Bean and Gone
The Pacific Northwest is going through it...
My grandfather was from Newfoundland. I was very young when he passed, but there’s a saying of his my father has kept going all these years later. Whenever he got weary with the world he’d say, “I’m gonna go out to the bush and eat fish & taters.”
It’s only been the last few years that I’ve truly appreciated that sentiment. The intense friction, the life or death decisions, the constant stream of “once in a lifetime” news. Somedays wandering into the woods seems like the most logical step. And it has the added benefit of being the only affordable housing in Vancouver.
For me personally I would love to move to Bowen Island or Salt Spring. I hadn’t visited either until last year, and both have utterly bewitched me. These days when I dream of winning the lottery it’s so I can buy a piece of land in the gulf islands, start up a garden, and spend my days making videos about vegan food.
Living in the Pacific Northwest is such a privilege. It really is a beautiful place with so many natural resources. But we are not immune to climate change. This past week we were reminded of that when smoke from a fire in Hope choked the skies. In my experience many people become vegan for the environment, but even those who have other priorities can’t deny the inextricable link between the two. So in addition to vegan food & news in BC, from time to time I’ll also include any environmental things that might be of interest.
That being said…
Patagonia Gives Company to the Earth
Yesterday the founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, gave away the company he founded in 1973. The son of a French-Canadian he started the brand after getting rugby shirts in Scotland and reselling them in the US. Since 1986 they’ve given 1% of sales or 10% of profits (whichever is greater) to environmental activism. In 2018 they changed the company’s focus to “Saving our home planet”.
But they realised it wasn’t enough. They needed more money but didn’t want to sacrifice the company values. Not wanting to go public or sell, they decided on a different path… give it away. All the voting stock has transferred to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, the nonvoting stock was given to Holdfast Collective. Every year all the money the company makes will be distributed to fight the climate crisis.
If you’re one of the people who has never worn the unofficial uniform of the Pacific Northwest, now’s a great time to add this brand to your list!
Bad News Butchers
If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know that I was a huge fan of the Very Good Butchers. I even did a whole YouTube video about them. But things have been less than great recently. For me it started when they introduced more “impossible” style meats, and less of the real veggie taste they were built on. The subscription boxes kept changing up, and while it was nice at first to pick and choose what I wanted, something felt… different.
Well, we’re learning that things have been less than rosy. Vancouver is Awesome did a great piece this week and were able to get a quote from the company as they’ve pulled out of the previously announced location on West 5th. In May of this year CTV did a story on them permanently closing their flagship Victoria location, and closing 3 production facilities in Victoria, Vancouver, and California. That came shortly after founder Mitchell Scott was fired in April, and co-founder James Davison resigned from his role and the board.
Food Business News reported last week that a potential sale of Very Good Butchers & Very Good Cheese could be happening as they’re reviewing their corporate strategy. Their second quarter earnings report had a loss of $1.3M in revenue, down 46% from last year. There are plans to expand retail presence, and limit e-commerce.
In other bad news… two other plant based restaurants have closed in Vancouver, Copper Branch and Bad Apple Vegan. The latter I’m particularly sad about because I hadn’t made it over to try out what looked like a truly awesome menu with a very cool pub vibe.
Butchering Bullshit
This week instead of any specific restaurant or recipe I’ve got two podcast recommendations: Vegan Abattoir & Maintenance Phase.
Vegan Abattoir had a 19 episode run in 2020, but if you’ve never heard of it before it’s definitely worth checking out. Filmmaker Kevin Smith had a massive heart attack that doctors call a “widowmaker” in February 2018. His daughter Harley, convinced him to go vegan for his health and it’s dramatically changed his life. Harley is an animal rights activist, and pairs her knowledge with really insightful interviews over the series. All the while you also get to hear from the perspective of Kevin what it’s like to suddenly become a vegan at 48.
My other recommendation isn’t vegan specific, but it is about food - Maintenance Phase. It comes out every 2 weeks and I cannot wait for each episode. For many people who live in bigger bodies, or that have had issues with food, it can be triggering when people lump veganism together with weight loss. For myself I live with PCOS, which makes it virtually impossible to lose weight and keep it off. The journey to appreciating my body has been difficult, but the assumptions made by others that I should just “eat vegetables” have always been the most laughable. I’m a vegan. I literally could not eat any more vegetables if I tried.
Many people recommended Maintenance Phase to me before I actually started to listen to it. And when I did I went back to the beginning and listened to every single episode. The hosts Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes debunk junk science behind wellness and diet culture. They approach it with a sense of humour, but also armed with years of experience in research methodology. Hearing them dive deep into where the BMI comes from (and why it is garbage) is a healing balm to anyone who has ever struggled with trying to conform to body expectations.
That’s all for this week! I can’t believe we’re already coming up on fall… let me know if there’s anything you’re looking forward too!