Best at VegfestUK London 2017

It is that time of year again. VegfestUK London is set to throw open its doors to consumers and activists this weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 October, 2017) at London Olympia.

The full show guide can be found online, but I wanted to highlight some of my top picks for the show.

Let’s take a look!

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I adore Kizzy’s Cookies. They are just the right amount of chewy.

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My number one pick for food vendor at the show this year is What The Pitta!. Stunning comfort food that I can’t get enough of.

I always make time for the vegan wagon wheels by Ananda’s.

Conscious Chocolate bars are exquisite and maybe the most luxurious treat I know.

Tofurky is one of the true superstar vegan brands on the planet and they will be selling their new gran and go sandwiches.

A vegan show is not a vegan show without Follow Your Heart. Get your Vegenaise at show prices!

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My book! I will be selling early release copies of my first ever book and will even be presenting some of the themes of the book during a talk in the auditorium on Saturday at 4pm.

You can buy your advance tickets for VegfestUK London online now.

My friend Dex

My friend Dex very kindly allowed me to share this:

All this #metoo stuff has got me thinking (more so than usual) about the shit that I’ve put up with over the years and how I’m still so fucking angry at myself that I smiled and giggled through some nasty shit because it was “the polite thing to do” and to “not cause trouble over such trivial incidents because boys will be boys”.

If I could teach my younger self things, I’d explain to her what emotional abuse was, I’d tell her not to listen to her mother and always kick boys in the dick when they touch her inappropriately, I’d tell her she has a pretty severe right hook and that old men go down like a sack of shit so punch away, baby girl, punch them as hard as you can when they grope you.

I’d tell her this isn’t an isolated incident, to be brave and to stand up to these jerks so that they think twice about doing it to other women. I’d tell her that it’s okay to walk away from men who belittle her and make her feel uncomfortable because she didn’t want to do certain things and to never stay to make them happy.

I’d tell her she wasn’t alone.

Follow Dex and her vegan food adventures on Instagram.

Series of Mexican food events

I am thrilled to present the 6th annual vegan Day of the Dead celebration as part of a series of three dining events across London.

Each event is curated by superstar vegan chef Mariana Blanco of the legendary Los Loosers, Mexico City.

Los Loosers have been profiled by many news outlets including Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, Facebook, Vice, Time Out, and many more.

These events are going to be in high demand, so please book quickly to avoid disappointment.

November 2 – Day of the Dead reception

  • Gorgeous 10 Cable Street venue in central London
  • Mexican canapés
  • Beer and cocktail bar available
  • Limited to 50 guests
  • Facebook event page here
  • Book tickets now

November 4 – Mexico City Feast Night

  • Black Cat Cafe takeover in Hackney
  • Two sittings available – early or late
  • Mexico City menu full of comfort food
  • Limited to 25 guests per sitting
  • Facebook event here
  • Book tickets now

November 6 – Mexican Ramen Night

  • VeganHQ takeover in South Ealing/West London location
  • Japanese/Mexican fusion
  • Extremely limited seating of just 20 guests
  • Facebook event here
  • Book tickets now

Los Loosers is considered by many (including FGV) to be one of the best vegan food providers on the planet and these exclusive London events are sure to sell out quickly.

Follow Los Loosers on Instagram to see their gorgeous food.

Extra note: lots of love, gratitude and awe to Ricardo for the glorious event flyer.

Raise funds for this crucial London kitchen

October 16th is World Food Day – and what better date for Made In Hackney, an award winning eco-community kitchen and cookery school to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise £45,000 – with a stretch target of £85,000. Since opening in 2012 the small but dynamic organisation has helped over 6000 Londoners lead healthier, happier more environmentally sustainable lives. They have achieved this by offering healthy eating focused cookery and food growing classes to groups in need including young people leaving care, low income families, people with long term health problems, recovering addicts and people with learning difficulties.

The team behind Made in Hackney have launched a campaign on Crowdfunder.co.uk to raise £45,000 to secure the organisations future and ensure they can help more people, in more parts of London to take part in their life changing programme.

The project and the team’s approach has been praised in high profile media such as Jamie, Vogue, The Observer, Vegetarian Living and Vegan Trade Journal. And that’s where it gets really interesting. The cookery school has a local, seasonal, organic (when possible), 100% plant-based food policy. Radical stuff.

Sarah Bentley, the kitchen’s founder says, “We teach people how to cook and eat food that is not just good for their health – but also the health of the planet. Everyone knows we need to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less processed foods, sugar and meat – but most people don’t know where to start. Many don’t even know how to cook from scratch at all and especially how to prepare vegetables in an exciting, tasty way. That’s where we come in.”

The project has taken their programme into schools, children’s centres, youth centres and pensioners clubs across the capital and worked with a number of national and local organisations such as Action For Children, Off Centre, Age UK, Deaf Plus, East London Vision, the Salvation Army, the Women’s Environment Network and Public Health Hackney.

According to their 2016 impact statistics they’re programme really brings about meaningful change. After completing the Made In Hackney programme 90% of participants said they felt more confident cooking from scratch using fresh ingredients and healthy cookery techniques; 90% said they now ate more fresh fruits and vegetables; and all participants felt inspired and had the necessary skills and recipes to eat less meat.

With spiralling levels of lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity – local programmes such as this are essential to prevent and in some cases cure, a plethora of chronic illnesses.

Rupy Aujla, author of Doctors Kitchen food blog, practising GP and volunteer for Made In Hackney says. “Made In Hackney is the blueprint for how we should be tackling and preventing a wide range of illnesses largely brought on by poor diet. They do fantastic work and have made a huge difference to thousands of people’s lives. It’s essential we secure their future. Donate to them today.”

A word from Fat Gay Vegan:

As you can tell, the above is a press release sent to me for publishing.

It gives you a lot of information about Made in Hackney but I wanted to add some of my own words to this post.

The work carried out by Made in Hackney is crucial. Not just warm and fuzzy, but crucial. They are doing incredible outreach in one of the most polarised locations in the UK when it comes to wealth disparity and access to nutritious food options.

The people they are helping are marginalised and placed in situations where they do not have equitable access to quality food.

They are supporting at-risk members of their community and they are doing it only with plant-derived ingredients.

If you donate to just one campaign this month, please consider if it can be Made in Hackney.

Click here to donate to the campaign if you have the funds and please share this blog or the link to the campaign.

Vegan Japanese food in Brixton

Josh and I were in Brixton a few weeks ago and had an hour to spare before seeing a concert.

I was also hungry.

I strolled past the Ms Cupcake bakery and into Brixton Market to have a look around for anything new or new to me. That’s when I saw Kamome Japanese Kitchen.

The menu on the window showed a lot of meat but my attention was grabbed by the use of the word ‘vegan’ all over the place.

I prefer to eat in all vegan establishments but my tummy was rumbling and The Killers were about to take the stage at Brixton Academy.

So we jumped on in and ordered a few of the vegan dishes. Check them out.

Some of the food was extra tasty and enjoyable, while some of it was just OK.

The katsu curry with tofu was one of the highlights, as was the tempura and sticky rice bowl.

I wouldn’t make a special trip across London for these vegan options but I would certainly recommend if you are in the area as there are very few vegan choices in Brixton for dinner.

You can check out the Kamome website here.

Vegan Life Magazine

Remember when I announced with sadness that my monthly advice column for Vegan Life Magazine had been discontinued?

It appears that there were a few people who loved my column, so much so that the magazine has asked me to return with a brand new monthly column!

The latest issue has just hit new stands and magazine racks around the UK (and the world).

I’m thrilled to be back and getting the chance to share my insights with Vegan Life Readers. It’s also very cool that I have been bumped up to a coverline with my story right there on the cover for the world to see!

You can subscribe to Vegan Life Magazine online here.

Veganism and mental health

Here is some news from my buddy, Ryan Patey, about the new issue of his incredible magazine T.O.F.U.:

Following the path set by T.O.F.U. #11, which focused on veganism, chronic illness, and failing health, the twelfth issue of T.O.F.U. tackles the topic of veganism and mental health. From discussions of anxiety, depression, and addiction to an interview with Emily von Euw of This Rawsome Vegan Life that covers such things as gender, the stigma around mental health, and more, the issue continues to highlight the stories of those who know that veganism doesn’t cure everything.

Even before its release, people were excited for the magazine to be focusing on such a crucial topic, which is too often overlooked or simplified by the vegan and animal rights community in its messages and actions. Now, just days after it was made public, the issue seems to be striking a chord with people around the world.

“This issue, coupled with the last one, was created to support those who feel alienated by a community they very much deserve to be a part of,” explains T.O.F.U.’s Editor, Ryan Patey. “Whether it’s through (wrongly) dismissing people’s issues as the result of too much processed food or having events and social activities refuse to acknowledge the needs of those with such things as anxiety or PTSD, the fact is that a movement fighting to end the oppression of animals is oppressing others in turn and it needs to stop.”

Luckily, thanks to the willingness of over a dozen vegans to share their personal stories, the latest issue of T.O.F.U. will hopefully play its part in changing not only the conversation within the community, but also the attitudes.

Click here to access this latest issue. The concept is pay what you can/feel like with the suggest price being $5.

Vegan burgers 6 days a week at Borough

Here is some huge news for vegan burger fans and supporters of independent vegan business.

Big V London has just been given the go ahead to trade at Borough Market six days a week.

This exciting news means that Borough Market finally has a 100% vegan stall trading every day that it is open. Big V was previously trading Thursday until Saturday but they are now serving their decadent burgers and sumptuous salad bowls daily.

Of course you can also catch Big V London and their burger bar at Hackney Downs Vegan Market this Saturday. See the full list of traders here.

Follow Big V London on Instagram.

Find Vegenaise in Sainsbury’s

A few days ago I broke news of Vegenaise and a couple more Follow Your Heart products being launched into 130 Sainsbury’s stores around the UK.

The news came close to breaking the vegan Internet but of course people wanted to know which stores were selling the products.

I didn’t know then. I do now.

Click this Sainsbury’s Store List to see the full list of Sainsbury’s stores stocking the Original Vegenaise, Vegan Honey Mustard Salad Dressing and the Organic Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing.

How exciting! Is your local on the list?

The FGV book arrives early

Of course you all know I have a book being released in January 2018, right?

Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t is being published by Nourish Books and is available to pre-order via Amazon right now.

But…

If you are super keen to read what I am calling my ‘manifesto for living a compassionate life’ and can’t wait until January, my publisher has made a limited number of copies available for VegfestUK London on October 21 and 22, 2017.

I will have 300 copies of my first ever book to sell from a stall on level three of the VegfestUK venue and I will be on hand for most of the weekend to chat with you about it.

I am also hosting a presentation in the auditorium on the Saturday at 4:00pm to talk about the themes of the book and explain my approach to veganism, how I think we can expand our compassion beyond caring for animals and where I think veganism is heading in the future.

In addition, I will be hosting an informal discussion about the importance of running local vegan markets and offering some tips for anyone interested in starting one on their area on Sunday at 2:00pm.

You can read about my VegfestUK London talks online here.

Hope to see you at the show!