Brothers and coworkers Justin Goodman and Jared Goodman, who work at PETA and the PETA Foundation, respectively, take their vegan eating and sports-watching extremely seriously. The pair recently formed what is possibly the world’s first all-vegan fantasy football league, dubbed the “Figskin FFL,” which pits fellow coworkers and their vegan friends against each other in a bid to take home a rather fierce-looking “Plant-Based Primacy” trophy.
Credit: PETA
The trophy may be smothered in bragging rights, but it’s not smothered in cruelty or artery-clogging cholesterol. That’s because the vegan fantasy football leaguers will be fueling 10-hour game-watching marathons with healthy snacks such as vegan sliders, vegan buffalo wings, football-ready chili, and nachos covered with delicious Daiya vegan cheese.
The Goodman brothers are also avid baseball fans and recently got a rare opportunity to attend a Washington Nationals game with their wives and two friends—in luxury seats, complete with dinner and drinks. They e-mailed ahead of time to ask about the food options and to let the director of guest services, Jonathan Stahl, know that the entire party was vegan. Stahl immediately put the pair directly in touch with the executive sous chef, Eric Butler, who affably promised to whip up something special for the group. And did he ever.
On game day, the group was presented with a massive spread, including vegan chili, roasted curry potatoes with hearts of palm, edamame dip, french fries, sautéed broccoli, and homemade potato chips. This plant-based feast was in addition to the traditional vegan ballpark fare such as peanuts, Cracker Jack, and soft pretzels that the group devoured throughout the game.
To thank Nationals Park and Levy Restaurants food services for being so accommodating and making their vegan guests feel right at home, PETA presented them with a Certificate of Appreciation and a box of vegan chocolates.
Neither Nationals Park nor Levy Restaurants is a stranger to receiving awards from PETA. Nationals Park came in third in PETA’s 2013 ranking of top vegetarian-friendly Major League Baseball stadiums, and Levy Restaurants earned a High Octane Award for offering healthy, delicious vegan food to race fans at NASCAR and IndyCar events.
It’s no secret that sports and hearty eating go hand in hand, and as more and more venues offer a wide variety of plant-based options, vegan sports fans have a lot to cheer about.
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Veganwithavengance (1 comments)
Just FYI, the Nationals are a crappy Canadian team playing in a stadium built on stolen land. There were a lot of gay clubs and lower income homes in that area and it is now a stadium with upscale housing.
Obviously a group like PETA wouldn’t care about that because awarding those who exploit animals most of the time and occasionally do something a little less exploitative, is more their thing.
Yes more vegetarian (as in completely animal free) options are great but we shouldn’t overlook other issues because of them.