Portland VegFest 2011

Who: VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig

What: Portland VegFest 2011

Where: Portland, OR

When: September 17 + 18, 2011

Why: To hang out with some cool vegans in the city known as vegan mecca.

The Scoop: I love Portland. I have visited the city a few times—most recently for the first-ever Vida Vegan Con—and every single time I enjoy myself immensely. What can I say, Portland relaxes me—the food is great, the people are nice, and maybe I just have a thing for rainy, cloudy skies.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to visit this fabulous city in the Northwest in order to table at the Portland VegFest, which took place at the  Oregon Convention Center, and was attended by 6,700 people. It's definitely one of the bigger festivals in the US, and there was a ton of free (and delicious) vegan food, as well as awesome speakers, including Wayne Pacelle of HSUS, Grant Butler of The Oregonian, and Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM.

 The crowded convention center.

I had the pleasure to work at the VegNews booth along with past VegNews employee Katie Paul, her husband, Dan Paul, who was also representing HSUS, and VegNews Street Teamer Bronwyn Ewers, who lives in nearby Tigard, OR. We were neighbors with Chicago Soydairy and ecoVegan, both of which have been featured in VegNews and have wonderful products—they were inundated with hungry attendees for the entirety of the show.

Bronwyn, myself, and Katie working the booth.

Though the booth was busy, I was able to break for quick snacks. On Saturday, I bought a plate of delicious Ethiopian food from Sengatera Ethiopian Restaurant, and then on Sunday I picked up some Yellow Tofu Curry and a few Spring Rolls from VegeThai. Both meals were tasty and satisfying, and helped to get me through the rest of the busy day.

My bountiful plate of Ethiopian food. So good!

This was my first time attending the Portland VegFest, and I hope it's not my last. It was truly a fun and successful event, in one of the best US cities. I'll stop gushing now.

PCRM Celebrates 25 Years

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland
What: The Art of Compassion: PCRM's 25th Anniversary Gala
Where: The Lot, West Hollywood, Calif.
When: April 10, 2010
Why: Celebrating a quarter-century of PCRM’s extraordinary accomplishments

The Scoop: If you picture the folks at the Physician’s Committee for Responsible donning white lab coats rather than party gowns, it’s safe to say you weren’t in Hollywood last month. The organization known for advancing preventative medicine and ethical research let its hair down for a glorious and star-studded celebration for nearly 500 friends and supporters at The Lot—the former home of Warner Hollywood Studios, United Artists Studios, and the Samuel Goldwyn Studios—a venue which proved as fitting as the dresses and tuxes for the who’s-who of compassion that paraded and pranced around the stages where the classic films Robin Hood and West Side Story were filmed.

Event Chairs Tom and Kathy Freston kicked it all off with heartfelt words on why they are supporters of PCRM, including Tom’s admission that he never expected to end up vegan. Following the Freston’s were four-time NBA champ John Salley, the actors and actresses Marilu Henner, Jennifer Landon, Cloris Leachman, Melissa Rivers, Larry Sullivan, Mariana Tosca, and Persia White, and CNN's Jane Velez Mitchell. The evening’s entertainment included a rousing musical performance by Leona Lewis and a short yet hilarious stand-up routine by comedienne Carol Leifer. PCRM founder and president, the ageless Neal Barnard, MD, closed the ceremony with a recap of the lengthy accomplishments his organization and vision have ushered to fruition over the last quarter-century.

PCRM President Neal Barnard, MD, with VN's Colleen Holland

The gala wouldn’t have been complete without it’s quartet of awards. The Benjamin Spock Award for Compassion in Medicine was given to Baxter Montgomery, MD, a Houston cardiologist who developed a “nutritional boot camp” to assist his patients in breaking unhealthy habits; The Henry Heimlich Award honored Gilman Veith, PhD, founder of the QSAR Foundation to Reduce Animal Testing, which uses computer models to predict the toxicity of chemicals without using animals; and The Art of Compassion Award, bestowed upon Robert “Skip” Trimble, the legislative chair of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, which promotes the humane treatment of animals through advocacy, education, and legislation. Lastly, two Voice of Compassion Awards were given to Ellen DeGeneres and Marilu Henner, which honors those who, “by word or example, have communicated caring, compassion, and the highest ethical principles.”

VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and Dr. Henry Heimlich share their maneuvers.

The delicious vegan dinner, coordinated by Tal Ronnen, was an all-star line-up of dishes from the nation’s best veg restaurants and chefs: hors d’oeuvres by Millennium, salad by Candle 79, soup and entrée from The Conscious Cook, and desserts from Seed Kitchen, Sublime, and The Veggie Grill.

Congratulations to everyone at PCRM for all the organization has done in making the world a healthy, safer place as well as for inviting us to your party. All of us at VegNews look forward to working with you over the next 25 years.

San Francisco Green Festival: Robbins, Newsom, Harrelson

Who: VN Publishers Joseph Connelly and Colleen Holland plus the rest of the VegNews staff
What: Three days of the world's largest green marketplace
Where: Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco, Calif.
When: November 13–15, 2009
Why: Because eating veg is the greenest thing you can do

The Scoop: Yes, it was our last trade show of the year. Yes, is was in our hometown of San Francisco. Yes, it was the eighth annual Green Festival, the joint venture of Global Exchange and Green America (formerly Co-op America), which VegNews Magazine has proudly sponsored since the very first event, held in the very same venue since 2002.

Following the Green Business Conference, attended by VN's Colleen Holland, the GF kicked off Friday at noon. If you have never been to a Green Festival (events this year were held in Seattle, Denver, Chicago, DC, and SF), what you are missing is the "nation's longest running green living event," consisting of vendors, speakers, veg food, cooking demos, a green film festival, children's activities, and did we mention vendors? Here you can find solar panels for your home, kits to convert your hybrid to a plug-in, lots of hemp (clothing, food, recreation), and a festival that actually gets the connection between diet and global warming and which has been vegetarian since day one, thanks to producer Greg Roberts.

After the Friday after-party the party really got going on Saturday morning when best-selling author and longtime friend of VegNews John Robbins was presented with the Green America Award for his "lifetime of leadership" in the vegetarian, environmental, and social justice movements. After brief, poignant introductions by Robbins' son Ocean (founder of the nonprofit Yes!) and Eco-Chef Bryant Terry (more on him in a bit), Green America's Executive Director Alisa Gravitz presented Robbins with the stylish award made, of course, of entirely recycled materials.

John Robbins accepting the Green America Award

Robbins gave a stirring four-minute acceptance speech that ended with this thought: "The purpose of life is infinite gratitude to all things past, infinite service to all things present, and infinite responsibility to all things future." Click here to watch a video of Robbins' moving words.

A new touch added to this year's festival was Soul Kitchen, a day of cooking classes coordinated by Bryant Terry, author of the excellent 2009 cookbook Vegan Soul Kitchen. Back-to-back-to-back demos by Ani Phyo, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and Terry filled the afternoon with yummy treats and vegucation. The all-star chefs even found time to pose for this historic time-capsule photo:

Mangia-a-trois: Chefs Colleen Patrick Goudreau, Bryant Terry, and Ani Phyo

As the evening wound to a close, who else but San Francisco Mayor (and long-time aspiring vegetarian) Gavin Newsom stopped by the VN booth. The mayor and the magazine go way back; Newsom accepted the Veggie Award for "favorite veg city" on behalf of San Francisco at an awards banquet we threw in 2004 at Millennium Restaurant that just happened to be hosted by Green Goddess Julia Butterfly Hill.

VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria, VN Volunteer Extraordinaire Peter Ryan, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, and VN Publishers Colleen Holland and Joseph Connelly

Sunday was more of the same, and while the crowds were maybe a slight bit thinner this year, the weekend was a resounding success nonetheless. After packing up it was off to MaggieMudd and Café Gratitude (yes, we ate dessert first) with Noelle Callahan and Rebecca Frye of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, who were at the Green Fest to promote PCRM's Humane Charity Seal of Approval campaign, which allows donors to identify which charities provide service and care without using animals. Oh, and could that be the star of current hit movies Zombieland, 2012, The Messenger, and Defendor, Woody Harrelson, sitting at the end of the table? Oh yes it is. I shared a few words with Woody about a possible follow-up interview to VN's November 2005 interview and cover, and he flashed a smile and wink.

Saturday Sound-off

Who: VN Associate Editor Abigail Young, VN Publisher Joseph Connelly, VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, and VN Editorial Assistant Kailey Harless

What: PCRM’s School Lunch Sound-off

Where: a.Muse Gallery, San Francisco, Calif.

When: August 22, 2009

Why: I was told there’d be vegan tamales.

The Scoop: This was an extra-special Saturday, seeing as I’m generally of the sleep-until-noon variety. I happily put my weekend tradition on hold for an event not to be missed—the School Lunch Sound-Off, presented by the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine. I managed a pre-lunchtime wake-up call with (relative) ease, and made my way to a.Muse Gallery with the rest of the VN crew for what promised to be a fantastic start to my Saturday.

The event, spearheaded by everyone’s favorite Ms. Laura Beck, brought students, parents, and citizens together to discuss PCRM’s Healthy School Lunches campaign, aimed at bringing vegetarian and vegan options to public schools nationwide. To fuel attendees brains, an all-star vegan feast created by local SF talent awaited guests. I’m not ashamed to admit, I was one of the first to hit the serving table.

The front of the serving line—the happiest place on earth

You can’t blame my eagerness—this wasn’t ordinary “free food.” A triple culinary threat brought the party, formed by the Brassica Supperclub gourmands, the elusive SF Vegan Tamales crew, and the always tasty Sugar Beat Sweets. The results? We’re talking two kinds of vegan tamales, fresh fruit salad, savory white and black bean dips, heirloom-tomato bruschetta, and bite-sized cupcakes, including my personal favorite flavor combo, chocolate mint. Maybe I got seconds. You would’ve, too.

A full plate of vegan offerings, including the infamous tamales

The food served as a welcomed bonus, but not the main attraction. Millennium chef Stephanie Roston started off the afternoon’s lecture with a brief history of her experience with kids and healthy eating (conclusion: kids love healthy food!), followed by a talk on nutrition by Susan LaVelle, a family nurse practitioner. The facts and figures about childhood obesity and its resulting health risks, not to mention first-hand accounts of her professional practice, were unsettling. Considering 30.5 million school lunches are served everyday, the cafeteria seems like a great place to initiate healthy change.

The third speaker was former Taxi-star, nutritionista, and best-selling author Marilu Henner. During her passionate speech, Marilu shared her personal vegan history, reaching back more than 30 years, and her motivation as a mother and educated activist for supporting PCRM’s initiative. The word “firecracker” could be heard throughout the room as the perfect descriptive of Marilu. An inspiring force to be reckoned with, she’s spreading a message of health across the country.

The rest of the afternoon passed with mingling, including a run-in with our friend Michelle (who also works with PCRM) from Vegan Break, and other fun activities: planting take-home flower pots, writing letters in support of PCRM, coloring, and making awesome animal-shaped PB&J sandwiches. Okay, so maybe some of these activities were originally planned for the younger crowd. Still, they were enjoyed by all, as was the entire afternoon.