Are you a culinary activist?
I loved this article by Vegan with a Vengeance author Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which lists 10 ways you can become a vegan culinary activist. The ideas rang from coaxing your local bakery to whip up a batch of vegan muffins to starting a food blog to bringing vegan cookies into the office to share.
What’s so appealing about her approach is that it’s about friendly coaxing rather than angry militantism. You don’t get people to go veg*n by yelling at them about what bad people they are. Let the vegan cupcakes do the talking for you.
A couple weekends ago I brought a batch of vegan cupcakes to a brunch (at which I was the only vegetarian). They were the star attraction, and I was the recipient of much praise for my baking skills. Only towards the end did I even mention they were vegan. I didn’t set out to spread a message with my cupcakes, but I was proud that I had presented people with a delicious vegan food to try, and maybe opened their minds to vegan food just a little bit.
Do you actively try to convince others to go veg*n? What approaches do you use? What have you found successful?
I love making food that shows that vegan food isn’t just raw tofu and lettuce.
Here are some easy one’s that I use -
http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/544/Spring-Rolls/
http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/1206/Mincus-Cheesecake/
Just stumbled across your site, I wish I had found it a few days earlier so that I could have joined in on the carnival!
Also, I’d love to feature your site and some recipes on vegan-food, send me an email if you are interested.
I liked this article, thanks for sharing it!
I totally agree when you say that terrorising people won’t bring the expected results. I may have been a bit abrupt with some people around me about the vegetarian issue in the past. But I have experienced some hostility from vegans not too long ago. That made me realise that by judging and patronising people, they get put off and will carry on as they have been doing or will do just the opposite. TBH I am convinced that some vegans shoot themselves in the foot by using scare tactics.
So I have taken a more gentle approach. I have also used emotions and tears when I talk about the animal treatment and slaughter. And yes, I do take the monopoly of the kitchen when I receive friends and family or go over to their place. People need to be educated and to help me, I remember what methods my best teachers used to get the message across. It takes a lot of patience and support but it is possible!
I love vegan food and I’m glad to say there is an abundance living in Los Angeles, however outside of it, I can never find good vegan, or vegetarian cuisine. I work with Bon Appetit and we have a sweepstakes where you can be flown to NYC to meet and dine with the editors as well as tour the sets and kitchens of the food network. You should enter and perhaps converse with the editors over this very topic. Never hurts to try! Here’s the link to enter •http://condenast.eprize.net/bonappetit/index.tbapp?affiliate_id=1i . How incredible would that be if you won, and got the opprtonity to reach such a broad audience?