Bay Area Vegetarians

Enjoy Vegetarian has opened a new restaurant in Chinatown, at 839 Kearny St (between Jackson and Washington). Their original location is in the Inner Sunset district on Kirkham.

Thanks to Winnie and Jordan for the update.

Ultimate Guide: Enjoy Vegetarian – read it, rate it, review it

The lease for the Café Gratitude on 9th Ave. (near Irving) expires on May 1st. They may go month-to-month until a new tenant signs the lease. Once there is a new tenant, this location will close.

Ultimate Guide: Cafe Gratitude – read it, rate it, review it

One of our members, Sky, is interested in organizing a daytime letter writing party in San Francisco.

Letter writing is one of the most effective ways we can advocate for animals, and I would love to start a letter writing group in San Francisco. I can host and provide all the materials and research we would need… but my only free time is around 11-2 on weekdays. I’m just writing to see if there would be any interest out there to meet in that time frame. If so, let me know, and we can start to plan a meeting.

If you’re interested, please email us and we’ll forward your information onto Sky.

Saturday was the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in San Francisco, and also the annual Bay Area Vegetarians Leafleting at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  🙂

BAVeg Leafleting Leprechauns

Our team of leafleting leprechauns hit the streets of SF, and handed out 1,500 Vegetarian Stater Kits in one hour!!

THANK YOU Alex, Ari, Lisa, Caroline, Michelle, Donna, Jordan and Tammy! BAVeg volunteers share some thoughts about this activity:

Alex enthused “Event leafleting is always fun, because the crowds are in a good mood. Twice I had people chasing after me to get a brochure! Love that! Leafleting is is so easy, and so effective.  I love thinking about all the people who learned about animal suffering today for the first time.  I wonder how many vegetarians we made?”

Parade attendee reads VSK

“This may have been the easiest leafleting I have ever done! Not a negative comment all morning, a few dozen people came up asking ME for guides (rather than the other way around) and at least 50% of people who I offered I guide to took it. Combine that with a great meal with some inspiring vegetarians, all committed to raising the consciousness of our society, and you’ve got a heck of a finish to my week!” exclaimed Ari.

Michelle adds “It was great fun, and such a happy vibrant crowd that seemed to really embrace the veg message!”

Reading her new VSK

Jordan shares his personal experience.  “I’ve been a vegetarian since 1967, and had little success in getting people to go veg. It came as a big surprise, there is an easy way to recruit new vegetarians. Just hand out leaflets. Some people who read the leaflet decide to eat less meat, some become vegetarians or vegans.

Leafleting is fun. Especially at special events, parades etc, because people let down their guard and are willing to talk to strangers. In a short time you can hand out a lot of leaflets.

Now I organize vegetarian leafleting at some Buddhist teachings I go to, asking Buddhists to go veg. Think about what events you go to that you can leaflet. It’s great to know that you have done something that makes a difference.”

Please watch the BAVeg calendar for the next San Francisco Have a Heart, Go Veg Leafleting activity.

On Sunday, May 3rd, BAVeg is hosting a new activity — an animal rights philosophy discussion.

Organized as part of our Food for Thought book club,  Mike B says “The group will provide a great opportunity to hone our ability to reply to those who ostensibly attack our beliefs on rational grounds, as well as acquaint or re-acquaint ourselves with the excellent work in ethics that’s taken place in the last few decades regarding the moral consideration of nonhuman animals.”

This month’s topic:
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer, Chapters 1 and 6

Specifically, Singer’s argument for equal consideration of interests regardless of species membership (often referred to as “The Argument from Marginal Cases”). Philosophers opposed to animal rights have been trying to overcome this argument for 33 years with no success! We will get clear about what Singer’s argument is, how it can be used, and what some of the major failed objections to the argument are.

And, he adds, “All are welcome:  Whether you’ve never touched a philosophy book or are a fellow philosophy junkie 🙂  “

What: Animals Rights Philosophy Group
Where: SF
When: 5/3/09 Sunday, 1:00 pm

RSVP | Full Details

Bay Area Veg volunteers continue to help the public turn over a new leaf towards veg*nism by distributing Vegetarian Starter Kits.

Elizabeth, who has been leafleting at the Farmer’s Markets in Palo Alto & Menlo Park, uses Compassion over Killing’s VSK and has reached over 300 people in the last 3 months.  (To join Elizabeth at future leafleting activities, see the BAVeg Event calendar)

Volunteers, VSKs, SF Ferry Building

In San Francisco, the monthly Have-a-Heart, Go Veg Leafleting activity continues with a new location – the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market on the Embarcadero.

January was the first outing at the new location.  Kuntal and Mila  joined organizers Alex and Tammy to distribute 300 of PETA’s Vegetarian Starter Kit . Yesterday, Shani, Jason, Sky, Alex and Tammy beat the rain and distributed 500 VSKs.

To join Tammy & Alex at the next Have-a-Heart, Go Veg Leafleting activity, see the BAVeg Event calendar

Thank you to our volunteer leafleters, organizers Alex & Tammy, and to Ann and Anabela who stamp the VSKs to refer readers to bayareaveg.org and our local events, activities, and vegetarian restaurant guide.

I am happy to report that I am optimistic about this new vegetarian restaurant with a heavy emphasis on vegan food. It’s in San Francisco on Broadway St, just off Montgomery, and probably trekkable from Montgomery BART if you’ve got good leg muscles or are allured by vegan food. The Usual Suspects Cafe, opened by Bob Bosco, is making a splash with local veg folks already. It’s a diner, it’s familiar foods made vegan, it’s great desserts, it’s talented chefs cooking with passion & pride, and they’ve got a commitment to organic, too. (In passing, they mentioned a big percentage of their food is organic; I don’t remember the exact number.)

Just hours after eating there last nite, I wrote the official description review in the Ultimate Guide:

Styled like an American diner, this new face in the SF restaurant scene offers a variety of vegan favorites like pizzas, sandwiches, burger, falafel, lasagna .. and they make their own seitan and sauces/salad dressings/cashew cheese. And, yes, vegan desserts, too. In an interesting twist, there are a few pizzas made with dairy, then it says everything is vegan except items which are marked that can be made vegetarian. Room upstairs available for private parties.

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New vegetarian restaurant (with an emphasis on vegan foods) just opened in SF, The Usual Suspects. Currently only open Tuesday through Saturday but they anticipate offering a weekend brunch. Check ’em out –

Ultimate Guide: The Usual Suspects

Thanks to Bob for sharing the news!