April 2023
news, events, & more
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In this issue:
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GREETINGS: Our New Hires - Jesse and Roz
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MAKING CHANGES: How Vegan Are Your Veggies?
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ENVIRONMENT: Earth Day Rally, Beaverton Farmers Market, Apr 22
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EVENT: Dineout at Vertical Diner, Apr 29
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RESTAURANT CORNER: Next Level Burger
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RECIPE: Creamy Chili Dip
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EVENT: Westside Potluck, Fundamentals of Storytelling, Apr 16
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EVENT: Vancouver Happy Hour, Apr 17
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EVENT: Vancouver Potluck, Anti-inflammation Diet, Apr 27
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ENVIRONMENT: Slides from Environmental Food Impact talk
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Welcome to our new Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator Team! |
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Jesse Miller
Hello NW VEG community! My name is Jesse Miller and I’m one half of the new Event, Outreach, and Volunteer Coordinator team. I live in St. Johns with my husband, daughter, two pups, and house rabbit. We enjoy exploring and discovering delicious vegan food all around the city and beyond!
With a background in both the education field and nonprofit sector and, as a long time vegan, I’m thrilled to continue the wonderful work of the organization. Look for some new and fun opportunities to get involved, coming soon. Have ideas or thoughts to share? You can reach me at Jesse@nwveg.org. See you soon!
Jesse
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Rosalind (Roz) McCallard
Hello NW VEG community! My name is Rosalind (Roz) McCallard and I’m the other half of the new Event, Outreach, and Volunteer Coordinator team. I'm a long-time Portland resident, a passionate vegan, and I'm thrilled to be working with the NW VEG team and to get to know all of you.
I live on a floating home in the middle of the beautiful Columbia river with my husband, our senior cat Jefferson, and our dog Seamus. We love kayaking, exploring the city on our bikes, and most of all, travelling and finding delicious vegan food. We've been to 18 countries and counting!
I have a background in business and vegan food, and I love connecting with vegans here in Portland and the world over. I'm excited to engage with the Portland Veg community, and I'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, ideas, or anything else you may want to share (recipes are always welcome!). Reach me at roz@nwveg.org and thank you for letting me be a part of your vegan lives!
Roz
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How Vegan Are Your Veggies?
by Stephanie Lucas
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Those of us who are vegan know that what we eat matters when it comes to the well-being of animals, the environment, and our own health. But do we ever consider that the manner in which our food is grown also has an impact? Even if our diets are strictly plant-based, we may be unwittingly supporting animal factory farm industries, contributing to environmental decline, and impacting our health.
Our current systems of food production are now being widely debated and acknowledged to be unsustainable, polluting, and hugely contributing to global climate change. Industrial agriculture is heavily reliant on fossil fuels to produce the fertilizers and pesticides used to grow huge monocultures of feedstock for animal factory farms. Organic farming is promoted as more environmentally friendly and sustainable, but then relies heavily on animal by-products (e.g., manures, and bone, blood, feather, and fish meals) from factory farms and slaughterhouses. Regenerative agriculture is currently being touted as the most environmental and climate-friendly alternative, but also relies on those same animal inputs, and is unlikely to be able to meet our future food needs sustainably.
The good news is that veganic (vegan-organic) agriculture is emerging as a ...
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- Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 from 9am-2pm
- Beaverton City Fountain Park next to the Beaverton Farmers Market
- 12375 SW 5th Street, Beaverton, OR
Here is an Earth Day event that focuses on animal agriculture's role in our climate crisis! Come hear fascinating environmental speakers, learn about what various local groups are doing to fight against climate change and how you can get involved, sign the Plant Based Treaty, listen to DJ Retrobot, enjoy family-friendly activities, and more! Northwest VEG is proud to be supporting this event and looks forward to seeing many of you there. Be sure to stop by our table and say hi to our new outreach coordinators Jesse and Roz!
Portland is joining 40+ cities from all over the world for a historic grassroots day of action to bring awareness to animal agriculture's role in causing our current ...
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Dineout at Vertical Diner
- Saturday, April 29, 2023
- 5:30 PM
- Vertical Diner
- 8124 SW Barbur Boulevard
- Portland, Oregon
Come join us for dinner at Vertical Diner, a restored roadside diner from the 1960s. Breakfast is served all day—tofu scrambles, breakfast burritos, sausages, pancakes, country style potatoes, and lots more. There are also sandwiches (including a Reuben), burgers, salads, mushroom stroganoff, tacos, and more. Click here to see their story and the full menu. They describe it as healthy vegan comfort food. The helpings are generous, the atmosphere is retro, and the staff is friendly and will answer all your questions.
Pre-registration is required. Click the button below to register. Please remember to bring cash as Susan (the host) will need to pay the total bill, and you will need to pay her.
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Next Level Burger
by Susan Hanson
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In 2014 Matt and Cierra de Gruyter were on their way to Portland to open the first Next Level Burger, but they made a stop in Bend on the way and fell in love with the city. So that is where America’s first 100% plant-based burger joint began. Their motto was “Burgers for a Better World.”
Their journey began in 2006 when Cierra decided to become vegetarian and then vegan. Matt, who was eating eight to ten pounds of meat a week said that he would support her but “don’t guilt me into becoming vegan!” and, “don’t get too extreme on me.” But then in 2010, he says he did something very dangerous—he picked up one of Cierra’s books, The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone and read it. Then he kept reading more vegan books that were in the house. While Matt was learning about the link between health and diet, his mom died at age 56. His son was turning three, and Matt said he wanted to be around for a long time for his son. He felt he couldn’t ignore all that he was learning, so he decided to try being vegan for 30 days, and within two weeks he was feeling lighter and had more energy. It wasn’t long before his diet was 100% plant-based.
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Creamy Chili Dip
By Linda Tyler
Here’s a versatile dip to use with chips, vegetables, rice, tortillas, or you-name-it.
Makes about 4.5 cups
Start the cashews soaking. (You can skip this step if you have a high-speed blender.) Soak them for 20 minutes in hot water or 2 hours in cold water.
Separately, in a large saucepan or small Dutch oven, add the diced onion and a few tablespoons water. Water-sauté the onion for 8-10 minutes, adding additional tablespoons of water if needed, until the onions are transparent and soft.
- 1 medium onion, diced (around 1.5 cups of diced)
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- Sunday, April 16, 2023
- 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM
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West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (map)
- 8470 Southwest Oleson Road, Portland, OR
Come for the potluck at 5:00 or the presentation at 6:15, or both. Janet Liu, longtime Northwest VEG member, is a storyteller and will lead us through some fundamentals of telling stories, such as being clear about the story you want to tell, taking your listeners on a journey, and bringing them home safely. Learn more about the presentation and what to bring to the potluck.
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- Monday, April 17, 2023
- 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
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Pure Thai Cafe (map)
- 7904 NE 6th Avenue
- Vancouver, Washington
You can order from Pure Thai Cafe’s vegan menu which offers fresh-made plant-based whole foods.
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- Thursday, April 27, 2023
- 5:30 PM 7:30 PM
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The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church & Preschool (map)
- 16001 NE 34th Street
- Vancouver, Washington
Our presentation this month is INFLAMMATION: Causes and Best Anti-inflammation Diet with Linda Tyler. Come to our indoor picnic at 5:30, Linda’s presentation at 6:30, or both. Learn more about the potluck and presentation.
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Slides Available from Dr. Julie Sinistore’s talk on
Environmental Impacts of Food
At the Northwest VEG Eastside March potluck, we were pleased to have Dr. Julie Sinistore give an excellent talk on the environmental, social, and resource impacts of the food choices we all make each day. We learned that not only does eliminating animal products from our diet create an almost 50% reduction in greenhouse gas production, it also has huge impacts on land use, water quality, and water use, as well as decreasing the threat of antibiotic resistance. If you missed the talk or you just want to review it and follow up on many of the studies she cited, you can view her slides here on the Northwest VEG website.
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Northwest VEG
Become a member and enjoy our supportive and friendly community of people interested in vegan, plant-based food and lifestyles.
We appreciate your support!
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NORTHWEST VEG | nwveg.org |
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