VegWorcester.com

VegWorcester needs a poster. And you need a new t-shirt. Let’s help each other out.

Design a poster promoting VegWorcester.com and if you submit the sweetest design, you’ll get a free “Give Peas a Chance” Baseball Tee. Not to mention you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that your creative work will be hung up at college campuses and businesses all around Worcester.

So here are the rules:

All submissions must….

• …include “VegWorcester.com” somewhere in the design.
• …be gray scale (eg no colors besides black, white and all the gray in between).
• …be letter sized or smaller.
• …be emailed to contest@vegworcester.com by 11:59pm on April 30, 2008.
• PDF is preferred, but other formats will be accepted.
• By submitting your poster, you’re saying it’s cool for us to publish it and use it to promote VegWorcester. Duh.

So do it up! Email your entry to: contest@vegworcester.com.

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The Telegram & Gazette is reporting that the Super 88 that was planned for downtown Worcester is “no-go” on Go/No-Go test.

That’s too bad! The Super 88s in Boston are neat Asian markets with tons of mock meats and weird veg things. You can even get vegetarian duck in a can:

But lucky for you, there are already some quality Asian markets in Worcester. If weird mock-meats are your idea of a good time, check out Mekong Market at 747 Main Street in Worcester (map), where you can pick up a bag of frozen veg. shrimp complete with nice little soy-based eyes that look up at you.

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Sometimes it’s hard to think of things that would make Worcester better, but I’ve got something: a vegan diner.

I love diners. They are one of the few things that are uniquely American. Diners have everything you could ask for in a restaurant: a huge menu with breakfast all day long, food so greasy it makes your napkin go clear, unlimited soda, and waitresses that call you “hun”.

What better place for a vegan diner than Worcester? Worcester is, afterall, the home of diner. It’s my home too. And I’m vegan. Add those together and you have my dream of a vegan diner in Worcester. It’s really no more than a pipe-dream, but if a Scrooge McDuck out there decided pop up and invest a fat stack of money in this pipe-dream, I’d throw myself completely behind it.

But finding a rich investor doesn’t seem very likely. So I made this campaign on ThePoint. The idea is that anyone can pledge to give money on the condition that other people pledge to give money. So you can promise to give $20 only if the fund-raising campaign is successful in raising $20,000. If it never reaches 20 kilo-dollars, then you don’t have to part with your Andrew Jackson. Sounds like a neat idea.

I guess we’ll see where this goes. Looks like someone already pledged $50. If we keep going at this rate, we’ll have the twenty-grand startup capital in just 98 years! Sweet!

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New research from researchers at the University of Illinois and the Instituto de Fermentaciones Industriales (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain suggests that allergen-free soy products could be nearer than previously thought, simply by fermenting the beans with a number of microorganisms.

Now, I think it’s silly that some people believe eating soy is such an important part of a healthy vegan diet. Soy is just one kind of bean. There are thousands of different varieties of grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. There’s an infinite combination of those ingredients. If you’re allergic to soy you can definitely still be vegan. But it’s still good news that scientists are discovering that we can have allergen-free soy.

Actually for the seriously soy-allergic in Worcester who want to get some mock meat dishes, check out Red Lantern at 235 Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, phone number: 508-795-0500. They have an extensive vegetarian section on their menu that includes homemade red-bean veg chicken, made with not a single soy bean. Their General Tso’s Veg Chicken is fantastic! They even deliver.

[study via VegCast]

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Alright, this is super exciting. Here is the Spring 2008 Guide to Vegetarian Dining in Worcester (pdf). It’s a one-page guide to some of the best veg-friendly restaurants in the Worcester area.

By no means does this list cover every single place to get quality veg food in Worcester. In fact, you can get good veg food at nearly every restaurant in Worcester (even Burger King has a veggie burger). This mini-guide lists local places that are either all-vegetarian or who have a very good vegetarian selection. Leave a comment if you think I left out a really good one.

So print it out. And hang this baby on your fridge!

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This Sunday is April’s vegan meet-up and eat-up. It’ll be at the Moe’s Southwest Grill near Webster Square, where Main Street and Park Ave intersect.

From Steve on meetup.com:

Hi again, this next Meetup will be at Moe’s right near Webster Square (end of Main Street and Park Ave). They have lots of tasty vegan options at a good price and the frozen margaritas are good too.

CARPOOLING IS AVAILABLE!!!!!!!!!

For help with directions or if you have questions, call Stephen at (508) 410-3172. Thanks!

When?

Sunday, Apr 6, 2008, 1:00 PM

Where?

Moe’s Southwest Grill
3 Stafford Street
Worcester, MA 01603
508-459-6060

• Info/Map

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If you get a chance, pick up a copy of the current issue of Worcester’s InCity times. They published Mike’s challenge to Worcester’s entire vegetarian community in this week’s edition.

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I’m a big fan of WPI professor John Sanbonmatsu. I’ve taken a couple of classes with him and learned a lot about politics and philosophy. When I was a freshman at WPI he gave me a copy of Animal Liberation and the The Sexual Politics of Meat.

Every year John introduces dozens of WPI freshmen to the philosophical arguments for animal rights and vegetarianism. Students love him and he’s encouraged dozens to go vegetarian. He advises the campus social justice club and he helped found and advise WPI’s animal rights and vegetarian group.

Enough cheer-leading! He was interviewed on AnimalVoices this past summer about his forthcoming book. It’s a compilation of essays from various academics and activists. It sounds well worth the read! It’s not out yet, but I’m pysched to read it.

In the interview, John talks about critical theory and the role theory should play in the animal rights movement. Check it out!

[audio:http://www.vegworcester.com/upload/20070515_john_sanbonmatsu.mp3]

Download the audio of the interview here.

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Check out this upbeat article in the Baltimore Sun about vegan women.

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