Welcome to the August edition of eLifelines. This summer, Toronto has been buzzing with non-stop activity in the vegetarian community. Signs that the veg community is growing and strengthening in the GTA include the upcoming Durham Vegetarian Festival, where you'll find a wide selection vegetarian food products and talks, and the continous announcement of new vegetarian eateries opening up.

TVA itself is busy planning for a number of events, including the 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair (now with a fantastic lineup of confirmed speakers and cooking demonstrators), Moon Over Mumbai (a Bollywood themed fundraising dinner and silent auction), plus sweet treats care of the Resource Centre. 

Of course, sweet treats need not equate to poor health, and this month Lisa Pitman brings us two healthy, delicious and green (literally) recipes that you can enjoy guilt-free.

If you choose to pass on doing the cooking yourself, check out our featured local vegetarian restaurant (and sponsor of the Vegetarian Food Fair), Green Earth Cuisine, in the Discount Profile column.

Don't Miss These Upcoming Events!

The first ever Durham Vegetarian Festival is just one week away, on August 9th! Moon Over Mumbai promises to be a night of tasty food, fun, and a great way to support TVA. Tickets are on sale now! 

Find out more in the TVA in Action section or on facebook.

Spots are still available for the Bollywood Makeover Event! Learn how to apply bollywood makeup with a self applied 2 hr workshop taught by a Hollywood Make Up Artist and take home a complimentary Arbonne product. FOR ONLY $ 29! All proceeds help benefit the Toronto Vegetarian Association.

To register, please call the TVA office at 416-544-9800. Payment is required at time of registration. We ONLY accept Visa and MasterCard.

Dates and times: Thursday, July 23 OR Monday, July 27 at 6:30 pm
Location:  250 Queen's Quay West Unit 702

On today's podcast, John and Colleen give Happy Cow the love it deserves, discussing the amazing resource it is for vegetarians generally and specifically how it's helped them out in various ways as they've travelled the globe. As John points out, Happy Cow is a great resource for getting to know your own city's veg options better too, and they discuss Hibiscus and the Calico Cafe, the latter of which is a new veg restaurant recently opened near Bloor St. West and Dufferin.

Keeping things internationally focused at the same time that they celebrate the local, John and Colleen also recommend you check out Moon Over Mumbai, which will be occur on August 22, 2009. Moon Over Mumbai will form a sort of pre-celebration for this year's annual vegetarian food fair (Sept.11-13); there will be dancing, delicious veg eats, and an auction - be sure to wear your Bollywood gear.  Call 416.544.9800 for your tickets.

Another cool veg event going on this year in the GTA is the first annual Durham Vegetarian Festival, to be held in Whitby on Sunday, August 9, from 11-4. Speakers there will include Nimisha Raja, Erika Sullivan, and David Alexander.

Because John and Colleen are generally obsessed with food, as you know, they also discuss John's summer basil extravaganzas and Colleen's recent resolution to try eating savoury breakfasts. Feel free to send your favourite basil and savoury vegan breakfast ideas and recipes to us at tvp@veg.ca

Finally, Colleen is feeling even sillier than usual and recites her 7 favourite rejected write-ups about the TVP for the 2010 Veg Directory (to be unveiled at the food fair in September).

The Resource Centre will be closed and there will be no podcast on Saturday, August 1.

This podcast is a terrifying rotating sammich 30 minutes long.

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Please join us in celebrating the 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair at our Moon over Mumbai Dinner and Silent Auction, a night inspired by the glamour and fashion of Bollywood!

Dine on vegetarian dishes from around the world, take in performances of the sounds and sights of South Asian culture, bid on fabulous prizes or enter our raffle, and then dance like you're in a Bollywood movie! Attire is fun, Bollywood-inspired formal wear.
 
Location: Jivamukti Yoga, 5 Shuter St
Date:  Saturday, August 22, 7:00PM   

Early Bird Ticket Price $15 available from July 15 until July 24
Regular Ticket Price $ 25
 
To secure your tickets, please call the office at 416-544-9800 with your credit card details ready.
 

This week, sun kissed Lisa joins John and Liam to recount her experiences at Summerfest in the southern state of Pennsylvania. If Liam didn't eat such a huge meal from Vegetarian Haven he might have gone back for some "decadent" which combines vegan cake, ice cream and soy milk in glass. John joined Colleen in his praise of the ice cream at Hibiscus in Kensington Market where unlike the gluttons at the spicy dosa eating contest, he had only one serving. Lisa is looking for a location to host this year's Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake Off - suggestions for a location are appreciated (please email them here). Additionally, John offers some running tips to Mindy and all of the others who are part of Team Vegetarian or others who are training for this year's races at the Scotiabank Marathon. Lastly, Liam gets his hate on for the fast food giants.

You got what I need.

This week's podcast is a marathon approaching 38 minutes.

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July 2009 - Good Eats Take Over The Summer

Welcome to the July edition of eLifelines. This month, we're getting ready for a Spicy Dosa Eating Contest, a vegetarian feast at the Festival of India, and an array of vegetarian food products and cooking demonstrations at the Durham Vegetarian Festival and the Vegetarian Food Fair. Plus, the Resource Centre is once again serving up free samples on multiple occasions. And in the meantime, as we daydream about the tasty morsels to be had, we're watching Nimisha Raja cook up a storm with her YouTube cooking demo for Red Lentil Soup. If you can't wait until later this month for some delicious vegetarian food, check out our featured local vegetarian restaurant King's Cafe in the new Discount Profile column.

Breaking News!

The Toronto Vegetarian Association has been nominated by VegNews Magazine for favourite website, veg event and non-profit organization. VOTE TODAY.

Don't Miss These Upcoming Events!

TVA has partnered with the Festival of India, happening July 18th and 19th on Centre Island. Leading up to the festival will be a Spicy Dosa Eating Contest on July 13th at Dundas Square. And the first ever Durham Vegetarian Festival is happening on August 9th in Whitby!

Find out more in the TVA in Action section or on facebook.

A new article published in Canada's Globe and Mail article delves into the research on the health benefits of vegetarian eating.

The article, Vegetarian Diet Protects Against Some Cancers, dietitian Leslie Beck (who appears Wednesdays on CTV's Canada AM) looks at the broad research that has been done on the protective benefits of vegetarian diets.

The most recent study compared the risks of 20 different types of cancer among 61,556 meat eaters and vegetarians living in Britain who were followed for more than 12 years.

The researchers found that vegetarians were 12 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with cancer than the meat eaters – even after accounting for other risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake and obesity.

When the researchers compared the risk for specific cancers, the vegetarian diet offered significant protection for some. Compared to meat eaters, vegetarians' risk of stomach cancer was reduced by 64 per cent, bladder cancer by 53 per cent, multiple myeloma (cancer of the bone marrow) by 75 per cent and non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 43 per cent.

For those who are interested in learning more about healthy vegetarian eating, check out the Toronto Vegetarian Association's Healthy Eating Workshop page to learn about our upcoming beginner's workshops which will be a big part of our 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair.

Today Liam and John have a lot to discuss.  The two start off with a discussion about a recent ad posted on the TTC by a pro-vegetarian group.  Both of the podcasters are impressed with the message being sent.

There is also talk about the upcoming Calgary Stampede and the Humane Society of Canada's attempts to stop CBC from broadcasting the ongoings at this annual event.

Other events coming up:  spicy dosa eating contest on July 13th at Dundas Square, Free Food Events at the TVA Resource Centre (July 25th is Cool Summer Drinks and August 22nd is Raw Desserts), and the Festival of India on July 18th and 19th.

Other topics mentioned in today's show: sexy vegetarians over fifty, a huge success at Guelph's vegan bake sale, and everybody wants to know what Jason's having for dinner.

This podcast is a creative juices are dry 36 minutes.

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One Love Vegetarian

One Love Vegetarian (854 Bathurst, n. of Bloor, 416-535-5683) is a new vegan Caribbean restaurant in the Annex. They serve One Love Caribbean Corn Soup, roti, plantain, salad, vegan desserts, daily specials and fresh juice.

When I was there the specials were Curried Lima Bean Stew and carrot apple ginger juice. I had the whole wheat roti and it was amazing. Ask for hot sauce or slices of hot pepper if you like it spicy. Over half of the ingredients are organic. Still to come is their front signage. Owners, Ikeila and Ras have five vegetarian children. Their oldest daughter works with them. Their youngest is ten. - Steve

Steven Davy at NOW writes: "For the past 10 summers, anyone who’s ever had a single mouth-singing spoonful of Ras Iville and Ikeila Wright’s righteous island-style One Love corn soup at Harbourfront’s World Café food court has almost instantly said, 'You should open a restaurant!'" And now they finally have.

They also do catering and are at Harbourfront Centre during the summer months. Their hours are Tue-Fri 11am-9pm, Sat 11am-6pm, Closed Sun, Mon.

New patios

Urban Herbivore (64 Oxford St, at Augusta, www.herbivore.to, 416-927-1231) has added an informal patio to the north side with wood tables and chairs. They are a popular vegan cafe with creative sandwiches, green salads, fresh squeezed juices and baked goodies. Counter seating. Green roof.

Rawlicious (3092 Dundas St W, w. of Keele, www.rawlicious.ca, 416-519-7150) has added a backyard patio and changed their hours. They are a living foods (raw) cafe, featuring delicious smoothies, salads, wraps, pastas, breakfasts and desserts. Beautiful airy ambiance. Alternative health practices.

See our patio page for many more places.

Open and closed

Govinda’s Dining Room (243 Avenue Rd, n. of Davenport, 416-922-5415) has opened again. They serve Indian buffet at the Hare Krishna Centre for a $8-$10 donation.

Komala's Restaurants (5651 Steeles Ave E Unit 1, at Middlefield) has closed as of 6/20/2009. They were a guick-serve Indian vegetarian eatery.

Food Fair volunteer positions have been posted!

Do you want to take an active role in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Annual Vegetarian Food Fair? Volunteer positions are available in a number of capacities, from assisting chefs in cooking demonstrations, to distributing programs, to checking in other volunteers in the Volunteer Trailer. A full list of position descriptions, as well as the online application form, are now posted here. 

John and Colleen are in a time warp this week and are joined by podcast originals Jason and AngelA for a fun filled half hour of banter.

The four of them were very happy with the community feeling that today's vegan bake sale created.  There were lots of great treats sold (lemon bars, caramel pecan bars, truffles, raw cheese cake, spiced truffles, and much more).  Thanks to everyone who came out in spite of the rain.  Extra special thanks to everyone who donated baked goods to assist with this wonderful event.  Pictures of the bake sale will be posted here.

The podcast team is very excited about the upcoming spicy dosa eating contest taking place at Dundas Square on July 13th at 5:30 p.m. - please contact Udupi Palace for more information. 

Other topics from this episode: a variety of coffee experiences, more news on Vitamin D, Ethiopian food, the Joy of Vegan Baking, "healthy" vs. "healthy looking".

This podcast is a ripe avocado 34 minutes.

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Lisa and John have the chance to interview Ani Phyo. Ani's raw food books are wonderful for anyone who is interested in experimenting with living foods.

Ani's raw food dessert book has just been released.

This podcast is a three ingredient recipe 24 minutes.

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