our team who go to institutions and do hands-on, in-the-kitchen training for culinarians, and that's really flipped the notion of plant-based food on its head for many people.

I mentioned the culinary training that we do. We have now three chefs on our team that travel across the country and deliver hands-on, in-the-kitchen training to chefs, and I'll just share that I feel like that's been one of our most popular and most important tools, because we have chefs who come into the kitchen with a real bad notion of what plant-based food is.

                They have some preconceived ideas, they're not excited to be there, and I've literally gotten feedback on one of our surveys that said, "I came in wondering what these jerks were going to teach me about eating vegetables, and I left having completely changed my mind," because we're showing them food that is really simple to make, that's just taking the techniques that they are used to using and using soy milk instead of milk, or Earth Balance instead of margarine. So, we're serving really decadent, delicious foods, but they happen to be vegan. 

Kristie Middleton Interviewed on Nil Zacharia's Eat for the Planet

I can best sum up how wonderful this podcast by sharing my e-letter to Kristie Middleton:

Dear Kristie,

I was listening to a podcast of Nil Zacharia's interview with a woman who sounded phenomenal in what she was doing and how she was doing it at institutions like hospitals, schools, and universities.

I kept listening for her name, and as you may know, it was YOU!

Is there any way that I could get the written transcripts of your talk?   I was interested in particular details like what happened in Colorado, where at first there was protest (from a meat-industry area) and then when some higher up asked the woman you were dealing with just how important the Meatless Monday was, she said--in spite of not being a vegetarian or vegan--that it was very important.  If I remember correctly, they continued with the program and it was a success.

When WeWork made the announcement that it wouldn't pay for any of its employees' meat meals, people were interviewed for CBS, and it was great to hear people who weren't vegetarians say, "Well, I'm not a vegetarian, but I  think it's a good idea from a carbon footprint perspective."  and "I like the planet too."  

The news show begins with an inaccurate statement that WeWork was "forcing everyone to go vegetarian" because of course they're not forcing anyone to do anything.  They just won't PAY for meat, so they're encouraging their employees not to eat it, but they're permitting people to bring whatever they would like from home.  

Anyway, you did a SUPER job in the interview, which of course was based on your work!  If you can't send me the transcripts, could you tell me where I could get the full report?

Many thanks!

Tina Martin (who got to meet you at the SF Public Library a few months ago)

For Goodness Seyks over "Dominion"

Here you see first name is Seyka (say-kuh) Mejeur and her husband Brian, a couple I met at the Wellness Center at Opera Plaza before seeing part of the documentary "Dominion," about how abused animals are before they  land on the plates of people who eat meat and dairy.

She has the start-up company you see the business card for below.

I wrote to her and got a nice response and good info.

Her blog pages can be found at www.forgoodnessseyks.com/blog    It  focuses on recipes, vegan travel, and vegan lifestyle.

Her restaurant advising webpage is at www.forgoodnessseyks.com  She says that having more of the same material on the website has search engines like Google recognize her as a worthwhile site!

The menu on this page has an "About Us" section which talks about her and Brian, and it discusses the offer they have for restaurants. 

I don't use Instagram, but her instagram pages have content and postings every day.  She says, "The more awareness I can build around my brand, the more able I am to make an impact and save more animals!"

Her lifestyle instagram is at www.instagram.com/forgoodnessseyks and her food-focused instagram is www.instagram.com/forgoodnessseyks_foodie.

She says she would love to connect on Instagram.

President of NYC's biggest borough goes vegan

Here's something showing right on our computers--and it's only a few minutes long. Is this true, or is it junk science? I'm sure a plant-based diet is kinder to animals and to the environment, but I wonder sometimes about the claims of a miraculous cure. Still, I'm sure it's healthy if not miraculous.

https://www.forksoverknives.com/adams/#gs.TMnsGGI

The Prompt and Encouraging Response from the Food Editor

This prompt and respectful response gives me hope!

Hi Ms. Martin,

Thank you for your very thoughtful and considerate note. You make some great points about the importance of vegetarian/vegan cuisine in the Bay Area. While I agree that it’d be difficult to solely focus on such restaurants and issues, I certainly can say that we should – and can – make it more of a priority. For example, I very much like the idea of listing vegetarian friendly options along with every review. Such tidbits are important to readers like you, and that’s what matters to us.

Thanks for the feedback! And for taking the time.

All the best,

Paolo

Paolo Lucchesi

Food Editor, San Francisco Chronicle

o: 415.777.7670 | c: 650.201.4202

plucchesi@sfchronicle.com | @lucchesi

An Open Letter to the Food Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle

Dear Paolo Lucchesi,

Thank you for saying that you want to hear from your readers.

It's my hope that whoever is the chief reviewer of restaurants after Michael Bauer will make the connect between what we read in the SF Chronicle about livestock and the environment and what we eat.

Far from encouraging vegan restaurants and vegan-friendly restaurants, Michael Bauer didn't list ONE vegan or vegetarian restaurant in his 100 Best, and then he based subsequent reviews on the 100 Best--as in Best Burgers--so he couldn't possibly include those from vegan or vegetarian restaurants.

We read of the suffering of factory-farmed animals in the Chronicle, and then we read praise for  meat-heavy restaurants.

We read of  WeWork's stand, for the good of the environment,  against meals including meat, and then we read more praise for  meat-heavy restaurants.

Jonathan Kaufmann often reports on vegetarian restaurants, and that's a step in the right direction.  After all, a couple of years ago, the National Restaurant Association recommended that all restaurants have at least one vegetarian entree --in order to meet diners' demands.  

In 2017 The National Restaurant Association said that vegan and vegetarian dishes  are "gaining momentum as permanent features on restaurant menus. Simultaneously, veggie-centric cuisine continues to heat up, indicating that plant-focused diets are increasingly embraced by both chefs and consumers."  You can see that this is just about meeting demands, not about taking a stand to protect animals and the environment.

This is my plea:  Hire someone who will regularly report on a vegan entree. (I mean those free of eggs and dairy as well as meat and seafood.)   I know there aren't enough vegan restaurants for you to go exclusively to those, and I'm sure you want to continue reviewing restaurants of all kinds.

But the SF Chronicle could make a practice of ALWAYS asking about the warm vegan entree as well as the other courses.  That would encourage every restaurant to include at least one.  Then every review of a restaurant could describe other dishes as well as the vegan one.  If there is no vegan entree, the reviewer can state that.

Another thing the SF Food Section can do is always include recipes free of meat, egg, and dairy.  There are thousands out there.

There are delicious dishes that are completely vegan.

You could do profiles on vegan chefs.

Here's a quote from this Sunday's Food Section:

"I want the opposite of what usually happens.  We're in the Bay Area, the center for innovation..."  Skenes

Justin Phillips article about Saquib Keval is called "Rise of the revolutionaries."   Making ethical choices in what we eat is certainly a form of social justice.  ALL people benefit.

It's really time that the restaurant section of the SF Chronicle caught up with the reporting in other sections of the newspaper.

You can be wonderfully, deliciously pro-active.

Your hopeful reader,

Tina Martin

Kielbasa and Vegan Essentials

I just got a response from the people I contacted about the disappearance of Kielbasa.  She said the most effective action would be to tell the store of my request.  I've done that!

Melissa Bauer (Tofurky)

Jul 16, 09:58 PDT

Hi there,
Thanks for thinking of Tofurky. I will let our sales rep in your area know that you're looking for the kielbasa, but it always helps to ask your local store manager to take it in - consumers have the most pull at store-level :) 
Additionally, you might also want to check out veganessentials.com.

Thanks, 
Melissa Bauer
The Tofurky Company
1-541-386-7766 Ext.19

veganessentials.com

WeWork Bans Meat

WeWork bans meat for employees expensing meals, at company events

USA TODAY NETWORKJoshua Hafner, USA TODAYPublished 1:52 p.m. ET July 14, 2018 | Updated 4:20 p.m. ET July 14, 2018

(Photo: Scott Olson, GETTY IMAGES)

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If WeWork employees want a burger while on business, the money is coming out of their own pockets. The global workplace startup told employees this week that the company will ban employees from expensing meals that contain red meat, pork or poultry, Bloomberg reported.

The company won't provide meat for events at its 400 locations, either — part of an effort to reduce its environmental footprint.

"New research indicates that avoiding meat is one of the biggest things an individual can do to reduce their personal environmental impact, even more than switching to a hybrid car," WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey said in an email to staffers.

The no-meat policy will also affect self-serve food kiosks at many of WeWork's 400 locations worldwide, according to Bloomberg. Employees wanting "medical or religious" exceptions can hash those out with a company policy team.

The Question of Bees

Maybe you've seen a very funny YouTube video in which two vegan brothers plead with us NOT to say that we won't eat honey.  They're afraid people will think we're fanatics and dismiss everything else we say.

They urge us NOT to eat honey but also not to SAY we don't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2V3J7HLds4

I've been curious about reasons for not eating honey, and this is what I found from Nil Zacharia's One Green Planet today:
. 

Bees are a huge part of our ecosystem, pollinating 71 of the 100 crops that provide 90% of most of the world's food. Imagine no almonds, fewer apples and strawberries, and worse, no coffee or chocolate. 

In just two days, the Austin City Council will vote on a resolution that would ban bee-killing pesticides from use on city lands. With roughly one third of our precious pollinators dying off each and every year, we know that they need all the help they can get, and this would be a great step in the right direction. 

Add your voice right now to help save the bees.

The resolution would also drastically limit the use of dangerous chemicals with links to cancer like glyphosate and chlorpyrifos, a clear victory for consumers and public health. 

By signing our petition in support of this resolution, you are a part of a pro-consumer, pro-public health movement that is working to make Texas better. It is with your help that we can advance an agenda that benefits each and every one of us. 

It still leaves me with the question of what's wrong with honey from bees that have been protected from pesticides

Anyway, here's the link to the petition:

https://www.thepetitionsite.com/922/051/415/save-the-bees-in-austin/?TAP=1732&utm_source=Green+Monster+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=8fe081210e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_07_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbf62ddf34-8fe081210e-107079357

After Taking the Survey Provided by AcuMeal

Here's the letter I wrote to this group of very smart, young vegans behind the start-up AcuMeal.

Hello, again!

I finally had the chance to take your survey, and I just want to explain some of the answers:

How many hours I sleep:  I have what is called segmented sleep, and as I say, I like it.  If you're not familiar with that way of sleeping, I can send you some links on it.  But because of this way of sleeping, I can't really say what time I wake up or go to sleep because I do it more than once a day or night.  (I first heard about this in 1971 from someone who was first in his class in Denmark.)

Letter of Recommendation: Segmented Sleep

Letter of Recommendation: Segmented Sleep It’s not insomnia if you stay up voluntarily.

"If you work out, what do you do the most?"

I'm not sure that my rate of walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes at 4.5 miles per hour every other day is really enough for me to say "Cardio," but I don't know what else a treadmill would be.

I also work with 6 weight machines, but I'm not sure that's really "weight training."

"What are your goals with/in your diet?"

My goal is not to contribute to animal suffering and environmental degradation that comes with dairy, eggs, and meat production.  Losing weight is not my goal, but it couldn't hurt.

For preferred cuisine, I chose Indian, Ethiopian, and Thai, but it really depends.  Did you know that the Shizen Restaurant in SF was voted Best Japanese Restaurant in 2016, and it's VEGAN?  I like vegan Japanese restaurants like Shizen and Cha-ya, but I wouldn't say that generally Japanese is my favorite cuisine.  

This may be more than you want or need to know, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what some (weird?) people might need to tell you beyond your form.

Thank you!

Tina

Graduates from CCSF's Culinary Arts Program

Wonderful People Who Invite but Don't Include

What would you do if you were invited to an anniversary  luncheon for two people you love, and you see in advance that the menu has no vegan options?

The friends who invited you have shown you the menu and asked for comments.

What should you say?

"I notice that the menu doesn't have anything vegans can eat.  Should I and any other vegans you know plan to come to the gathering after lunch?  That way we could still honor one of our favorite couples!"

OR

"What a shame that this restaurant doesn't offer anything that vegans can eat.  Do you think they could add vegan options, or should vegans plan to arrive after the lunch is over?"

The only other option is to sit there and not eat a thing, but I don't think it would be right to bring this up after we're seated.

I don't think we should call the restaurant directly, but I would like to know how a restaurant can be so far behind the times.  I imagine that they have vegan options but haven't been advised to make them available.

AcuMeal Presented for Wellness Central

Three very impressive high school students, Shua Cho, Christie Weche, and Matthew Huo, presented their AcuMeal Vegan Startup at the Wednesday gathering of Wellness Central on July 4, 2018.  (Yes, even on the Fourth of July we met although we had to move from Opera Plaza to St. Cyprians.)

Their website  is www.acumeal.com as you can see from the flyer.


Christie came all the way from Kenya.  All three are participating in LeanGap at SFSU. 

https://www.activityhero.com/biz/54113-leangap-cambridge-ma/105888-summer-program