An independent non profit organization, formed since 2001. Hosts events happening in and around the Puget Sound, and in other parts of the state from time to time.
An independent non profit organization, formed since 2001. Hosts events happening in and around the Puget Sound, and in other parts of the state from time to time.
3 Reviews
First Review by kindlizard
Contributions +13
Do not support "Vegetarians of Washington"! - Edit
Stewart Rose, I believe he is the President, was begging me to support their events back in 2002. I am a small 100% Veg restaurant in Seattle called Cyber-Dogs. For years he let me have a small table for free because I am a small local veg business. I donated tons of food and my time which wasn't easy for me. A couple of years ago he called and informed me that Cyber-Dogs is no longer welcome because he now has to charge for a table. He didn't even offer me to pay! Then when a couple of my customers asked him how come Cyber-Dogs is not at the event he told them that it is too hard for me to participate... well, that was just slander!
The last couple of times I was there I noticed that there were hardly any vendors from Washington and many were not into vegetarianism at all, like Kellogg, for example. This guy is just greedy and dishonest. I wish I could look into this organization finances!
Contributions +16
More iterested in money than animals! - Edit
Stewart Rose runs this group. He had me kicked out of their VegFest for passing out vegan literature and restaurant guides OUTSIDE on the public sidewalk BEFORE I went inside. He had police physically escort me out of VegFest, because he was mad that we were promoting veganism, at a VegFest, on a public sidewalk.
One time several years ago he allowed the animal rights group I work for to have a table at Seattle VegFest. He was very clear that we could not have anything for sale or donation because, and these here his exact words, "if someone walk in with $100 I want every penny of it to go to Veg of WA." During the event he berated me because one of our organization's members was volunteering for him at a table and gave out a few Veg Restaurant Guides. Apparently only veg info can be given out at a vegfest from a specific table. He then flipped out when I restocked a friends table, after being asked by that person who could not make it on the second day. I was told that I didn't pay for that table and I had no business touching it and I needed to get back to my table, which was right behind it, so I had to turn around 180 degrees. After the event he contacted several other animals groups around Seattle telling them that they should never work with us.
From what I have seen, Stewart makes every effort to keep vegansim and animal rights out of Veg of WA. He seems to me to me more in it for the money. The Veg of WA VegFest was actually stolen from EarthSave Seattle [originally called Taste of Health], when he and a man named Anil fought so much for power at EarthSave that they destroyed the organization. Stewart then started Veg of WA, surprisingly [or not] with a lot of EarthSave's contacts and resources, and created Seattle VegFest in place of EarthSave's Taste of Health. Unfortunately the Seattle Vegfest which Veg of WA runs is not very vegan friendly, with a good percentage of the items being sampled containing animal ingredients.
So that is my experience with Veg of WA. I agree with the other review, I would not support Veg of WA, Seattle VegFest, or anything that Stewart Rose is involved with.
And why are they listed here anyway, when no other organizations are listed? I know of several animal rights and veg groups that meet up for food, have potlucks, etc. Either they should all be listed or Veg of WA needs to be deleted.
Updated from previous review on Wednesday October 20, 2010
Updated from previous review on Wednesday October 20, 201
3 Responses
kindlizard 08 Jan 2011 - I agree. If the cafes have standards, so should the organizations. How many orgs do you plan to enter and on what criteria? This one seems to not have genuine intentions Webmaster, you should pull it. I may pm this to WM for his attn.
cyber-dogs 24 Jan 2013 - I totally agree, Stewart Rose was begging me to support their events back in 2002. I am a small 100% Veg restaurant in Seattle. For years he let me have a small table for free because I am a small local veg business. I donated tons of food and my time which wasn't easy for me. A couple of years ago he called and informed me that Cyber-Dogs is no longer welcome because he now has to charge for a table. He didn't even offer me to pay! Then when a couple of my customers asked him how come Cyber-Dogs is not at the event he told them that it is too hard for me to participate... well, that is just slander!
The last couple of times I was there I noticed that there were hardly any vendors from Washington and many were not into vegetarianism at all, like Kellogg, for example. This guy is just greedy and dishonest.
VeganForLifeNY 02 Apr 2015 - I can't speak to much of what this review states, since I was not at the VegFest at which it happened. However, I can state that this writer is making inaccurate statements as if they're facts, and therefore, I question the truthfulness of their other statements.
Specifically: 1. The reviewer said Veg of WA VegFest was stolen from ES Seattle. The truth is that those running Vegs of Seattle were EarthSave Seattle. They created everything that that group ever was, and so it's impossible to steal what you created. Without them, there was no ES Seattle.
2. The reviewer stated that "he and a man named Anil fought so much for power at EarthSave that they destroyed the organization". That is way off target. ES was destroyed by other factors. The departure of Stewart & crew was symptomatic of the internal issues that eventually alienated all the large chapters, causing them to go their own ways. An unfortunate outcome, that eventually led to many of these groups going on to create better outreach under their own banners.
3. "Stewart ... created Seattle VegFest in place of ES's Taste of Health" Again, the ES Seattle chapter always created and ran all that ES Seattle ever was. There was no ES Seattle without them. So to say that they stole anything or wrongly changed the name of an event is misleading. Stewart & crew are so dedicated to this work, that no name change would stop them from continuing what they know is extremely important work. If you knew how much time and energy they have put into the work that you obviously believe in, you would give these guys a 5 star rating, and not use false statements that diminish your credibility, to prove your point.
I can't speak to what happened at VF. If true, it's very unfortunate & not the way that an event organizer ought to treat their vendors. I just hate to see this review sit here for years, with many clearly false statements, against people who have devoted so much time and energy to this cause.
Contributions +898
never called me back - Edit
I have no idea what these folks are here for if not as a resource. So I tried to take advantage of this, left a detailed message that was ignored. Seem like perhaps they are a closed, exclusive society interested in having monthly dinners to the excessively wealthy of Bellevue. They can stay that way as far as I'm concerned.
Link to this page from your site. Entry info .
Return to Bellevue Vegetarian Restaurants & Health Food Store Listings
Business Owners, if you see an unfair review, read this.
Why was my review removed? - details / Review guidelines
Reviews are not endorsed by HappyCow - review terms
Has Vegetarians of Washington closed, shut down, moved, or changed? Please use the Update Form.
This page has been viewed 2192 times.
Nearby Listings
View MoreBombay House
India Gate
Be the first to review
0 reviewsSeattle Humane
Be the first to review
0 reviewsSquare Lotus
Jinya Ramen Bar
Be the first to review
reviews