The Great Vegan Experiment

By AMY STAPLES

 

Good grocery!

Ian Hanson at Laughing Planet Café has been vegetarian for 13 years.
It isn’t difficult for Laughing Planet to come up with good vegan recipes, Hanson said, because they buy whole products and make everything at the restaurant. “We can control what goes in the food.”
Hanson said the owner’s main objective was to create hearty, healthy food, something everyone can enjoy. “Vegans have a hard time. Everything except the chicken and cheese is vegan.” The most challenging was the cookies. “People think cookies, they think butter and milk, but our cookies are vegan.” About vegan stereotypes, Hanson said, “A lot of vegans are huge animal rights activists and naturally want to spread the word.”
At the end of the first week I could only say that man did not fight and claw and gnaw his way to the top of the food chain just to cut out dairy and meat to replace it with fake cheese and tofu.
An interesting phenomenon I encountered many times: non-meat and non-dairy food that claims to taste like real meat or real dairy. If someone is giving up meat products or all foods made from animal by-products, why would they want to eat something that tastes like meat?
As a busy student I do not have much time to spend scouring Gresham and Portland to find recipes and ingredients; indeed, before I started the Great Vegan Experiment I hadn’t spent much time preparing meals that weren’t for a special diet. I was ecstatic to rediscover the vegan grocery Food Fight! on Division Street near one of my favorite restaurants in Portland, Kalga Kafe.
Kalga Kafe on Division, a vegan and vegetarian restaurant, has great food. Beware ordering spicy, however. I had tears in my eyes. I loved every minute of it, but it is not for the faint of stomach. My tummy happens to be lined with steel, so I can pretty much eat whatever I want. Except moldy yogurt. But let’s not go there.
The vegan grocery store Food Fight! describes itself on its website as “vegan convenience store, minus the booze and the cigarettes.
Brian Wilson, owner of Scapegoat Tattoo in Portland, has been vegan for almost seven years, and the products he uses in his shop are vegan, including the ink.
Tattoo pigment is created by organic elements that are in powder form, then mixed with water and witch hazel or alcohol. Glycerine is added to act as a carrying medium that gives the ink a different quality and helps it flow better. Typically, the glycerine tattoo shops use is animal derived. Wilson ensures the glycerine he uses is vegetable derived or from another source that is non-animal.
“I haven’t seen any difference in the ink. It’s about ethics. There’s nothing better or worse about the ink except not contributing to the death or testing on animals.”
Wilson has not had problems with getting enough nutrients with his diet. “I feel better, actually. And it helped me become more aware of what I eat.” He said eating vegan ensures he is eating more whole foods and less processed foods.
The tattoo ink Wilson uses is not the only animal-friendly product in his shop. “Soap, razors, ointments, all the stuff we use is vegan,” though Wilson said it is hard to find medical products in America that have not been tested on animals.
In the end, I have made a permanent switch to soy milk, although I still put half and half in my coffee. I’m getting used to the idea of being vegetarian, but I know I can’t cut the dairy out for good. Although I do still have a leather coat, it is the last one I will own.
I met many interesting people who were happy to share their lifestyles with me and when done right, vegan food is pretty amazing.