Worcester's Veg-Friendly StART On The Street: Spring 2011

Worcester's own stART On The Street art festival is one of the best events in Massachusetts hands-down. The festival occurs several times throughout the year: Fall (stART On The Street) being the largest, Winter (stART At The Station), and Spring (stART On The Street: Spring Edition.) With so many talented local artists, musicians, and DIY-ers in one spot, its hard to go wrong. Its great that they have a non-profit area for local groups as well. 

This past weekend I set up at the Spring Edition for a few hours reppin' for VegWorcester, selling homemade vegan baked goods made by Erin, Aurora and yours truly. It was great to hear the huge response to VegFest and also to hear what a splash we made with the vegan bake-sale shutdown and subsequent reversal to make our "cupcake parties" legal! Lots of people who came to the table had interesting stories this weekend... One man told me that he had witnessed first-hand factory-farm cruelty (20 years ago?) while doing some carpentry at a local Worcester-County farm that prompted him to go vegetarian. I also heard from a man who said he was struggling with health issues such as high cholesterol and pre-diabetes and was considering cutting down on his meat intake. 

The stART festival featured several vegan vendors besides VegWorcester. Like No Udder was serving up their delicious vegan soft serve, Loving Hut had the usual tasty asian food and the hot dog truck had veggie dogs w/ avocado & tomatoes. Its comforting to go to a street fair and not be stuck with only sausage & fried dough carts for a change. 

Thank you stART On The Street for being AWESOME.

Bake Sales Now Legal in the City of Worcester! (link)

In response to the rude shut-down of our VegWorcester vegan bake sale last month, Drew has been meeting with city officials to figure out a way to move forward on a way to hold a "legal" bake sale in our city. Good news: Bake Sales Now Legal in the City of Worcester (link) !!!

VEGFEST 2011!

Worcester VegFest 2011 was last weekend, and it was just as we predicted- AWESOME. There was some great promotion this year and it definitely contributed to getting the word out. We started off the festivities with a pre-VegFest "get psyched" meeting the night before the event to start setting up. Coordinators and volunteers had a chance to go over details and chow down on  vegan pizza from Flats while unpacking all the books and merch.  Then it was time for the big day... VegFest! As a VegFest organizer and the exhibitor coordinator, I got to Worcester State University at 10am to start signing in and greeting vendors. The event was scheduled to begin at noon, but we had attendees lining the hallways by 11:30am. Huge crowds starting showing up around noontime. From 1pm~3pm, the exhibitor areas were so packed with humans, that it was actually getting a little tight in there. Among all the tons of free samples from exhibitors, VegWorcester's own free sample tables had Primal Strips, Odwalla bars, Chreese packets, Quick Gravy packets, 40 lbs of ecoVegan mock meat samples, coupons for Gardein, coupons for Follow Your Heart products and 15 cartons of vegan "milks" like  soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, etc. If you're curious where to get certain products found at the Worcester Vegfest, follow the exhibitor links below for online stores, or try your local Whole Foods Bellingham/Framingham locations are the closest locations to Worcester (about 20 miles), Living Earth on Park Ave, or Shaws Wild Harvest (several Worcester locations).

VEGFEST 2011 SCHEDULE:
12:15-1:00pm: BRUCE FRIEDRICH
1:15-2:00pm: TRACYE MCQUIRTER  

2:15-2:45pm VEGETABLE CIRCUS  

3:00-3:45pm: TERRY HOPE ROMERO 

4:00-4:45pm: WILL POTTER 

Since I was occupied with coordinating tasks, I wasn't able to watch the entire speaking sessions, but did try to catch a few minutes of each one. Bruce is the man. I'm familiar with his work and he always does an amazing job. Tracye... I respect that she is into the healthy aspects of going veg because it’s important to remember that many people enter the vegetarian world for health reasons. Tracye's samples were raw-vegan inspired and I love me some greens.

Terry Hope Romero arrived early and I got a chance to chat with her and help make some arrangements for transportation so she could go make her samples for the cooking demo. She is definitely a rad chick, and she even indulged my geek-ness by signing a copy of Viva Vegan and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar for me. Terry's seitan tacos were to die for!

Will Potter's presentation was certainly eye-opening for many. I was most curious to hear from him since this was the first time I had been exposed to his work. I'm really pumped to read Green Is The New Red. Unfortunately his books didn't arrive in time for VegFest, so hopefully I can score a copy soon.  The speaker room was packed during all the time slots, and we got heaps of positive and valuable feedback from all.

I was also impressed with Vegetable Circus. Tons of kiddos showed up to watch and participate in their show, and there were tons of smiles and happy dances going on. I would definitely recommend this group. They were professional, easy to work with, and so much fun. VegWorcester also had a kid's table with face painting and other children's activities.

There were so many important non-profit exhibitors as well as yummy food vendors. I spent a lot of time walking around to make sure they had all of their needs met and things were going well. Everyone seemed to have a lot of positive feedback. Like No Udder's ice cream truck was a huge hit and so was Coconut Bliss's free ice cream samples. There were huge lines all day for the vegan ice cream! Next time we'll need like 5 ice cream vendors maybe..? haha. I can't wait for another vegan soft serve! X's to O's Vegan Bakery had some tasty cupcakes and vegan twinkies- they seemed busy with customers all afternoon. I was also happy to try Wilderness Poet's nut butters for the first time. Mm. I noticed they sell Wilderness Poets at The Living Earth on Park Ave. Try the pistachio.

Here is a full list of all the exhibitors with links to their websites for reference. Definitely check them out, visit, buy stuff, donate, volunteer, and so on...

VEGFEST 2011 EXHIBITOR/SPONSOR LIST:
* Artichoke Food CoOp
* Autonomie Project (sponsor)
* Belmont Vegetarian
* Boston Vegan Association
* Cedar Foods - Hummus
* Chartwells
* Cloa's Ark Animal Sanctuary
* Coconut Bliss
* Compassion Over Killing
* Duck Yao
* ecoVegan (sponsor)
* Falafal Republic (sponsor)
* Galaxy Nutritional Foods (sponsor)
* Humane League of Boston
* Humane Society of US
* Humane USA - MA PAC
* Isador's Organics (sponsor)
* Keifers Kettle Korn
* Like No Udder Vegan Ice Cream Truck
* Loving Hut (sponsor)
* Maple Farm Sanctuary
* MA Animal Rights Coalition (MARC) (sponsor)
* New Paris Books & Zines
* Peace Abbey
* Peace O' Pie
* PETA
* Quan Yin/Supreme Master Ching Hi
* Queenie Foundation
* Revitalive Health &Wellness
* Spirit Of Change Magazine (sponsor)
* Sproutman
* Sterling Animal Shelter
* Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue
* The Universal Spirit
* United Poultry Concerns
* Vegan Metrowest Network
* VegNews Magazine
* Woo Daddy Waffles
* Wilderness Poets
* Worcester Earn-A-Bike
* Worcester Magazine (sponsor)
* Worcester Natural Foods
* VegFund
* VegWorcester
* X's to O's Vegan Bakery

All in all, VegFest 2011 was a huge success! I'd be willing to bet we had almost 3,000 people come through the doors. With the huge crowds, 40+ exhibitors, 4 national speakers, entertainment and tons of free samples, it was amazing to see it all finally come together last weekend. Although it was definitely a busy few months in the planning stage, it was a great experience to see this event go from just ideas on a piece of paper, to a full on Veg-Fest! Can't wait to see what we can do next year...

More Vegfest Photos @ VegWorcester's Facebook.

VegFest Is Almost Here!

So, for the past few months I've been helping plan the 2011 Worcester VegFest, and its almost here! Check out my Countdown To Worcester Vegfest posted on VegWorcester. With just 6 of us regularly meeting to plan an event for 3,000 people.. we've been busy. All the last minute preparations are taking place now though.. shipment of free samples, books, exhibitor confirmations, laying out of the space, and so on. We're measuring ceilings, counting chairs needed, cutting raffle tickets... you name it.

 

EcoVegan mock meat samples have arrived, and its difficult not to eat them haha! I received 2 sample boxes as well and was able to try cooking them up to see what might be the best method for VegFest sampling, and oh man.. they were sooo delicious. These aren't hippy nut burgers by -any- means, and will surely satisfy veggies and carnivores alike. I can't wait to eat more of these at VegFest.

Oh, and check out the freeeee books I won through a WorldWide Vegan Bake Sale promotion - My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky! There are tons of vegan dessert recipes with awesome photos too. I'll be donating most of them to VegWorcester to sell at VegFest, but plan to make some recipes out of them to post here this summer.

If you haven't already RSVP'd to our Facebook event, do it now! 

With all the crappy hassle over food vendor permits and only a small handful of us kick ass peeps on the planning committee its been a little stressful the past few weeks, but it looks as though things are coming together.

VegFest is going to be freekin AWESOME and everyone better come out and eat tons of veg food or I will hunt you down and slap the shit out of you.      (back-dated)

Criminally Tasty Vegan Bake Sale Shut Down By Worcester City Officials

Recently I hosted a humble vegan bake sale fundraiser in connection with the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale week/month to promote Worcester VegFest 2011. (Facebook Event) Moynihan's Pub on Main St. Worcester allowed VegWorcester volunteers to set up our table during their weekly Wednesday Trivia Night and plans were to raise a small amount of VegFest funds, but mostly just to share the egg-less joy of vegan-ized bakery items with fellow Worcestersites.

Well, go ahead and scratch all that. I ATTEMPED to host a vegan bake sale at Moynihans. As it turns out, Worcester police are cracking down hard on bake sales. That’s right folks,  it seems Main south doesn’t have much going on during the late night hours since Worcester city officials were getting serious, laying the hand of the law down on “offending” cupcakes in our city.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge the handful of awesome humans that stepped up to the plate April 6^th for the now controversial bake sale, whipping up some tasty vegan treats to contribute. Flyers were made, color copies of VegFest posters were printed, and the event was promoted on Facebook as well as through Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale's bake sale listing on their website. 

I made vegan raspberry vanilla cupcakes and vegan chocolate chip cookies. Some other “criminally” delicious goodies that showed up at the bake sale were vegan Boston creme cupcakes, chocolate crinkle cookies, vegan rice krispies, Oreo cookie cupcakes, key lime pies, cheesecake and much more.

 Since I’ve actually never been to a strictly vegan bake sale and had wanted to host one for a long time, I was noticeably pumped about the night. My girlish bake-sale dreams were shut down hard though.

There is an entire back-story to why the officials came to hassle us in the first place, but here is the summary: VegWorcester had been on the city’s radar all week since some VegFest posters were posted up by someone on Shrewsbury Street light poles without our knowledge. Since anyone could  print them and post them from our website, we had no control over where or how many were being put up. We let several city officials know that we were also concerned about the postings and had seemingly put effort toward taking care of the issue. Well, apparently city officials still wanted to press the issue and show their power over certain aspects of the city, such as bake sale fundraisers to raise funds to help end animal suffering. Posting pro-vegan flyers on fancy Shrewsbury Street locations (amidst the higher end slaughterhouse restaurants like Chophouse) is looked down upon by business owners, understandably. Since we had offered to discuss the matter with several officials and work towards keeping a good standing with the city, we though the issue had been taken care of.

As the cupcakes and cookies were laid out, the three male officials came in and circled me, telling me to shut down the bake sale and pack up. I obviously understand that food can cause illnesses if it’s not monitored at every second and if it doesn’t live up to the specific standards set forth in expensive food vendor permits, so I agreed that although it was unfortunate that we didn’t pay for expensive food permits ($55 temporary food vendor permits per baker, to be prepared in commercial kitchens), that we would pack it up.

Typically, animal products are the questionable ingredients that cause food-borne illnesses.  All ingredients in the vegan bake sale goods were specifically vegan- no milk, no dairy, no eggs and bakers were instructed to bring a note card listing ingredients and sub-ingredients.

I asked the city officials if they had been shutting down EVERY bake sale in the city. They paused for a second, “We’ll, when we hear about them we do!” Woah, whats next? Little Timmy's lemonade stand? Grandma's homemade blueberry muffins at the church fair? I replied “So EVERY college bake sale and every church bake sale you come across without a permit, you shut it down?” This prompted one of the men to very angrily scold me with “WATCH YOUR TONE!” Wow. I was then told that if I didn’t pack up, quote: “right this second”, they would take my baked goods and “..bring them outside to the dumpster and POUR BLEACH all over them.” This was the first time I had ever heard that city officials can actually remove baked goods from a bake sale and pour harsh, ecologically damaging chemicals over them. I would think that health inspectors would be aware that bleach is extremely bad for your health and the earth, especially when released into the environment.  Either way, we didn’t have a city permit for our small batches of vegan goodies, so we packed things up as instructed… after 20 minutes of hassling and long winded explanations as to how they were doing me a solid by not destroying the cookies and cupcakes. Yeah, thanks for being so nice...

Luckily Moynihan’s Pub was totally understanding and awesome, and let us set up our literature and pass out VegFest flyers afterward. A bunch of kick ass people donated their extra dollars to our VegFest donations jar. Although we could have made $100~200 from the bake sale, its important to note that our main goal was to spread the word about an awesome event and ultimately help animals that are abused and killed in factory farms.

Don’t worry… no food was smashed or destroyed with bleach or otherwise wasted by city officials. The baked goods in question ended up in our bellies and were thoroughly enjoyed. Since we want to be able to have vegan feed-ins and bake sales in the future, VegWorcester will be following up with the bake sale issue and hopefully will be able to get a clear idea of hoe we can go forward on this without being hassled and shut down. Looking forward to seeing where this all leads...

 (back-dated)

VegPanda Vegan Baked Macaroni and Cheeze

 

 

The Mac Daddy Competition (Vegan Mac & Cheese Cook Off) was this past weekend and VegPanda came in 4th! It was the first time I've ever made an attempt at a mac & "cheese," so it was exciting to hear so much positive feedback about my dish. I doubled this recipe to make 2 casserole-sized dishes to enter, and also 2 pans of vegan mac & cheeze cupcakes. Yep, thats right. mac n cheeze cupcakes! Unfortunately the mac n cheeze cupcakes were way too hot to transfer right away to put in the car and I was already running late to the event, so I was unable to bring them! Its too bad because they came out awesome, and I would have rather entered the cupcake version as they were a little more creative. Either way, both the casserole and the "cupcake" version are made with the same recipe, just in different pans. Many people asked for the recipe, so here it is:

(Update: Recipe Hidden Until Mac Daddy contest 2012 is over....)

Valentine Pop-Up: an Evening of Romance and Vegan Cuisine, Review

“The Burnside Fountain” Valentine Pop-Up dinner was over a week ago, but we think it’s never too late to impart reviews of local veg-food events! The pre-Valentines Day dinner was boasted as fine pop-up style vegan dining with a scrumptious mash up of Asian flavor and American comfort food. Curious Worcesterites, good friends, and romantic couples all came out to enjoy the 3-course meal. Friendly hosts and hostesses volunteered to help with preparations and serving of the meal, while the chefs worked behind the scenes. Dishes were served upon candle-lit tables adorned with earthy Valentine-inspired table decorations and bottles of wine.

The appetizer was a kick-ass Philly spring roll with a wedge salad and bleu cheese dressing. The spring roll was delicate, yet fried crispy (yeah baby!) with a hearty flavor that worked well in contrast with the crunchy fresh lettuce and nutty-cheese dressing. 4 out of 4 stars on this one.

After some romantic and sexy conversation amongst the guests, the hosts came out to announce the main entrée, Southern-baked “chicken” and wasabi-infused potatoes with brown miso gravy. The “chicken” had a delightfully crunchy breading that gave it an authentic texture. It was the highlight of the entrée since unfortunately the tang of the wasabi seemed slightly masked somewhere beneath the wholesome texture of the potato and gravy. Though it’s really just too hard to go wrong with mashed potato, so there’s no bad grade there! Roasted brussels sprouts were a savory entree side, soft and almost caramelized, perfect to pop into your mouth. Mmm

Dessert was sliced bananas over a ball of coconut sticky rice, smothered in a Thai peanut sauce. Although it honestly wasn’t the most visually attractive dessert (had to say it!), it had a unique blending of eye-opening flavors. A few suggested that it may not have been particularly “dessert-like,” though, c’mon now- do we really always need over-sweet typical concoctions to scream dessert? The over-ripe banana was pleasant and soothing as a follow-up to the previous dishes, and the sticky rice and creamy peanut sauce really brought it together as a more exotic treat!

With some experience to draw upon, the hosts were able to serve more effectively and the evening had a relaxing and enjoyable flow to it. The last pop-up had almost too much food, and this pop-up was just right, though I’d surely have loved to take home some left-overs. Some guests suggested they could have eaten double of the entrée. Even though the heartiness of the amazing bread from the autumn pop-up was arguably the catalyst for the over-filled bellies at the last event, it had a place in our hearts and was missed at the Valentine pop-up.

With two scrumptious and successful events under their belt, The Burnside Fountain team just HAS to come back for a third event, and show us their staying power. More vegan pop-ups, please!

Visit the The Burnside Fountain’s Facebook page, and their Twitter page to get updates.

Also, check out VegWorcester’s review of the previous pop-up dinner.

 cross-posted @ vegworcester.com

SAAVY Free Vegan Post-Thanksgiving feast @ Clark

The Student Alliance of Vegetarian and Vegan Youth (SAVVY) at Clark University and VegPolytech from WPI organized a tasty free post-Thanksgiving vegan feast tonight @ Clark!

A variety of food was offered- multiple Tofurkeys, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, cornbread, green beans,carrots, vegan mac & cheeze, pumpkin pie, cupcakes, etcetera. My favorites were the stuffing and the green beans. I'm glad we headed over there early because there was a long line at the door, and it seemed as though the delicious spread of Thanksgiving veg goodness was devoured in minutes!

Join the MARC Fur Protest in Worcester this Sunday

There is a chill in the air this holiday season, and it’s not just from the wintery weather! Did you know that more than 50 million animals are killed each year to produce fur products? Aside from the ugly horror of fur coats, there are fur scarves, hats, fur-lined boots and mittens made off the backs of dead animals. That offensive strip of fur trim isn’t just “left over” from coat-making either. Thousands of animals are killed simply to provide fur-liners and trim for the winter season.

Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition (MARC) is hosting a peaceful anti-fur protest at the Greendale Mall (7 Neponset Street, Worcester, MA) this Sunday, December 5^th from 1-2:30pm and members  of VegWorcester will also be attending. Those interested in participating should dress warm and meet up on the sidewalk at the mall entrance where the cars enter. Literature and banners will be provided. To RSVP, get more info/directions email rayshick@msn.com or call (978-257-7062)

Local fur is usually made from catching wild animals in traps. Fur traps are cruel and painful devices, leaving many animals to chew their limbs off in attempts to escape and others to die from blood loss while waiting for a trapper to retrieve them. Traps also unintentionally trap other animals in the process, with many of them being discarded as “trash,” such as domestic cats, dogs, and small wildlife. In China, many furs are made from cats and dogs, and are shipped overseas with inaccurate labels, so it’s hard to say for sure what “pet” you’re wearing on your back…

Farmed animals are bred for fur and endure a lifetime of horrors. Minks are the most frequently farmed fur-bearing animal. Foxes, rabbits, chinchillas, beavers, raccoons, and lynxes are also subjected to the fur industry. These unique creatures are held captive in small cages, suffering much physical and mental stress. Many animals in the wild enjoy snuggling together for security and warmth while they sleep (just like many humans do!), but in these tiny cages they will never know the security of togetherness or any sense of peace.

The abysmal killing methods used to keep the fur in tact are gruesome and not always effective on first try. Animals that are trapped often do not die right away and are forced to endure beatings or strangulation. Farmed animals are often anally electrocuted, gassed, or have their necks snapped. With questionable effectiveness, some animals wake up during the skinning process.

Fur is not fashionable. Compassion is fashionable! Make a statement this year and say no to fur & fur trim! Not sure what to do with grandma’s dated hand-me-down furs? Try donating them back to the animals with a project like The Humane Society’s “Coats for Cubs.” Wildlife rehabilitators use the furs to warm and comfort orphaned and injured wildlife.

Fur products are not welcome in our city or anywhere else! Don’t support stores that sell fur. The holiday season is about togetherness, so get together this Sunday Dec 5th (1:00pm-2:30pm) at the Greendale Mall in Worcester, MA to SAY NO TO FUR!

previous fur-protest photos by jackie

cross-posted @ vegworcester.com

Loving Hut Buffet Anniversary In Review

 Last Saturday, VegWorcester celebrated the one year anniversary of VegWorcester vegan buffet fundraisers held at the Loving Hut on Chandler Street. It was one of the the busiest vegan buffets since the location began their partnership with VegWorcester, back when they were still called Buddha Hut. With customers waiting at the door to be seated, and staff scrambling to find tables to seat all of the guests, it was a jam-packed afternoon.

Drew Wilson presented The Loving Hut owner and staff with a certificate of appreciation for one year of fundraisers and support on behalf of all of the VegWorcester community. It has been amazing to see so many people at the buffet fundraisers this year, participating in and encouraging vegan businesses thriving in Worcester. The Loving Hut has become one of the hubs for the local vegetarian-vegan community to gather, enjoy good food and promote compassion for animals. They have served food at a wide variety of local events, including Worcester’s own first annual Vegfest last Spring.

There were all kinds of fun things going on at Saturday’s $10 all-you-can-eat fundraiser. As usual, 10% of all the buffet sales were donated to VegWorcester and the buffet spread was well rounded with rice and noodle dishes, a variety of delicious mock meats, fresh veggie roll-ups, soup, and fruit. Many took part in the free raffle and won a host of goodies like vegan recipe books, gift certificates, t-shirts and more.  The former Barely Legal Treats vegan bakery made yummy free vegan cupcakes in a variety of flavors for guests who arrived early enough to snag one!

You may have noticed Supreme Master TV representatives were on location, filming portions of the event. They were hard to miss! “Supreme Master Television is an international, non-profit channel airing constructive news and programs that foster peace and promote healthy, green living.” Their motto is “Be Veg, Go Green, Save the Planet!” The TV reps interviewed several VegWorcester members, asking questions about the buffet fundraisers, their personal interest in going veg, community events, environmental issues and animal welfare.

VegWorcester would like to thank everyone who came out to show their support for The Loving Hut, and who continue to spread the word about local vegan eateries, outreach and community events. We couldn’t do it without you!

previous post: (celebrate-1-year-of-vegan-buffet-fundraisers-at-loving-hut-this-saturday-event)

cross-posted @ (http://vegworcester.com/2010/11/17/loving-hut-buffet-anniversary-in-review)

Vegan Harvest Pop-Up In Review

A few dozen came out last Thursday to enjoy a delicious and mysterious 4-course vegan harvest "pop-up" dinner in Worcester. The local chefs worked behind the scenes to create not only a hearty fall-inspired menu, but also to offer a delightful candle-lit evening with old friends, new friends and plenty of suspense.

Though the multi-functional location of the pop-up might be better known for its showcasing of underground music, it transformed nicely into an atmospheric and imaginative dinner venue. The room was complete with long white-clothed tables and mis-matched wine glasses.

Guests were invited to enjoy their choice of wine while waiting for the hors d'oeuvres of spinach, onion marmalade, walnuts and 'vegan feta' in endive leaves. The endive appetizers served to share amongst each table were an inventive choice with a unique variety of flavors and textures that one could find inspiring.

The second course was an ode to the season, a butternut squash and sweet potato soup served with loaves of warm fresh bread. Slicing the bread as a group was a fun conversation starter and the pieces were perfect for dipping.

There was quite a wait in between the second and third course, which gave time for guests to relax, chat, and enjoy the wine. Although the intriguing pauses in between dishes weren’t too much of a bother, it was easy to fill up on wine and delicious bread!

When the main course was ready, it came out in shifts, straight out of the oven and served with pot-holdered hands. The bowls of shells in mascarpone béchamel with caramelized mushrooms and onions were pleasantly creamy and had a baked crispy topping. Scrumptious and filling, yet almost overwhelming in its size, the shells dish was worth the wait.

As a sweet ending to the evening, the chocolate and pumpkin bread pudding was flavorful, holiday-inspired and left nothing to be desired. Following the dessert, the distinguished chefs for the evening came out to thank everyone for attending what hopefully was the first of many “pop-up” dinners to come.

Atmosphere, creativity and good vegan food made for an interesting and enjoyable evening in Worcester. Congratulations to the organizers of this event for the success of this first-time occasion, and the delectable choice of food. It can’t be said for sure where or when this tasty endeavor might return, but suffice it to say, this 4-course meal was more of an event than simply a dinner, and one that shouldn’t be missed next time it pops up.

  
previous veg-worcester post: mysterious-new-vegan-restaurant-pops-up-in-worcester

cross-posted @ vegworcester.com: vegan-harvest-pop-up-in-review

The 15th Annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival

The  Boston Vegetarian Food Festival is upon us again! 

 

Looking for some vegetarian fun Halloween weekend? The 15th annual festival is being held Saturday, October 30th (10am-6pm), and Sunday, October 31st   (10am – 4pm) at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center on Tremont St. in Boston, MA. The event will feature vegetarian and vegan food vendors, products, cooking demos, free samples, exhibits, speakers, children’s activities and more. Before you do yourself an injustice by consuming all that unhealthy Halloween candy, check out some of the cruelty-free vegan food vendors and speakers at this great two-day educational celebration of veg culture in Massachusetts.

There is a great lineup of presenters to check out! A few that you shouldn’t miss- On Saturday the day starts off strong with a vegan cooking demo by Terry Hope Romero, co-author of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World and more recently a solo cookbook Viva Vegan! If you’re into vegan cooking or baking, you’ve surely tried some of her recipes and she won’t let you down! Are you interested in the environmental aspects of cutting meat from your diet? Be sure to catch Martin Rowe of Brighter Green at noon, discussing the ill effects of animal agriculture on our planet. For those of you who attended Worcester’s first Vegfest this past spring, you’ll remember the very riveting Michael Greger, MD from our speaker panel. Greger will be speaking on both Saturday and Sunday in a two part presentation covering The Latest in Human Nutrition.

Sunday also features a rad cooking demo called Who Knew Vegetarian/Vegan Cuisine Could Taste this Good? at 1:30pm. It will be presented by acclaimed celebrity vegan Chef Tal Ronnen, who has cooked vegan meals for Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres, among others!  At noon on Sunday, Brenda Davis, R.D. will address health-conscious festival-goers with a talk on diabetes, a very real concern for our community.

Be sure to let VegWorcester know which speakers and vendors you’re most interested in checking out. Your feedback after the event will also help us to get ideas for our next hometown Vegfest!

The festival is hosted by the Boston Vegetarian Society, and with sponsors such as VegNews magazine, Loving Hut, Vegan.com, and more, there will be a lot to see (and eat) at this years Boston Vegetarian Food Festival!

Cross-posted @ Vegworcester.com Blog

VegWorcester members join MARC Ringling Circus Protest

Animal cruelty issues are a local topic this week with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus returning to Worcester over the weekend (and heading to Springfield and Boston throughout this week.) Several VegWorcester members joined up with Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition (MARC) to protest the DCU Center event this past Saturday and bring light to the cruel practices that continue to go on under the guise of entertainment.

Over 35 people attended the Worcester protest, holding eye-opening signs at DCU Center entrances before both circus showings and passing out literature that noted the many instances of animal cruelty by Ringling. Some circus attendees passed by and tried not to look, but many were extremely curious and affected by the images of elephants in chains and accepted our info sheet. Some of us have attended the circus in the past and now that we are becoming aware of the harsh reality, we are choosing to not only skip the circus for other cruelty-free events, but spread the word in the hope that animals will no longer be forced to endure lifelong suffering.

Children love animals and many attending Saturday’s Ringling event pointed or asked their parents why we were there, which hopefully prompted some thought and dialogue on the subject. Awareness is one of the first steps in creating change for the animals that are suffering in silence.

Circus animals are not the type of entertainment that will foster compassion. There are more humane and educational ways to appreciate animals and have fun with your family. Some things to do instead could be a visit to a farm sanctuary (such as the Maple Farm Sanctuary), volunteering at a local animal shelter, watching wildlife documentaries showing animals in their natural environment, having your own “animal”-show where your kids can dress up in animal costumes, make arts and crafts or cookies decorated with their favorite exotic animal faces, and complete it with a nature-walk to look for and photograph local wildlife in their natural habitat.

Helen Rayshick, MARC Executive Director, said “MARC’s Ringling protest’s mission in Worcester Saturday was to get the public to realize that this circus is not family entertainment and to stop supporting its cruelty. Ringling circus has been cited over 100 times for failure to adhere to the Animal Welfare Act and has paid fines of up to $20,000 for their mistreatment of animals.  Baby and adult animals endure violent training sessions with ropes, bullhooks, and electric shock prods. Three former employees have testified in court or before Congress that all the elephant handlers beat the elephants, and in 2009, their CEO admitted this was true in federal court. In 2004, a lion died of dehydration and heatstroke on a train in the Mojave Desert solely because Ringling officials wouldn’t stop the train to provide water. Ringling has a long track record of animal abuse and neglect, and if good people knew the truth, they wouldn’t allow their children anywhere near this circus. Circuses are not “good clean fun” for anyone.”

Previous VegWorcester Post: Circus Protests this Weekend In Worcester

Upcoming: Boston Ringling Circus Protest @ TD Garden (Wed Oct 13th, 2010, 5:30pm – 7:15pm) Facebook Event Page

Upcoming: Springfield Ringling Circus Protest @ Mass Mutual Center (Thur Oct 14th, 2010, 5:30-7:00 pm & Sat Oct 16th, 2010, 12:30pm - 3:00pm.) Facebook Event Page

Press: Telegram & Gazette – Animals focus of protest

Cross-posted @ Vegworcester.com Blog

October Loving Hut Buffet w/ members of MARC

                                                      The October Loving Hut (Chandler St) VegWorcester fundraiser buffet was on Saturday. After the first circus showing protest (which I'll blog about later,) we all headed over for the $10 vegan meal. Our group arrived around 3:30pm and the place was packed! In fact every seat was filled and we had to wait a few minutes for people to finish eating to have a table cleared. It was great to see so many people out supporting veg businesses in Worcester. (The next Loving Hut buffet is Sat, Nov 13.)

I got a chance to hang with some friends and talk with Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition (MARC) Executive Director Helen about how she started the group and some of the current events they're hosting. If you're in MA definitely check out their website massanimalrights.org.  From the website: "MARC is a volunteer group that works to end suffering for all animals: "food animals", animals in laboratories and entertainment, companion animals, fur animals and other wildlife. MARC is the largest and most active animal rights group in Massachusetts, with over 2600 members."

Also be sure to check out Helen & Steve of MARC's animal sanctuary, Sunny Meadow Sanctuary. Join the Sunny Meadow Sanctuary Yahoo group and the MARC Yahoo group  to get email updates on upcoming outreach events!

September Loving Hut Buffet

 September Loving Hut buffet VegWorcester fundraiser 

This month's Loving Hut (Chandler) buffet was great as always. The Fresh Loving Rolls and the Joyfut Satay were delicioussssness! Its always a pleasure to see familiar faces and eat the hell out of the scrumptious vegan food. Good times ;)

VegWorcester at Open Road Music & Arts Festival

When we heard Honor Roll Productions was putting together the Open Road Music & Arts Festival, VegWorcester was one of the first to jump in and take part in what is being described as "Worcester’s first sustainable and earth-friendly music and arts festival." Drew and I (Manda) were excited to partake in some vegan outreach and check out the first of what will become an annual event!

Worcester locals headed over to Institute Park this past Saturday, September 4th to enjoy a sunny afternoon of 10+ musical acts, visual arts, fun for the kids, vegetarian food and a vast array of eco-friendly vendors. Among the green-oriented goals of Open Road Festival was bio-diesel generated power for the sound system, recycle bins and organic/recycled promotional materials.

At the VegWorcester table we met many attendees and other vendors who were equally interested in environmental issues and the music as well as trying our free vegan food! At our table we gave out free samples of Thai Peanut and Teriyaki Primal Strips, a meatless vegan jerky voted best new vegetarian snack by VegNews magazine. We also handed out vegan dark chocolates by the company Endangered Species. Their chocolates are ethically-traded and 10% of net profits are donated to help support species, habitat and humanity. We even had some Oreo cookies to share with attendees, based on the thought that many people already eat them and are shocked to find out that they are veg-friendly!

Armed with brochures about reducing cruelty to animals and free vegetarian starter kits, we shared the message of living a veg lifestyle in Worcester and received great feedback and email list sign-ups. One couple said their son had become vegetarian in the past year and they were impressed by how naturally the transition had been. Other festival attendees said they enjoy veg food, but haven't made the jump to preparing and cooking the food themselves. I was excited to share my new Worcester-oriented vegan blog (http://vegpanda.blogspot.com,) hoping to inspire others to experiment with recipes or try some of Worcester's many vegan restaurant options.

Among the food vendors at Open Road were Loving Hut, a local vegan favorite, (located on Chandler St.) They served up a good mix of crispy appetizers to compliment the tasty rice & lo mein. (Be sure to come to one of the Loving Hut buffet VegWorcester fundraisers. They occur monthly and are only $10!) To add to our excitement about the veg food options on Saturday, there were delicious veggie dogs for sale at the cart parked just outside the gates! The avocado, tomato and onion toppings were a nice surprise and made for a unique vegan option that many seemed to enjoy.

Check out Worcester Mag's Open Road review online with a write-up towards the end about our table!

We are looking forward to the rest of the festival season in Worcester with Pet Rock Festival and stART On The Street later this month!

August Loving Hut (Chandler) Buffet

 I had another awesomeee vegan lunch at The Loving Hut (Chandler) today. The Loving Hut (formerly Buddha Hut) has a bountiful vegan buffet once a month, with 10% of the proceeds benefiting VegWorcester. Typically its on the second Saturday of each month from noon-7pm. I've been to about five of the buffet events now, and its always cheap (just $10/all you can eat) and tasty, with good service and good people. Dessert is extra, but for $2.00 for a slice, you won't be able to say no to the vegan chocolate cake. ;) Hell yeah.

Tabling @ Earth Day Expo - Indian Ranch Webster, MA

Steve and I set up a VegWorcester table at the Webster/Dudley Earth Day Expo @ Indian Ranch. There were a variety of Earth-friendly exhibitors, many of which I got to talk to and network with. I made mini vegan cupcakes from the book "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World" to give out as free samples. They went over really well. We also gave out sample cups of Trader Joes chocolate & vanilla soymilk, collected email-list signs ups, sold a few books and met/connected with a lot of people curious about vegetarian & vegan food. Many attendees reported having seen the documentary 'Food Inc' recently and were thinking about going vegetarian or just wanted to get healthier. There were sooo many questions about factory farming, animal rights, and vegetarian meal ideas, that I was getting a dry throat from talking so much. It was really surprising to both of us how receptive everyone was and how many questions everyone had as well. A successful event. I gotta thank Drew for setting us up with a table there! Afterward Steve and I went out to dinner at Da Lat on Park Ave for some veg food, where he told me all about his experiences and stories from doing veg outreach with various animal rights organizations over the years. It was a delicious meal and a fitting end to the day.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

Vegan vanilla cupcakes for the VegFest wrap-up potluck ;)

VegFest is overrrrrr!

Vegfest was awesome-ness. It was mos def a success with probably over a thousand (if not more) veg-lovin attendees. I spent most of the day workin' one of the VegWorcester tables and had a chance to talk with a lot of humans interested in veg food and animal rights. People seemed to be having a super fantastic time overall, and the sample tables were extremely busy. I took a lot of digital photos, which are being uploaded to the VegWorcester fan photos section of the facebook page.