John and Liam were happy to have some very interesting visitors come into the office today. There was a visitor who recently decided to go vegan due to a workshop he was at featuring Nimisha Raja. There was also a visitor who wanted to get more information about Brendan Brazier as he was at Brendan's talk recently. It's great to know that the TVA workshops which are being put on are really helping people.

Another couple who visited are podcast listeners (Hi Shôn and Roman!) and the discussion was all over the place. Liam got some interesting information about the Dufferin Grove farmer's market, growing your own mushrooms, and permaculture. John got more information about travelling in South America and where to eat when in a foreign country.

This week there are two questions of the week: 1) Do you have a favourite vegan cheese? 2) Would you eat eggs from a chicken that you knew was ethically treated?

Although it wasn't mentioned on the podcast, you should really consider coming into the Resource Centre on Wednesday night (May 6th) for the workshop on how to make marvelous meals for mother's day.

This week's podcast is a frozen pizza pizzazz 25 minutes.

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Don't miss these upcoming Healthy Eating workshops

Tuesday April 28
Healthy Eating for Diabetes with Nimisha Raja
7pm @ The Big Carrot (348 Danforth Ave)

Thursday April 30
Plant-Based Sport Nutrition for Optimal Performance with Brendan Brazier
7:30pm @ IronKore (3076 Dundas St W)

Tuesday, May 26
Healthy Eating for Diabetes: Introducing the Glycemic Index with Dr David Jenkins
6:30pm Palmerston Theatre (560 Palmerston Ave)

To join us, please register with us by calling 416-544-9800 or emailing Barbi Lazarus.

Today John, Colleen, and Liam surprisingly had the energy to podcast after eating a whole lot of food from Hot Yam. Hot Yam catered an event for Utcare and the trio were some of the beneficiaries.

The three also discuss a really helpful resource to help anyone in Toronto to live a more environmentally friendly life.

Liam's question of the week: what are your thoughts on vegetarians dating non-vegetarians? It seems as though the three co-hosts differ in opinion on this topic. John points out that K-os, who John believes to be vegetarian, is smitten with Natalie Portman, who John also believes to be vegetarian. John feels that this proves that "vegetarian love" extends into the celebrity world as well - Colleen suggests that lots of guys love Natalie Portman just because she's beautiful.

If you're looking for ethical jewellery/wedding rings this episode will be of assistance .

In case you don't know yet you can find out more about the resource centre crews and podcast co-hosts on their blog.

TVA will also be taking part in the Worldwide Vegan Bakesale on June 28th at Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market. There will be baked goods exchanged for a "suggested donation" available on that day.

Also, check out How to Make Marvelous Meals for Mom, and the Healthy Eating Workshops on April 28th, April 30th and May 26th.

This Podcast is a lime in the coconut 35 minutes.

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Jazlynne, Erika and Amy at our table on Friday, April 24, 2009.

Toronto's Green Living Show was the weekend of April 24-26. Colourful Eating for the Earth factsheets explaining the connection between meat and the environment were handed out, and around 100 people signed up to take the Veggie Challenge.

Our large table banner titled A Planet at "Steak"! prominently told show visitors that:

Livestock production accounts for 30% of the entire land surface of the planet and 18% of climate change.

– Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN

Slow Food Toronto was there with some delicious local vegetarian food options. I got the beet salad with diced apples and fresh sprouts, plus homemade chips with a bean and heritage carrot dish pictured below for $4. There were several other options that included goat cheese and or dairy products. – Steve

This week, Angelina and John dip into food lit, revamped restaurants, and ethical quandaries - all in the name of plant-based eating.

Atop Angelina's recent reading lists are Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, ruminations on how we perceive of what we eat, and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in which she reflects on her family's year of producing all their own food. Topics brought up in these food politics books also tie in with a variety of TVA-sponsored health talks and how-to events coming up in the near future.

Kensington Market is on everyone's mind at the RC today. Angelina has recently rediscovered Hibiscus, a cozy, mostly vegan eatery on Augusta that serves delicious buckwheat crepes and exotic homemade non-dairy ice creams. Ask for the experimental rice cheese! John has noticed that King's Cafe is hopping in the first weeks after its recent renovations. As well, he interjects ethics into the podcast discussion with two tales of dietary profiling.

For more information about T.O.F.U.magazine's tour click here.

Also, don't forget about next Saturday's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over Your Stomach at the Resource Centre.

Today's question of the week: if you could get a food based tattoo what would you get?

This podcast is a musky 27 minutes.

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Don't Miss These Upcoming Events! Healthy Eating for Diabetes (April 28) and two talks by Brendan Brazier (April 29 and 30). Find out more in the TVA in Action section or on facebook. Save Money at Over 80 Vegetarian-Friendly Businesses! Purchase our discount card today.    Tweet if you love TVA! Come follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/torontoveg We’re on Facebook Join the Toronto Vegetarian Association Facebook Group to receive invitations to events and more!

April 2009

Welcome to the April edition of eLifelines. This is a busy month for TVA, as we participate in numerous spring events and host three of our own! Read on for all the details.

This Month...

TVA in Action - Upcoming events, bringing Harold Brown to Toronto, activities of TVA social groups and Directory updates.

In the News - BOCA announces removal of eggs from vegetarian products, Hot Docs Schedule. 

Nutrient of the Month - C is for Colourful: A Rainbow of Sources of Vitamin C.

Recipe - Kale Salad.

Compassionate Eating During Holiday Season - Veggie ideas for Easter and Passover, Chocolate Matzo Recipe.

eLifelines Readers Corner - Quiz: What kind of vegetarian are you?

 Contact Us

Vegetarian restaurants

King’s Cafe (192 Augusta Ave, s. of Baldwin, 416-591-1340) has finally re-opened after a major renovation. The beautiful interior incorporates stone and dark wood. The space is now one large dining room with a boutique off to the side selling a wide selection of exotic teas and some frozen mock meats. Everything including the menu is more upscale and fancy. Gone are the messy brochures and newspapers. The new menu includes dim sum, soups, sushi, mock meat dishes and combination specials. Many dishes are the same, but the serving presentation is more fancy. New is a whole page of different teas. They served me a delicious pot of Lychee Black Tea. I ordered the $13 combo special of tofu seaweed strips with steamed bok choy, purple rice (brown, wild and red rice), organic salad, tofu nuggets (ask for the vegan nuggets if you avoid dairy), a spring roll and soup of the day. Other dishes include: Sweet 'n' Sour Lappa (battered burdock balls), Curry with Mushrooms, Enoki Mushroom Balls, and Schezuan Style Spicy Tofu. There is also a kid's combo for $9.50. Vegetarian cardholders still receive a 10% discount. –Steve

Update (April 22): Bangali Sweet House has openned a second location in Etobicoke at 2651 Islington Ave (second plaza north of Albion Rd, 416-746-9393). Tom reports that the menu is "typical of the Bangali and Punjabi styles at neighbouring restaurants, Indian Gate (formerly Gagan Sweets), Brar Sweets and, directly across the street at Rajdhani. I had a vegan thali with plain salad, rice, eggplant with cashew nuts, cauliflower, chickpeas, spinach (happily absent of cheese!), and plain roti. It was all delicious with pleasant spicing (including a whole cardamom pod in one of the items), and quite filling." They offer sit-down and takeout service with a full Bangail vegetarian menu. Their other location is in North York.

Hot Yam! (33 St George St, n. of College) had their last regular vegan, local, organic lunch for the school year at the International Student Centre on April 8. They will be back in September, and maybe during the summer.

Indian Spice Kitchen Restaurant (748 Markham Rd, n. of Lawrence, 416-850-7781) is a new North Indian pure vegetarian (no meat or eggs) restaurant with lunch and dinner buffets, thali, a la carte, samosas and Indian sweets. Tracy writes, "I highly recommend them. The ambiance, food and owners are wonderful. You can either order from the menu per curry or have the buffet like we did ($7.99 lunch or $8.99 dinner). On the buffet, there were at least 10 curries, rice, soup, chat papparis, fresh garlic or regular naan (frankly the lightest and tastiest I have ever eaten) and two desserts – you can also order a separate dessert from their small bakery section. I am always on the look out for the best chai tea and frankly I believe I have found it!..."

Update (April 24): Pulp Kitchen Juicebar & Eatery (898 Queen St E, at Logan, 416-461-4612) has now closed, but are "in the process of finding new digs." Search for them on Facebook if you want to stay informed.

Komala's Restaurant at 5651 Steeles Ave E (at Middlefield) is closed. April 23: There was a breach of lease notice taped to the door.

Pure Vegetarian at 668 Dundas closed a few weeks ago.

Kosher restaurants

Thanks to Hagit, we now have a whole page of vegetarian-friendly kosher restaurants posted. Along Bathurst Ave (north of Eglinton) and in Thornhill, there are a number of kosher (dairy) restaurants. One is vegetarian and the rest are close to being vegetarian, but they serve some fish. Many include vegan options.

Vegetarian-friendly restaurants

Antoine, Eliana and Steve were invited by Alecia (who is vegan herself) to sample Rancho's new vegan offerings.

	Rancho's deep fried vegan ice cream is a first in the city and maybe even North America.

Rancho Relaxo (300 College St, w. of Spadina, 416-920-0366 ) is a Mexican dinner restaurant with a new vegan-friendly menu that includes such dishes as Tofu Borrache, a delicious combination of tofu, tequila and cactus, stuffed chili rellano peppers with spinach and tofu, Burrito con Guacamole, quesadillas, fajitas and enchiladas available with vegetarian (no meat stock) rice and refried beans! Save room for dessert, their deep-fried soy ice cream – battered, deep fried and topped with cinnamon and raspberry syrup – is a first in the city. Vegan cheese and sour cream available as an option. And discount cardholders receive a 10% discount!

Adam Wilson writes April 14: "I can confirm: vegan heaven! ...our wonderful waitress says that something like 50% of their customers are vegetarian. Oh, and by "wonderful" I mean probably the best waitress that I've ever had. From the moment we arrived until the moment we left, she was not only warm and friendly, but expressed real passion about both Rancho Relaxo and its vegan options. She was sooo excited about their TVA discount. Her name is Ileana."

Mocha Mocha Cafe (489 Danforth Ave, e. of Chester, 416-778-7896) is a semi-counter service, multi-ethnic cafe restaurant. Maydianne writes: "It's one of our favourite places for lunch/brunch. It has many delicious vegetarian options (my favourite is their brown rice salad)."

Vegetarian cooking classes

Vegetarian & Raw Classes by Hearty Catering (www.HeartyCatering.com, 416-410-2928) now offers raw meal preparation, vegetarian cooking workshops and food demos. See their website for details about classes scheduled to take place over the next several months.

Shri's Indian Vegetarian Cooking Lessons (East end of Mississauga, at Dixie Rd and Rathburn Rd, 416-824-6023) offers $200 Indian cooking courses that run for 5 Saturdays or Sundays. Each 3 hour class includes a meal. "Learn how to cook healthy North and South Indian vegetarian foods like Naan Bread, Paneer, Chappati, Roti, Channa, Dosa, Poori, Upma... The classes are very hands-on and small in size (max of 5 people) so that you will get individual attention during the class."

Raw foods

Make It Raw Catering and Meal Delivery (www.makeitraw.com, 416-629-2529) provides raw/vegan/fusion high energy gourmet cuisine, specializing in raw vegan lasagna, pizza's, burgers, flax crackers, cakes and more; available for local pick up (around Bathurst north of Steeles) and full service catering for any occasion. They also do weekly or monthly meal delivery in the GTA, and sell from the Organic Village Market every Saturday morning at 9100 Bathurst St, in Thornhill.

Toronto Sprouts (formerly at 720 Bathurst St, 416-535-3111) is moving to Etobicoke by the end of April.

Discount updates

Organics on Bloor (468 Bloor St W, e. of Bathurst, 416-538-1333) has reinstated their discount to cardholders of 10% ($20 min).

Panacea (588 Bloor St W, w. of Bathurst, 647-350-3269) is Toronto's only all-vegan grocery and eco store. They are offering 5% off to cardholders.

Rancho Relaxo mentioned above is offering 10% off to cardholders. 

Today John and Colleen are on full recovery mode from yesterday's chickpea indulgence. A small group got together to have a "hummus-off"; there were nine hummus entrants competing for the elusive title of "Hummus Champion Of The World". The names of the hummuses ("hummi"?) were as diverse as the flavours. The winner was the "Healthy Hatha Hummus"; the runners up were "Conquistador" and "¡Garbanzo Caliente!".

There are lots of fun events in the near future which you will be invited to as well. On Saturday, April 25th John and Colleen will be making their favourite recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World which will be free to sample in the Resource Centre. There are also rumblings of some active events too, including ultimate frisbee, soccer, and softball.

Colleen's heart is all aflutter due to the following cookbooks: Vegan Brunch, Vegan Soul Kitchen, Ani's Raw Dessert, The 30 Minute Vegan, Skinny Bastard and The Vegan Table .

John's mouth is running amuck with regards to the state of vegetarianism in Wisconsin.

This podcast is a hummus of a thousand suns 23 minutes.

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Liam and John are on a world tour and are taking a hiatus to podcast. John recently got back from Panama City and New York City - obviously, there is a report as to the food consumed in these two cities. Likewise Liam was recently in Chicago and he reports that Chicago Diner and Trader Joe's are vegan meccas.

The two also discuss tonight's TVA festivities as it relates to Earth Hour. There were also two separate emails from Australia - one is fan mail and the other deals with the Blood Type Diet.

Liam's question of the week: How do you get ten servings of fruits and vegetables a day?

This podcast is a jet-setting 29 minutes.

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It's a Wednesday night and Lisa and Colleen have finally had success in recording the podcast they planned for the previous Saturday. They discuss food, as always, including Organics on Bloor's great produce boxes, the great vegan truffles you can get in Kensington Market, So Delicious coconut ice cream, and the sexy Engine 2 Diet.

Lisa and Colleen also discuss Toronto Sprouts' recent market event and their upcoming move to Etobicoke, Colleen's 3rd copy of The Garden of Vegan, and Lisa's recipe testing for Terry Hope Romero's new cookbook, tentatively titled Vegan Latina.


This podcast is a Ripped and on fire 32 minutes long.

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A healthy eating workshop presented by the Toronto Vegetarian Association

When: Monday, March 23 @ 7 pm
Speaker: Nimisha Raja
Where: The Big Carrot Natural Food Market
348 Danforth Ave. Carrot Common 2nd Floor # 212. Entrance at BookCity

Join Nimisha Raja of Evolving Appetites to learn how you can be a smart shopper and choose foods that are good for you. We'll cover the "New Four Food Groups" and follow up with a cooking demo, so you can put what you've learned into practice.

Registration: This event is open to everyone. To register, please phone the TVA office at 416-544-9800, or send an email to Barbi Lazarus, Administrative Assistant: blazarus (at) veg.ca.  This is a 'pay-what-you-can' event - donations will support the Toronto Vegetarian Association to host more healthy eating workshops like this one.

For details about upcoming events like this one, please visit veg.ca/healthyeating.

By Antoine

	Ken behind the cash at the first all-vegan store in Toronto.

Panacea is a new grocery store that has recently opened in Toronto. It is conveniently located just west of Bloor and Bathurst across from Honest Ed’s at 588 Bloor Street West. It is near Bathurst subway station (in fact the Markham exit is right beside the store). See listing and map on our Annex page.

Panacea is vegan owned and operated.

As an enlightened consumer I can choose to buy sustainable, compassionate and socially responsible products and I can also choose to buy these products in a store that embodies these ethics. If I buy in a large chain store, I may be driving up the demand for sustainable products, but giving my money to a big chain. If I buy from a health food store, these stores also sell lots of meat and other unsustainable products.

Panacea on the other hand, sells only vegan products in-line with social justice, like direct fair-trade (not just fairly traded but directly to the farm), Freeset bags (bags made sustainably in India to give a living wage to women who used to be in the sex trade), plush toys to raise money to protect ourang-outangs, and so much more.

Panacea is not a corporation it is a guy, Ken Bontius, and with his profits he will turn around and buy more of these vegan, social justice and sustainable products. In comparison, other stores may spend their profits on more meat, corporate goods, or even a condo or a yacht for the owner.

Panacea is the real deal. The entire cycle from farming to the final sale is sustainable and goes back to a small local business that in turn helps the local economy. In addition to an extensive line of vegan groceries, Panacea has a number of products from local veg artists and craftspeople, from jewellery, to bags, to books and paintings and chocolate truffles as well as donating food to the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank.

Continue reading for the other two reasons I shop here: convenience and buying power.