11 posts tagged “vegan”

Hey..
I'm not sure if I was clear enough last time I posted here but our blog is now located on our website. Please go to the UK website's super cool bloggy blog or on the USA website blog. I won't be posting here anymore.

Sorry if I haven't been posting much lately. I have got some good excuses. First, it's finally warm and sunny. I have got no reason to stay inside when the work is done here at the SSOV HQ. I went to Brighton to see how are things over there since the last time I went.

The George is still the best value-for-money veg*n place I have been to, their portions are gigantic (see photo). The cakes at the Infinity Foods café are quite amazing, see photo (top). There was a 2-day festival at the Cowley Club, it was nice to see some old friends there. I love Brighton!

The other reason why I haven't been blogging too much is that I have finally finished the design for Sarah Kramer's new cookbook "Vegan a Go-Go!". As far as I know, all the corrections and amendment are done, the files are at the printer. Yay! The book is coming out in September. Everything went smoothly, I had a fun time designing the book. As you will see when you get it, the book is full of cool artwork/graphics. You probably never seen a vegan cookbook like that before. Sarah and I are working now on a new project: a WALL CALENDAR. Yes, a calendar.

Shepard Fairey, a.k.a. OBEY, the artist and graphic designer who plastered the world with Andre The Giant Has A Posse posters and is perhaps the biggest thing ever to happen to wheatpaste, is reportedly going blind. Fast. One source says he could lose his vision by the end of the year. Bucky Turco at Animal NY has the scoop. Fairey has been suffering from diabetes for most of his life. He's 38 years old now. He's reached the age group most at risk of losing eye sight. I don't know if it's all true, maybe the news of Shepard going blind got exaggerated (we hope so). You should not trust everything you read on the interweb.

I'm blogging about this because I have been aware of my diabetes (Type 2) since I got diagnosed as a teenager. I had to adjust my diet, my doctor actually prescribed a mostly vegetarian diet. Lots of pasta, beans and greens. When I became a vegan, I actually felt a bit better. I don't know if a vegan diet can help dealing with diabetes or not, it did it for me. One thing that I am sure, coffee (caffeine) is probably the worst thing you can drink when you have type 2 diabetes. Caffeine messes up with your blood sugar level. I have been feeling much better since I stopped drinking cups (!) of espressos.  

Beth Ditto, singer of the riot-grrl sensation The Gossip (and Perez Hilton's muse), has a regular column in The Guardian newspaper. In today's Guardian, Beth answers the crucial question: "I've just become vegetarian, but am finding it harder than I expected. Help!". What would Beth Ditto do? I find her answers pretty much ok, for a meat-eater. I'm sure it helps that she's got a veggie sister and probably got all of the tips from her.

Now, you're wondering what would the SSOV do? huh? We would tell this kid to stop this vegetarian non-sense and become a vegan. Veganism is the real deal. This is what the cool kids do. Like I said before, becoming a vegan is like coming out of the closet. Your family might not accept it, you might loose some friends but you will get some new ones. Being a vegan is not difficult. I repeat: being a vegan is not difficult. Being a raw vegan is. And it turns you into a narcisistic hippy too. But that's another story.
So if you have got any questions for the SSOV (what would the SSOV do? WWTSD), feel free to send them over and we'll try to answer. We will try. Our best. I can't really promise that there would be any good advices/tips. I'm pretty good at making statements not based on facts and truths. Stephen Colbert is my idea of expertise and analysis. You have been warned.

This is our favourite time of the year. April, means that we are going to one of the biggest organic / veg*n trade fayre in Europe. We simply love it. This event is only open to trade and professionals. This is where we try new products and do a bit of business. You'll find out later this upcoming months, we will have some exciting new products that we are going to start selling on the SSOV website.

Today's Guardian has an article about world hunger. The author of the article seems to get it right by announcing straight away in the introduction that "a food recession is under way. Biofuels are a crime against humanity, but - take it from a flesh eater - flesh eating is worse". Right on! Most of the article explains how and why we shouldn't eat meat if we are serious about saving our planet from hunger and destruction.

Then of course, the usual thing happens. After convincing us and everyone about going vegan, giving us the numbers and statistics and other decisive facts... the author tells us (whiny voice) 'boo boo it's sooo impossible to be a vegan'.
He adds: "But after almost every talk that I give, I am pestered by swarms of vegans demanding that I adopt their lifestyle. I cannot help noticing that in most cases their skin has turned a fascinating pearl grey."

Some of the comments left by some of the readers were spot on, calling the author a 'upper/middle class with a lifestyle to go with it and you're not up to making the commitment. Pull yourself together man.' I couldn't agree more.

You can read the whole article here.

On the edge of North London our agents have located a new site of pilgrimage - a Buddhist outpost known as Veggie Inn. We have been to London's Peking Palace, Toronto's Vegetarian Haven and Vienna's Vegetasia and this place outdoes them all by far with the best Chinese vegan food we've ever found.

The menu is massive - really massive with lots of choice using all the fake meats. We got the big set menu plus a few extras and fresh orange and carrot juices to go with it. The restaurant uses no animal products, no onion and no garlic but in spite of the latter two, the food was really remarkably delicious and, get this, not greasy at all! All the food we got only

made a small dent in the available dishes but so far we particularly recommend the Peking ribs, chicken satay, Thai vermicelli and toffee banana which comes with vanilla ice cream.

The nice Buddhist women running the place were very helpful and warm and friendly. In spite of the place being packed, they were very attentive and all the courses came at just the right time. We went on a Saturday night and it is highly recommended to book ahead because it's not a large restaurant and word is out about the quality - there was also a constant stream of takeaways being picked up while we were there. One of the top 5 veggie places in London for sure. www.veggieinn.com

SSOVees, we are looking for adding some cool pics to our UK website. We would like you to submit your pictures, wearing our gear. See our website here.

Please send us a link to your myspace page or email us.

thanks!