I’m in book mode, working the A Coach in Your Kitchen: The Official Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook & Lifestyle Guide, with JL Fields, VLCE, and recipe contributions from MSVA graduates. All my writer energy is going there, so I thought I’d post this month in pictures. This is a panorama of my summer, immersed in vegan living and the vegan movement, and having an altogether wonderful time. I’m not happy about bidding this short and lovely season good-bye, but packing every day with wonders seems to be the best antidote to “not happy.”
A nighttime view of the Be Fair Be Vegan billboard in Times Square. There were two like this in Manhattan for the month of August. My husband and I stood across the street at 44th and Broadway, and he had tears. Listen here to my interview here with Be Fair Be Vegan spokesperson, Angel Flinn.
Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down at the Watkins Glen, NY, location — I’m flanked by Main Street Vegan Academy graduates Karrin Perez, Shana Starman, Andrew Boynton, and Mary Jo Salomon. Other grads at the Hoe Down were Danielle Legg and Kimberly Wilson.
I couldn’t very well go to Farm Sanctuary without taking some animal pictures!
I’m with Vaute founder and designer Leaane Mai-Li Hilgart at the opening of her flagship store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Leanne has been an animal advocate since childhood and now she’s dressing celebrities and regular folks in wonderful cruelty-free coats, dresses, and swimwear. (My necklace says “VEGAN” and is from Sundara Jewel. The designer is Main Street Vegan Academy graduate Sande Nosonowitz.)
I am a big believer in whole foods, but sometimes a little processed yum has a place, too. The good people at So Delicious sent me some Coco Whip to try and I have to say, it’s quite a treat. (Click on their link and download some pretty generous coupons.)
On a trip to The Cloisters, the Medieval branch of the Metropolitan Museum in Upper Manhattan, I was most interested in the garden. In addition to Medieval Vegetables and Salads, there were lots of medicinal herbs. ‘Seems ours isn’t the first generation to discover “plant-based.”
Forbes loves to go shopping. He seems to like to do anything with the word “go” in it. William and I try to give Forbes cultural enrichment on Saturdays — all the new experiences we can think of that it seems a dog would like. Winter kind of cramps our style on that, so summer Saturdays are precious indeed.
The Ayurveda Cafe on the Upper West Side has become a real favorite restaurant of mine this summer. It’s affordable, satisfying, and this incredible altar greets you when you walk in. They’re a lacto-vegetarian restaurant but very accommodating to vegans.
A sandwich buffet for the July Main Street Vegan Academy class. The bread is Happy Campers Gluten-Free (really good and really whole-food, not always the case with gluten-free breads), and the raw chocolate cake is from Jennifer Cornbleet’s Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People, one of my favorite cookbooks.
Vegetarian Summerfest is always a midsummer highlight. It’s always a pleasure to see Dr. Colin Campbell, shown here with his charming wife, Karen.
Vegans have a talk show! Incredible. I’m here with Nafsika Antypas, host of Plant-Based by Nafsika, The show airs Wednesday mornings at 7:30 a.m. on FYI, an A&E channel. Other guests this season include Main Street Vegan Academy grad Adrienne Borgersen of La Fashionista Compassionista Magazine, Demetrius Bagley of Vegucated, Humane Party Presidential candidate Clifton Roberts, and John Lewis of Bad Ass Vegan, makers of the best green cookies in all the world.
Victoria Moran is the author of Main Street Vegan, The Good Karma Diet, The Love-Powered Diet, and nine other books, host of the Main Street Vegan podcast, director of Main Street Vegan Academy, and producer of an in-the-works documentary film, The Compassion Project.