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Many vegetarians and vegans saw or heard about the Be Veg campaign on the Toronto subway last year. It started as a small venture in 2009, and grew in part with support from the Toronto Vegetarian Association.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, here’s a small video for your viewing pleasure.

The NCVA is pleased to announce that this year; the campaign is coming to Ottawa. OC Transpo buses will be equipped with the ads as early as this coming June.

The campaign is being led by two dedicated volunteers who approached the NCVA seeking support.  OC Transpo has approved the ads; the Be Veg team in Toronto have provided their poster files, and the NCVA is the official campaign sponsor.

To support the campaign and help make it a reality, please ‘like’ the campaign’s Facebook page and share it with your friends. Also, if you would like to donate to the campaign you can go to the ChipIn account or visit the campaign organizers in person at Veg Fest.

As if Veg Fest wasn’t awesome enough!

Together we can help provide a voice for farm animals and promote a more compassionate lifestyle in the Ottawa community. Hope to see you all at Veg Fest.

Guest blog submission by Jennifer Roussel

 

I’m a friend of the NCVA and a fellow animal lover.

A puppy mill seizure took place this week north of Ottawa in the province of Quebec.  As a result, more than 20 dogs are at that city’s pound and need to be placed into foster homes or they will likely be euthanized this Saturday.  Debra, from Arbed Rescue is coordinating the placing of the dogs into foster care here in Ontario.  The dogs are currently at the pound and the goal is to get them out before Saturday.

The breeds available for fostering include four small Poodles, two Pomeranians, two Boston Terriers, two Shi-Poos, a Daschund, Pugs, some Lab mixes, a Schnauzer and more.  All dogs are adults.

If you can make room in your home to save a dog’s life, please contact Debra at arbedrescue@hotmail.com and download the fostering form from the Arbed Rescue website at www.arbedrescue.com.

Keep in mind that this is a temporary arrangement.  The dogs will receive shots, they will be spayed or neutered and Arbed Rescue will find them good homes – they find dogs quality homes in a timely manner.  But first, these poor souls must urgently be rescued from the pound.

Last week, we introduced our speaker line up for Veg Fest 2012. Now, we are going to introduce this year’s personalities through a series of Q&A interviews.

The NCVA’s Dee Campbell-Giura interviews Jo-Anne McArthur, an Ottawa-born and raised photographer who will be coming to Veg Fest from Toronto. Jo-Anne was named one of CBC’s Champions of Change in 2010, among other accolades.

Read on…

Dee: HuffPost Women named you one of 10 Amazing Women Trying to Save the Planet. CBC named you a Champion of Change for your work on the We Animals project. Farm Sanctuary named you a Farm Animal Friend of the Year. And you’re only 35! (right?) To those who think they just don’t have it in them, what advice can you offer?

Jo-Anne: Yep, 35! 🙂  Well, about achieving some success and recognition with the We Animals project, I think I’m just uber focused on the many issues of our abuse of non-human animals. There’s a lot to do and many amazing animal organizations to work with, so, why waver? And we all need to know that every single decision we make counts. Everything we do makes a difference. Where there is compassion, there is hope! 

 

Dee: You photograph brutality, and document investigations, animal releases, and our relationships with animals. After seeing all that, how do maintain such positivity?

Jo-Anne: We’re living in exciting times. “Vegan” is now a word that people know and understand. Changes are happening. People are making more compassionate decisions about animals. I see a lot of positive feedback from the work I do. If my work was sitting on a hard drive and no one wanted it, I’d be depressed. However, it’s the opposite; I get requests for photos almost daily, from groups who want to use images from We Animals to help get their message out. The work I do is useful and that keeps me moving forward. I won’t deny it’s very painful to see so much horrendous and unnecessary animal abuse though; I feel pretty dark sometimes. 

Dee: We Animals is in its 14th year. Do you have any plans you can share with us? We promise to tweet it. We have 357 followers.

Jo-Anne: I hesitate to say it’s in its 14th year. I thought of the project in 1998 but it only started becoming what it is a few years ago (seven or eight years ago?). There are endless plans for We Animals. There’s no end to the organizations to work with, investigations to do, ideas and stories to share. Quite often I can’t share the plans until the investigation is executed but I can say that I’ll be abroad quite a bit this year, and there is also a book in the works. And, of course, filming for the documentary “The Ghosts In Our Machine“. 

Dee: You must have many memorable experiences, from ecstatic to terrifying. Tell us about a few?

Jo-Anne: Yes, there are thousands of stories. Doing an investigation in a pig factory farm and realizing on our way out that we were walking on hundreds of severed pig tails which littered the floor, probably docked that day.  Seeing one of our Sea Shepherd boats get  cut in half by a Japanese whaling ship in the Antarctic. The constant sorrow of leaving so many animals behind after shooting a story or an investigation. The joy of open rescues and sanctuary visits. Meeting playful bears and joyful chimpanzees who’ve been rescued from the cages of torture within our medical and research systems. I’ll let my photos tell those stories; they do it best! 

Dee: At what age did you change your diet, and what prompted it?

Jo-Anne: I became vegetarian at about age 23 when I realized I didn’t want to eat my friends. I wish I could have gone veg sooner, but I didn’t know other vegetarians and I thought it would be really hard. I became vegan April 1st, 2003; my first day as an intern at Farm Sanctuary  🙂  Interns are required to live a vegan lifestyle while volunteering at the Sanctuary. I thought it was a bit extreme and that I would just do it for that month. What I learned was that there was immense peace that came with ending my consumption of animal products and that I would never ever go back to that lifestyle! I also learned that I don’t lack for good food, and if anything is extreme, it’s our present animal agricultural system, not veganism! 

Dee: How did change in diet + talent in photography = We Animals?

Jo-Anne: I realized that I could combine my talents and passions to help try to make the world a better place for animals. There were some key moments as well when I was in a situation where I knew I was seeing things differently than everyone else around me (we animal rights people all have that! Normal things seem crude and freaky to us, like animals used in entertainment, the meat section of the supermarket, Canada Goose jackets, etc). I realized I could document the way *I* was seeing things, and share that perspective with others.

 

Dee: Who or what would you like to photograph? Your photo-bucket list, if you will.

Jo-Anne: I’d just like to keep having more amazing experiences with animals and people around the globe. Actually, here’s one: I’d like to be the person to photograph the rescue of the LAST bear in a bear bile farm, ever. I’d like to document the closing of all the brutal industries we put animals through. Think I can live that long? 😉  I know that one day my photos will be considered an unfortunately large archive of what was once, and will never be again. I’d like to keep photographing history. 

Dee: When you’re on the road, what are your must-have backpack foods?

Jo-Anne:

– Vega!

– Vega!

– Vega!

– Vegan multivitamins

– Peanut butter

– Emergen-C

Dee: Can you tempt us with some teasers for your talk at Veg Fest?

Jo-Anne: I love sharing the photos and stories of the individual animals I’ve met along this journey with the We Animals project. It’s a way of honouring them, and of moving people deeply, getting them excited about change. It will be an honour to introduce the people at Veg Fest to the likes of Ron, a chimp who was rescued from biomedical research by Save the Chimps, and a beautiful sun bear named Arkte, who loves peanuts and being with his friends. The stories are sad but the true focus is the change and the joy, and about how we can all make such a huge difference. 

 

Dee: What question do you wish interviewers would ask, but rarely do?  

Jo-Anne: Some people have trouble thinking of how they too can help animals. So, a great question could be “How can we all help animals?” – a few answers here! 🙂 http://weanimals.org/howtohelp.php

Dear Mike:

I’ve sent you a few emails about speaking at Ottawa’s 2012 Veg Fest. And I know I promised to stop bugging you if I didn’t get a response to that last one.

And I fully intended to keep that promise. I moved on. I found other fabulous speakers. They’re in, it’s set, all promises to be awesome.

But then something happened. I don’t know if it was the Superbowl or what, but all of a sudden the vegan sports nuts started coming out of the woodwork. They heard from the friend of a sister of a guy that the NCVA (that’s us) was going to be getting a famous vegan hockey player (that’s you) to do something awesome at Veg Fest 2012. Their little faces when I said Mike Zigomanis couldn’t make it were just…well, they were a  bit scary, frankly.

So, I decided to make one last plea for you to participate.

Here’s my pitch…

If you agree to come:

1) You can do whatever you want. You can talk, you can cook, you can play hockey, you can be a guest MC, you can wear any or all of our carrot/pea/earth/cow costumes. You can even stand outside shouting obscenities at passers-by so long as you let them get their pictures taken with you.

2)  We will heap upon you the very best vegan food Ottawa has to offer. Curries, cutlets, cookies, brownies, burgers, cakes, pancakes, cupcakes, pot pies, doughnuts– whatever your famous vegan heart desires! Most of Ottawa’s best vegan cooks will have tables at Veg Fest and our president will personally escort you to each to ensure that you get their choicest creations.

And if you’re cleansing at the time? No problem! Just for you, Ottawa’s raw food goddess, Natasha Kyssa, will make a smoothie so densely imbued with the nutritious essence of the raw universe that you won’t have to eat again for the rest of your natural life.

3)  I will show you the secret to making awesome smoothies. I read here that you don’t think yours taste as good as the ones from the shops. But I know the secret. And it is cheap. And it is calorie free. And the shops don’t want you to know it…

4)  You will be crowned Supreme Vegan Athlete of the Universe, a title previously held by such celebrities as Georges Laraque (for marching with us in the 2010 Pride Parade), Brendan Brazier (because I am addicted to Vega) and Scott Jurek (because he runs 100-mile races and is just frigging awesome!).

So that’s my pitch. Please come to Veg Fest, Mike. I can’t deny that we’ll be exploiting your fame and athletic prowess. But it’s for a good cause, and I promise it won’t hurt a bit.

By Kari

As someone newly entering the world of plant-based diets, taking a cooking class at Credible Edibles was a great way to help me move in this direction. When I was presented with the opportunity to attend the SOYummy class, I jumped at it.

This class focused on learning more about soy products and how they can be incorporated into your diet. It began with the instructor, Judi, introducing information on the variety of soy products that exist and how they can be used in recipes.

The different forms of healthy, less processed soy were put on display: from the raw edamame bean to silken, medium and firm tofu, dried tofu and fermented varieties including miso paste and tempeh, along with soy based beverages. Students in the class were encouraged to taste some of the different varieties to see what they were like before being added to dishes.

The raw edamame beans were made into a snack by simply cooking them and adding seasonings. Ideas on how to serve soy products was discussed and where to find them locally (stores etc.), then the cooking began!

In addition to our edamame snack, we made three dishes during the class, including Japanese miso soup, tempeh coconut curry and chocolate mousse for dessert.  All three recipes were easy to make and featured a different variety of soy products in each. The miso soup featured miso paste and pieces of tofu, the curry dish incorporated tempeh that has a nuttier taste and different texture than tofu, and finally silken tofu was added in the mousse for a light creamy texture.

All three dishes tasted great and were really satisfying. The chocolate mousse in particular was so similar to any other dairy-based mousse you that you can’t really tell that tofu is one of the ingredients! Judi noted that usually soy is found in Asian cooking, but it is not limited to this genre; as these recipes demonstrate, there are many different cooking styles where soy can be used. The Canada Food Guide suggests eating soy often, as it is good a source of protein, calcium, iron and zinc.

Judi suggests including silken tofu in dips like guacamole and in smoothies in place of sour cream or yogurt. As well, tofu pieces can be added to stir fries or dishes for which pieces of meat would usually be used. Remove the water in a block of firm tofu by squeezing it in between two plates over your sink. Tofu literally acts as sponge; once the water is removed, it will absorb any flavouring you would like to add or marinate it in, including soy sauce or coconut milk. Freezing packaged tofu is another idea, if you cannot use it right away.

If you are interested in cooking classes that help you learn how certain ingredients can be incorporated in your diet like in this case soy, the classes at Credible Edibles will be really helpful. There are a variety of classes that you can take, including how to cook with beans or seaweed and classes that feature ideas for holiday cooking.

I strongly suggest attending a class, bringing a friend or your partner too and learning more from Judi on adding more variety to your meals and helpful tips for healthy eating!

Classes coming up in the New Year include Lean and Green, Oh No Gluten, Heart Smart, Smoothies 101, Forks Over Knives, and Kids in the Kitchen.  Perhaps a cooking class would be a good Christmas gift for someone on your list?

Learn more about Credible Edibles, and their upcoming classes, here.  NCVA members get a 20 per cent discount off the price of most classes.

Kari is moving towards a plant-based diet.

So the tickets to this Saturday’s Veg Ball are selling pretty fast and furious, but I thought I’d write one more blog post especially for the people who don’t usually attend these sorts of events: those who hate loud music; those for whom the prospect of dancing calls up nightmarish memories of sniggering classmates; those to whom weekends mean elastic waistbands and freedom from having to make conversation with strangers.

Personally, I sympathize with you guys. The last time I went to a club was ten years ago. It took a week for my hearing to return and I’ll forever be haunted by the knowledge that, had one more drunken reveller hugged me, I’d be serving life in prison for first degree murder.

But I also sympathize with your partners who really want to eat fancy treats in a fancy dress while wearing dangerously high heels and who would do so but for a scowling, jogging empansed, 5-o’clock-shadowed, mismatched-sock wearing killjoy.

So, this is my effort to convince my anti-ball brethren that they too will have fun at this awesome event.

Most obviously, there’s the food. The best of the best of Ottawa’s veg bakers and restaurants will be providing hors d’oeuvres and sweets. If you’re unfamiliar with vegan food and wonder if that means carrot sticks and apples, not to worry. This fare promises to make a proud and substantial contribution to your obligatory five pounds of holiday weight.

Second, there’s the music. DJ Sweetcheeks is a club man to the core, and the dancy people have insisted that a certain minimum volume is necessary for a pleasurable dancing experience (they apparently really enjoy cupping their hands behind their ears and yelling “WHAT?” back and forth while they dance).

However, at my curmudgeonly insistence, they have equipped the room with quieter zones for sitting, eating, relaxing and chatting with all your new friends.

Morever, Mr. Sweetcheeks is apparently more than happy to take requests. Lots of people have already made them via the event’s facebook page. Feel free to do the same, or just bring a list of your faves with you when you come. And don’t worry if they completely suck. You bought your ticket like everyone else and you have the right to hear your tunes. Well, within reason. Like, not Justin Bieber or anything else that will actually draw blood from the eardrums and drive our other guests to gibbering insanity.

So, I hope this post will serve as the metaphorical forklift required to haul unwilling partners off of couches and up the stairs of the Montgomery Legion to what promises to be an awesome Veg Ball.

See you there!

By Corrie

1. Help animals! The proceeds from the event will go to local animal-friendly charities New Moon Rabbit Rescue  and the Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. Reps from both groups will be at the event so you can learn more about what they do.

2. Great food. Delicious vegan hors d’oeurves have been generously donated by Green Earth Vegetarian Restaurant, ZenKitchen, The Green Door, Credible Edibles, Café My House, Auntie Loo’s Treats, and B.Goods.

3. Dance, dance, dance. DJ Sweetcheeks (of PROMdemonium fame) will be in the house spinning some of your favourite tunes. Make requests on our Facebook page.

4. The socializing. Meet other veggies, foodies, or just people who like to have a good time. There will plenty of space to mingle and chat about the music, great food and the charities.

5. Prizes! To help raise more money for the charities, the NCVA will be holding a raffle. Tickets are only $1. Prizes include a Matt and Nat wallet and vegan cookbook.

6. Carrot Santa. Yup, you heard right. Carrot Santa will be making an appearance. This may be your only chance to get a photo with a carrot dressed up as Santa.

7. Support the Montgomery Legion. Drink sales go to support the legion, a veteran-based community service organization mandated to care for veterans, service members and dependants.

8. Wear your favourite dress. When else do you get to wear a dress and high-heels in winter?

9. Meet some of the NCVA Board of Directors. Ok, not that exciting, but it is a chance to meet some people who are very passionate about spreading the benefits if a plant-based diet.

10. Fund raising with compassion. You can tell your friends about how you attended an event to help animals that didn’t have animals on the menu!

Register in advance and save $$!  It’s $20 for NCVA members and $25 for non-members (in advance), or $30 at the door for everyone.

Previous blog posts have focused on how awesome the Dec. 10th Ottawa Veg Ball will be, and future posts will provide even more fabulous details.

But that approach will not do it for everyone. Some of you might be thinking that the better the party is, the more likely you are to overindulge in food and drink to the point that you have to be rolled home by an indignant partner and spend the whole next day awash in self pity while sprawled on your blessedly cool bathroom floor.

So better just stay home, right?

Wrong.

Because while we surely want the guests at Veg Ball to enjoy themselves, this event is about something much more important.

It’s about these guys:

These are some of the residents of the Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary and New Moon Rabbit Rescue, the recipients of Veg Ball proceeds. I’ll write some more about these amazing organizations in the coming days.

In the meantime, just remember that every hors d’oeuvre you stuff in your face, every glass of wine you down because there’s no way you’re dancing sober, every eye you blacken on the dance floor while geekily flailing, it’s for them:

The baby squirrels who have so much energy you wonder if they’re literally going to explode.

 

The baseball-sized, tufty-tailed baby skunks who remind me of little leather-jacketed bad boys, with all their swaggering ‘tude.

 

The baby raccoons who look in your eyes with acute intelligence and hold on to your fingers with their almost human hands.

 

The rabbits whose personalities are rich and diverse and so little understood by the misguided people who pick them up as Easter novelties and cast them off once their purpose is served.

 

 

So look again at the pictures. Embrace the guilt, the love, that crazy Christmas spirit that always swells in your heart even though you think it’s all a big commercial sham or you’re Buddhist or Hindu or just haven’t been to church since your twelve-year-old self was dragged there by your grandma.

Embrace it, people! Then buy your ticket, come to Veg Ball, and help make sure that all these little guys wake up to full stockings this Christmas morning.

*Remember, while we’ll have some tickets at the door, buying yours in advance will let us plan more effectively and ensure a successful event 🙂

Imagine getting to enjoy delicious food from many of Ottawa’s best veg restaurants...all in one place.

What you’re imagining is pretty much what Veg Ball is going to be.  To ensure that as much money raised as possible goes to New Moon Rabbit Rescue and Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, the NCVA has partnered with some of Ottawa’s favorite veg businesses to provide complimentary food for Veg Ball attendees to snack on during the event.

It will be a food lovers’ delight. Where else, other than Veg Fest, can one feast on the delicacies from all of these establishments, all in one place, and for as little as $20 (NCVA members; $25 for non-members, $30 at the door).

“I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about the amazing food that will be served at Veg Ball,” says NCVA President Josh Flower. “This is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy food from many of our favourite eateries, while also helping animals in need.  It is a win-win situation.”

The following businesses will contibute hors d’oeuvres to Veg Ball, including:

* ZenKitchen

* Café My House

* The Green Door

* Credible Edibles

* Green Earth Vegetarian

* B. Goods cookies

* Auntie Loo’s Treats

“It is our sponsors that make it possible for us to put on events like these,”  Flower says.  “I won’t let a single piece of food go to waste, so if you don’t come to Veg Ball I am just going to eat it all myself.”

Everyone is welcome at Veg Ball- it isn’t an event just for vegetarians and vegans. Bring non-veg friends and family along to experience some of the best Ottawa has to offer.

To reserve your spot at Veg Ball, click here. And remember, it only gets more expensive if you wait until you’re at the door.  Do yourself a favour, and don’t leave it to chance.

With the NCVA’s Veg Ball fast approaching (Dec. 10), I asked NCVA President Josh Flower for the inside story on this first-time event.

Q: So what is unique about Veg Ball?

A: Veg Ball presents an opportunity for people to not only help two worthy charities, and have an evening of fun, but also to sample the cuisine of a number of Ottawa’s finest veg dining establishments. Many local vegetarians and vegans will already know these places– such as Auntie Loo’s Treats, B. Goods Cookies, ZenKitchen, and Credible Edibles– but it will also be new for some of this audience. We want Veg Ball to be an event where a vegan or vegetarian can bring their non-veg friends or spouses, and introduce them to the fact that it really aint so bad to be vegan- even if only for the evening. The event will be educational for those who are just exploring the lifestyle, and what Ottawa has to offer, and will create a social setting in which vegetarians and vegans don’t feel out of place.

Q: Why Veg Ball?

A: Well Pamela, there are a number of reasons behind our decision to hold an event like this. First and foremost, we wanted to create a special holiday themed event for the veg and veg curious community. The holidays are a time of great food and company, and we feel it is an opportunity to offer something unique and fun at this magical time of year.

Another key reason is personal to our board, volunteers and association members. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone involved with the NCVA when I say that we are animal lovers. We wanted to find a way to tie that love for animals into a unique event. As a leading voice for the vegan and vegetarian movement here in Ottawa, we feel it is our responsibility to offer events that are unique and fun, but maintain a clear focus on compassion towards animals.

Also, as many people may know, the NCVA stopped holding our monthly potlucks several months ago. One of the main reasons for that decision was that we wanted to focus our energy on a more diverse range of events, that would attract new audiences. The potlucks were great, and a good way to introduce the NCVA to the community, but they had run their course. Since then though, we have held a summer picnic and BBQ, restaurant and cafe meet ups, a fall harvest potluck, and participated in the Great Glebe Garage sale and Pride Parade. Thus far we are achieving our goal, but certainly want to continue with an eclectic array of events.

Q: How did you choose which charities would benefit from Veg Ball?

A: Quite frankly, it was both an easy decision, and a difficult decision. There are a number of wonderful animal helping charities in the area, and it was painstaking for us to choose only two to be our benefactors. Ultimately, what it came down to was those charities’ connections with the NCVA. Both New Moon Rabbit Rescue and Rideau Valley Wildlife Centre were exhibitors at Veg Fest 2011, and several of our board members have fostered rabbits and/or wildlife for these organizations. If we do an event like this again, we will try to share the love with other worthwhile charities.

Q: What will be the highlight of Veg Ball?

A: It really depends on who you ask. I know that Corrie, the Veg Ball coordinator, would probably say DJ Sweetcheeks. Erin, one of our dedicated board members, would no doubt say the food. I am going to be a bit brazen though, and say that I think the highlight will be the one-time opportunity to sit on CarrotSanta’s lap. Yes, that’s right, the NCVA carrot mascot–decked out in Santa gear–will be on hand at Veg Ball to hear the Christmas wishes of all the good girls and boys. Seriously though, it’s just going to be a lot of fun, with a lot of great food and dancing, and all proceeds will support very worthy charities.

Q: Should people buy tickets now, or at the door?

A: Well, tickets will be available at the door, but only a limited number. It really helps us out with planning if people buy their tickets in advance, plus, that ensures your place at Veg Ball and it’s a few bucks cheaper. So why wait?

——

Veg Ball “tickets,” and more information, are available online.

SUMMARY

Who: Put on by the National Capital Vegetarian Association

What:  Ottawa Veg Ball

When: Dec. 10, 2011, at 8:30 p.m.

Where: Montgomery Legion (downtown)

Why: To have a good time, and raise funds for two worthy charities.

Carrot and Santa cartoon elements by Hana Schwarzová and Kristijan Hranisavljevic.  Licensed through iStockphoto.