Thursday, November 20, 2008

Vegan-Tastic


When we scored our big Google account this past summer, we made some positive changes in our abilities and goals as a company. If you do any kind of search on what the big dot com companies feed their employees, you will find yourself searching their job postings to find out how you can get in on the five star cuisine action. Their requests are simple; Top Quality, Variety, Environmentally Friendly, and Vegan options. We had Top Quality in the bag. Our, well over, 50 menus tackled the variety request. Our newly implemented Green Chicks line of compostable plates and utensils satisfied the environmentally friendly requirement. But, we had only served Vegan meals once a year with the traditional Thanksgiving Tofurky.
In order to do this, and do it right, we brought in a Vegan Chef to teach us all about vegan philosophy and lifestyle. In a nutshell, the term vegan was created to describe people who avoid products made from or by animals. This includes anything from textiles to food. It became necessary to differentiate vegans from vegetarians because the term vegetarian had been interpreted, by some, to include dairy products.
While we were not intent on becoming solely a “vegan” caterer, we wanted to learn more about this demand in the community. The Seattle/Tacoma area is known for its diversity and there is a much higher vegan population here than in many other parts of the United States. According to Wikipedia, at least today, vegans in the United States are made up of between 0.2-1.3% of the population.
Numerous studies have shown veganism to be a healthy lifestyle which lowers many common health risk factors including high blood pressure, stroke, high cholesterol, and even forms of cancer. Veganism is also a major friend of the animal kingdom as subscribers to the philosophy believe that animals should not be used for human benefit. It is, however, a bit of a challenge to find restaurants and caterers that are familiar with vegan requirements. For this reason, we are happy to be a part of the solution for people looking to hold vegan events (weddings, parties, luncheons, dinners, etc.)
Our attitude towards any vegetable inspired challenge is this;
“Ve-Gan Do It!”

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