Take heart fellow vegans, small victories are still possible! This year, for the first time ever, we did away with the traditional mixed Spanksgiving (omni/vegan) “Separate but Equal” dinner in favor of something more communal. You know the meal–an entire vegan feast alongside an entire non-vegan feast, a multitude of dishes that are identical, save soymilk, Earth Balance, and veggie stock in lieu of milk, butter, and turkey stock.
The weekend got off to a great start when we were greeted at the door with vegan oatmeal cookies, which Amy’s omni brother deemed “perfect”. How awesome is Amy’s mom? How awesome is it that Amy’s brother, in a single phrase, eliminated any further necessity to make non-vegan oatmeal cookies?
The vegan bonanza continued through to Spanksgiving too; Amy’s mom typically makes two dressings (you know, stuffing, but not in the turkey)–one with veggie stock and one with turkey/chicken stock. This year, she decided it was too much trouble and that no one would miss the meat stock, which they didn’t. She also traditionally makes both vegan and non-vegan mashed sweet potatoes with candied pecan topping. Though she did decide to make a non-vegan version as well at the last minute, Amy’s brother–our omni-acceptability-barometer–decreed the vegan version just as good, freeing Amy’s mom from any future obligation to make two versions.
Add to this homemade bread and steamed broccoli and cauliflower (there was a cheese sauce for the omnivores), and you have quite a shared meal! The omnivores had turkey and turkey gravy, while Amy and I had Spanksgiving Seitan Faux-Turkey and seitan gravy–though Amy’s dad had some of ours as well.
While it may not always be possible to convince your friends and family of your values, it is possible to achieve acceptance, to build respect, and to erode some of the barriers that keep us from meeting halfway and enjoying a meal together–which, history notwithstanding, is what Spanksgiving is all about.
Hello all! I’m sorry I’ve been so remiss in posting–I’ve come down with a case of the flu and have spent much more time on the couch or in bed than in the kitchen. Amy was amazing enough to make me this Chick Pea and Rice Soup, a variation of our Chick Pea Noodle Soup. Doesn’t she rule?
It’s not serious enough to warrant a trip to the doctor, but my mother-in-law, who’s a nurse, thought it sounded like swine flu. While not fully substantiated, there have been suggestions that intensive factory farming has contributed significantly to recent species-jumping viruses. Animals kept in close quarters and in unsanitary conditions (as in factory farming) are more likely to give rise to and spread viruses–and at a higher rate, which causes far more mutations.
All this leads me to the inevitable (and probably specious) conclusion that folks’ need to eat bacon has given me the flu. It hardly seems right. When the pig-eaters of the world come down with a case of the Tofu Flu, I guess we’ll be even. Until then, there will always be a little voice in the back of my mind that says eating factory-farmed animals is an infringement on my personal rights.
Disclaimer: This is flu-logic, people. All attempts to debunk these claims will be met with fever-riddled befuddlement.
I’ve been a naughty vegan, and it’s time to mend my ways. Farewell Bogle!
So, this being the Vegan Month of Food and all, what better time than now to talk about drinking vegan? It kind of makes sense–I’m normally obsessed with food, so Vegan MoFo’s focus on food isn’t really a change of pace for me. What is a change of pace is getting in touch with this gigantic community. I feel like I’ve had my head in the sand for years.
And I’ve been resting on my laurels. My vegan sire (you know, that person or those people who helped you become vegan) was pretty hardcore, so I learned a pretty hardline brand of veganism–one that encompassed not just food, but drink. It turns out a few beers and most wines aren’t vegan. Who would’ve thunk it? When this was brought to my attention, I pretty much ditched wine en masse. Over the years, though, I’ve gotten soft like Rocky in Rocky III. And it took Vegan MoFo, like a gentle Mr. T as Clubber Lane, to help me snap out of it.
It worked for Amy and me how it works for a lot of folks, I’d imagine:
We used to bring our own wine to events that demanded–demanded I say!–wine. To folks who don’t understand your choices, this can often seem a bit snooty. So then we would just try to stick to beer. I think it was ultimately the art scene that undid us. Not every gallery is as cool as, say, Three Walls, and serves PBR from a garbage can filled with ice. Most serve wine. Now, the obvious answer here is to not drink. Well, the second most obvious answer, the first clearly being a flask filled with Wild Turkey. I can’t even remember the first time I just said “screw it” and drank wine that I wasn’t certain about. But that’s how it starts–”we don’t know that this wine isn’t vegan”. So much for ethics.
After a while, this becomes “we don’t care if this wine isn’t vegan”. And pretty soon, you find yourself buying wines that you’ve recently enjoyed, without even checking your list. Well, I checked the list a few nights ago for our current favorite, Bogle, which is decidedly NOT vegan. So this isn’t even freegan. Oh, the shame.
That being said, I certainly acknowledge that veganism has a few lines that are a little blurry–questions of second-hand leather, honey, good products from bad companies, etc. But wine often has egg whites, gelatin, or both. Not so blurry.
As part of surfing vegan blogs during the MoFo action, I stumbled upon Barnivore. And I felt shame, dear readers, true shame. In the words of Johnny Cash using the words of Sting, I hung my head, I hung my head.
But.
Now is the time to recommit to drinking vegan. Are you with me? Well…maybe you were already there.
Strangely, I’ve become increasingly committed over the last several years to buying local. So part of this new commitment involves contacting local wineries about their wines and using this info to help keep Barnivore up-to-date. I’ll be compiling a list of vegan Michigan wines (and encourage other folks to do the same for their areas). Additionally, I intend to keep a “wine diary” of sorts, with some thoughts on which vegan wines are good and which should be avoided.
Which is all an awful lot of work for someone who prefers whiskey. Consider this my Vegan MoFo confession. What’s yours?
P.S. Anyone have any recommendations? We’re especially keen on red zinfandel right now.
P.P.S. I made a printable list of vegan wines from Barnivore–you can print it two-sided and fold it, to have with you at all wine-buying/drinking occasions.
We saw Neko Case last night at the Crofoot in Pontiac, MI–’twas stellar, as expected.
Neko’s a fellow animal lover, so she and her record label ANTI- are donating five dollars to Best Friends Animal Society for every blog that posts the mp3 for the song People Got a Lot of Nerve from Middle Cyclone.
