A Submission to the San Francisco Chronicle

This is what I submitted to the SF Chronicle on Friday, July 28, 2017

Because I'm a very self-indulgent person who loves good food, I'm grateful that vegan dishes are more expansive and delicious than I once believed them to be.

We can do volunteer work alleviating the suffering of animals in factory farms and minimalizing destruction of the environment every time we have a vegan meal.

The Chronicle has published a number of good articles on this subject, and I'd like to suggest another:  A regular mention of vegan entrees in the review of restaurants.  (I don't mean a side dish or pasta with meat and dairy removed from it.)

 If the restaurant critic always asked, even if he (usually Michael Bauer) could only report "There was no vegan entree," that would inform the reader and maybe even encourage restaurants to be more creative and, in the process, kinder to all life on this planet.

Bio:

I am a retired CCSF instructor who taught and trained teachers on five continents and became a vegan when I realized that animals did not romp happily about all their lives until they landed on my plate.

SF Chronicle Readers Finish Tara Dugan's Article on Vegans

Flirting with French Author William Alexander on the Subject of Veal

In his very entertaining Flirting with French:  How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me & Nearly Broke My Heart,  William Alexander makes some good observation.  On the subject of
rognons de veau, veal kidney's,  for example:

"We Americans raise calves but eat veal, I suppose to gloss over the fact that we're eating a young animal that was adorably drinking milk from a baby's bottle a few days ago, while the French, who are far less squeamish about their food sources, matter-of-factly and merrily raise, slaughter, and then eat calf."

Isn't Faux Meat Processed Food?

Javier and I ate at Enjoy Vegetarian on Kirkham today, and I tried NOT to get a dish with faux meat because I was thinking that it was, after all, processed food.

Back home I Googled and got this:

http://www.motherjones.com/food/2015/01/fake-meat-snob-no-more/

The Mother Jones writer makes reference to a New York Times Magazine article by Mark Bittman.

"Separate but Equal" in the Vegan-Meat & Dairy World

In the 1960's in the South where I grew up, races were segregated in what were said to be "separate but equal" schools (neighborhood, parts of the bus, water fountains)--a bold lie.  There was no equality.

Now I think the vegan movement has something in common with the Civil Rights Movement.  When African-Americans (then called Negroes and Colored People) were sitting down at lunch counters, it wasn't to get lunch.  It was to change practices to something fairer and better.

When I eat vegan, maybe it does help me physically, but I'm not doing it for dietary reasons.  I'm doing it because I believe in the cause, and--sometimes surprisingly--the vegan options are truly "equal" to those that involve cruelty to animals and harm to the environment.

So why, when vegan "options" are so delicious, do hosts feel that they have to offer meat and dairy?

I went to an absolutely wonderful luncheon where the host offered "real" cream cheese and vegan cream cheese.  She said, "You can't tell the difference."

Then why make vegan only an "option"?

By Chloe, the McDonald's of Vegan Fast Food?

Javier sent me a link for this article claiming that By Chloe wants to be the McDonald's of Vegan Fast Food.  I think it's much better than that.

http://www.businessinsider.com/by-chloes-explosive-expansion-plan-2017-7

Of course, I realize they're talking about popularity, not quality.

Quality By Chloe has, by Jove!

"Heart-Smart, Low-Sodium" at Thoda Goldman Found Vegan "Least Successful"

Rhoda Goldman Plaza have occasional "Adventure Dinners," according to an article I read in SF Weekly, part of its cover story:

http://www.sfweekly.com/news/feature/caution-seniors-crossing/

"We even did a vegan and raw one, which was our least successful.  I don't know why."

I wonder what they served.  I don't like raw food.  I don't like cold food, either.