The Veggie BlogLatest News & Articles of Interest

Harmony - in harmony with the music!!

Just Chillin' on a Sunday Afternoon

There were children and adults of all ages with one commonality:  the healthy vegan lifestyle.

Just a few of the vendors!!

Kudos to Bob and all that helped coordinate this event. A lot of hard work and time went into it and they all deserve a huge round of applause.

Will this become an annual event? Only time will tell. If there is one next year I hope to see more of you at the Summer of Love Revisited!!

Ciao Bello/Bella,

Dancing Vegan & the Animals

The Reason We Are VEGANS!!

Just back from the annual 2009 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California.

Some background: The Expo is a HUGE supply show held to allow manufacturers to introduce their products to the distributors.  Companies spend tons of money on this event in the hopes that stores will pick their products up and begin selling them.  The product developers and company founders are often on hand to speak with attendees about their products.

I found the show itself confusing to navigate this year as the “vegetarian” delineated section from last year was gone and the well-known veg*n company booths were scattered all over.  Additionally, due to rough economic times, many companies scaled back this year (or even did not show up).

Yet I was thrilled to see that more products than ever are going vegan and displaying the “V” logo.
Last year the buzzwords seem to be  “Organic” and “Eco-friendly”, and while those two words were evident this year, while walking the isles I kept hearing the word “vegan” and was surprised to see the word printed on many company signs and brochures.

All this being said, there were only a few new products that really impressed me. One to look out for in stores is Turtle Mountain’s So-Delicious Coconut Yogurt.  Since I found out I’m soy intolerant, this is great news since I miss morning yogurt & like coconut. (link) Even better, they have a new line of Purely Decadent made with coconut rather than soy,…  hooray for Coconut Ice Cream!!! (link) – taste awesome!

If you’re a vegan, and you have never heard of “Salvia Hispanica L”, listen here.   A variety of the ‘chia seed’, and similar in some ways to other super-foods (quinoa, ameranth, etc), it’s said to have amazing properties: 30% more anti-oxidants than blueberries, 6x more calcium than milk, 25% more fiber than flax, 8x more omega 3 than salmon, -more. I’m amazed that I’ve never heard of this, as a 20+year vegan.  So there’s are a number of companies selling this product, but the one who turned me on to it at the show is called “Salba”  (link) While most of their products are vegan, kosher, non-gmo,… they do also still sell some products with gelatin-caps. The products I tried I the show were their new bars, -very edible. Seems like they might not yet be in stores, but look out for them if you like to have a dietary boost when on the go.  Alternately, consider adding them to salads, and your own recipes.

In my next post, I’ll introduce a product that will be out soon which might just change the way the world thinks about cheese.

Expo West website: http://expowest.com

This is UK veggy week –

“National Vegetarian Week runs from May 19-25. For more information about how to get involved visit the Vegetarian Society’s website” – http://www.vegsoc.org

HappyCow will receive more site visitors from the UK as a result of the increased press coverage I am sure!

We are currently listing very few UK restaurants / businesses – PLEASE help to build up the UK listings.

There are numerous veggy restaurant / cafe businesses in West London – especially around Southall / Uxbridge / Greenford – but they are “missing” from HappyCow.

I no longer live in the UK – today I am in Cote D’Ivoire – where we have an abundance of incredible tree ripened fruit & street vendors baking yam’s / sweet potatoes / plantains etc; – but no veggie restaurants whatsoever.
.
.
Below this is a News Release from Swedish Glace – a non-dairy ice cream company – is not so well written – however the huge %’s are great to see / read!

Red meat consumption is plummeting in the UK.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ready, veggie, go!
15 May 2008

Giving up meat and becoming a vegetarian is a major lifestyle decision – more of us than ever before are taking the veggie pledge. In some cases people go even further and take the Vegan route cutting out fish and dairy products too.

A survey released today reveals why some of us become vegetarian or vegan, why some of us never could and why some who have cut meat out of their lives have changed their minds and just can’t give up their ‘guilty’ pleasure.

One in 10 Brits are either vegetarians or vegans according to the research commissioned by Swedish Glace but almost the same number have tried and gone back to eating meat.

For the vast majority the main reasons for becoming a vegetarian are objections to the ways in which animals are kept, treated and killed for food or simply that they do not morally approve of the killing of animals. A third say they became a vegetarian to improve their health and fitness, with allergies and intolerances a contributing factor.

Those who have thought about it but never gone through with it say chicken would be the number one thing they would miss. Those who have tried but gone back to eating meat say the lure of a steak or bacon sarnie was just too strong. Though there are some strong willed vegetarians out there as 40% say they have no cravings at all!

For more info visit swedishglace.com

Bourgeois Boheme opens London’s First Vegan Footwear and Accessory Shop

2008-04-17 17:49:50 – Bourgeois Boheme, a UK-based animal-friendly fashion company who have made a name for themselves retailing vegan footwear, accessories and cosmetics online, is now opening London’s first vegan fashion retail location.
Bourgeois Boheme, one of the UK’s most well-known online and animal-friendly fashion companies is opening London’s very first animal-friendly footwear and accessories retail outlet.

Based at their offices in Richmond, London the shop doors officially open on the 17th May 2008, just ahead of UK National Vegetarian Week.

On May 17th 2008, just a couple of days ahead of UK National Vegetarian Week, Bourgeois Boheme will celebrate the official opening with an open day at the shop in Richmond, London.

Known for its quality and stylish vegan footwear and accessories, Bourgeois Boheme is responding to customer requests for a physical retail location. Bourgeois Boheme founder and Director, Alicia Lai and has found that 90% of returns from online sales relate to shoe-fitting issues.

Alicia says, ‘Unless you shop online, vegetarian footwear is difficult to find: it’s a dismal choice of either low-quality, cheap and environmentally-challenging shoes or Stella McCartney – gorgeous fashion no doubt, but very much beyond the pocket of many a style-conscious vegetarian/vegan.’

Its an environment that has served online sales well and, having already built up a dedicated and growing following of online and mail order customers, Bourgeois Boheme is giving shoppers what New York and other fashion capitals around the world gave their consumers years ago – a stylish home for animal-friendly fashion.

Bruce Friedrich, Vice President at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says, ‘All of us at PETA welcome the news of a Bourgeois Boheme storefront. We enjoy ordering from BoBo online, but we’ll be even more delighted to have a place where we can try on the shoes, examine the bags, and have a compassionate shopping experience.’

Visitors will be able to buy Bourgeois-Boheme’s exclusive labelled styles as well as ethically sourced products from other companies; not only footwear, but also bags, wallets and belts for women and men, and cosmetics.

Alicia says, ‘Our shop is an extension within our office premises, it’s a humble start but it’s a first step towards our greater dream of having lush and exclusive Bourgeois Boheme boutiques in the world’s fashion capitals’

Now customers can find a perfect fit in every sense- true to their size, philosophy, style and ethics.

Shop open day: Saturday 17th May, 1pm – 4pm.
Refreshments and appetisers will be served.
Please RSVP by Friday May 2nd May, info@bboheme.com /0208 8788 388
Press discounts are available upon request at the shop open day.

Address: Hydrex House, Garden Road, Richmond TW9 4NR
Shop hours: Mon-Fri 9am – 5pm; Sat 10am – 2pm; by appointment.

http://www.pr-inside.com/bourgeois-boheme-opens-london-s-first-r543695.htm

Last week we attended the country’s largest natural, organic, and healthy products trade show, the “Natural Products Expo West 2008″ in Anaheim, CA. More than 52,000 retailers, manufacturers, and industry professionals attended.

While products labeled “Organic” & “Gluten-free” were the rage, the words “Vegetarian” & “Vegan” seemed few and far between to me. Nor did I see the words “plant-based” at all, even though some friends had speculated to me that it would be the buzz word of choice this year. It was a bit discouraging to me that many companies went out of their way to create new products that were: gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, and YET contained eggs. In the few isles that were designated “Vegetarian” I found a hodge podge of products of which only partially were vegetarian and many had labeling that was confusing.

However, a few new products did leave a great impression with me, so much so that I wish to share their info with you so you can look out for them when they arrive in stores.

First off, is a vegan cheese company from Europe, producing “Cheezly” cheeses. They make a wonderful mozzarella cheese that melts, and melts again when reheated. They also have a crumbly mature cheddar cheese that tastes great and has no after bad taste. Cheezly, produced by The Redwood Co., is available in Europe and the East Coast of USA already. Soon to be available West Coast USA.
http://www.redwoodfoods.es/cheezly.php

Next, I was very impressed with a “Smoked Apple Sage” vegan sausage, by the company “Field Roast”. Texture & flavor is great and as it’s made with grains, it feels to be easily digestible unlike many of the processed soy products available at the market.
http://www.fieldroast.com

One other new product I was impressed with is a (soon to be*) vegan-friendly pro-biotic drink called “Verb: GoodBelly” by NextFoods (a division called WhiteWave Foods). Developed in Sweden, this is a new rival to “Bio-K” and guarantees 20 billion organisms per serving. What’s great about this product is the taste and presentation. It’s offered as a fruit drink and a yogurt. The flavors were absolutely delicious. Not sure about the price point yet, I’ll have to look out for it in the health food stores, at the right price I would drink this everyday.
http://www.verb-goodbelly.com
(Vegans take note: At the show, their booth banner and staff told me that all their products were vegan which I just learned is not true. Only by looking at their websites did I find a note about vitamin D3, lanolin, which is a sheep’s wool derivative. I wrote them about this and just received a response: “…given the results of two different promising studies showing D2 has similar efficacy as D3, we will be converting to D2 by late spring/early summer and then we will make the full Vegan Claim.”)

Finally, one more worth looking out for and trying… products from the 100% vegan company, “Vega”. They’ve had a great protein powder out for some time now and just recently launched an organic oil omega 3-6-9 supplement “Vega Antioxidant EFA Oil Blend”. It tastes great straight and is a “balanced, full spectrum, ultra-virgin and ultra-pure oil blend with optimal nutritional properties”. Additionally, Whole Food Energy Bars and their Smoothy Infusion Mix are also new this year.
http://www.myvega.com

Possibly many new vegan products that are yet to arrive in stores are from companies that decided not to spend a fortune at the Expo and this vegan wonders if we’ll still have many new treats to look out for in 2008.
If you find out about any, please share the news.