vegetarian

New veg*an sites

Maia Leave a comment

Lately, I have joined two new veg*an sites with chat rooms, that I really like. Also, I’m waiting impatiently for the launch of another. This is a short ‘review’ of those sites.

First of all, Happy Cow. The site offers a list of veg*an and veg*an-friendly restaurants and shops all over the world. I have known about this site for years, but only joined recently. Members can post reviews of these restaurants and shops. They also get a profile page. They also have a blog, message boards, private messaging and a very nice chat room.

Veganchatroom.uk is a similar site, with chat room, directory, message board etc. Most, but not all, members are from the UK. You don’t need to sign up anywhere to join, but there are advantages to signing up. For instance, you can use the same ID all the time, so people recognize you. Also, you can get a short profile so people can check out who you are and what you stand for.

It’s been ages since I last had a veg*an chat room to hang out in, so it’s great. Most of the time, there’s at least one other person around to chat with. I can’t say that I’ve made any close friends, but at the moment, it’s just nice to hang out with like-minded people.

Bleat, finally, looks very promising, even though, of course, I haven’t used it yet, since it hasn’t been launched yet.

This is what it says on the site:

So, what’s all this talk about Bleat?

For vegans everywhere, something big is about to happen…
Say hello to Bleat.

If you’re a vegan trying to find vegan friendly restaurants, looking for the latest recipes or just interested in meeting other vegans, all you have to do is Bleat. If you’re a vegan concerned for the rights of animals, have questions about a raw-only diet or simply perplexed about pulses just Bleat. Even if you’re a non-vegan and you’re simply contemplating the idea of a vegan lifestyle – BLEAT!

What’s so great about Bleat?

There’s a lot to discover at Bleat, such as:

A vast comprehensive vegan resource
Interact with vegans from all across the globe
Advice on vegan friendly brands
Recipes, restaurant guides & reviews
Information on the welfare of animals

How do we sum Bleat up? Well, Bleat isn’t just a vegan social network and it’s certainly far from just a vegan directory. Simply put, it’s a whole new way to get the absolute most from your vegan lifestyle.

Go on, Bleat about it.

It seems like a great addition to my old favorites, Livejournal (and Dreamwidth), Tumblr and last but not least Care2.

Numbers of veg*ans in Sweden on the rise

Maia Leave a comment

The interest in vegan and vegetarian food is on the rise in Sweden. It’s most widely spread among young people and women. Today there are more than 150 000 vegans in Sweden. The number of vegetarians is about twice that amount. According to one survey made by Demoskop, four out of ten Swedes view animal welfare as a strong argument in favour of choosing vegetarian food.

The survey hints that the vegetarian options here in Sweden are considered to be few and expensive. Many would consider vegetarian food if they were to find that such food is healthy and good for the environment, according to Alexandra Leijonhufvud, the chairperson of Djurens Rätt, a Swedish animal rights society.

Important days

Maia Leave a comment

October doesn’t just bring World Vegetarian Day (October 1) but also the World Animal Day (October 4). In fact, that works out really well. If you eat less meat (preferably none at all) fewer animals will die. On the World Animal Day, at least here in Sweden, it’s the day for making cinnamon buns. That too, fits in very well. You see, it’s perfectly possible to make buns without using any kind of animal products.

Instead of the customary cow’s milk, which is the result of exploitation of cows, and which can cause stomach problems, arthritic pain and harm your ability to digest calcium. You might think that it sounds like a contradiction. Calcium in milk should be great for your bones. No? Consider this: why is there so much calcium in milk? Maybe because there has to be, because of the problem with metabolizing calcium. You can get osteoporosis (brittle bones) from drinking milk.

There are many different kinds of replacements for cow’s milk, like soy milk (won’t work if you’re allergic to soy), oat milk (might be a problem if you suffer from gluten intolerance, though if you do, you probably can’t eat cinnamon buns at all) or rice milk. I’ve heard of other cool replacements but where I live they aren’t available commercially. However, I have tried almond cream/milk, which is yummy and sesamy seed milk, which wasn’t very tasty, I’m afraid, but sesamy seeds are good for all kinds of other things. In some countries hemp milk is also available.