My Vegan Town

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to eat, play and stay

Exploring a new town is one of the best things about a holiday, whether here at home or mooching around far-flung destinations. Sampling local cuisine is major part of this experience but as a vegan, it can be tricky, not to say disappointing.

Many plant-based people travelling abroad struggle to communicate their dietary choices when a different language is in play, often having to rely on shaky translations and dated internet reviews. To be fair, it’ s often not that easy in English-speaking countries either. Some restaurants engage in tokenism – a little afterthought stuck on the bottom of the menu. I’ m sure we ’ ve all been to at least one restaurant that claims to offer vegan food and then you discover what it is – chips and a side salad. Wow, would never have thought of that!

Sitting down to dinner should be the perfect end to a day not hunting around for somewhere that doesn ’t think vegan food is as complicated as quantum physics. We ’ ve all experienced it and that is why we ’ re launching our new free app: My Vegan Town.

My Vegan Town allows you to browse plant-based and vegetarian eateries near to wherever you happen to be, with recommendations from like-minded people who have dined there themselves. When using the app, you ’ll have access to all the top restaurants at your fingertips with the ability to contact them for reservations and see directions all in one simple tap. It couldn ’t be simpler.

Not only is this app ideal for travel but it will also help you discover new favourites in your hometown. Branch out and try new places, new tastes and new surroundings safe in the knowledge that wherever you choose will have delicious vegan options.

And it doesn ’t just stop with culinary delights. My Vegan Town also acts as a directory for vegan shops, accommodation, services, sanctuaries and events – so you ’ll always be in the know on where to go. From manicures to make-up, hotels to hair salons, live like a local and explore the very best vegan businesses with My Vegan Town.

Poland

Ukraine –Still Helping

The crazy demands early in the invasion have died down somewhat but we are still caring for some 70 animals from Ukraine and have managed to rehome a similar number, carrying out careful home checks for each one – an extraordinary achievement. Although there has been a reduction in the number of refugees arriving at Warsaw ’ s now famous Western Station, Viva! Poland is still helping 20-30 refugees and their animals every day. Close cooperation with the group ID Ukraine continues and we are delivering around 20 tonnes of pet food to them every month as the situation is still dire for Ukraine ’ s animals.

Tethered Dairy Cows

Viva! Poland has picked up our White Lies campaign but it has an added obscenity. Not only do many dairy cows spend their lives in indoor ‘ zero grazing ’ systems but as an added welfare insult, they are chained on short tethers.

No studies are needed (although there are plenty) to tell you that these herd animals cannot interact or socialise with their own kind and can fulfil none of their natural instincts. They lack physical exercise and have to lie in their own excreta. The result is acute mental trauma and incomprehensibly, this torture is subsidised by the EU.

Viva! has demanded a ban on these systems which, predictably, has been met by the dairy industry with the usual disinformation – images and claims of happy, contented cows.

As well as a petition, there is a determination to thrust the issue in front of the public through local media, street events and a wideranging billboard campaign in the coming year. Right now, the Viva! Poland team are carrying out investigations into several tethered dairy farms. There will be further developments!

EnD liVE TRAnSPORTS

On June 14, Viva! Action for Animals took part in the fifth global day of action to stop the cruelty of live animal transport. They raised awareness on the streets in Łódź, Bełchatów, Poznań and Wrocław.

Neo and Majo are two chicks who were rescued by undercover activists during Poland’ s Stopcage and Go Veg campaigns. These are the lucky ones who will not end up in the slaughterhous but will live their lives at the Hen ’ s Feet Sanctuary for rescued hens, turkeys and ducks

VEGGiE WEEk – nO 16

This year ’ s Veggie Week was a hybrid combination of online and live events. Among the guests were Dr Joel Fuhrman, originator of the Personal Diet Plan, and Karolina Pilarczyk, a spectacular Polish drift driver (look it up!). There was a premiere screening of Michał Siewierski’ s Takeout, a film about the burning of the Amazon rainforest for meat and dairy. Biedronka, one of Poland’ s biggest supermarkets, joined in with their own branded products – Go Vege. It resulted in the publishing of an ebook in Polish and Ukrainian and special discounts in their stores.

nATiOnAl AniMAl RiGHTS DAy – ŁóDź ACTiOn

Viva! UK weren ’t the only ones to mark NARD – an annual global day of action – as Viva! Poland joined in, too. June 5 saw actions in 105 cities on six continents where activists went out onto the streets for animal rights. Each one held a poster of a different species to depict the massive scale of animal exploitation by humans. Łódź activists were proud to support the initiative in their city for the first time.

ARCHiTECTS

METAL BAND WITH A MESSAGE

Faye Lewis, Viva!’ s Head of Communications, talks to Architects ’ frontman, Sam Carter, about his vegan journey, being a Sea Shepherd ambassador and his love of animals

Architects is one of Brighton’s hottest exports and frontman Sam Carter has just uttered the words that vegans love to hear: “I just feckin’ love animals!

“I have always sung about things that matter but the audience has grown, ” he explains. “Once I would tell 100 people what is important and now it’s more like 10,000. ”

For anyone who hasn’t heard of Architects, they were rising fast when barely out of their teens and Sam joined them in 2006. In 2015, the band made a collective decision to go vegan. “Within hardcore rock and metal there is a very compassionate community and animal rights and liberation are the definition of compassion and empathy, ” Sam explains.

Architects released three successful albums and were touring worldwide when in 2016, guitarist and songwriter Tom Searle tragically died of skin cancer. It was a huge blow to the band but eventually Josh Middleton was announced as their new guitarist. They continued to prosper, arena tours came fast and they ticked off iconic venues such as Alexandra Palace and the Royal Albert Hall. By February 2021, they had their first number one album, For Those That Wish To Exist, recorded at Abbey Road Studio and featuring the Parallax Orchestra.

“Nobody has a number one album who makes our kind of music and writes about the things we do, ” says Sam with a wry smile. “It’s like Leicester winning the Premier League! Not being able to promote the album due to Covid made it so much tougher. ”

When I catch up with Sam via Zoom, almost in one breath he commends Viva!’s Takeaway the Meat TV ad, talks about his work as a UK ambassador for marine conservation organisation, Sea Shepherd, and tells me he is a partner of Wunder Dog Rescue – a charity based near his hometown of Hove.

“It has always been important for me and Architects to draw attention to selfless people and animal charities everywhere. These people aren’t raising money to live lavish lives; they ’re raising it to do good. When you have a platform like ours, for me it would be insane to sit there and say to my fans ‘tell me how cool I am, ’” he laughs. “It’s is not about me, I am not amazing!

“I wanted to do something with Sea Shepherd but the sea absolutely terrifies me, ” he laughs. “When we played in Australia, Sea Shepherd turned up to sell merch and I spoke to them, bought a shirt and wore it relentlessly. I invited them to all our UK shows after which they got in touch to say ‘ you talk about us every night and wear the shirt so would you like to become an ambassador?’ I was flattered! Later, I visited the boats in Australia and Paul Watson came to our gig in Paris. They are heroes of mine! Governments aren’t doing anything, so we have to do it. It’s crazy. ”

Twelve years after going vegan, “long and filled with Linda McCartney sausages, ” Sam came into contact with the charity Wunder Dog Rescue. It started with the pandemic lockdown. “I’m not very good at sitting by myself and nothing was filling that hole, ” Sam says. It was then he met Kasey Carlin, who runs Wunder Dog, and became aware of Maggie and Millie the dogs. “When Kasey asked me to come along and meet them, oh my God, it was like meeting The Beatles, ” he laughs.

“Maggie is an amazing dog and I fell in love with her and her story kills me every time I think about it. She was used for target practice and shot 14 times, ” he says in disbelief. “She is blind, has one ear but is now a PAT dog (Pets as Therapy) who goes to schools, hospices,

and old people’s homes to comfort humans who are sad and have anxiety. Despite what humans have done to her, she is still one of the kindest, loveliest dogs in the world and I walk with her twice a week – you wouldn’t know she’s blind! *

“It’s a lot of work for a one-woman operation and she is doing fundraisers for dog wheelchairs, which are not cheap. I messaged her and asked how much was left to raise and instantly transferred the money. Every time I saw her rescue another dog, I messaged her to offer my support. ”

Both Sam and Kasey are passionate vegans and struck up a friendship – it was then Sam realised the true cost of looking after the dogs. Kasey was in the red despite having a day job and Sam stepped in.

“The band and I made the decision to design a hoodie to raise funds and the amount raised was incredible. We also donate separately as a band. It makes a huge difference and every time I see Kasey, we both start crying, ” he admits.

To begin with, Kasey had no idea who the band was. “She just thought I was

a crazy dog guy,

” Sam laughs. I don’t know about crazy but he’s certainly a dog guy. In April 2022, he released his first children’s book, Sophia Fox Dog Gets Adopted, co-written with his fiancé, Abby Kirk. The idea stemmed from Abby ’s working in a school where many children had been in foster care or adopted. These kids’ stories were not represented in children’s books, and so they wrote a book to show the class that their stories were important too, using their own rescue dog, Sophia, as the lead character.

“Sophia is from Romania and she is my best friend – I never felt anything like that in my life, ” Sam admits. “She was six months old, wandering the streets but now she lives in Hove and whatever she wants she has, ” he laughs. His second dog, Lucky, was also rescued from Romania.

“I was playing a show out there and gave a really impassioned speech pleading for the dogs of Romania. When I got back to the tour bus, someone said there’s a dog in the car park so I looked and saw Lucky. She twiddled her head, looked at me, and I thought ‘oh shit’ . She was in a state and a battle began to save her. ”

Sam couldn’t take the dog with him and phone calls back and forth to Romanian Rescue Appeal in the UK in the middle of the night culminated in a call from a local woman called Maria. She turned up 15 minutes later and collected Lucky. She later texted to say that Lucky was very ill. Sam relives the moment.

“I said I’ll pay for whatever she needs. No question, I love her, she is my dog. It worked and days later she was dropped off in Hove. ” Sam laughs: “Both my dogs are spoiled and have better lives than me!”

“The best part about being vegan is that you know you are not responsible for the horrible things that happen to animals, ” says Sam. “I’m not vegan for health –I just love animals!”

* You can read Maggie ’ s story in Maggie the Wunderdog – the little street dog who learned to love again. It is written by Kasey Carlin. abebooks.co.uk Sam Carter, centre (top left) and bottom left, is driven by his passion for animals

Instant Thai Soup

l ½ large mug of boiling water l ¾ medium carrot, peeled l ¼ red pepper l ½ apple l 1 cm ginger l 1 cm red chilli (deseeded) l Couple of sprigs coriander or ¼ flat teaspoon of dried coriander l Splash plant milk l 1 tsp bouillon powder (eg Marigold, vegan) l Cashews for decoration

1 Place all ingredients in a blender, pouring on boiling water last, and blend until smooth. 2 Decorate and serve immediately.

A tingling taste of Thai

You don ’t have to get caught up in the airport mayhem this summer – just recreate our heavenly Thai dishes and find yourself transported to the pristine beaches of Ko Samui and the sublime mountains of Chiang Mai. You ’ll find all of the magic ingredients including tamarind, creamy coconut milk, lemongrass, kaffir lime, aromatic spices and fluffy jasmine rice. If you ’ re short of time, try our instant Thai soup or one pot Pad Thai for some speedy deliciousness. Our friends at The Omni Collective have an extra special Thai inspired farinata for us so there ’ s plenty to choose from!

WORDS AND PICTURES (EXCEPT OMNI) BY VIVA!’S FOOD AND COOKERY MANAGER MARYANNE HALL

One Pot Pad Thai

l Oil for frying (ideally sesame) l 1 packet stir-fry vegetables l 1 packet ‘straight to wok’ ribbon noodles (approx. 150g) l 2 handfuls marinated tofu pieces (eg Cauldron) l 1 handful peanuts, roughly chopped l 1-2 tbsp peanut butter l 3 tbsp soya sauce l 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce l Juice of ½ lime l Optional extras: fresh chilli, fresh coriander,

Thai crackers (Sainsbury ’ s do a vegan version), vegetable spring rolls (most are vegan but check the packet)

1 Heat a little oil in a wok or large frying pan and add stir-fry veg. 2 Fry for a few minutes before adding all the other ingredients. 3 Stir frequently for a few minutes to ensure that the noodles are cooked and the peanut butter has softened and is evenly distributed. 4 Serve immediately.

Thai Aubergine Curry

l 3 large aubergines, each cut into 6 slices (lengthways) l Sesame oil for frying (or rapeseed) l 5 shallots or 1 large onion, finely diced l 2 cloves garlic, crushed l 1 stick lemongrass (bashed) l 1 tsp tamarind paste l 4 tbsp soya sauce l 2 tins coconut milk l 2 tbsp syrup (eg maple, agave) or 1 tbsp brown sugar l 1 tsp stock powder (eg Marigold, vegan) l Juice of 2 limes

Spices l 2 tsp ground cumin l 2 tsp ground coriander l ¼ tsp ground nutmeg l ½ tsp cinnamon l ½ tsp chilli powder l Pinch ground cloves l Pinch fennel seeds

1 Fry aubergine slices on each side until golden with a little oil and salt OR pre-heat oven to 180°C (fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4, lightly coat slices in oil, a sprinkle of salt and roast until golden turning once (around 15 minutes a side) then set aside (we charred ours on a griddle pan first – a few minutes on each side) 2 Lightly fry shallots/onion with fennel seeds in the sesame oil until soft and golden. 3 Add crushed garlic and fry for a further minute. 4 Add all spices, stir and fry for another minute. 5 Add coconut milk, tamarind paste, lemongrass, soya sauce, stock powder, syrup/sugar, bring to the boil and simmer 20-30 minutes to reduce. 6 Adjust flavour adding more soya sauce, syrup or lime juice as desired. 7 Remove lemongrass and serve with rice and optional extras Jasmine rice, Thai crackers (Sainsbury ’ s do a fish-free version), fresh coriander, Thai Basil, lime, unsweetened vegan yoghurt, sweet chilli sauce, toasted cashews.

Here is a truly delicious recipe from our friends at The Omni Collective! They now have a super restaurant in Peckham where they focus on micro-seasonal sharing plates. They are also available for outside catering! theomnicollective.com

Thai Farinata (Serves 4)

Pancakes l 200 g gram flour (chickpea flour) l 450 ml water l 1 tbsp baking powder l 2 spring onions (finely chopped) l 2 tbsp kroeung kaffir lime paste (can use vegan Thai green curry paste) l A healthy pinch of salt l Rapeseed oil Green bean salad l Generous glug of rapeseed oil l 1 red onion, diced l 2 cloves of garlic, crushed l 1 red chilli, deseeded l A thumb of ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated l 1 handful of green beans l 1 handful of mangetout l 1 carrot, ribboned l 1 bag of rocket (or other salad leaves for decoration) l A small handful of sultanas l 3 plum tomatoes, cut into quarters l Lemon juice l 2 avocados, smashed l 1 tsp kroeung kaffir lime leaf paste (or Thai green curry paste) l A handful of fresh coriander l 1 lime, squeezed and zested 1 Combine gram flour, water and baking powder and whisk until smooth – leave to rest for 20 minutes. It will thicken as it rests. 2 Finely chop spring onions, set aside and start the salad. 3 Fry the red onion, garlic, chilli and ginger on medium-low heat until softened and onions are translucent. 4Bring a medium-sized saucepan of water to the boil and prepare a large bowl of iced water for the green beans and mangetout once they ’ ve been blanched, to cool them and prevent overcooking. 5 Once the water is at a rolling boil, add a generous pinch of salt, green beans and mangetout. Blanch for a minute to a minute and a half, remove them and place in the cold water. 6 In a separate bowl, combine onion mixture with carrot ribbons, rocket, tomatoes and sultanas. Once cooled, drain beans and add to the rest of the mixture. Season to taste, adding a squeeze of lemon juice and mix so salad is evenly coated. Feel free to add more rapeseed oil or olive oil to finish. 7 Heat a medium sized frying pan and add some rapeseed oil. Whilst heating, stir in spring onions and kaffir lime paste and stir well. 8 Once oil is hot, add a ladle of the mixture and cook until browning on one side (about two minutes). Flip and cook for a further two minutes before transferring the pancake onto a plate. Repeat until all the mixture is finished. 9 Serve on individual plates, top with the salad mixture then mix coriander, lime juice and avocado together with a pinch of salt and place on top. Sprinkle with lime zest and you ’ re done.