Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Eating Out as a Vegan

I really like Kitchen Istanbul even though their vegetarian entre had a cream sauce instead of the one I make at home with pine nuts and tofu.  (It's better than it sounds, and there are other ingredients.)

I just sent off an e-mail to some people who are connected to the Truth or Dourght website and brochure I like so much.

Someone named Ronnie Steinau asked whether I would be in LA for their conference, and I told him what I'd be doing instead, including going to a dinner to discuss our upcoming abbreviated Camino.de Santiago de Compostela.

"They're going to make one "normal" paella for the five of them and another vegan one for me," I said,

I can't help wishing that my friends were less inclined to make vegan dishes to accommodate my life style  and more inclined to make vegan dishes for other reasons.

Considering that even at the Paris COP 21--whose very theme was the environment--there weren't even enough options for vegetarians!  I wonder what the Camino will be like in Northern Spain between Leon and Santiago for vegans!  

I found this link, which was helpful!

http://www.caminoadventures.com/camino-de-santiago-as-a-vegan/

I also asked Ronnie Steinau and the others whether there's a place (online) where we could discuss "vegan issues" like the possibility of writing to restaurants to suggest vegan options.  If I choose a restaurant, I choose one that's vegan, but when I go out with friends, they usually choose one where they can get meat, and the vegan options are limited.  I want to write to Toreador, for example, to suggest vegan tamales--maybe butternut squash--and Kitchen Istanbul to suggest a pine-nut/tofu option for the vegetarian moussaka with the bechamel sauce. 

But I know restaurants may be more likely to be annoyed than receptive!







Sunday, April 17, 2016

McDonald's All-You-Can-Eat French Fries--and Not so Free Cage-Free Hens

I just wrote a letter to Tara Duggan, whose  article on just what "cage-free" means appeared in today's San Francisco Chronicle.


Dear Tara Duggan,

Welcome back!

Just yesterday I was talking to friends about the misleading phrase "cage-free," so this very morning, thanks to you, I was able to send them the link to your article.

Thank you!

I also have a couple of questions:

Do you know the outcome of the discussion at the Commonwealth Club when they showed Cowspiracy?

What do you think of the decision of McDonald's to offer all-you-can-eat french fries?  Have you noticed any reports on responses to this announcement?  Everyone seems to be writing about it with headlines like "...might be key to a less boring McDonald's."

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/17/all-you-can-eat-french-fries-might-be-key-to-a-less-boring-mcdon/21345484/

Fox News 6 reports this as "french fires," and that might be true too.

We looked this news up on the Spanish news, but all we could find was "comida saludable en McDonald's," healthy food at McDonald's!

Looking forward to reading you!

Tina Martin

I don't think this is the kind of community-provided bench the SF Chronicle was talking about today in its article https://www.sfchronic...