We Have a Winner for Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s Books!
Wow! You all shared beautiful stories of spreading compassion, so it truly was a tough decision. We did the hard work though, and selected our winner, Kathie, who said that she’d keep Vegan’s Daily Companion and share The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. “I would not actually give the book away. I would rotate it around and let people borrow it and when they are done give it back to me so I could pass it on.” 
Kathie came up with this idea to share the book with many people because “some friends and some family think that vegan food cannot taste good and it would be too hard, yet all are to an extent, animal lovers (except eating them!).” Thanks, Kathie, we love your idea to pass around the compassionate wisdom.
We enjoyed reading all your sweet and inspirational stories of family and friends moving towards veganism with your help and support. Many of you seem to agree that the best way to nudge someone along their path to healthier eating is to share excellent vegan goodies.
In case you don’t have time or inclination to make your own vegan Valentine’s Day sweets, let us support you. Like many holidays, Valentine’s Day has a tendency to creep up on us. Believe it or not, the time is now to order vegan Valentine’s Day chocolate gifts for delivery in time for February 14th. We’re ready to help you grant all your sweethearts’ sweet desires!
Fridays with Friends: Real Food Daily’s Ann Gentry
Ann Gentry is a vegan restaurateur pioneer. She opened her first Real Food Daily, an LA institution, in 1993, long before the masses were catching on that a vegan lifestyle is healthy, compassionate, sustainable and delicious. Ann’s work directly contributed to the exposure vegan food has received in recent years. Serving Hollywood’s celebrities scrumptiously wholesome meals got the word spreading like wildfire. I had the honor and pleasure of sitting down with Ann to learn more about her journey and what she’s up to these days…
Allison’s Gourmet: When I first considered going to cooking school in 1996, I heard about a woman who had a daily home-delivery food service, catering to folks (especially stars) who followed a hardcore macrobiotic diet. I even had one of your flyers from before you started the restaurant! A few years later, I enjoyed my first meal at Real Food Daily. Will you correct any erroneous memories I may have and tell us how Real Food Daily came about?
Ann Gentry: That’s about right. In the late 1980’s, I started a home delivery cooking business serving organic vegan meals because at that time there were not many, if any, gourmet whole/real food restaurants in LA. I know, hard to believe, right? This was pre-Whole Foods Market and there were a few places to eat plant-based cuisine but they were kind of hippie-ish and the food may have been healthy for you but didn’t always taste or look satisfying.I opened the first Real Food Daily in 1993 as a direct result of having no place to go out to eat the kind of food I was cooking at home.
Allison’s Gourmet: Wow, you are a true pioneer in the realm of delicious vegan restaurants! Were you always a fan of cooking or did that come when you turned to a macrobiotic/vegan diet?
Ann Gentry: I grew up in a household of some mighty fine Southern cooks. Good thing I didn’t keep eating that way, as I’d be as big as a house by now and probably facing some serious health problems, too. Once I was introduced to vegetarian cuisine, then macrobiotic cooking, I put down my Dr. Pepper and took a real interest in learning how to cook for myself.
Allison’s Gourmet: Amazing how those lights just turn on, huh? When I finally had the honor of meeting you when Anna and Frances Moore-Lappé did a book signing at your fun and funky West Hollywood location, I was struck by your unexpected and charming Southern accent. How do you weave your Southern roots into your macrobiotic/vegan menu?
Ann Gentry: It is just a natural connection to use my Southern heritage in both cooking and hospitality when it comes to my restaurants. I never try to mimic the exact creation of a certain dish, I just let the essence of the recipe guide me. For example, creating the Salisbury Seitan came out of my love for eating Salisbury steak at independent Southern diners and cafeterias.
Allison’s Gourmet: Lucky you. I only had them in TV dinners. No wonder yours are so much better. Did you set out to create a gustatory haven for stars or did that just happen?
Ann Gentry: When you have a great business in Los Angeles, everyone flocks to it. Hollywood keeps coming because these folks, just like everyone else who is a beloved RFD guest, wants to eat food which is deliciously clean and pure. All kinds of people following a variety of strict dietary guidelines—whether for ethical, health, or religious reasons—find themselves with a lot to choose at RFD. We have earned the trust of people who are seeking out a plant-based diet whether full or part time. When folks leave RFD, they feel a satisfaction from eating fresh organically grown plant based foods. People respond well to this, sometimes without even knowing why. I know why – because RFD is committed to serving balanced, nutritional whole foods cuisine using high quality produce and ingredients most of which are grown organically and this affects people on many levels.
Allison’s Gourmet: Your latest book, Vegan Family Meals: Real Food for Everyone is geared towards cooking vegan at home; what’s your favorite piece of advice for healthy home cooking for people on the go? And do you have any advice for people making the transition into veganism?
Ann Gentry: A plant-based diet with a seasonally rotating palette of fresh, colorful produce ripe for use encourages creativity in the kitchen. If you prepare the best local and seasonal ingredients with a variety of cooking methods, you’ll have more interesting and diverse tastes, textures, and colors on your plate. Any quality home cooking takes a little time. As a busy working mother, I too am juggling the day-to-day challenges. In Vegan Family Meals I talk about how it’s nice to have the American-style four or five dishes at every meal, but it’s not necessary. Balance your nutrition intake across the week, and don’t get hung up on making every meal a feast. Instead, focus on preparing a few recipes that will keep your cooking simple and your time in the kitchen enjoyable. If you are making the transition to a plant-based cuisine, know it takes time to change and embrace a new way of eating. Take it easy and be kind to yourself.
Allison’s Gourmet: Those are great suggestions, Ann. What’s your favorite vegetable and how do you like to prepare it? How about your favorite super simple vegan meal/recipe that keep you supercharged through your day?
Ann Gentry: I’m blessed; I love all vegetables. Right now, I love to roast cauliflower as it has such a simple satisfying texture and mild flavor. I start my day making the first recipe from Vegan Family Meals, Acai Berry Granola Bowl. I even have my 8 1/2 old son loving this breakfast. It is filled with super foods, nuts and seeds and is filling and satisfying.
Allison’s Gourmet: And that’s no minor feat! Congratulations. Finally, what’s your favorite Allison’s Gourmet product?
Ann Gentry: Someone sent me your gourmet brownies that are laced with a hint of orange. I loved that they were not overly sweet, as I didn’t taste the hit of sugary sweetness most brownies have. Yours were just the right amount of chocolate and sweet and they were divine.
Thank you, Ann, that’s high praise indeed coming from you!
Vegan Book Giveaway from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
I promised a Cookbook Giveaway from my friend, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and here it is! Colleen is kindly offering two of her books: Vegan’s Daily Companion and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, going to one winner. 
Two inspiring vegan books at once is a generous prize and, in the spirit of sharing the vegan wealth, we’re hoping that whomever wins these two fantastic books will keep one for him/herself and give the other to a loved one in a “pay it forward” gesture of delicious compassion.
So, we want to know, if you won these two books, which one would you keep for yourself, which would you give away, to whom and why? Tell us on our blog and for bonus points we’d love to know what you might say when gifting the book and what sweet treat you might pair with it. Post your answer on our blog and we’ll announce our favorite answer one week from today, on Wednesday, February 1st. We can’t wait to read all your interesting answers!
This contest is now closed, and we have a winner!
Fridays with Friends: Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, the Compassionate Cook
While I have known Colleen Patrick-Goudreau for several years, I had never had the pleasure of hearing her speak until this summer when I was lucky enough see her in action both at Vida Vegan Con in Portland and at an Animal Place event here in Grass Valley, CA. I was electrified by her grace, presence and message of joyful veganism.
Allison’s Gourmet: Tell me about your journey to becoming a “Joyful Vegan.”
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: I grew up eating every kind of animal – anything that walked, swam, or flew. My father owned ice cream stores and would bring home tubs of ice cream to fill our separate ice cream freezer. At the same time, I – like most children – had a deep sense of compassion for animals, suffered when they suffered, and intervened when I was able. My parents and other adults supported this compassion, but they also taught me to compartmentalize. I was taught that some animals were worthy of my compassion (the stray dogs and cats or wildlife I helped) and some animals were “here for us” and thus deserving of our compassion only to a point. And these were the same animals all over my wallpaper, my pajamas, my childhood books and games, and my favorite TV shows and movies: lambs, calves, pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys, and chickens.
I could have gone about my whole life staying desensitized, but luckily I read John Robbins’ Diet for a New America when I was 19, which started me on a path to learn everything I could about the exploitation of animals for human consumption. I stopped eating land animals immediately, and several years and several books later, I stopped eating (or wearing) anything that came from an animal. I just did not want to contribute to violence towards animals – violence I would never participate in directly.
So, when I became vegan (12 years ago now), it was a very natural and joyful decision that has had many unexpected gifts.
Even though there is great pain in being aware of the suffering of non-human animals, there is also great joy at being fully awake and not being part of that violence.
AG: You are an impassioned voice calling us to awaken for the animals and our human souls. Would you share with us your evolution from a background in English to teaching vegan cooking classes to publishing your touching “Food for Thought” podcast and now arriving as a prolific author and inspiring speaker?
CP-G: You’re sweet. Thank you for saying that. When I left graduate school back in New Jersey I was not vegan, but I had already read Diet for a New America, and seeds had been planted. So, even though I didn’t know what it was going to look like, I knew I was going to follow a path working to help animals and empower people to not eat animals. I knew that my contribution would be through what my skills and interests were – namely writing and speaking (I taught Freshman English when I was a graduate student and was finding my voice as a lecturer). So, I just started by doing and by trying to find my voice. I began educating people by tabling, by doing Street TV (showing slaughter videos and handing out Why Vegan brochures), and then by teaching cooking classes (because everyone said “what do I eat?”). When I realized I was on to something with the classes, I wanted them to reach more people, so I produced a cooking DVD. Tapping into the power of media, I started producing my podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought (it’s all vegan!). 
From there, my first publisher found me and offered me a contract to write The Joy of Vegan Baking, and it’s all gone on from there with The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, Vegan’s Daily Companion, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. The journey has been exhilarating and incredibly gratifying, and I’m so grateful to wake up each morning dedicating my life to exactly what I feel is the most important work in the world: teaching people how to manifest their compassion in their every day lives. It’s pretty amazing.
Come back next week for a Giveaway of two of Colleen’s books!
AG: What is your greatest reward in teaching people about compassionate living?
CP-G: I believe we’re all here to be teachers to one another; we’re all here to lift each other up to become the fully evolved people we can be. I believe that people want to be the most compassionate they can be, and I believe it’s already inside of them. I’m not teaching/telling them anything they don’t know; I’m just pointing them to what’s already in their hearts. I help them recognize it, and when they do, they wake up, and I get to see that moment. It’s heart-warming, gratifying, and powerful for me with each person I see experience this. The details may be different, but their stories are pretty much all the same: “I cared about animals when I was a child; I was taught to squelch that compassion in order to eat the animals my parents fed me; then X happened, and I’ve become re-awakened to my compassion.”Each story of awakening I hear just gives me strength and resolve to continue doing this work, because it’s not just a matter of teaching someone how to sauté onions or bake vegan brownies;
it’s a matter of shifting the paradigms to become the compassionate people we really are. (I’m adding new “love letters” to the website all the time, if you want to read some).
AG: Congratulations on your recently launched gorgeous new website! Can you tell us about your Compassionate Cooks Club, Daily Dose of Compassion and/or anything else you’d like to share about your new site?
CP-G: Thank you! The website redesign for The Compassionate Cook has been a LONG time coming! Now that it’s updated, it enables me to more easily change and add more content, blog more (even though I don’t consider myself a blogger), and enable people to comment and participate directly on the website. The Compassionate Cooks Club is not new, but the new account-based membership is. I’m so blessed that people value the work I do and want to support it, but I want to be able to give them something back while creating a community. Club members get to see videos, recipes, and content created just for them; depending on the level, they also get signed books, and some can contact me directly in a consulting kind of relationship to get personal advice and guidance. Of course there is and always will be a ton of free resources on my website, but members just get a little more. I’m really excited about the Daily Dose of Compassion. It’s my new (free) email service whereby subscribers receive an inspiring quote from me everyday in their inbox. I’d been wanting to do this for awhile, especially when I heard from so many people who disciplined themselves to read only 1 page a day out of my book, Vegan’s Daily Companion, so it’s just another way to empower people to live compassionately without apology.
AG: What are some of the whole-food staple ingredients you keep on hand in your kitchen? Do you have a favorite recipe you make often?
CP-G: Favorite recipe – definitely my kale salad. A staple in my home, particularly because of my kale gardens! Rub olive oil on leaves to coat them, sprinkle on some salt and nutritional yeast, and toss with anything and everything, depending on the season. Sometimes it’s toasted pecans and diced apple. Sometimes it’s pumpkin seeds, red onion slices, and avocado. It just depends. I’m a very simple eater and keep a lot of veggies in my fridge and grains/beans in my pantry as staples. I love whipping up new recipes just based on whatever I have in my kitchen. Some recipes are available for free on my website.
AG: If you and I were collaborating in the kitchen, what would be your fantasy creation?
CP-G: Anything with coconut oil, chocolate, and bread. Does that inspire anything in your incredibly creative mind?? 
AG: Hmmm… how about soft, doughy bread made with coconut oil and a dash of cinnamon, dipped in chocolate, fondue-style?
You have accomplished so much already. Knowing you as I do, I imagine there’s more to come. What’s the next frontier for Colleen Patrick-Goudreau?
CP-G: Right now, I’m caught between Scylla and Charybdis because I have so much I want to do, but I also have a burning desire to find some balance in my life. So, aside from trying to slow down a little, the most immediate next project to come to fruition will be the interactive 30-Day Vegan Challenge online program. I’m focusing on letting my books breathe a bit (no books for awhile), returning again to a regular podcast schedule (it slowed down a bit in 2011 because I had three books come out one after the other), and on launching the 30-Day online program. So much to do, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to do it.
Thanks Colleen, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with you. Now I need to go get my chocolate melting for that fantasy creation! For more about Colleen, her books, speaking engagements and podcasts, find her on Facebook and Twitter.
P.S. Remember to come back next week for a Giveaway of two of Colleen’s books!
Fridays with Friends: Dynise Balcavage, the Urban Vegan
Dynise Balcavage, aka the Urban Vegan, believes that vegan cooking should be held to the highest standards and should always be superbly decadent and healthy. I couldn’t agree more!
Allison’s Gourmet: When/how did you become vegan?
Dynise Balcavage: I went vegan “cold tofurkey” in 2006.
AG: Nice. Did you enjoy cooking before you transitioned into a more compassionate lifestyle?
DB: I’ve been cooking since age 7 and have always loved puttering around the kitchen; I associate cooking with fond memories of the women in my family. I actually grew up in a house with an old-fashioned coal stove, so there was always a pot of soup simmering or a plate of something yummy warming on its shelf. We used to stand around the stove to keep warm. My older sister, Debbie, taught me to bake– and to lick the beaters and spatula (which is safer now that I’m vegan).
I’ve always enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen, as a result of my innate curiosity, travels and restlessness. Although I now own close to 200 cookbooks, most of which are omni books, I read them more for inspiration and ideas. I rarely follow recipes. Even with my own cookbooks, I think recipes should be a conduit to creativity, and not a set of rules to be followed blindly. I like recipes that have flexibility, so I try to structure my recipes so they are improv-friendly.
AG: “Improv-friendly.” I like that. You are known as The Urban Vegan, which is also the title of your first cookbook. Is there a difference between an Urban Vegan and one who is suburban or rural?
DB: I’m sure there is, but being an urban vegan, I’m spoiled. I live in Philadelphia, a large herbivore-friendly city, and am just a short ride from NYC, perhaps the world’s most vegan-friendly city, so it’s easy to find vegan-friendly restaurants, plant-based foods and like-minded people in my own backyard. I’m sure being a suburban or rural vegan is more challenging.
AG: Ah, I see what you mean. Being a rural vegan, I can attest that herbivore-friendly restaurants are too few and their ability to impress is even less frequent. Luckily our home kitchen is a good stand-in. I do admit there are times I’d love to get good take-out though! What’s the biggest challenge in creating exciting vegan meals for urbanites?
DB: Now, it’s continually upping the “wow” factor. Vegan used to be a fringe term; now it’s a bona-fide cuisine. I try to continually keep my recipes fresh and exciting, a little healthy and a little hedonistic.
AG: People may be surprised to know that there are indeed opportunities for edible hedonistic pleasures within a vegan menu. Your second cookbook, Celebrate Vegan: 200 Life-Affirming Recipes for Occasions Big and Small is out now, can you expand more on how you create celebrations to remember?
DB: Every day should be a celebration of some sort. And of course, every celebration begins with memorable foods. Dining can become so dull if you’re eating the same thing day after day, though–and so can noshing on the same old holiday foods year after year. My book is a bit unlike other holiday cookbooks in that I include recipes for some quirky holidays, like Festivus, Guy Fawkes Day and “Girls’ Night In,” instead of just the traditional biggies.
But at the same time, it’s fun to mix, match and cross-polinate your holiday menus. Old traditions are important, but it’s also essential to keep on creating new traditions. Why not make Tsimmes, a traditional Jewish side, for Christmas, for example? Or a King Cake for a child’s birthday party instead of just waiting for Mardi Gras? It’s certainly got the wow factor. Don’t be afraid to venture beyond, whatever “beyond” represents to you.
AG: You have a theme of encouraging people to reach beyond, both in your approach to food and in your literary escapades. Do you have any advice for people making the transition into veganism?
DB: Go at your own pace and be easy on yourself. Just like every recipe is customizable, so is every transition to veganism. What’s right for someone else might not work for you–so do it unapologetically your way.
AG: Well-said. What are some of your favorite simple vegan meals/recipes that keep you supercharged through your day?
DB: I’m a smoothie nut, even in the winter, and I’ve just gotten into the habit of tossing baby spinach into my shakes. 
I am also an unabashed pasta freak. I coat my pasta with sauce made with seasonal veggies, olive oil and an obscene amount of garlic–it always works and it’s always easy. When I am too tired or busy to cook, I have been known to order vegan take-out or pick up a slice of vegan pizza.
AG: Do you have a favorite Allison’s Gourmet product?
DB: I adore the caramels, especially the salted chocolate ones, and also I’m a huge fan of the peppermint creme patties. But I would eat anything from Allison’s Gourmet.
Thanks Dynise, this rural vegan loves keeping up on your urban vegan adventures. For more of the Urban Vegan, follow Dynise on Twitter.
2011 in Review: Surprise Sellers
The holidays are by far our busiest time of year. And, as much as we’d like to say that we’ve been doing this for so long that we have everything completely figured out, each year is a little different. As our product lines and people’s tastes change, we’re always a little surprised by which items are our best-sellers each year, especially in the holiday season. 
In the lead-up to the holidays this year we introduced our new line of Artisan Chocolates, as well as re-formulated vegan peanut butter cups, peppermint bark and peppermint creme patties which we had been working on for most of 2011. And, as a bit of an afterthought, we also added a Salted Confections Gift Set to our offerings to showcase our newest salted caramels and salted chocolate brittle. While all of these new products did very well and received rave reviews from excited recipients all over the country, the surprise top seller in the latter part of 2011 was the Salted Confections Gift Set. We’re so glad to discover that there are legions of dessert lovers out there with palates as salty as ours!
Of course, after 15 years in business, not everything is a surprise. 
The other popular sweets over the holidays were vegan toffee, especially the chocolate-covered variety, and hot cocoa, both the classic and peppermint drinking chocolate varieties. Given their classic nature we weren’t at all shocked by their doing so well.
As I and my staff catch our collective breath before unveiling a new chocolate pleasure for Valentine’s Day in just a few short weeks, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks for allowing us the privilege of providing your compassionately decadent gifts for the holidays and throughout the year. It is my pleasure to delight and serve you. And I know everyone at AG shares my gratitude for you. Here’s to a fabulous year-ahead!
Fridays with Friends: Nathan Runkle of Mercy for Animals
Nathan Runkle, the founder and Executive Director of Mercy for Animals, is not only the driving force behind one of my favorite Animal Rights organizations, he’s also one of my favorite people on the planet. If you’ve never met him or heard about his work, here’s some insight into his advocacy.
Allison’s Gourmet: What inspired you to go vegan? How old were you?
Nathan Runkle: I went vegan when I was 15 years old. I grew up on a small crop farm in rural Ohio and always had a natural affinity and connection with animals. Even at a young age, I felt that cruelty towards animals was unethical and unnecessary. When I was 11, I came across literature about factory farming at a local Earth Day event. I remember reading with horror about the way pigs are locked in tiny gestation stalls barely larger than their own bodies, how hens are crammed into tiny wire cages where they can’t spread their wings, and how baby calves are torn from their mother’s side and chained in tiny crates for veal production. 
I immediately went vegetarian and became active in animal rights advocacy – circulating petitions, giving presentations, and learning more about the issues. At the age of 13, I convinced my parents to drive me to Washington, DC, for the National Animal Rights Conference. That event had a profound impact on me – inspiring me to become even more dedicated and committed to speaking up on behalf of farmed animals. The more I learned about the dairy and egg industries, the more disturbed I became. I knew, in good conscience, I couldn’t support these cruel industries – which often subject animals to abuses worse and more prolonged than the meat industry. It was then, at the age of 15, that I went vegan. It’s the best choice I’ve ever made.
Going vegan was the best choice I’ve ever made too! I am grateful to have the privilege of living this lifestyle.
AG: You run Mercy For Animals, one of our very favorite animal advocacy groups. How has the experience been for you and what’s your biggest challenge?
NR: It’s a complete honor and joy running Mercy For Animals. I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to work with a group of amazing individuals, who are amazingly talented, dedicated, focused, strategic, and most of all, compassionate. Although it can be difficult constantly facing the brutal reality animals endure on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, at the end of the day I am filled with deep hope. I truly believe we are making great strides – moving society towards a day when all animals are treated with the respect and compassion they so rightly deserve. We’re on the right side of history and justice.
AG: With your numerous truth-revealing, leading-edge expositions, is there an MFA victory that’s most meaningful or memorable for you?
NR: There are so many. Each investigation we release – whether it be at a pork, dairy, or egg factory farm, hatchery, or slaughterhouse – brings us one step further in raising important awareness about these issues, pushing for new laws and regulations, changing corporate animal welfare policies, and inspiring more people to adopt a vegan diet.
AG: You’ve been named one of the country’s “Top 20 Activists Under 30 Years Old.” Would you like to share any advice for young people eager to adopt a vegan lifestyle and support our animal friends?
NR: Go for it! It’s never been easier, or more enjoyable, to go vegan or become an animal rights advocate. With Facebook, YouTube, and a million other online resources, all the information, tips, advice, and support you need to get started are just a click away. When doing advocacy work, I think it’s important to also think about what’s most effective, the best use of your time, and what will help the most animals. We owe it to the animals to be as strategic as possible – and that involves thinking about the most impactful and positive ways to reach out to others and inspire them to begin the journey towards a plant-based diet. 
Mercy For Animals has lots of “how to” guides and resources on our website – detailing ways to being highly effective and easy grassroots outreach efforts in your community, such as passing out literature, setting up educational displays, video screenings, lectures, and even promoting the cause on your Facebook page and to friends.
AG: Running MFA, surely you clock countless hours! Do you have any time at all to cook? If so, what is one of your favorite vegan meals to make at home? Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
NR: Unfortunately, I don’t find much time to cook – but it’s a New Year’s resolution to do more of it. The closest I get to culinary artistry on a regular basis is in the morning when I make smoothies – filled to the brim with bananas, frozen blueberries, goji berries, strawberries, mango, pineapple, orange juice, flax seed, and kale. So good, and so good for you. I’ve also been on a quinoa kick recently– a real superfood. And I’ve been really into dried seaweed snacks.
Maybe I’ll come to L.A. and cook for you sometime. 
AG: Do you have a favorite goodie from Allison’s Gourmet or an AG gift you most enjoy giving?
NR: Oh wow. I love it all! For holidays and special occasions, I typically give Allison’s Gourmet vegan gift baskets – that way I can share a wide variety of all the tasty, delectable offerings with my loved ones.
As an advocate for both animal rights and gay rights, I want to share the link to your insightful and in-depth interview on Our Hen House, which is another organization we love. You speak eloquently about extending the circle of compassion throughout our society as well as the connection between the LGBT and AR communities. Thank you for speaking out and thank you for being born to do this work, Nathan.
Fridays with Friends: Eco-Vegan Gal Whitney Lauritsen
I love the connection that can be made between veganism and eco-conscious living. In fact, the way I see it, it’s hard to have one without the other. Whitney Lauritsen blogs about the many intersections of Eco-Vegan living on her blog Eco-Vegan Gal. I checked in with Whitney during these busy holidays for her views on holiday gift-giving and eco-vegan tips.
Allison’s Gourmet: What inspired you to adopt a vegan diet/lifestyle?
Whitney Lauritsen: I went vegetarian in 2003 because I was inspired by a friend, then tried veganism about 6 months later out of curiosity. Over the years I fell in love with the lifestyle due to how good I felt, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It’s fun discovering new ways to be eco-friendly, healthy and compassionate.
AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running your blog Eco-Vegan Gal?
WL: Finding time! It’s tough balancing my day jobs and personal life with the website, but I make it happen no matter what. When I do have time, creating content and managing the site is a no-brainer because it comes so naturally to me. I would never call my site work – it’s love.
AG: What do you love most about it?
WL: I love all the amazing people I meet online and at events. I learn so much from each individual, even those that come to me for advice teach me something through their questions. I feel connected to the whole world through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – what a great way to learn about how different people live healthfully and sustainably!
AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
WL: Do kale chips count? If not, I’d have to say almonds, quinoa, kale, and broccoli. I love almonds as snacks, quinoa is my favorite “grain”, and kale and broccoli are such nutritious, tasty veggies. I’m really keen on Brussels sprouts – I could go on…
AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
WL: I’m really into butternut squash right now. I love roasting it, steaming it, stuffing it with other veggies and grains, or mixing it into things like quinoa or brown rice pasta. You really can’t go wrong with it! I love this recipe from The Blissful Chef: Lemon-Kissed Brussels and Butternut Squash.
AG: What’s your favorite eco-friendly tip for the holidays?
WL: Go minimal, buy second hand, and recycle. Choose presents that inspire recipients to eat healthier and live greener. Try not to go overboard just because it’s the holidays – you can be festive without buying a lot of things. One of my favorite eco tips is to rent a live Christmas tree, or buy a potted plant and decorate that instead. Think outside the box, it’s more fun that way! I’ve contributed to some gift guides, like this one from Vegan Cuts.
AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
WL: Anything gluten-free and lower in sugar. I’m always looking for a good hot cocoa too, so your peppermint drinking chocolate looks pretty darn tasty!
Although many of our products are gluten-free, for low in sugar items I’d suggest our organic coffee and fair-trade tea selections. Happy Holidays, Whitney!
Olivia, the Manifester for Animals!
Our daughter, Olivia, is a life-long vegan and has compassion in every one of her multi-billion cells. David and I are rather anti-clutter and luckily, Olivia doesn’t seem much attached to “stuff,” always preferring to play with another person instead of a toy. As her 5th birthday neared, friends and family started asking what to give as a gift. Since more things weren’t at the top of any of our lists, I set out to research meaningful gifts. I came across several ideas and although one stood out as my preference, I felt it was important that Olivia make the decision, so I presented some options from which she could choose:
- Ask her friends to make a gift for her or draw her a picture.
- Ask her friends if they had a toy or book they loved but were finished with that they might want to pass along to her
- Let people choose to give get whatever they wanted
- Ask for a small donation (say $5) that she could pool together and take half to go shop for a gift of her choosing and donate the other half to any organization she wanted.
David thought for sure she’d go for #3. I had no idea what she’d choose but I secretly hoped for #4. Olivia understood everything about the first three options, but wanted to know more about #4. There was a lot of learning in this exercise, no matter which choice she made, so that alone made it worthy. As soon as I explained it to her, she immediately chose #4. We asked if she was sure and she was solidly confident and instantly announced that our favorite local animal sanctuary, Animal Place, would be the beneficiary. David and I told her that however much money she donated, we would double it. Although requesting donations is an unusual gift for a 5 year old, I hoped that the nominal amount would ease any discomfort of more traditional givers. 
After Olivia received all the gifts from both family and friends, she learned about sweet Carmen and declared that all of her money would be going to Animal Place. Such generosity! We suggested she keep a little for herself, but she was adamant that Carmen needed that money more than she did. About a month later, we finally went after school one day to meet Carmen and the new piglets who had recently moved in to Animal Place. I was so busy getting ready for the busy holiday season at Allison’s Gourmet, that I completely forgot to bring the adorable card Olivia made, along with her donation. Gah! I felt terrible and set my mind for us to make a special trip to deliver it. Today is that day. 
I recently learned that Olivia’s money will be doubled again, thanks to a donor who is matching all funds donated to Animal Place, through December 25, up to $8,000. I’m thrilled to share that Olivia’s $100, which doubled to $200 with our donation will now become $400 for Animal Place! Talk about manifestation. This girl has some power! Watch this video of her playing with Carmen.
If you have anything at all that you can give, you could be a master manifester too and double your gift automatically now through Christmas. Please make it an even better holiday season for these beautiful animal friends who get to live out their life in sanctuary. Give today.
Warm holiday wishes to you and yours,
P.S. Get one of these fabulous shirts!
Fridays with Friends: Jasmin & Mariann of Our Hen House
Jasmin Singer and her partner Mariann Sullivan are the superwomen behind Our Hen House and I am struck by their sweetness and strong devotion to the dual causes of animal rights and gay rights that are both very close to my heart.
Photo by Herbivore Clothing
Allison’s Gourmet: When and how did Animal Rights become an issue for you?
Jasmin Singer: I stopped eating meat when I was a teenager, mostly because I thought that being vegetarian was a natural extension of being a theatre student, kind of like wearing all black and smoking clove cigarettes. Through a friend, I met a young woman who had recently gone vegan. I was about 24 then (I’m 32 now), and was a struggling actor in NYC. This new vegan person in my life showed me some footage of factory farming (where would we be without those friends, right?) and I immediately went vegan. That friend, by the way, is Marisa Miller Wolfson, filmmaker behind Vegucated. As the story goes, Marisa is still a very good friend of mine, and, along with her partner, David Wolfson, is responsible for introducing me to Mariann — so clearly I owe her a lot!
Mariann Sullivan: I was definitely not one of those people who awakened to animals when I was a kid and demanded that my parents stop feeding me meat. Though I always liked animals, they weren’t a big part of my life, and I certainly never gave much thought to how they are turned into food, until I was in my 40s. (So don’t let anyone tell you it’s too late for them to change. Jasmin’s grandma just went veg at the age of 86!). As for so many people, it was my love of a dog that really awakened me to the importance of paying attention to animals. I got my first dog, Calhoun, when I was well into adulthood, and he really opened up a whole new world for me. He was so much more — his emotions, his smarts, even his sense of humor — than I had ever realized a dog would be. 
So I started to think more seriously about animals. And it was a random remark by an acquaintance that he had stopped eating meat because of the way the animals were treated that made me start thinking along the lines that eventually led me to veganism and animal rights activism. That’s always a reminder to me that we should never hesitate to mention why we eat the way we eat — you never know who might be paying attention.
AG: Jasmin, when I had the delight of meeting you last summer at Vida Vegan Con, I asked how many hens you had at your sanctuary. You were very gracious not to laugh at me when you answered. Would you please clear up my confusion and tell us, what is Our Hen House?
JS: Our Hen House is a virtual hub for animal advocacy. We produce resources — video, audio (our 100th podcast episode just aired!), interviews, reviews, and the written word — that anyone can use in order to find their own way to change the world for animals. We believe that anyone can easily and seamlessly plug animal advocacy into their everyday life and we are an indefatigably positive clearinghouse for those who care about animals to express themselves, and to create a way of changing the world that makes sense for them. We call it “Our Hen House” because it is a community-wide effort, and, since 9 of the 10 billion land animals killed in the U.S. each year are birds, when you talk of animal rights, you are pretty much talking about chickens.
Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur
AG: What are your backgrounds (i.e. what did you study or do prior to your work for animals)?
MS: I am a lawyer and recently retired from my position as Deputy Chief Court Attorney with the New York State Appellate Division First Department.
JS: My background is in theatre. Before becoming an animal activist, I was working as an actress in NYC. I also did a significant amount of writing, both personally and professionally, but my heart was on the stage.
AG: How did the idea for Our Hen House arise?
JS & MS: The big animal rights organizations are doing great work, and it’s important to support them in their efforts, but it became clear to us that the kind of change that is needed is not something that can be accomplished unless absolutely everyone who cares pitches in and does what they can. It was also clear that a lot of people really didn’t know what to do to create positive change for animals. Animal use and abuse enters into every aspect of our lives, and the opportunity to fight it does too. There’s so much we can do. We are so inspired by the fact that every day more and more people are waking up to what is going on with animals and want to help change the world. So we want Our Hen House to be a resource for this growing army of people who want to take personal responsibility for leading the way to a new world in which the exploitation of animals must come to an end. The fact that our little organization has grown so much in such a short amount of time (we gave birth to OHH in January 2010) is a testament to how this movement is growing, and how deeply people care.
AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running OHH? Greatest reward?
JS & MS: We hate bringing up money, but since you ask, there’s no doubt that that’s the biggest challenge in running OHH. In fact, it’s the only really significant challenge, since everything else we do is pretty much what we love. Producing content, whether it’s the blog, or the podcast, or the videos, takes time and money, and we are a listener- and reader-supported not-for-profit enterprise. The greatest reward is definitely whenever someone contacts us and tells us that they did something, whether it was an article they wrote or a kids’ art project they coordinated or a humane education certification they pursued, because of something they read or heard on OHH.
AG: You have a “Gay Animal” focus that touches on the LGBT community and animal activism. Do you find there’s more openness to animal issues in the LGBT community?
JS & MS: Yes and no. On one hand, people in the LGBT community can frequently relate to feeling marginalized by society, feeling “othered,” feeling less than, thus leaving us with a seemingly organic kinship with animals — who are so unbelievably disregarded by society. We’ve met a lot of people who identify within the LGBT world who feel that their compassion to animals is a natural extension of their personal boycott of the heteronormative culture in which we live. However, just like with any social justice movement, there are still folks in the LGBT community who are asleep when it comes to animal issues. And there are unfortunately certainly animal activists who are asleep when it comes to LGBT issues. One beautiful example of the two movements joining forces is Mercy for Animals’ yearly campaign to march in gay pride parades nationwide, behind a sign that says “No one is free when others are oppressed.” MFA’s Executive Director, Nathan Runkle, talked to us about this and other building blocks he uses to connect the dots between animal rights and gay rights in a video we produced with him, which launched our Gay Animal series.
(We’re interviewing Nathan in a couple of weeks. So stay tuned here for more about Mercy for Animals.)
AG: Do you have any advice for people making the transition into veganism?
JS & MS: Yes, indeed, we do. In fact, we recently published our Top Ten Tips For Shifting to a Plant-Based Diet.
AG: OHH is doing such great work, I imagine time in the kitchen isn’t easy to create! What are some of your favorite vegan meals/recipes that keep you supercharged through your day?
JS & MS: Great question! We start every day with a healthy green smoothie. Frequently, this includes a heap of frozen spinach, frozen berries, frozen cherries, chia seeds, something to sweeten it like mango or pineapple (or occasionally dates), and water. On days we run, we might add some vegan protein powder to that. We realize our breakfast of choice makes us sound saintly, but we actually really like the taste of it, and no matter what happens for the rest of the day, we know that we started our day off on the right foot. We’re big fans of Dr. Fuhrman and try to follow his Eat to Live program about 90-95% of the time. Basically, that means a whole-foods based diet consisting mostly of greens, legumes, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Of course, we live in New York City and do quite a lot of traveling, so we certainly never deny ourselves delicious vegan treats from time to time! We also do 10-day juice fasts every 2 months, initially inspired by the movie Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, which have really changed our lives. As a result of the last 15 months of juice-fasting, we’ve lost a total of about 130 pounds between us. Now, we maintain the juice-fasts not as a weight loss tool, but because they really help us reboot our system, detoxify, and take a breather from the normal hectic-ness of life.
And, by the way, we think Allison’s Gourmet is doing incredibly wonderful work. We like to say that the single most effective thing you can do for animals is to provide delicious vegan food. You are doing just that, and we love that you are also so outspoken about animal issues. Actually, “for-profit activism” was the impetus for the Money Squawks section of Our Hen House.
Oh my, your gratitude warms my heart! It sounds like you take incredibly good care of yourselves, both physically and emotionally! I, too, am a big fan of Dr Fuhrman and I love referring to his ANDI score chart.
AG: Do you have a favorite Allison’s Gourmet product or one that you’d love to try?
JS & MS: That’s a tough choice, but all in all it’s probably safe to say that our favorite Allison’s Gourmet product is the Vegan Peanut Butter Cups. They’re not only reminiscent of our favorite taste combination from childhood, but there’s something about Allison’s that is otherworldly. Plus, we love that they’re fair-trade — which we think is a prerequisite for buying any kind of chocolate (we love Food Empowerment Project’s list of recommended chocolate).
But this year, we have our eyes on the Peppermint Bark. Not to ruin any surprises, but there are many people in our lives who will be eating that very, very soon. We hope we will be, too!
Thanks so much Jasmin and Mariann, it’s always lovely to hear about what you’re up to (and I hope someone gets your hint about the Peppermint Bark).
