When we heard Honor Roll Productions was putting together the Open Road Music & Arts Festival, VegWorcester was one of the first to jump in and take part in what is being described as “Worcester’s first sustainable and earth-friendly music and arts festival.” We were excited to partake in some vegan outreach and check out the first of what will become an annual event!

Worcester locals headed over to Institute Park this past Saturday, September 4th to enjoy a sunny afternoon of 10+ musical acts, visual arts, fun for the kids, vegetarian food and a vast array of eco-friendly vendors. Among the green-oriented goals of Open Road Festival was bio-diesel generated power for the sound system, recycle bins and organic/recycled promotional materials.

At the VegWorcester table we met many attendees and other vendors who were equally interested in environmental issues and the music as well as trying our free vegan food! At our table we gave out free samples of Thai Peanut and Teriyaki Primal Strips, a meatless vegan jerky voted best new vegetarian snack by VegNews magazine. We also handed out vegan dark chocolates by the company Endangered Species. Their chocolates are ethically-traded and 10% of net profits are donated to help support species, habitat and humanity. We even had some Oreo cookies to share with attendees, based on the thought that many people already eat them and are shocked to find out that they are veg-friendly!

Armed with brochures about reducing cruelty to animals and free vegetarian starter kits, we shared the message of living a veg lifestyle in Worcester and received great feedback and email list sign-ups. One couple said their son had become vegetarian in the past year and they were impressed by how natural the transition had been. Other festival attendees said they enjoy veg food, but haven’t made the jump to preparing and cooking the food themselves. I was excited to share my new Worcester-oriented vegan blog (http://vegpanda.blogspot.com,) hoping to inspire others to experiment with recipes or try some of Worcester’s many vegan restaurant options.

Among the food vendors at Open Road were Loving Hut, a local vegan favorite, (located on Chandler St.) They served up a good mix of crispy appetizers to compliment the tasty rice & lo mein. (Be sure to come to one of the Loving Hut buffet VegWorcester fundraisers. They occur monthly and are only $10!)  To add to our excitement about the veg food options on Saturday, there were delicious veggie dogs for sale at the cart parked just outside the gates! The avocado, tomato and onion toppings were a nice surprise and made for a unique vegan option that many seemed to enjoy.

Check out Worcester Mag’s  Open Road review online with a write-up towards the end about our table!

]]> http://VegWorcester.com/2010/09/06/vegworcester-at-open-road-music-arts-festival/feed/ 0 http://VegWorcester.com/2010/09/06/vegworcester-at-open-road-music-arts-festival/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/VegWorcesterBlog/~3/DPMQNPS5uZc/ http://VegWorcester.com/2010/08/30/got-any-veg-friendly-restaurant-tips/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:24:29 +0000 Drew http://VegWorcester.com/?p=2726 It’s time to revamp our popular veg dining guide. Got any tips on good restaurants?

Finding tasty vegan food at restaurants is rarely a problem, especially in Worcester. These days nearly every restaurant has good veg options on their menu. Last Spring VegWorcester printed a large number of veg dining guides and distributed them to curious Worcesterites. We are now on the third annual printing of the Guide to Vegetarian Dining in Worcester. Want to help? Look through our online listing at VegWorcester.com/restaurants and see if there are any good spots missing. Send any tips to info@VegWorcester.com or comment below.

2009 Edition: A Huge Success

Last year’s print edition featured 26 listings and a handful of events. We distributed a total of 8,000 copies–5,000 full color copies and 3,000 black and white copies.  These guides are a great tool for showing Worcesterites that being vegan is an easy way to help animals and the reduce our ecological impact. It’s also a great way to send some love to local biz that feature vegan items on their menus.

Over the course of a year, we handed out the 8k guides while tabling at community events, at shows, on college campuses, in Worcester highschools, at our vegan feed-in’s, and at lots of other events. You can download a pdf of last year’s guide.

Going bigger, going bolder

This year we’re going bigger with the guide. To start, we’re going to double our color printing to 10,000 copies. That means that as we get closer to publishing it, we’re going to need to ask more of y’all to step up and volunteer to distribute it. Look out for more details soon.

Post your tips!

So if you know any solid, veg-friendly restaurants, cafes, bakeries or other spots in the Worcester area, post them here. Or send an email to info@VegWorcester.com.

The Vegan Bus crew is coming to Worcester this Sunday, August 29 to give away free samples of vegan baked goods in Elm Park, play some music, then go to Loving Hut for a special lunch and short presentation. You should come out for the fun. Meet them in Elm Park at 11am or swing by Loving Hut on Chandler at Noon for a presentation and lunch. (See schedule below.)

Based out of Northampton, MA, The Vegan Bus is a big old school bus that drives around to community events, advocating veganism. They giving out free sample of tasty food (much like our vegan “feed-ins” in Worcester) and encourage people to think of the animals confined in factory farms. The bus itself runs on waste vegetable oil, collected from local restaurants.

What’s the Vegan Bus All About?

If you’ve been to Loving Hut in Worcester, you’ve no doubt caught a glimpse of Supreme Master TV (SMTV). With two giant flat-screens playing it all the time, it’s hard to miss. SMTV recently did a short film about the vegan bus that explains what the project is all about. They’ll be showing it at the Sunday event, but you can also check out the video on the TheVeganBus.com.

Coming to Worcester This Sunday

Loving Hut on Chandler is celebrating by having a a vegan feast, featuring special items that don’t normally appear on their menu. The meal will be buffet style. The bus crew will be giving a short presentation on their work and Loving Hut will be presenting the vegan bus with a $1,500 donation. Hopefully, this event will include a comically large check.

Schedule

• 9:00 AM: Leave Northampton
• 11:00 AM: Vegan Bus Activity at Elm Park with vegan treats, performances & leafleting.
• 12:00PM: Vegan Bus showing in front of Loving Hut
• 12:30PM: Lunch at Loving Hut
• 1:00PM: Donation presentation
• 1:15PM: Speech from the Vegan Bus
• 2-3 PM: Leave Worcester

Facebook event

RSVP to the facebook event, and invite your friends.

This past week saw a huge egg recall in the US. News reports estimate the number of salmonella-contaminated eggs somewhere around 228 million. The tainted eggs originated in Iowa, but cases of related illnesses have appeared in Minnesota, Colorado, and California. There are 13 brands involved, including store-brands from leading national supermarkets. The FDA is conducting an investigation into the Iowa firm, but it’s unlikely that this will deal with the root of the problem.

What is Salmonella?

Salmonella is a disease spread largely by contact with feces. Symptoms include fever, cramps, diarrhea, and more serious consequences in people with compromised immune systems. Wikipedia says:

About 142,000 Americans are infected each year with Salmonella enteritidis from chicken eggs, and about 30 die.^[18] The shell of the egg may be contaminated by feces or environment, or its interior (yolk) may be contaminated from the shell or from a hen whose infected ovaries contaiminate the egg. ^[19][20], but the rate of egg yolk contamination is theoretically unlikely ^{[21] [22] [23] [24]} and in natural conditions was found to be very small (0.6% in a study of naturally externally infected eggs^[25] and 3.0% in artificially and heavily infected hens^[26]).

The Root of the Problem: Factory-farming

Every year, millions of hens are crammed into tiny metal cages. These factory-farms are filthy and overcrowded. It should come as no surprise that the eggs that these birds are laying are contaminated with diseases. In addition to being cruel to animals, animal agri-business poses a serious risk to human health.

Ashley Lane from One Sweet Slice in Salt Lake City, UT recently wrote to VegWorcester to ask if we know where Massachusetts vegans get their wedding cakes. She is putting together a national resource for people looking for vegan wedding cakes.  She’s asking folks to submit info about about local bakeries and pastry chefs who make beautiful wedding cakes, sans eggs and dairy.

From Ashley:

There are thousands of vegans getting married in the US every year, who must have similar difficulty finding a vegan wedding cake. I was hoping you might know of some vendors in Massachussets who can bake vegan wedding cakes?
…
I’d soo like to make sure this becomes a complete resource for vegans in every state in the US to find their vegan wedding cakes..but this is A LOT more work than i thought it’d be , so I’d truly appreciate if you could do this to help us out..

So if you were having a wedding this Fall, where would you get your cake? Comment below.

This Saturday Loving Hut on Chandler Street is having their monthly vegan buffet fundraiser for VegWorcester. Same deal as always, $10 for all you can eat. Noon-7pm.

Download a printable flyer (pdf).

Worcester Animal Rescue League is threatening to stop accepting dogs from Worcester if they pass new restrictive ordinances targeting Pit bulls. Being a Pit bull fan myself I consider this a very bold but necessary move by the Animal Rescue League. While  I recognize it will hurt stray dogs within the city, a boycott is the only tool the Animal Rescue League can use.

“The dedicated staff and supporters have worked too hard and advanced the organization too far in the quality of care given to its animals to suddenly reverse our no-kill, limited-intake policies,” Ms. Simone said in the release. “This ordinance would be asking us to take a giant step backwards, becoming once again a kill shelter. We wish to be very clear: The Worcester Animal Rescue League will have no part in euthanizing dogs or any other animal due to breed discrimination.”

There will be a public hearing for the ordinance at 6 p.m. Aug. 10 in the Esther Howland Chamber at City Hall.

Do you think this is a helpful or harmful move by the city and Animal Rescue League? Share your comments below.

Link

Also, don’t forget about our friends at To Hell and back Pit Bull Rescue

WE BEAT PROVIDENCE

PETA recently ranked US cities with less than 300,000 people in terms of veg-friendly places to eat, and placed Worcester seventh. Last year they highlighted the meatball soup at Buddha Hut on Chandler Street, so this isn’t a big surprise.

I’ve lived in Worcester for eight years now, and been vegan for almost nine. What with the opening of Belmont Veg a year or two back, it does feel like the city’s restaurant scene is at a vegetarian high water mark. This PETA thing is a nice tip-o-the-hat.

Local restaurants Belmont Vegetarian Restaurant, Nancy Chang, and Loving Hut helped Worcester grab seventh place among small cities in PETA’s 2010 survey of the most vegetarian- and vegan-friendly cities in North America.

[...]

Olympia, Wash., took first-place honors among small cites, and Burlington, Vt., came in second. Rounding out the top 10 are Bloomington, Ind.; Boise, Idaho; Iowa City, Iowa; Lincoln, Neb.; Providence, R.I.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Topeka, Kan. The winner among big cities was Washington, D.C.

Link

Cross-posted at Worcesterite

VegWorcester isn’t the only veg blog in Worcester. Back in April, Worcester Vegan Eats popped up on the intertubes. Blogger Heather uses the site to share her vegan food excursions in the Worcester area. She occasionally writes about local veg-friendly restaurants in the Worcester area, but the best thing about her blog is definitely the homemade food.

Check it out: Worcester Vegan Eats

This Saturday, July 10, Loving Hut on Chandler Street is having their July buffet fundraiser for VegWorester (facebook event). Stop by between noon and 7pm for a $10 buffet. 10% will automatically be donated to VegWorcester.

Then on Sunday, July 11, at 1pm Loving Hut on Hamilton Street (formerly Veggie Corner, formerly Quan Yin) will be having a grand re-opening.