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Soy Happy News
Winter 2003
Remember
that you have power as a consumer. Simply by taking a few minutes
to voice your preferences, you have the ability to effect sweeping,
healthy and positive changes. If you want vegetarian and organic
items among the concession fare of your favorite public venues,
take a few minutes to offer these venues your suggestions. (Show
off your knowledge and tell them about Sysco's new "MoonRose"
label...see news item below). Sometimes, your feedback alone is
all it takes to effect the change you desire. And appreciation
is always key to keeping items on the menu, so please don't forget
to thank venues if they've already heeded those requests. Show
appreciation for their consideration and their time. Express yourself
with a smile. :)
A handy reference guide with
contact information for all Major League Baseball parks and other
public venues is available on this site (click on the link to
the left). If you're
a baseball fan, take a minute to contact your baseball park. January
to March is when they review their menus and make decisions for
the upcoming season. This is the time to contact them with your
thanks and your requests.
The more people who take the
time to offer their suggestions at public venues, the faster the
changes will come. Feedback with a smile takes little effort...and
can make a world of difference. Start the year feeling happy and
empowered. You'll be amazed at how much power you have. Follow
up on your suggestions and we bet you'll find they're being heeded.
And don't stop there. Keep it up. When you find yourself in public
venues (ie. airports, zoos, hospitals, company cafeterias, sporting
facilities, etc.) that don't offer the healthy vegetarian options
you'd prefer....let them know.
Each one of us helps to create
that wave of change. Isn't that wonderful? Jump in and celebrate!
Click on a heading to go directly to the story,
or scroll as you go.
On January 24th & 25th, SYSCO will roll out a new nationwide
vegetarian division called "MoonRose".
SYSCO is the largest marketer and distributor of foodservice
products in North America. Operating from distribution facilities,
the company provides products and services to restaurants
and other foodservice operations across the contiguous United
States and portions of Alaska and Canada.This means that
public venues from sporting venues and convention centers
all the way to hospital cafeterias will now have easy access
to vegetarian fare. Concession managers have contracts with
this distributor and rely heavily, if not entirely, on the
foods that Sysco offers. This is very big news with the
potential to alter the world of foodservice by making vegetarian
alternatives readily accessable to almost any interested
vendor.
Soy Happy will send an alert to subscribers
when the roll out is official.
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Every day, Soy Happy receives feedback and questions from interested
consumers. When we contact vendors, we tell them that interested
consumers are predominantly not vegetarians. We know
this from statistics, but we also know this first hand. We've
selected one E mail as our example, with permission.
Soy Happy, I really appreciate your quick reply. I am trying
to cut down on calories in general in my diet. About 4 years
ago, I started walking everyday, and over the course of
the last 4 years I had lost 70 pounds. I went from 220,
to 155. And yes, it was because I knew I needed to do this
for health reasons. Anyway, I am not a vegetarian. I live
in Philadelphia, Tennessee, a small, small town in eastern
Tennessee. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find the brand
of veggie dogs that you suggested, but I will look around,
and I will mail you back if I can't find what I'm looking
for. Again, thanks for your quick reply. Tammi
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Note: Barbara Gates, the Director of Project Healthy Beginnings,
and sponsor of this resolution, will be speaking at San Jose's
Veg Fair on February 1st at 4:15 pm. You can talk to her there.
See item below.
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Brenda
is opening the door to veggie dogs for ALL the hot dog carts
in the city of San Francisco. How did she do it? Here is her
story.
As a vegetarian and animal lover I was interested in getting
Hot Dog vendors to carry veggie dogs to generally cut down
on the cruelty to animals and health problems to humans
(in no particular order of importance). So, I went to the
carts and started asking who owns them so I could try to
talk them into giving it a try. I was willing to purchase
a small # of veggie dogs for them to do a trial run, but
it was suggested to me that I should ask the veggie hot
dog companies to donate some veggie dogs. So I went on-line
and found their phone numbers. I also came accross Soy Happy's
web site and contacted them for information and assistance.
I began calling around and finally got some free veggie
dogs for this free trial I was proposing to vendors. In
the meantime none of the people working at the carts owned
them and when I tried to contact the owners by mail I got
no response. I needed to talk to them face to face. Then
I found one vendor who owned and worked his own cart. Fortunately,
I was correct in my belief that if I could offer an owner
a free trial (in a very nice way, with a big smile and lots
of flattery and understanding) that they would try it. So,
when he agreed to the trial, I got In Defense of Animals
and sfbaveg's list serve to publish my request that vegetarians
patronize this vendor to prove to him that veggie products
will sell. The veggie products did sell very well, especially
the first week and he became convinced that he should continue
carrying them. Now other vendors are interested and will
hopefully start carrying them soon also.
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Ron Kasdan and his cart at Market
& Montgomery in San Francisco
Read our
January 17 press release about veggie dogs in San Francisco
Brenda proves how one
person can make the difference. If you would like to see veggie
dogs carried in your city's hot dog carts, let her be your
example! You can also contact
Brenda if you have additional questions or comments.
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Dec 02/Jan 03 SATYA Magazine features
an article about Soy Happy's founder/director.
Read it on line: Vegetarian
Advocate: How One Vegetarian Makes a Difference By Jack Rosenberger.
Satya Magazine is a monthly publication focusing on
vegetarianism, environmentalism, animal advocacy, and social
justice.
NOTE.
Soy Happy is creating alliances
with organizations dedicated to the sustainability
of our planet, so that we can work together in creating
a healthier and happier planet.
For example, when a venue contacts us for assistance
with vegetarian alternative additions to their menu,
we also put them in touch with a greening consultant
at the Circle
of Life Foundation who offers suggestions and
assistance to make the venue or event environmentally
friendly. :)
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Check
out the west coast's largest veg event at the bay area's
VegFair
on February 1st! The event offers free parking and admission
and features noted speakers, cooking demonstrations, food
samples and exhibitions. Key note speakers will be John
McDougall, MD and Howard Lyman with many more also on the
agenda, including Project Healthy Beginning's Barbara Gates
(heading the CA School Lunch effort).
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From F&B gŸdtfood in New York.
My partner, Till Horkenbach, and I opened our restaurant
in June 2000. Till is German and I am English; we have
lived, worked and traveled all over Europe and saw that
there was an opportunity to create a European themed
restaurant concept that offered delicious, high quality,
fast food in a chic, stylish environment. Our inspiration
is the great street foods of Europe. We recognized that
most fast food restaurants either did not cater to a
vegetarian audience or if they did, that the fare was
uninspiring. As Europeans, we were committed to a "greener"
restaurant and creating a menu with creative, veggie
options. In addition to Belgian style fries, French
Donuts and English Fish and Chips, F&B gŸdtfood serves
European Hot Dogs.
For our vegetarian guests, we researched the best producers
of soy Hot Dogs and settled on one manufacturer that
met our criteria of taste and texture. Unfortunately,
I am not at liberty to disclose this company! We offer
a rotating repertoire of about thirty soy dogs. These
include our Great Dane Hot Dog: Jumbo Smoked Tofu Hot
Dog with Remoulade, Apple Ketchup, Danish Mustard, Pickled
Cucumbers and Roasted Crisp Onions or Our Healthy Dog:
Jumbo Smoked Tofu Hot Dog with Pesto Hummus, Grated
Carrot and Black Olives. Our decision to be veggie friendly
has been very beneficial. 50% of our business is veggie.
51% of our guests are female. Most patrons range between
21 and 40 years old. The socio economic demographics
are very widespread; from construction workers to Park
Avenue stroller mums. The feedback is positive. Our
veggie guests appreciate that they can enjoy a delicious,
quick, value oriented, healthy meal and not feel that
they are receiving a secondary menu item.
In New York, F&B gŸdtfood has become well known and
recognized for its veggie menu. In fact, after 9/11,
Time Out New York magazine cited our veggie hot dogs
as one of the essential reasons to remain in New York.
We have been featured on the cover of New York Magazine
three times. F&B gŸdtfood can been viewed on Virgin
Atlantic Airways on every transatlantic flight as a
great New York destination. We have been featured in
USA Today, Crains Business News, The NY Times, The NY
Post, The NY Daily News, Japanese TV (4 occasions),
International publications and many other journals.
Our immediate goal is to open more stores in the New
York area. Our long-term objective is to operate units
nationally but we have not made any decisions about
opening franchise or owner operated units.
Nicholas Type
Cofounder F&B gŸdtfood
[SH Note: Their
veggie dogs are organic, vegan and certified Kosher.]
LINK
TO F&B WEB SITE / VEGETARIAN MENU INFORMATION HERE
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A
list of some venues that recently added vegetarian alternatives.
Soy Happy assisted some of these venues. .
LE DOG, hot dogs with a French twist. This hot dog
vendor operates in several locations in San Jose, Monterey
and Santa Clara. He has added veggie dogs to the menu. (Soy
Happy helped to make this possible. The dogs are vegan,
certified kosher and non GMO) Some background on this successful
business:
" He [the owner/operator] has gone on to operate
up to ten locations in the Monterey Bay Area. In addition,
he was selected as an exclusive vendor in venues as prestigious
as Pebble Beach Company and Quail Lodge Resort. He also
served hundred of thousands of European Snacks at events
as notorious as the AT&T Golf Pro Am, the Monterey Jazz
Festival, the Pebble Beach Concours dÕElegance, the US
Open 2000 and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City."
Soy Happy note: Le Dog is currently in negotiations with
the concession manager at the San Jose Sharks ice hockey
arena!
For more information,
E mail Michel Chalon owner/operator of "Le Dog". Or
contact him at 831-901 2800.
THE DOG OUT in Oceanside, CA just opened and is
carrying veggie dogs. (Vegan, kosher, non GMO) Specific
location information of this vendor has not been provided.
Call information or check local listings.
TOP
DOG on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley carries veggie
dogs.(Vegan, kosher, non GMO)
QUALITY
STREET CARTS caters special events in and around San
Diego and the Southern California region. They have added
veggie dogs to their repertoire and report that veggie dogs
are doing very well. Soy Happy facilitated their inclusion.
The dogs are vegan, kosher and non GMO. In addition to catering
services, this company provides very extensive reference
information for interested vendors. They sell carts and
provide information on everything one needs to know in order
to get started.
THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO at BOULDER. The Cheyenne
Arapaho Dining Hall is an entirely vegetarian dining
hall! A blurb from the campus web site:
" Located at the southwest end of central campus,
Cheyenne Arapaho provides accommodations for about 425
residents of all academic majors -the majority of whom
are freshmen. The hall provides a number of special facilities,
programs, and amenities, such as a computing lab, three
music practice rooms, a comfortable study lounge, television
and game rooms, and a dining facility. Cheyenne Arapaho
dining specializes in serving vegan and vegetarian menus."
"All students in residence halls can purchase meal
plans that allow them to eat in any of the six dining
centers on campus. "
KING COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY in Seattle, WA
will be using sliced veggie deli meats.(Vegan and non GMO.
Soy Happy has not confirmed whether they are also kosher.)
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