The Toronto Vegetarian Podcast

Podcast 253: Keep Your Fish Out Of My Smoothie

tvp@veg.ca (The Toronto Vegetarian Association) — Sat, 12 May 2012 07:00:00 +0100

This week Liam and Sarah discuss nutrition and getting in your smoothies and salads, and the common misconception that fish can be included in a vegan diet. This was included in the anti-review of Tosca Reno's latest cookbook which makes the vegetarian claim but includes a chapter of recipes that include fish.

There are also several events and volunteer opportunities coming up in May and June including Why I'm Veg Week June 2nd - 9th which features the Veggie Pride Parade, a YouTube video contest, a vegetarian talent show and the Raw / Vegan festival. Details can be found at www.veg.ca/vegweek .

Be sure to check out the May updates to the Directory which include the lovemuffin bakery, Green Zebra Meal delivery, Green Vegetatrian Market (the Vegetarian Food store) and Freshly Thai .

Lastly, please check out Liz Rice's EnviroHealth presentations. She is avaiable to do presentations for elementary and high school students as well as corporate audiences. More information can be found at www.LizRice.ca/Presentations .

We hope everyone is out enjoying this beautiful May weekend!

This week's podcast is a fish-free 26 minutes.

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Podcast 252: Vegan Big Stones or Basil vs. Basil

tvp@veg.ca (The Toronto Vegetarian Association) — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:00:00 +0100

John and Colleen start off this Cinco de Mayo podcast with a little Spanish back and forth before getting down to conversational business. Things get off to a rousing start with the big reveal about Liam's favourite saxophone solo and discussion of Toronto super-chef Doug McNish's new book, Eat Raw, Eat Well which is now for sale in the TVA resource centre.

Not surprisingly, kale figures prominently in this episode as Colleen is growing two kinds of the lovely stuff--Dinosaur and Red Russian--in her apartment; they discuss growing kale and, of course, eating it and John provides a new recipe for kale salad which makes both hosts' mouths water.

John and Colleen eat a lot of kale to fuel them through their various physical activities, which include John running to work every day like the champion he is. Colleen needs kale to keep her moving fast on her bicycle, including for an upcoming bicycle skills course put on by the City of Toronto.

John and Colleen bow before the toughness of the super-tough podcast-founder Jason, however, who's doing that insane Tough Mudder thing in August. Nobody knows what electrical shocks and fire have to do with vegetarianism but they're not *not* vegetarian. Your hosts propose a vegan challenge of a similar nature, but with more kale and less pain, called Vegan Big Stones.

John and Colleen also discuss the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale held at TVA two Saturdays ago--a huge success, lots of people came out, almost everything was sold, and a fair chunk of change was raised for TVA. There'll definitely be another one here next year!

Speaking of the future, upcoming events include an open house at Wishing Well Sanctuary in Bradford, the Toronto Raw/Vegan Festival, and nutrition training for TVA volunteers.

Tangents include: whether or not soy is healthy, why tofu isn't made from beans other than soy, and how to count calories for healthy reasons.

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Podcast 251: 1980's Saxophone Solo

tvp@veg.ca (The Toronto Vegetarian Association) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Today John and Liam are really excited to learn about the apparent vegan explosion in the U.S. Over the past two years the number of adults in the U.S. who are vegan has doubled according to the Vegetarian Resource Group. The number of vegans is reported to be 2.5% of the population and the number of vegetarians is 5%. This is great news, obviously. Liam and John talk about how some studies can be skewed, however there is no skewing the fact that the number of vegetarian and vegan options in grocery stores has increased drastically over the past few years and this leads them to believe that the number of vegetarians and vegans is definitely growing.

TVA is excited to be a participant in the upcoming Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. TVA will be hosting its version of the Vegan Bake Sale on Saturday, April 21^st from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. The Vegan Bake Sale will be taking place outside of the TVA office (17 Baldwin) on the patio of Vegetarian Haven.

John also talks about his great experience at Marni Wasserman’s. John had the opportunity to try a wide variety of food, learn some culinary techniques, and ask lots of questions regarding nutrition. The experience caused John to finally give in and buy a Vitamix. A night at Marni’s is a great gift for the vegetarian/vegan who has everything.

On a sad note, a great TVA volunteer has recently passed away. Agnes had been involved with TVA for a long time in a number of capacities. She helped TVA by volunteering at the Food Festival, at TVA outreach events, and she worked on doctor outreach packages. This is incredibly sad news for anyone who has been touched by Agnes; Greg, our thoughts are with you.

This week’s episode is 37 minutes long and is dedicated to Agnes.

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Podcast 250: The Next Guestisode

tvp@veg.ca (The Toronto Vegetarian Association) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0100

Today's epidsode features podcast superstars past and present reunited to celebrate the 250th Toronto Vegetarian Podcast!! Current Saturday regulars John, Liam, and Colleen are joined by podcast originators Jason and Angela (and their silent, but entirely real) mini-podcaster Dax. Barbi, TVA's Donor and Volunteer Resources Coordinator is in the house as well. We like hanging out here but we were all bribed to show up by John buying everyone pizza.

Our 250th episode is defined by 1) no show notes or plan; 2) a variety of clever triple entendres; 3) lots of laughter; and 4) discussion of various veg issues and events.

We discuss the honey issue (to eat, or not to eat), upcoming volunteer opportunities at the Green Living Show and Total Health Show, our upcoming participation in the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale (Saturday, April 21). (Details here on how to host your own). On the Vegetarian Directory front: Vegetarian Brunch Guide, and new additions to the Vegetarian Discount card program.

This milestone podcast is 37 minutes long and can't be found in the classifieds of NOW Magazine.

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Podcast 249: Travelling Kupcakes

tvp@veg.ca (The Toronto Vegetarian Association) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0100

Today John and Sue are lucky enough to have a whole slew of treats left for them. One of the benefits of volunteering in the Resource Centre is that there tends to be a lot of good food kicking around and today is no exception. There are leftovers from a vegan bake sale and there are samples from Kupcakes Bakeshop. Kupcakes Bakeshop is a new all vegan bakeshop that offers free shipping in the G.T.A. and have gluten-free options. For the rest of the month of March you can also save the tax!

There's also some travel news on today's show. John recently got back from Panama and Costa Rica and reports that good eating can be had even in countries/places where vegetarianism and veganism is a foreign concept. John enjoyed eating at Loving Hut in Panama City and tortillas and beans became a staple, not out of desperation, but because in Costa Rica they are exceptionally tasty. Also, with regards to travel, Lisa O. is presently in China and detailing her eating and non-eating experiences on her blog. It sounds like she's having a great time.

Sue recently ate at a very vegan friendly restaurant, Cocoa Latte, and she reports that the vegan bean burrito deserves two thumbs up. It seems that John isn't the only one who quite enjoys a hefty dose of beans.

Lastly, John is very excited to be going to a Marni Wasserman cooking class/dinner next Saturday. A full report will be giving the next time he podcasts. The invitation to this dinner is a present he received from a family member - a great gift for the vegetarian/vegan who has everything.

This episode is a sweet 'n sour 12 minutes.

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