I have seen a few mentions online of hard-to-find vegan products making their way into Tesco stores, so of course my priority was to get into a participating store and eat everything.
I succeeded.
From the Tesco website
Select Tesco stores around the country are taking part in a promotion billed as the Lifestyle Food Fair. I have to admit it is quite a slick gimmick capitalising on the huge surge in popularity of specialty food expos sweeping the UK. The promotion features attention-grabbing banners in store with colour coded shelving to help you locate what you after. (Hint: anything on a blue shelf in the Lifestyle Food Fair aisle is vegan-friendly)
Wanna see the haul I came away with from the Slough branch? Don’t freak out.
I know I play the jolly food fool on this blog, but I do admit at times being upset by interactions I have with strangers online and in real life. Being a fat, gay vegan isn’t all crispy fake chicken and belly laughs.
Today I received a string a Tweets from a person asking why I don’t post photos of ‘real’ food and why everything I eat is processed.
I responded to these requests with a simple question of my own: Why do you want to know?
Typical of these sorts of interactions, my question was met with a nasty retort. I was told that I am not the sort of vegan this person wanted to follow. The gay part of FGV had interested them but the processed nature of my diet was a real turn off for them.
I thanked them for taking the time to judge me.
I’m sure it is as clear to you as it was to me. This person was not actually interested in finding out why I eat the way I do, they wanted to try and make me feel bad and ashamed for it.
Well, if they are reading:
The reasons for the way I eat are complex. My eating is the sum of decades of socialisation, emotional upheaval, happiness, media manipulation, body shaming, guilt, cultural experiences, joy, sorrow, privilege, discrimination, economic factors, family input, ethical concerns, poverty, personal preference and strangers projecting negativity in real life or via social media.
Now that is out of the way, here’s a little something else I want to get off my chest.
I do not welcome or seek input, advice or comment from strangers regarding what I eat or my body size, just as I would never write to a person I don’t know with similar advice.
My body and my food choices are for me to judge and manage. My platform as Fat Gay Vegan is not an invitation for you to personally critique me. If you don’t know me on an intimate level, don’t presume I want to hear your opinion on what I put in my body. I really don’t and I find your intrusions upsetting and at times very fucking distressing.
If your intent is to knowingly try and shame me for who and what I currently am, or how I identify, kindly fuck off.
Even from a young age, all I thought about was cake
One of my favourite past times is trolling up and down supermarket aisles looking for vegan products. The first thing I love to do when arriving somewhere on vacation is find the nearest grocery store. It is my signature move.
I recently (as in two days ago) moved housed to another part of London so of course before I even unpacked, I made a direct route to the supermarket.
My new local Sainsbury’s is a big one, with plenty of vegan goods to keep me overfed. Much of it was the same old stuff I’ve seen everywhere else, but three products caught my attention.
They have all possibly been on the market for a while, but it was the first time my fat gay eyes had seen them.
Have you tried any of the treats below? Do you love supermarket tourism as much as I do?
I think I have mentioned my childhood obsession with peanut butter previously on this blog.
Apparently I was overheard by my sister Michelle as I hid in the food pantry, smooth talking the crunchy peanut butter into running away with me. It was a pivotal moment in my life. Food and I were in love.
The romantic talk came out of me again last week when I discovered this fabulous product in a deli on Marylebone Hight Street.
These peanut butter cups by Up Cakes are just my sort of thing. Compounded and crunchy peanut base topped with thick, hard chocolate. The cashier told me I wouldn’t be able to stop once I opened them and she was spot on.
I paused briefly only to profess my love.
You can check out the company website here to see the other vegan products they create.
One of the most exciting vegan meat products to enter the UK market in a long while is Muscolo di grano and if you are in Brighton on Saturday July 26, 2014 you will be able to taste some of their goodness for free.
The Muscolo di grano products are delicious meat analogues crafted from grains and lentils, creating a texture and taste that rates amongst the best vegan alternatives I’ve tasted anywhere.
I recently bought a few of their products which have ended up in everything from pasta salads to pizza pockets. See my hot meat and cheese sandwich below before scrolling further for information about a free product tasting event.
Fat Gay Vegan has teamed up with much-loved express food experts Hummus Bros to bring you a vegan dining event with a twist.
Attendees at the EAT. DRINK. MEET. with Fat Gay Vegan evening will enjoy luscious food prepared especially by Hummus Bros chefs as we take over their entire Exmouth Market location in central London. Yes, that’s correct. The restaurant will be closed for our private party.
I jogged today. Not for the sake of exercise, but to get to a bakery selling vegan breads and pastries.
The fabulous @Vegan_Hausfrau reached out to me today on Twitter to alert me to the following Facebook update by Kamps, the German bakery chain with two locations in London.
I am all about beer this week. Vegan beer has taken over my life as I gear up for London Vegan Beer Fest. I am up to my ears in hops so you would think the last thing I would have time to write about is a vegan brewery.
But you people need to know about Partizan Brewing.
I was traipsing around Waitrose just off Holborn when my FGV eyes were drawn to the colourful packs of Coconut Collaborative. These super tasty (and very vegan) coconut-based yoghurts are slowly spreading across the country and I couldn’t be happier. They are the taste of happiness.
Have you tired them? Which is your favourite flavour?
