Australia

New vegan chicken pizzas by Fry’s

by

Great news, pizza lovers!

The Fry Family Food Co. has just launched two amazing-looking vegan pizzas featuring their legendary chicken-style strips.

Both the Smoky BBQ Woodfired Pizza and the Mediterranean Woodfired Pizza feature the chicken-style strips and are currently being sold by Coles supermarkets all around Australia.

The famous meat-free brand has suggested on social media that the pizzas will start to make their way into other stores soon and as they are made in Italy, it would make sense to find them in the UK before too long.

Yay for vegan pizza!

You can follow Fry Family Food Co. on Instagram.

My childhood memories of animals

by

This is an exclusive excerpt from my book Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t. Published by Nourish.

My auntie Jackie once took me to the circus and you had better believe me when I say the animals outnumbered the humans. I lost track of the number of creatures forced to jump through flaming hoops, walk on wires or drive tiny motor vehicles.

I had grown a lot taller than other children my age by the time my circus trip was foisted upon me and the donkey assigned to carry me around the ring did not look pleased with the prospect. My brown-corduroy adorned legs dragged in the dirt as the hot lights beat down and depraved-looking clowns smirked at the tall kid on the sad donkey. I’m fairly certain that was my final experience at any form of circus, but I think more due to the mortification and shame felt by me rather than concern for animal welfare.

Christmas in my hometown was always brutal. First of all, it was always sweltering hot and furthermore we had the joy of sitting around with relatives ranging from mildly to wildly racist. Animals featured heavily Christmas day, from the pig-now-called-ham wrapped in a water- soaked pillow case to keep it fresh to the family dog sitting under the table hoping for scraps. Prawns, crabs, chickens and turkeys who used to all be alive at some point were scattered around the buffet in order for me and the people I didn’t like all that much to experience festive cheer.

So, animals were absolutely everywhere in my life as a child in Australia, but I honestly didn’t give them much more thought than what I have described above. Not one adult explained to me the difference between prawns on the table and the dog under it. Understanding how animals lived and died was not my concern. I was socialised into thinking animals were available to eat, wear and prod with sticks unquestionably.

That’s what I think I have in common with a lot of you turning these pages right this moment.

Reflect for a moment on just how much animals were used in your young life, but how little thought was given to the how, what, when and why. Did adults and people responsible for your emotional growth explain the process of factory farm to dining table? The shark took a chunk from the turtle (another story from this chapter) just as I watched crabs being boiled alive in my kitchen at Christmas time, but they were all just ‘things’ in my mind. Objects. Just like the pine cones and the cliffs and the polished glass fragments at the seaside.

I didn’t understand that these animals were capable of fear and pain because nobody told me, and I would bet my last block of tofu they didn’t tell you either.

If you would like to get hold of a copy of this book, you can order online via Amazon.

If you are in the UK, you can order online via The Hive. This is a great way to support your local independent retailers as your order will be fulfilled by a high street store.

You can also buy directly from independent vegan businesses such as What The Pitta in Brighton, Essential Vegan in Shoreditch, and Ms Cupcake in Brixton.

You can also buy online from Foyles and WH Smith.

Vegan store damaged in fire

by

There has been some bad news this week out of Melbourne, Australia.

The Cruelty Free Shop in Fitzroy was severely damaged as a fire that started in the back alley behind the shop quickly spread to the shop, destroying stock and equipment in the process.

See a post made by the store owners below.

The store has asked for support in the form of people ordering stock through their online store. This will help them get back on their feet following on from the fire as quickly as possible.

The online store houses more than 3,500 products!

Of course they ship all over Australia, but unfortunately they do not send goods internationally.

If you don’t live in Australia but would like to support the Cruelty Free Shop in their efforts to rebuild the Fitzroy shop, now would be a great time to order a box of goodies for your Australia-based friends and family.

Click here to shop now.

FGV book in Australia

by

I was tagged in a fabulous post on social media a few days ago.

As you all know (because I never shut up about it), my first ever book titled Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t was published a few months ago.

But in news that has just reached me, my book is now available in Australia!

It’s a nice feeling to know this book is finally available to buy in the country where I spent my formative years.

There are so many stories from Australia packed into the book, from my childhood spent marauding across Queensland beaches to my young adult years in Sydney share houses.

If you are in Australia and would like to buy a copy, you can ask your local independent bookstore to order it in. Alternatively, you can order online from Booktopia.

Follow this vegan band

by

One of my favourite bands out of Australia is Love Like Hate.

Heather and Sonja write, record, and perform irresisitible and atmospheric pop music.

I was encouraged to remind you about them after I saw the following Instagram post from the band.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkD-EBrF1Ra/

Love Like Hate isn’t just a vehicle for fantastic music, the people involved are also fierce social justice advocates. Both Heather and Sonja are long term vegans and both are continually using their platform to speak out against injustice.

Please take some time to listen to Love Like Hate over on Bandcamp.

Follow Love Like Hate on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Vegan eatery in Melbourne

by

I’m not sure I’ve ever been so impressed by vegan food photos.

When I stumbled across the Instagram account for Melbourne café Olivia Spring Café, my mind went straight into overdrive with plans on how and when I could visit Australia again.

Before I show you a few of my favourite photos, take a read of this description of the business and how they got their name:

Cute cosy cafe serving the most affordable and delicious vegan food – Genuinely welcoming service and fresh ingredients ONLY! We’re very particular about food from the way we make them to how we serve them on your plate. We want to bring healthy plant-based cuisine closer to as many people as possible. Olivia Spring Cafe is a family business, named after our daughter Olivia who was born in Spring time. She’s the soul of the place, playful and talkative. You’ll probably see her in the weekends, hanging around telling tales or dancing.

This is a great addition to the Melbourne vegan scene.

You can follow Olivia Spring Café on Facebook and Instagram. You can see the exact location of the café thanks to Google Maps.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg1-iXlD3rf/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgcO4U-lbP8/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf9S1_wDkkI/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdvsgHXjEGF/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcvNXVIjqvB/

Lord of the Fries goes vegan

by

Legendary Australian and New Zealand fast food chain Lord of the Fries has just announced that ALL of their outlets are now fully vegan.

This is absolutely huge news.

I’ve spent a few drunken nights chomping into their luscious fries and nuggets in Melbourne and in my absence from Australia, the chain has grown and grown.

Lord of the Fries now has outlets all over including two in Sydney, nine (!!!) around Victoria, solo stores in Parramatta, Perth, Glenelg, Adelaide and the Gold Coast plus two more over the water in Auckland, New Zealand.

This place is unstoppable and now it is fully vegan. Burgers, fries, nuggets, hot dogs, breakfast items, shakes and more are ALL VEGAN.

Follow Lord of the Fries on Instagram.

World’s largest vegan grocery store

by

HUGE news coming out of Australia today.

I previously posted about The Cruelty Free Shop, an Australian grocery store chain with outlets in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne as well as online shopping. You can see that post here.

The big development today is that the Melbourne store has relocated to a site which the owner claims makes it the largest vegan grocery store on the planet.

The Cruelty Free Shop website says of the launch:

We’re pleased to announce that we are opening the biggest vegan shop in the world in Melbourne on Wednesday 12 April 2017.

Our new store will have more than 3500 different vegan products with all sorts of foods including 50+ vegan cheeses, as well as fashion, cosmetics, coffee, cake, hot pies, fruit & veg, and more.

From humble beginnings, the Cruelty Free Shop started as an online store based out of Jessica Bailey’s spare room in Sydney. We now have five stores across Australia and the widest range of vegan products in the country.

Our Melbourne store has also grown over the years and it’s now bursting at the steams at its current location so we are moving it around the corner to 124 Johnston Street, Fitzroy (just a five minute walk or two minute drive from the current location).

Be sure to visit our new store to check out the 1000+ amazing new items we’ll have in stock, grab a coffee, view the Edgar’s Mission photo gallery and stock up on all the very best vegan products from local, Australian and international businesses. Every Saturday we also have free food tastings of delicious new products and old favourites.

Thank you to all our wonderful customers who have made this possible and supported us over the past 15 years.

Wow.

More than 3,500 products certainly puts this up their as the largest vegan store of which I know.

You should follow Cruelty Free Shop on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter no matter where you live in the world and take the time to wish them continued success.

If you are in Australia and would like to know the exact location of the new giant shop, click here to get the info via Google Maps.

Meat lobbying body to sponsor LGBTQ event

by

Activists in Australia were left stunned and upset following the announcement by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras committee that the meat lobbying board in Australia had joined as a major sponsor.

Mardi Gras has developed into a major cultural and political behemoth over recent decades, with the 2017 event set to attract hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ people and their supporters across the two-week festival.

For the majority of participants, the highlight of Mardi Gras is the huge world-famous parade that sees more than 10, 000 participants rollicking along the city’s Oxford Street in a eye-dazzling show of queer culture. It is a reminder that the advances in the fight for LGBTQ rights were hard won in struggles going back decades.

Mardi Gras is a space to celebrate the community rising up against oppression and that is why the involvement of Meat and Livestock Australia is horrendous.

I can’t really say it better than the people who started a petition calling on Meat and Livestock Australia to be removed from the Mardi Gras line up, so let me use the words of Katrina Fox (author and journalist) and Janine Curll (food law and regulation PhD candidate):

We are proud, longtime members of the LGBTQ community. We love Mardi Gras and we love equality.
That’s why we are horrified at SGLMG’s new sponsorship deal with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA)’s ‘We Love Our Lamb’ brand.
We believe SGLMG’s involvement with MLA goes against the progressive social values Mardi Gras espouses. MLA is a powerful lobby group that works in many forums to ensure the meat industry is minimally or relatively unregulated with respect to the diverse range of animal welfare concerns in industrialised food systems.
Over the past 5 to 10 years, the issue of animal welfare and animal rights has solidified as the campaign of the 21st century for equality and justice for all living creatures. People have woken up to the cruelty that is the Australian meat industry. The concern about ethical meat production is evident throughout the marketplace.
MLA is doing its best to delegitimise the concerns of many ethical consumers and SGLMG is supporting this work through the sponsorship deal.
For MLA to encourage the community to perform the ‘lamb dance’ – choreographed with moves named after dismembered lamb parts – and join the Parade in celebration of this cruel industry is an affront to many in 2017.

The above text has been borrowed from the petition site on which Katrina and Janine are collecting signatures to present to the Mardi Gras committee.

As Mardi Gras parade is fast approaching, I implore you to sign the petition online here immediately and share this blog post or the petition with as many people as possible.

Please also take a moment to voice your concern to the Mardi Gras committee via Facebook and Twitter. Tell them that the press release from Meat and Livestock Australia in which they state lamb is ‘the dish that brings all Australians together and celebrates inclusivity’ stands in stark contrast to the anti-oppression message of Mardi Gras. Commodifying the slaughter of sheep is not something to be celebrated at a cultural and political event that has risen from the historical hardship and destruction of LGBTQ people.

Queer liberation is not an opportunity to promote an industry that is only profitable thanks to the mistreatment and killing of millions of non-human animals.

Queer liberation should not be for sale, especially when the buyer is a corporate lobbying group whose sole purpose is to convince the public that non-human animals should be mass farmed and slaughtered in unfathomable numbers.

I grew up in Australia as a gay person and I know that Mardi Gras exists to remember those who were rejected by families, scorned by communities, experimented on by doctors, sent to prisons, excluded from mainstream constructs of happiness, beaten in the street, and murdered in their neighbourhoods and homes.

Meat and Livestock Australia. Get your bloodstained, money-hungry hands away from our celebration.

The following is the instructional video published by Meat and Livestock Australia to encourage people to learn the ‘lamb dance’. As mentioned on the petition page, each dance move is named after a ‘cut’ of lamb.

Vegan fish and chips

by

My friend Kay is living the highlife in Sydney, Australia and she is absolutely thrilled to be able to tease me constantly with all the fabulous vegan food advancements that have taken place down under since I departed over six years ago.

One of the best pieces of news she has sent me involves a vegan fish and chip shop called Bliss & Chips.

Located on King Street in inner city Newtown, Bliss & Chips is a gluten free and completely vegan chippy!

Check out some of the photos Kay sent over, including her favourite ‘duck’ burger. Can you spot that deep-fried Jokerz bar on the photo wall? I’m drooling!

I’m getting a bit emotional thinking of potato scallops. They are childhood favourites of mine and I don’t know where to get them done vegan in the UK.

Dear Bliss & Chips. You are my heroes and I hope you inspire people all over the planet to open similar outlets.

Like Bliss & Chips on Facebook. Follow the Instagram account.