Vegans have been around for a long time, and I myself realized this childhood protest of mine grew into the backbone of my adult character. But just this past week alone, I began to wonder: am I witnessing something I never thought would ever happen in my lifetime? The dietary choice and the community that evolves around it is growing, for various reasons…and now, is it possible— here in the land of beef and potatoes, of McDonalds and dairy—is it really possible that there are mainstay vegan options in regular stores? Not the secluded militants-only section, not Whole Foods, not a pricey health-conscious store. Regular Jane and John Doe’s stores. Like Costco.
Yes Costco, the dream of hoarders, what makes America the land of the ample. One day a while back, they had Just Mayo in wholesale size jars and I grabbed one, like I had found a lost treasure. Angels sang and a light shone down. Mayo, when did I last have thou? Here I was about to face a foot-tall jar of it after barely eating it past my grade school bologna sandwiches. But support the cause I did! For $5 I put that small boulder of mayonnaise in my cart! And they were sampling it out! We’ll ignore that they were using it to give everyone tunafish salad. Baby steps…What is important here is that these were baby steps in the right direction.
Soon, Gardein was making its regular appearance. I always piled those large packs in my shopping cart whenever I saw them, making my purchases a “yes!” in support for their presence. I was getting used to seeing at least one of their items there at every visit and this was making me happy. Hoping that the Just Mayo debacle and splendid backfiring of the attempted suit against them wouldn’t do damage, I sighed a breath of relief that I could just go to Costco like every other bargain hunter shopper out there and not set aside a separate trip and bank account to visit Whole Foods.
Now, my freezer looks like that of a Gardein poster child. The crispy beef slices, the beef bits, the BBQ pockets, the chicken tenders, the nuggets, all in fairly large packages mind you. But a few days ago, I stopped in my tracks and my jaw dropped open. After waiting a year to see these on the market, after repeatedly checking other stores, there they were: the fish filets! I had heard of their release last March at the Natural Foods Expo here in Southern California. Any news bite that mentioned where they were I’d make an effort to find them, but to no avail. Until this weekend. Of all places, at Costco. This of course immediately made our dinner choice for the evening: fish filets with tartar sauce, made with the ample remains of my vat o’ Just Mayo. As a kid, my brother and I would get to go to McDonald’s when we were good and if it wasn’t a something-pounder, it was filet-o-fish that we would request. I remember vividly the squish of the white bun into the tartar sauce and the white flaky fish patty with it’s lovely fried crust, and although I was fine with never eating these again, Gardein’s fish patties are the closest thing to what I remember as a kid, and that makes me smile. Now, being old and actually somewhat health conscious, I just skip the processed bun for something better.
But that wasn’t all, for there is more to America than Costco of course. Another favorite stomping ground for me is Trader Joe’s. Yes, they have always been more aware of the environment and more for the conscious shopper, but they took away many of my old Tofutti favorites (to which I once voiced my concerns and ended up with a stack of Tofutti coupons to use elsewhere)! Trader Joe’s has been trying diligently to create their own lines of products and they keep their stores up with the trends. Being in Southern California there are more veggie-minded folks so I wasn’t entirely shocked with their release of non-dairy cheeses, but these weren’t the best. For example, why does the Soy Cheese contain casein and whey? More baby steps. The Vegan Shreds, well, I never finished the bag I bought thinking they were much too chalky. Blergk. BUT their new product that made my day was Trader Joe’s own vegan cream cheese! This tops the Tofutti and Follow Your Heart brands, and I promptly gobbled up a half dozen bagels in the following days just to make sure I finally found a good vegan cream cheese. The other two brands, by the way, are decent but the texture isn’t as nice and for some reason, oddly lemony for me.
And then it happened. Earlier today, I went with my boyfriend to his favorite donut place. I usually go and get a ceremonial vegan donut, and maybe share bites of the other ones like of the fruit filled towers (they’re large indulgent donuts and meant to be shared). As usual, the place was bustling and the shelves are filled to the brim with an incredible variety. But then, my jaw dropped yet again. There was an additional section of new vegan donuts, not relegated to the bottom corner of two dark shelves getting stale, but two entire vertical sections on display, for cake or raised, sprinkled or glazed, round or in bars, vegan delights! I got two and they were fantastic. Now, a vegan donut is no longer something a die-hard will need to trek to Viva La Vegan at the polar corners of Los Angeles to grab, nor is it something we have to wait until the weekend to have imported in from Las Vegas and pay three times the amount to gobble down. For me, I can just go to this homey corner donut store, popular with a solid fan base, any time of day for an unhealthy vegan fix. The beauty of it is, anyone else can too.
So what does all of this mean? I live in a region where I can be as “militant” as I want. Californians are known to be in their own world when it comes to health and trends but we’re not all elitist, kale-eating fitness junkies (don’t get me wrong, I’m all for that). But there are also normal folks who want to refrain from eating animals and want to do their part in not supporting cruel industries, and we happen to live here too. Whatever reason one may have for being vegetarian, vegan, vegan-ish, it doesn’t mean you can always afford frequent trips to the famous herbivorous restaurants in Hollywood, make quick stops through a few hours of traffic to get artisan cheese, or have celebrity chefs in your kitchen (beyond their cookbooks). I wish I had the Hollywood checkbook, but I don’t.
What makes my day is trying a recipe from Tal Ronnen’s cookbook (splurging on the occasional set of ingredients still doesn’t compare to dining out), eating the wholesale packs of his Gardein creations, slathering non-dairy mayo on something whenever I want, layering a large glob of non-dairy cream cheese on my bagel, or getting a donut one night with my other half. The simple things in life, accessible for everyone. This all recently happened and even if I’m in the California bubble, it has to start somewhere. The joy that I never thought I’d be around to experience, these instances happening during our daily routines, the pure and simple dream of it all, is that “normal” is starting to accept compassion as one of its ingredients.
Will I witness a change in the American standard? Will my outlandish concern for animals and the environment be considered as a viable norm? Most of my life up to now, I was the token hippy, crunchy, extremist, you name it. The prospect that I can just be a woman doing errands and grabbing a bite to eat afterward – that, believe it or not, gives me hope.
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