Pizzeria creates niche with new vegan menu

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

*Sigh*

Seems like all these vegan-friendly pizzerias are out on the East coast. I do have a pizza place near me in Hollywood that sells a vegan pizza using Follow Your Heart "mozzarella," but that's the one item on the menu (besides an extensive selection of eclectic brews) that I am willing to put in my body. I shouldn't complain, since it's a pretty good (if expensive) pizza, and I have a lot of other vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants near me here in Los Angeles, but I want to see a healthy vegan pizza competition, and it simply doesn't exist here yet.

A Rochester, NY, pizzeria has added not just vegan pizzas, but other vegan menu items that appear to be popular with all types of eaters:

The restaurant is claiming to be the first pizzeria in the Rochester region to introduce an extensive vegan menu, a move Nabar says reflects changing diets of local residents of the South Wedge and other nearby neighborhoods.

"We thought, 'No other pizzeria does anything like this,'" says Jill, a Rochester native. "We have a vegan employee who said there aren't a lot of places in Rochester for this."

Two Paisans has long produced meat-heavy specialties like the "upside-down" sausage pizza, which is considered upside-down because the sauce is poured on top of the cheese.

But the restaurant has an assorted menu of vegan items, including "Phillysteak" sandwiches, a Buffalo sandwich, a vegan "trash plate," a "trash plate" pizza and of course a build-your-own vegan pizza. The "meat" is made from wheat gluten, a spongy material that can soak up sauces.

"I like how they offer both vegan and classical meat-style (trash) plates," said Evan Guerin, 23, a regular South Wedge customer and self-described omnivore.

Guerin also does sign work for the restaurant as part of his graphics business. "Sometimes I like to get paid in food credit," he says.

Jill's husband, Ram, a district manager for the food service company Sodexho USA, said the move to introduce vegan was inspired by some research into the health benefits of the diet.

"The menu's also for people who are lactose-intolerant and who can't eat the cheese," Jill says.

Jill says the new menu has attracted a "phenomenal" response from college students and restaurant regulars alike and has been endorsed by a few local vegetarian societies.

The drive for a vegan menu was also fueled by the business hurdles that Two Paisans faces, such as volatile prices for key ingredients, delivery costs and staffing issues.

Like many other family-owned pizza shops, Two Paisans has focused on higher-valued specialty pizzas to keep business strong.

"The margins are not good in this business because everything is made from scratch," Jill says.

The vegan menu adds another dimension to the restaurant's specialty menu, she says.

I guess this points out yet another way vegans can help the animals (and other vegans in their area). By being willing to work in an omnivore-oriented diet, the vegan employee that suggested this change made a difference in an unlikely setting. It's important that vegan food become more accessible, if nothing else to make the option more available to people who are willing to try and even eat vegan food on a regular basis, even if they're not willing to go completely vegan. Many of these people would not necessarily step foot inside a vegan restaurant, and the diverse menu makes it easier to go eat out with groups, and for the restaurant to stay in business.

Categories: food | restaurants | pizza

Vegan diet holds lessons for others

Leave it to Suzanne Havala Hobbs to write such a wonderful pro-vegan article for the The News & Observer Lifestyles section.

She suggests (brace yourself!) that non-vegans could learn something from the vegan diet. Gasp! Can you imagine?

Categories: vegan | diet | health | nutrition

Benefits of veg diet known to cardiologists, but they still don't recommend it to patients

The Post Chronicle | Health | Study: Veggie Diets Not Being Recommended

Not surprisingly, the study here has a connection to PCRM, but that won't stop it from getting reported on. Besides, it's true:

pilot survey of cardiologists revealed most know about the life-saving potential of a low-fat vegetarian diet for heart patients, but don't recommend it despite studies showing patients transition fairly easily to a low-fat diet that contains no animal products.

Categories: diet | health

Vegetarians in conversion mode

With bird flu having such wide-ranging effects as altering airline meal options, Indian vegetarian activists are turning it up a notch:

“As promoters of vegetarianism, this is a crucial time for us. Many non-vegetarians have started eating greens because of the scare of the virus, and to keep them hooked we need to spread awareness about the rewards of being a vegetarian,” said Jasubhai Shah of the Vegetarian Society of Mumbai.

Anuradha Sawhney of PETA agreed. “We have always maintained that going vegetarian is the only way to save the world. Now that bird flu has hit us, we hope many others will understand this. It is the demand for non-vegetarian fare that has pushed poultry suppliers to resort to all types of mismanagement of livestock. It is their poor living conditions that causes the outbreak of such diseases.”

Categories: bird flu | avian flu | vegetarian

Spiked meat sets off alarms

Here's an attention-grabbing opening:

Picture two steaks on a grocer's shelf, each hermetically sealed in clear plastic wrap. One is bright pink, rimmed with a crescent of pearly white fat. The other is brown, its fat the color of a smoker's teeth.

Which do you reach for?

The meat industry knows the answer, which is why it has quietly begun to spike meat packages with carbon monoxide.

Is there anyone reading this that thinks the meat industry really cares about customers more than profits?

...critics are challenging the Food and Drug Administration and the nation's powerful meat industry, saying the agency violated its own rules by allowing the practice without a formal evaluation of its impact on consumer safety.

If the meat industry has its way, meat will be even more deceptive a product than it already is:

Tyson Foods, for example -- one of three meat packagers that has received a green light from the FDA to use carbon monoxide -- just opened a $100 million plant in Texas to churn out more case-ready "modified atmosphere" packaged meats, Kay said.

No one knows how much carbon-monoxide-treated meat is being sold; the companies involved are privately held or keep that information secret. But the potential is seen as great. The new technology "will finally make this the case-ready revolution, rather than the case-ready evolution," said Mark Klein, director of communications for Cargill's meat business.

Man, these guys really skeeve me out. Some of 'em make me laugh, too, what with names like Bucky:

Bucky Gwartney, executive director for research and knowledge management for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, chafes at the idea that the industry is trying to fool consumers.

"It would be ludicrous for a company to adopt a process that would undermine what we all want, which is to assure that food is safe," Gwartney said.

How does adopting the CO process assure food is safe? It merely assures greater profits because less meat is thrown out. It really blows my mind how easy it is for the meat industry to constantly cast themselves as the benefactors of animals and humans, when they make it clear with their own words and quarterly reports that their primary motive is profit. I mean easy in the sense that they slip into this PR framing so naturally that I think they really have begun to believe what they're saying, even though it's clearly in direct contradiction with other things they say in the media. And I also mean easy in the sense that so many consumers don't catch this stuff and just let them off the hook. Someone needs to hold a candle up to this craziness.

Categories: meat freshness | meat industry

Indian airlines turn veg-only, for time being

Sify.com

If only we could get veg-only flights in N. America...

With bird flu hitting the country's poultry, public sector carrier Indian and other major carriers have started serving only vegetarian dishes in flight as a precautionary measure.

While Indian stopped serving chicken and eggs on its flights since Saturday, Jet Airways on Monday announced it would serve only vegetarian meals and snacks with immediate effect.

The private carrier said it decided to 'temporarily discontinue' serving chicken and egg dishes on all flights. Efforts would be made to revert to the normal non-veg and vegetarian meals as soon as the situation became normal.

Care has also been taken to serve vegetarian delicacies which are palatable for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, it said.

Stereotype alert!

Stereotype alert!:

Are you a vegetarian Pagan or Wicca worshipper who recycles your cartons of soy milk and veggie burger boxes after a long day volunteering at the soup kitchen?

Categories: scholarships | vegan | vegetarian

Tofu dishes so tasty they'll have you hugging the trees

Here's a neat pro-tofu piece from a chef in Friday's Scotsman.com News (excerpt):

Despite its undeniable nutritional values, in its basic state it is essentially a tasteless lump of protein and calcium. Not really getting your mouth watering so far, am I?

Well, in the defence of tofu, the majority of the chicken that we buy these days is also milky white and tastes of nothing much, but it continues to be highly popular. Why? Because it's cheap and adaptable. Like tofu.

When buying tofu, try to find the more interesting varieties such as marinated or smoked and that should help with the flavour problem. And, as it will happily absorb the flavours of its fellow ingredients, it's an ideal component of vegetarian stir-fries or curries. You could also try crumbling it through well-dressed salads or deep frying with sauces or dips.

So next time you're nosing around your local wholefood shop stocking up on mung beans and dandelion root, head for the fridge and have a look at the tofu. And don't be put off by appearances. Food is about fashion as much as anything else, but image needn't be everything.

It's a fun article that makes tofu into an adventure, which is always a joy to see. It ends with three delicious-looking recipes. Check it out.

Categories: tofu | chefs

Milk mustache shaven for your health

Chicago Tribune (By way of The Crescent Online, University of Evansville)

This reprinted story just caught me eye. Starts off quite promisingly, and thankfully it gets the debate out there in mainstream print in a logical, sensible way:

we’ve had it hammered home since grammar school that milk is a health food. We were told that increasing calcium intake by drinking milk will prevent osteoporosis, the weakening of bones.

But researchers Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, and T. Colin Campbell, professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University, said there is little evidence that shows boosting your calcium intake to the currently recommended levels will prevent fractures.

Willett, who coauthored “The Nurses’ Health Studies,” found that women with the highest calcium consumption from dairy products actually had substantially more fractures than women who drank less milk.

Campbell, who like Willett comes from a dairy-farming family, found the same thing after spending several decades surveying health-related effects of a plant-based diet and death rates from cancer in Asian countries.

Both men said there is no calcium emergency; Americans get plenty. And they argue that the unnecessary focus on calcium prevents us from using strategies that really work in the fight against osteoporosis, including getting enough exercise, vitamin D and avoiding too much vitamin A.

But then it turns on a dime and takes a boneheaded quote from an uninformed member of the public as its ending. It's as if publishers as diverse as the Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek, among others, seem to relish subverting even the most positive articles at the very end with brain-locking bits like this:

But some can’t imagine life without whole milk in their lattes or mozzarella cheese on their pizza. Chicago’s Trina Kakacek, the adult aquatic director at Lakeshore Athletic Club Lincoln Park, drinks a glass of skim milk and eats cheese and yogurt daily. Once a week she treats herself to ice cream, but then again who doesn’t.

“I would never dream of giving up dairy,” Kakacek said. “Particularly cheese or the real cream in my coffee every morning.”

Head of nutrition at Harvard and professor emeritus of nutritional biochem at Cornell U, meet Bonehead Q. Public. Well done, Julie Deardorff of the Chicago Tribune. Your glib excuse for an article has not only betrayed its subject matter, but has also done a disservice to the health of everyone who reads it, and made it clear to this reader that your journalism is deeply, deeply flawed.

Categories: dairy | milk | calcium | nutrition

LA vegan sues McDonald's after dairy, wheat disclosure (AP Wire)

I'd love to be supportive, but this is ridiculous.

McDonald's settled a lawsuit in 2002 after coming out with the fact their fries were cooked in beef-flavored oil. It's public knowledge that their fries are NOT VEGAN, so how can someone sue them after the dairy disclosure? Dumb. It's going to make vegans look ridiculous. Again.

Thanks a lot, Nadia Sugich.

Categories: McDonald's | vegan | french fries

The Raw and Sexy Food Movement

Sexy? They're just making up headlines now. Still, if you're interested in living foods, this Columbia U piece has got the goods, reminding us that there's about a dozen NYC establishments specializing in serving raw foods:

Columbia Spectator

One more reason to be jealous of Manhattan.

Categories: living foods | raw | vegan

Vegetarian Jared Leto Gained 45 Pounds for Film Role, Didn't Eat Meat

Hey, look! Celebrity News!

Okay, so I'm a little sarcastic. I always get annoyed by dumb celebrity dishes, but I know many of us like to keep tabs on what's happening with our higher-profile veggie brethren. Still, what's with that title? Duuumb.

I did find it curious that he said he does not eat "red" meat. In other words, it's as if he left the door open for fish or poultry. Not that he needs more obnoxious people questioning his diet, but couldn't he have simply said he doesn't eat meat? Strange.

It's hip to go veg

Also in today's Indianapolis Star (it must be veg day over there), apparently it's still hip to go veg. That noted:

"It's great that vegetarianism has such a positive image that people want to be considered vegetarian. However, many of those answering 'yes' are not technically vegetarians according to the traditional definition of never eating meat, fish, or fowl."

Despite this, and the fact that the number of young vegetarians has not actually gone up by percentage in years, it is seen more positively than ever by young people, which is certainly encouraging. And it's having an impact at the schools themselves:

Christopher Hutton, food service supervisor for Washington Township Schools, pitched the idea of a vegetarian lunch line when he interviewed for the job in 1995. Hutton and his staff took over one of the six student lunch lines and offered daily vegetarian selections.

"We invested a lot of time and money into this program," says Hutton, noting that the vegetarian line was popular -- at first. "After about two weeks, the novelty of this line dwindled to hardly any students participating. In order to serve daily nearly 3,000 student customers, we finally had to switch the line back to traditional meal service."

Still, says Christine Stoner, food service manager at North Central, "on any given day, vegetarians have at least three entrees to choose from, and often more, depending on the day of the week."
Choices might include cheese quesadillas with refried beans, cheese-filled pasta, PB&J and egg salad sandwiches, baked potatoes and homemade soups.

Not exactly an overwhelming array of options for vegans, but it's a step in the right direction. With more students speaking up for the animals, surely further improvements are just around the corner.

Hopefully we'll see more positive veg news coverage in the coming month as we approach the annual Great American Meatout.

Categories: vegetarians | vegetarian meals

Balanced vegetarian diet is possible

In a stunning development no vegetarian could have foreseen, The Indianapolis Star reports:

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines state that "vegetarian diets can be consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and meet Recommended Dietary Allowances for nutrients."

I know -- who woulda thunk it?

That said, many of us have heard about failed "vegetarians" who complained that they weren't healthy without meat. This is for them:

Don't think that you're going to last as a healthy vegetarian if you live on mashed potatoes, Fritos, Sour Patch Kids and Twizzlers. Just because you're eating food sans animal products doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy.

Categories: health | nutrition

Neal Barnard gives Ford (and others) dietary advice

Star-Telegram: Where is U.S. healthcare headed?

Regarding the title of this opinion piece, I'm sure hoping it's toward vegetarianism, and Dr. Barnard here does his best to push the public toward that end. It's interesting that he doesn't go by Dr. or MD here.

Could putting greens on our plates put green back in the company till? Could swapping a meaty hot dog for a low-fat veggie dog or bean burrito really trim a car's sticker price?

Yes, it will do all that and much more.

If our work force really pulls together and resolves to get healthy, and if management provides healthful foods in the company cafeterias, along with the training and incentives that workers need to make the shift, we'll make our industries more competitive.

And we'll also revolutionize the health of this country.

Unusual tactic, to be sure, but I'm amused at all the angles our movement will take to promote vegetarianism. And, frankly, he's right. In my opinion, one of the surefire fixes to our broken healthcare system is to get as many people as possible on a healthy vegetarian diet, pronto. After all, our healthcare system is more of a sickcare system. Healthier diets mean fewer sick people to care for...

not milk?

The milk debate gets some open treatment in today's Chicago Tribune. The article asks:

Have we all been duped by the dairy industry's slick, celebrity-driven "got milk?" advertising campaign?

The anti-dairy contingent receives excellent face-time, for once:

researchers Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, and T. Colin Campbell, professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University, say there is little evidence that shows boosting your calcium intake to the currently recommended levels will prevent fractures.

Willett, who co-authored "The Nurses' Health Studies," one of the largest investigations into the risk factors for major chronic diseases in women, found that women with the highest calcium consumption from dairy products actually had substantially more fractures than women who drank less milk.

Campbell, who like Willett comes from a dairy-farming family, found the same thing after spending several decades surveying health-related effects of a plant-based diet and death rates from cancer in more than 2,400 Chinese counties.

Of course, dairy proponents miss the big picture:

The calcium from some vegetables such as broccoli, bok choy and kale is absorbed as well as or better than calcium from milk and milk products, according to the National Dairy Council's Calcium Counseling Resource. But the report also says that to get the same amount of calcium absorbed from 1 cup of milk, one would have to eat nearly 2 1/2 cups of broccoli or 8 cups of spinach.

Recommendations also suggest people need to eat more fruits and vegetables, which would get calcium intake up from those sources. And, as is suggested by Dr. Campbell, calcium recommendations are currently too high.

It's nice to see this debate pushed into the open in a major publication. But, despite it's generally positive consideration for the anti-dairy contingent, the article leaves the reader still wondering who to believe.

One can only hope that, at the very least, a more open debate will lend greater credibility to those of us who choose to forgo something that isn't produced for us. And maybe, just maybe, more people will start to look more deeply into whether high dairy consumption is as necessary as they're being led to believe.