Bay Area Vegetarians

The latest and greatest in San Francisco Bay Area veg news & events:

• Have a Heart, Go Veg Leafleting!
• Humane California

– 90,000 signatures needed still

• Blog Migration
• Ultimate Guide Updates

– 3 closures, 1 new

• Heart Smart Cooking
• Event Calendar

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Here’s an update since we first announced this in the October 2007 BAVeg News:

People in California who are opposed to the cruel treatment of animals on factory farms have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something to improve the lives of millions of animals. Californians for Humane Farms is entering its final days of signature gathering to qualify a historic ballot initiative for the November 2008 election. 90,000 signatures are still needed.

Sponsored by the Humane Society of the US, Farm Sanctuary, and others, the initiative would outlaw gestation crates, battery cages, and veal crates in California, giving 20 million animals on factory farms each year improved conditions. This sounds and is moderate–just giving them these basic improved conditions–but would be a huge improvement and make a significant difference for these animals, especially for egg-laying hens who, if this passes, would be able to lay eggs in nests and to dustbathe (the way chickens keep themselves clean), which are critically important to them.

Getting this initiative on the ballot would also raise a tremendous amount of awareness about factory farming and, as has been shown from similar initiatives in smaller states, continue to build momentum against factory farms that has already led to pledges from pork and veal producers to phase out some of the cruelest confinement systems facing animals on farms.

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Gillyflower Vegetarian, a Chinese restaurant, closed in January, 2008. It opened in the Fall of 2006 and barely made it a year.

We’ve changed our blog software. So, heads-up! If you have it bookmarked, link to our blogs on your website, access them through RSS feeds, google reader, etc., please note that there are some changes in the blog categories. You may find there are some differences if you’ve linked to specific blog posts or subscribed to RSS feeds.

You can find them it all at:

http://bayareaveg.org/blog

February 17th is National PTA Founders Day. When I first saw it I thought it was National PETA Founders Day and I got really excited! Oh well. I’m sure the PTA people were (are?) great in their own way.

February is National Wedding Month, National Time Management Month, National Cherry Pie Month and International Boost Self Esteem Month!

What does that all add up to? Soup!

Soup is always satisfying. It’s healthy—and love is hard without health. It’s excellent for time management—throw a bunch of yummy stuff in a pot, catch up on e-mail while it’s simmering, serve and enjoy. It’s also hard to mess up so if you’re a nervous cook, a pot of soup can give you that confidence boost.

Most people are thinking of complicated, gourmet meals this month for Valentine’s Day. All the restaurants have special dinners for $100 a pop and the cooking blogs are posting dishes that take three days to make. I believe all that stress, shopping, and prepping leads to couples fighting, not couples loving, and filling up on rich exotic ingredients will most likely just make you want to go to sleep so your body can digest in peace.

About this time last year I was busy cooking fussy meals for a local hunk. They did OK—I mean, he didn’t run away or anything–but it was a pot of simple minestrone that finally made him mine (and cherry pie).

Here are two rich and delicious soups that are easy as pie, great on cold winter nights, yet slightly “special” for a romantic evening, and the pie, too.

Lemon Corn Soup
Mushroom Soup
Cherry Pie

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Our heart-felt thanks to our volunteers who shared the compassion in their heart for animals at our “Have a Heart, Go Veg” Leafleting & Dinner activity on Saturday, Feb 9th, organized by Tammy and Alex. Leafleting with BAVeg is an opportunity to get our veg message out to the public and then celebrate our good work & fellowship over a yummy vegan meal.

We give a big welcome to Melisse, her first-time leafleting, and were happy to see Juan (his 2nd time leafleting), Jordan, and George join us again. Miranda and Jack from Vegan Outreach joined us, too. Jack is the President of Vegan Outreach but Miranda gets top billing because she is an amazing, Amazon leafleter. 🙂

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A new veggie restaurant called Wild Greens has opened in Petaluma North Plaza Shopping Center.

Dishes, including ratatouille, potato enchilada and veggie burger made in-house from scratch, vary from vegan to vegetarian, but all dishes can be made vegan if requested.