vegaroo!

It’s all happening, Sydney. Our vegan community is blowing up and you can start finding vegan events every week! Here are two upcoming vegan fundraisers, and the Top 10 Reasons why you should attend them:

Sydney Vegan Bake Sale: Saturday 28 August from 8-1 at the Newtown Markets

1. Vegan baked goods are the best way to convince your dairy loving friends that vegan food is awesome. Nobody can look at a plate of chocolate cherry cupcakes and say vegan food is boring. It is simply not allowed.
2. We’ve got a wide variety to satisfy just about every food preference or allergy. Gluten-free! Sugar-free! Nut-free! Savoury or sweet options.
3. It’s spring, you guys! Who doesn’t love spending a beautiful day in Newtown? Stock up on baked goods to eat later so that you can stroll down King Street for some of Sydney’s finest vegan food: Naked Espresso, Janet’s Pies, and Green Gourmet just to name a few.
4. Do it for the donkeys!!! We’ve got not one, but two awesome charities we’re raising funds for this time around! Donkey Welfare with Heart and…
5. Sydney Pet Rescue and Adoption! Do it for the kitties!!!

And don’t forget to follow Sydney Vegan Bake Sale on Twitter and check out the blog.

Sydney Vegan Drinks – Friday 3 September at 7:30 at Kuleto’s on King Street

1. Booze! Look, it’s really just that simple. Sick of being asked where you get your protein? Come drown your sorrows with people who get it. Psyched that your local market finally sells organic smoked tofu? Come celebrate life’s little victories!
2. Snacks! You can’t have a good happy hour without some snacks. We’ll have some goodies on hand from Addiction Foods. (The best!)
3. I’ll also be serving up some vegan bar food. Not sure exactly what yet, but sweet Jesus, have you seen some of stuff they make on the Vegan Happy Hour blog??? Got any requests?
4. You will meet cool people! Look, I can’t guarantee that you will all meet someone that you’ll end up falling head over heels in love with, I’m just saying that the universe is magical and mysterious and you should be open to all of life’s possibilities. (HUH??)
5. We’re rasing money for an awesome no-kill shelter, Monika’s Doggie Rescue. It’s just a $5 suggested donation but all your money goes to them. Do it for the doggies!!!

You can RSVP on the Facebook Event page or just leave a comment here letting us know if you’re coming! Hope to see you at one or both events!!! Do it for this guy:

OMFGSOOOOOOCUUUUUTE!

It’s springtime, you guys! The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and this crap as winter looks like it’s finally fading, which means it’s the perfect time to start checking out farmers markets! My new favourite is the Sydney Sustainable Market in Taylor Square!

I was there over the weekend running a market stall for my day job. (P.S. It would be wonderful if you joined the Humane Chain, followed us on Twitter and became a fan on Facebook. Ok, done whoring now.) The organisers are super nice and easy to work with and so were all of the other stallholders I encountered who stopped by to bring me and my volunteers some of their leftover fruit and veg at the end of the day.

And there were some great vegan products to be found! You may already be familiar with Addiction Food, as they sell at Vegan’s Choice and were at the Vegan Expo in May. They specialise in vegan and gluten free desserts. I had a coconut bliss ball that was lovely and the chocolate macadamia nut brownie was off the hook. I nearly died from it. So good. You might say I need some serious rehab for this addiction. (But not me, because I do not stoop to cheap puns.) They also sell through the Funky Pies website and have a Facebook fan page. You know what to do.

And a new vendor that *sprouted* up at the market this week (haha, who am I kidding – I love puns!!) was Fusion Raw and Vegan Foods. They were selling all kinds of delicious and healthy packaged foods which made me feel much better about all the chocolate I consumed. Pictured here are a tofu-stuffed tomato, a cabbage roll and mung bean pasta with tomato sauce and falafel. I sampled a little bit of everything and loved it all! They also sell all kinds of sprouts and had info on growing your own. Neat! Not sure if these guys have a website but will update if I find out more. I’m pretty sure they’ll be at the market every weekend though.

The Sustainable Markets take place on Saturdays from 8-1 and I recommend you get your hungover ass out of bed early and stop by.

[Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Paul Goodsell, who will be embarking on an epic bushwalk along the Te Araroa Track in New Zealand in a few months to raise awareness about the capabilities of vegans. He's showing the world the vegans kick some serious arse and we wish him the best of luck on his journey! Here he explains more about his motivations.]

Going vegan. Several years ago I would have laughed at the prospect. You see, I was one of those typical people that didn’t think too much about the wellbeing of non-humans, and thought of vegans as these anti-social salad-munchers that looked in need of a good blood transfusion, or steak.

In 2007 I started an Arts degree with a major in philosophy. In Intro to Philosophy, one of my first subjects, we were required to read a chapter of Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. By the time I put the paper down I was converted. I had been naive. I couldn’t justify eating meat any longer. I went vegetarian immediately.

When I made this choice I did so with the intention of turning vegan. Dairy and eggs, I thought, didn’t directly lead to the killing of animals. And there was a lot of effort being put into making these two industries, at least, more humane. I had trouble reconciling this argument and started to research the abolitionist movement, reading the likes of Francione and Yates.

Abolitionists, it seemed, didn’t much like Singer and his utilitarian / welfarist position. I started to see why. I went vegan immediately after reading a number of papers by Francione and emailed him, thanking him for shining the light. I disagree with Francione on a lot of things, I don’t worship him the one some do, but I think his core argument is essentially right and hard to rebuke.

I’ve been vegan for just over 6 months. I was vegetarian for 3 or so years. As much as I would like not to alienate myself I find myself, more often than not, engaging in discourse with people about why I am vegan and why using animals is wrong. I find the majority of people to be extremely curious, and have rarely faced hostility. Ignorance and irrationality, yes. Hostility, not so much.

As much as I have tried to keep a low profile, it’s not for me; I’d like to make a difference.

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Rubyos on King Street in Newtown is the kind of accidental discovery I live for. Turns out that this fancy-ish small plates restaurant has a whole secret vegetarian menu and that the majority of the options are vegan. Your cover is blown, Rubyos! I am telling the world, and you will be flooded with vegans! And then maybe you will go all vegan! And then maybe someone will buy me a robot that cooks me vegan french toast!!! ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!!!

Until then, allow me to dazzle you with some food porn, glorious food porn… Olives! I love olives. They’re beautiful to photograph, and the citrus marinated ones at Rubyos are soooo good. Like, James Franco so good.

I have to admit I was a little let down by the cocktails. I ordered one called a Basil Grande which was strawberry, basil, vodka, and a “peppery infusion.” All the ingredients for awesome. But it mostly just tasted like slightly alcoholic strawberry juice. Not bad, but not wow.

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I just went on a whirlwind visit to Perth to catch up with friends and family, and was reminded of what a vegan desert Perth can be.

So here are some of my favourite vegan adventures when I’m in Perth:

• Visit PAWS: PAWS (the People and Animal Welfare Society) is one of the older vegan-friendly places in Perth. It is handily located in Perth itself, near Central TAFE, on Beaufort Street. The shop is filled with good things (including lots of vegan chocolate), and every Monday is a cheap community vegan dinner.
• Utopia: beware the milk in their bubble tea, and the whey in the mock beef! Utopia is trashy vego (mostly vegan) Taiwanese food with a slight Malaysian-Chinese influence; and if you’re keen, it’s a karaoke bar as well! I love their mushrooms: deep fried and spicy, the ‘spicy hou tou mushrooms’ are my favourites. A bit expensive, but totally worth it. Utopia has a few locations, but the restaurant with all the best options is on James St in Northbridge.
• Elroy: for your Melissa Shoes requirements, Elroy’s in Mount Lawley (on Beaufort Street) has a huge selection.
• Lotus / Sri Melaka Vegetarian Restaurant: Lotus is a mostly vegan (some of the mock meats have whey) Nyonya restaurant, with attached vegetarian grocery, for all your mock meaty needs. I love it, and I find that most Perth vegans either love it or they hate it. Lotus is also on James St in Northbridge.
• The Junction Icecreamery: located in Midland, the Junction is a bit of a hike, but it’s worth it – sometimes people make a day trip and go winery-ing or something. All the sorbets and soya icecreams are totally vegan. Try a chocolate + passionfruit combo. It’s my favourite.
• If you’re South, there’s One World Cuisine. It’s Supreme Master, all vegan, pay what you feel.
• And a goal for future vegan adventures: the Cruelty Free WA shop. I would have visited if I’d had more time, or been more ideally located to Fremantle! But I’ve heard lots of good things about the shop, and would love to check them out.

Please add any of your favourite (and possibly more up to date…?) Perth vegan adventures in the comments!

[Ed Note: Photo of mock chicken dish from Utopia by lu_lu on shared on Flick under a Creative Commons license.]

I just wanted to put together a quick post thanking everyone who came out to our first Sydney Vegan Happy Hour last week. Despite the terrible rain, we managed to have a pretty good crowd of about 25 people or so at The Courty. It was great to see some familiar faces and also meet some new Sydney vegans. Thanks of course to Inner West Live for co-sponsoring and helping us promote the event, and to Michelle and Elizabeth for bringing some tasty treats to share!

I had also hoped to make it to the Sweet Tomorrow Dessert Competition this weekend, but I was too exhausted Friday night to cook. From the sounds of it, I missed out on some great entries! From judge, Leigh Drew, here were the winning dessert results:

Overall Winner – Full High Tea, including tea, soy milk, tea service, cupcakes, Oreos, scones, lemon cake, Florentines, choc dipped strawberries, gingerbread, cucumber finger sandwiches, cheez/tomato/basil finger sandwiches, sundried tomato/pesto/cheez filo tarts, and mini versions of the sweets. [Pictured below left]

Open Winner – Citrus Cake with Tofu Creme and Walnuts [pictured below right]

Raw Winner – Sesame Cocoa Slice

Special Mention – Strawberry and Raspberry Chocolate Creams

Special Mention – Many Many Cupcakes (one entrant)

We’ll have more photos from both events up on our Facebook page shortly. Stay tuned for news of upcoming happy hours and other good times.  This weekend in Sydney there’s a Gluten-Free Expo   in Olympic Park! Since there tends to be a lot of overlap there with the vegan community, I hope to check it out and report back on the vegan goods!

If you’ve somehow managed to avoid me tweeting, Facebook spamming you, posting it here and on Inner West Live, and basically babbling incessantly about it, then allow me to fill you in on some news. This Thursday vegaroo! is hosting Sydney Vegan Happy Hour!

July 29, The Courthouse Hotel in Newtown from 6:30 – 8:30ish. We’ll have beer and snacks and vegan cupcakes and massively good times. I mean, how can you not, with these two crazy kids hosting the night? You can RSVP on our Facebook invite, here on the blog, or just show up. Whatevs.

And since I’ve already heard from many who can’t make it on Thursday night, know that I’m going to try to plan something for a weekend next time – but it is much harder to find venues, so if you have suggestions, I’m all ears.

And perhaps there are some other upcoming events you’d like to attend?

This Saturday is the Sweet Tomorrow Vegan Dessert Competition in Cabramatta and I’ve already busted out my practice recipe.

On August 8th the Vegan Society of NSW is hosting brunch at Naked. As if you need an excuse.

And of course, we know you’ve already marked your calendars for the next Sydney Vegan Bake Sale on August 28th but, hey another reminder can’t hurt.

Be sure to check our event listings for other upcoming events including ones all over Australia. And let us know if there are any we’re missing.

Hope to see you out and about soon!

The next Sydney Vegan Bake Sale will be Saturday August 28, 2010 at the Newtown Square Markets from 8am until 1pm (unless sold out sooner).

The proceeds will be donated to Donkey Welfare and Sydney Pet Rescue and Adoption.

If you’d like to bake something for the stall please contact me first via sydneyveganbakesale at gmail dot com

Drop by to make a purchase and help us raise money for some animals in need.

Earth Cafe is Sydney’s newest all-vegan cafe. (Unless someone is withholding breaking news from me! Why would you do that??) As you can tell, we don’t see a lot of new vegan restaurants ’round these parts, so this was fairly exciting news.

It operates out of Samadhi Yoga Studio in Newtown and the menu is what you might expect from such a setting: nourishing, light, subtle. Salads, soups, smoothies, and desserts made of dates and nuts. One highlight that seems to be a regular menu fixture is the dhal served with brown rice and tamarind chutney.

I’m down with their hippie vibe as it sounds like they walk the walk, what with their composting and community garden. From their website:

“We use biodegradable take away cups and containers, as well as washable napkins.  Our crockery is sourced from the carbon neutral company ‘Ecology’ and we don’t sell drinks in plastic containers.  Good quality water is free at Earth and doesn’t come in a bottle that will end up in landfill.”

The hermits among you should beware that they’re currently serving in a pretty small space, which means one big communal table. I mean, you don’t have to talk to your dreadlocked neighbours… but you might have to smell them.

Haha, just kidding! Vegans are not all smelly hippies. That is a terrible stereotype. But we do sometimes eat things called “raw bliss balls” and expect people to take us seriously.

(Editor’s Note: Tim doesn’t write a lot for vegaroo but when he does he goes full-on kick-arse editorial style. I also recommend this post from his personal blog: If Trees Could Scream. Please note, though, that the opinions expressed here may not necessarily represent all vegaroo writers.)

There are so many things wrong with “Vegans and the Quest for Purity”, Harold Fromm’s misinformed screed against veganism—or, rather, against the fictional ideology he believes veganism to be—that it’s hard to know where to begin.

I’ll start with these two: Fromm completely misrepresents what veganism is about, and while attempting to tear down the straw-man he built, he defends a callous, selfish personal ethic apparently without realising that every one of his arguments could just as well justify brutality towards other people.

Attacks on vegans are nothing new, of course, but Fromm seems to believe he’s made an insight that has escaped not only every vegan on the planet, but all of our previous critics. “The unspoken concept behind the debate over vegans is ‘biocentrism.’” OK, sounds interesting. What is it? Let’s consult the interwebs:

Biocentrism states that nature does not exist simply to be used or consumed by humans, but that humans are simply one species amongst many^[3], and that because we are part of an ecosystem, any actions which negatively affect the living systems of which we are a part, adversely affect us as well^[3][4], whether or not we maintain a biocentric worldview^[3].

It sounds pretty reasonable to me, and it sounds like Mr Fromm wouldn’t disagree:

My own diet is very high in plants and low in meat, and my carbon footprint is very small indeed, but mainly out of concern for my own health and the planet that keeps us alive. Beyond that, I’m an admirer of J.M. Coetzee, Michael Pollan, and Singer, and I well approve of their revulsion at the brutal treatment of animals raised for our consumption. I think vegetarianism is admirable. I would recommend it.

Great! So what’s the problem?

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