vegan

London vegan café burgled

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Horrible news but we can help.

Universally-adored Black Cat Café of Hackney was broken into last night and burgled. Followers of the vegan eatery were startled this morning when the café posted the following photo to social media.

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I don’t need to say how upset all of the Black Cat co-op members are following this incident. They pour their heart and souls into making the café not just one of the best vegan places to eat on the planet, but also a vital hub that supports their community.

They give opportunities to independent chefs. They sell vegan groceries. They allow space for a veg box scheme for local residents. They raise money for charities. Heck, they even let me host my annual Day of the Dead dinner in their space.

To put it simply, London is a better city thanks to Black Cat and their tireless commitment to doing better for animals and people.

To show them how much we love and support them, I have set up a JustGiving page in order to help get them back on their feet as soon as possible.

Some of the expenses they could use our help with include:

  • repairing front door
  • replacing stolen cash
  • replacing or repairing stolen till system
  • covering lost revenue due to the café being closed on the busiest day of the week

As you can see, this is going to be a very expensive ordeal for Black Cat. Yes, some of the expenses might be covered by insurance but as we all know this can take a long time to be sorted.

This is about taking action now. We need to get this money to Black Cat as soon as possible. We want them to feel supported by their community, just as they have supported us for years.

Please give what you can and help the campaign by sharing widely.

I have set the target at £1,000 but any extra money raised over the target will be given to Black Cat to help them with any other expenses related to improving the space. When £1,000 is reached, Josh and I will pay Black Cat with our own money in order to get it to them urgently. We will claim this cash back from the JustGiving funds once the campaign is over, while donating any extra to the café.

Click here to donate now.

Alpro pushing animal consumption

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There are poorly thought out marketing campaigns and then there is this hot mess by Alpro.

Tweet number one:

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And when vegans lost their collective mind over the above message:

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Both screenshots were taken from the Alpro Twitter account on Thursday October 13, 2016.

So it would appear that Alpro would like us to view this tweet as a mis-step. A slip of the Twitter tongue.

You know, we all tweet shit we later regret and I think it is reasonable to give even large corporations the benefit of the doubt. There are real people running social media accounts and mistakes can happen.

However…

The view that people should eat meat and dairy in order to have a healthy body is not just a Twitter faux pas made by a social media intern, it is the whole basis of a healthy eating plan being marketed by Alpro to health professionals via their website.

Yes, Alpro are promoting the 2/3 to 1/3 ratio eating idea by sending a detailed desktop flip chart to anyone who considers themselves a health professional in order for them to use in consultations with patients or clients.

I cannot duplicate the content of The Smarter Solution to Eating Well toolkit here as I do not own the copyright but I can tell you the guide is made in line with Live Well for LIFE, a World Wildlife Fund UK initiative that boasts healthy eating combined with sustainable choices. Yep, meat is apparently now a sustainable choice for the planet.

The eating guide instructs the health professional and their clients several times that eating well is not about giving up meat and dairy and how that should not be the goal.

I understand that eating small amounts of meat and/or dairy won’t kill you or necessarily lead to instant ill health. I know lots of meat eaters who have lived long and what would appear to be health-filled lives. I am also for mainstream companies explaining to people who staunchly refuse to adopt vegan living how they can easily reduce meat and dairy intake.

However, I cannot get on board with a brand that produces exclusively vegan food promoting an eating plan that endorses AND RECOMMENDS eating meat and dairy. This Smarter Solution by Alpro explicitly states that cutting out animal products SHOULD NOT be the goal.

In addition, the eating plan guide completely ignores any mention of animal suffering and only briefly refers to environmental impacts of food choices. The connection between animal agriculture and environmental disaster is not explicitly made, or indeed even really suggested.

The series of ill-advised tweets are not stand alone mistakes, rather part of a broader campaign by Alpro that makes no mention of veganism while advising ‘health professionals’ to tell people to eat meat and dairy.

Not cool in my opinion.

Extra note: you can download the PDF of the eating plan by registering here. You just need to indicate what type of health professional you are. Simple as that! LOL.

Extra extra note: Alpro is owned by Danone, the largest dairy yoghurt company on the planet. Danone took over Alpro parent company WhiteWave in a deal announced July 2016.

Also!!!!!!

Some A-grade trolling by Oatly. Outstanding!

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Vegan pulled chicken

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After infuriating vegans with almost-vegan products, Linda McCartney Foods has now added a few completely plant-based items to its range.

One of these to hit UK supermarket shelves over the past month or so is the Vegetarian Pulled Chicken.

I thought I would post briefly so you can see what the packet looks like and also the simple meal idea we threw together last night.

Anyone feeling this new #vegan product from Linda McCartney?

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

Video of my pulled #vegan chicken wraps tonight. Simple and quick!

A video posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on


Click on the video above to see how we put it together. Video is only 60 seconds and the real time process wasn’t much longer.

What do you think of this product? Have you tried? Were you impressed?

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Top pics of the week(ish)

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I know you don’t all follow my Instagram account and I hate the idea of you missing out, so here is a small collection of my favourite Instagram posts from the last week or so.

Enjoy!

Nothing doing…. except for 500ml of chocolate salted caramel Booja-Booja #vegan ice cream!

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

I really do love this #vegan cheese.

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

A bit of night time @ladygaga and a can of #vegan beer by @beavertownbeer

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

Second time this week in @wearezizzi Chiswick. Look at that melted @mozzarisella !!!! #vegan

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

Have you all seen these?! They are #vegan even though they have a vile bacon photo on the packet.

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on


I’ve been busy! Like anything you see?

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Crazy Bean in Great Bookham

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Guest post by Alison:

My husband and I moved to Great Bookham in Surrey about 5 years ago, and love it here. It’s close to some spectacular countryside, and about an hour on the train from London. Not a lot in this area for vegans, though. When we became vegan just over a year ago, we would do trips down to Brighton, or get on the train into London, just to get some decent food we hadn’t cooked ourselves. Now that has all changed…

Crazy Bean cafe/restaurant opened in Great Bookham a week ago. It has a fully vegan menu so there is nothing to worry about except ‘what do I feel like eating today?’ Crazy Bean also has a licence, so customers can have vegan beer or wine with dinner, and it is over the road from our local pub! We can’t believe our luck!

I have been to Crazy Bean about four times now, as they ‘unofficially’ opened a few days before the official opening. I have had a couple of lunches, and have been there with my husband for dinner, and with friends for lunch over the opening weekend. Every visit has been a success; the food has been varied and tasty, and the service has been friendly and welcoming. The lunchtime menu has items like sausage rolls and stuffed aubergine, and the evening meal we had there was a set menu: mushroom parfait, risotto balls, and apple crumble. It is so nice to go in for some lunch, and also get a soya latte! (Unheard of in Bookham before!)

Krissi and Rob run Crazy Bean; they are keeping it pretty simple for the time being, while they get established in the village, but this will probably change as time goes by. They are always incredibly hospitable. I know that many non-vegans have visited the place since it has opened, and everyone has been pleasantly surprised with the food. The last thing I was expecting was a vegan establishment opening here, and I couldn’t be happier!

Visit Crazy Bean online.

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Vegan Quorn recalled for not being vegan!

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Remember when I wrote about new vegan soups by Quorn?

Check out this press release/product recall notice just released by the company.

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This notice was originally posted online here.

That’s right. They accidentally put the non-vegan Quorn pieces in the vegan soup instead of the vegan Quorn pieces.

It goes without saying that this is a monumental fuck-up from not only a pissing-off-vegans point of view, but more importantly for customers with allergies.

I haven’t eaten any of the Quorn vegan range as of yet and this is certainly not inspiring me. I’m really not feeling this company at all.

How about you?

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Make agua de Jamaica

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You can support the making of these videos and get early access and downloadable PDF copies of the recipes by becoming an FGV patron – click here.

Here’s the recipe!

Makes approximately two litres

Ingredients:

1 cup of dried Hibiscus/Jamaica flowers
2 cups of water
1 Cinnamon stick
1⁄2 a cone of Piloncillo (or approximately 1⁄2 cup of other sweetener)

Method:

● Wash the Jamaica flowers well
● Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan
● Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes ● Strain and allow the liquid to cool for a few minutes
● Pour into a large jug and dilute approximately 1 part syrup to 10 cups of water
● Serve over ice
● ¡Salud!

You can try many variations of this water. Fruit is often used instead of the Jamaica flowers and you could experiment with different spice combinations such as ginger and star anise.

Recipe and photo remain property of Sean O’Callaghan and Julio Alcantara and may not be reproduced without permission. © fatgayvegan.com

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Indian cooking class this weekend!

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If you want to learn how to cook gorgeous, mouthwatering vegan Indian food, I’m sure your first point of call in London should be Nishma Shah.

This Saturday (September 24, 2016) you can join Nishma for a wonderful culinary adventure as she teaches you the ins and outs of Indian home cooking.

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The following is lifted from the event description:

This is a prime opportunity to learn some authentic Indian home cookery, from Shambhu’s chef Nishma Shah. Nishma is of Indian heritage, has been immersed in Indian culture all her life and is proud of it, and importantly loves making and teaching delicious plant-based Indian food.

The class price is £40 and includes refreshments, food tasting and even a container of leftovers (if you all don’t eat everything there and then).

The class is limited to 12 people and can be booked online here.

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Hollywood actor proudly vegan

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I spend far too much time reading Hollywood gossip sites but sometimes I get a little bit more than procrastination out of the activity.

I’ve just read an interview with actor Harley Quinn Smith in which she talks about her veganism.

My favourite part of the interview (which you can read in full on Just Jared) reads:

Initially, it was very difficult to say goodbye to cheese and ice cream, but honestly there are SO many amazing vegan options that at this point in the game I don’t even really miss non vegan food! If you stop thinking as vegan food as a replacement, but instead you start thinking of it as it’s own thing, it will become a lot easier to commit.

Great advice!

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Harley Quinn Smith has starred in several feature films written and directed by her father, Kevin Smith. This includes the comedy Yoga Hosers released this year.

You can follow Harley Quinn Smith on Instagram.

Yay for Hollywood vegans!

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Vegan chocolate factory open day

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How about all your dreams coming true at once?

Chocolate-producing heroes Ethicoco are flinging open the doors to their factory for one day only and it sounds like quite the event.

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Check out what they have to say about their open day taking place on Saturday September 24, 2016:

Hampshire’s only chocolate factory is opening its doors for a limited time, offering you a glimpse into the workings of a successful independent business and one-man (and his daughter) empire.

Alongside exploring the delights of Ethicoco’s one-of-a-kind bean to bar chocolate, the event will also include a delicious vegan BBQ, absolutely free; as well as a cash bar.

Join us to learn more about successfully running your own business, the art of chocolate making, or just to enjoy some excellent food and drink. As an added bonus, the first ten people to arrive on the day will each receive a gift bag of chocolates!

This sounds like a fantastic day out.

What’s not to love? A chocolate factory, a free vegan BBQ and a cash bar!

RSVP to the Facebook event here. Visit the Ethicoco website to find out more info on their range.

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