Here is the biggest and most exciting story EVER posted on my blog.
Get ready to fly on the world’s first vegan airline!
Haus of FGV
Brighton weekender
If you have been living under a rock, I have two things to say to you:
1. What’s it like under there? I’ve always imagined it to be very snug.
2. VegfestUK Brighton is happening this weekend!
VegfestUK is mammoth and legendary. Attendees this year are set to enjoy more than 150 stands showcasing vegan food, products, activist groups, charities and more. Vegan comedians are going to attempt to make the crowd laugh and there will be plenty of vegan beer and cider doing the rounds.
I think there might be just a few of the 10 000 or so tickets remaining, so be very quick and book now.
Of course I didn’t want to be left out of proceedings, so I am setting up a very low key DIY postcard shop at stall Q16 on the ground floor. Please drop in to buy a few cards, pick up my event flyers, sign up to my email list and have a chat.
I will also be hosting a fabulous LGBT Social on Sunday at 1pm as part of Vegfest celebrations. Click here to read more.
And…. there is more.
I am a judge on the new product showcase. I get to be all judgemental! Click here to read about it.
See you soon, Brighton!
The Standard
Quick news.
I was asked to contribute to an Evening Standard article listing the best vegan brunch spots in London.
Check it out here.
That is all.
End of an era
Time marches on, people.
Almost four years ago I started an event that quickly became a staple of vegan London. London Vegan Potluck was established because I couldn’t believe the event didn’t already exist when I arrived to the UK from Australia.
I wanted a monthly food party where vegans and the vegan-curious could make and share homemade, compassionate dishes in a friendly community setting.
What started as a cosy event in the arcade next to the Ms. Cupcake bakery in Brixton soon blossomed into an incredibly busy happening in the longterm location of Faraday House in Holborn. We were even featured on BBC Radio.
A review of the first ever London Vegan Potluck can be seen here. Many thanks must be given to Mellissa Morgan of Ms. Cupcake for her generosity in allowing us to set up next to her business for those formative first six months. Additional thanks to Freedom Brewery who donated beer for the first London Vegan Potluck, thus becoming the first business to support and believe in an event that will have run for four years as it comes to a close in May 2015.
Out-foxed
I think this is a joke. It has to be a joke, right?
Following a run of animal-themed pop-up cafes and events (see here, here and here), someone has set up a page announcing the launch of a fox cafe in London.
I could be wrong, but I call bullshit on this one.
I’m kinda hoping it is set up by an activist group who plan to collect email addresses and send a message to all signups, letting them know what a terrible idea it is to commodify and objectify animals.
I can only hope. Otherwise, I despair.
Vegetarian porn star
Here is something you won’t read anywhere else today.
Antonio Biaggi is a vegetarian who bakes vegan food, advocates for animals, fights for gay rights, loves rescued dogs and enjoys living an eco-friendly life near the beach in Florida.
Oh yeah, he is also a gay porn actor and website owner.
When I found out that Antonio was a self-proclaimed animal advocate, I wanted to reach out to him in order to find out a little bit of information about his life and love for animals.
A short Q&A with the vegan baker and porn entrepreneur can be seen below.
If you are so inclined, you can click here to visit Antonio’s blog or follow him on Twitter. BE WARNED. His website and Twitter feed feature exceptionally explicit content.
Pigs
Dulce María
Estoy tan feliz que mi favorita pop star Mexicana, Dulce María, está hablando sobre elefantes. Comparten con sus amigos hispanohablantes.
I am very happy that my favourite Mexican pop star, Dulce María, is speaking about elephants. Share with your Spanish-speaking friends.
Y ahora una musica.
And now some music.
Frozen
The last few days of any vacation in the USA is a fraught time, but it has nothing to do with trying to squeeze in last minute sightseeing.
The drama revolves around shopping for perishables and freezing them for the flight back to the UK. Does anyone else do this? I can’t be alone.
Arriving home with a case full of frozen food is a fabulous way to extend the joy of your holiday. Even when you are back in the grey UK, your vacation lives on through a freezer full of vegan groceries.
Check out the photos of the haul that made it back with me from New York City a few weeks ago.
Get it straight
An article by Rosamund Urwin for the Evening Standard titled ‘Green is the new black: how veganism became sexy in London‘ is problematic for many reasons (for starters, stop reducing compassionate people and decisions to sexiness), but one glaring omission stands out above the rest of the article’s faults.
I feel Urwin has invisibilised the real, everyday people who have helped drag veganism into the London mainstream.
Urwin attempts to unpack the reasons behind the explosion of plant-based food options in London and comes up with what I view as the typical and shallow reasoning of ‘it’s now sexy’ and ‘ because Beyonce’. She has omitted to name some of the groundbreaking people and events that have massively contributed to the widespread acceptance of veganism in London and the UK.
These people are not pushing plant food choices as a sexualised commodity (most of the time!). They are instead working themselves to the bone to put compassion front and centre. These people are a huge part of the reason why vegansim is a force to be reckoned with in the UK.
I present to you my list of people and organisations I feel were erroneously left out of the Evening Standard article.