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!