Food is both a necessity and a pleasure, yet these days it costs more than ever (in financial and planetary resources), so to continue this show's annual holiday tradition of exploring eco-friendly gift giving ideas to get your Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa holidays started off in the right spirit, I wanted to concentrate this year’s show on exploring gifts of food, keeping it plant-based to be more ethical and sustainable (including sweet treats, savory meals, chocolates, drinks, and time spent together enjoying food).

So I was thinking “Who do I know who is a good cook?” which led me to invite Idalys Sansores to be the guest for this episode, since she is the owner of Dulce Vegan Bakery & Café in Atlanta, a place I have frequented for years. It’s an organic vegan café that has been around as a brick and mortar restaurant in the Kirkwood neighborhood since 2011. Dulce Vegan’s mission says “they are a proud queer- & woman-of-color-owned small business,” and “they seek to create the type of world we want to live in—one of passion, radical inclusion, intentionality, sustainability, and care for others.”  Idalys and her team make both sweet and savory items and coffee and tea drinks, so I thought she could give us some advice on some great things to make and how to make them look great too (even keeping in mind food allergies people might have). In this 46 minute "In Tune to Nature" show, she takes us from baked goods, to dinner party meals, to hot chocolate. And we keep it plant-based/vegan, so it remains more eco-and-animal friendly and inclusive for everyone.

I hope these ideas help you treat your friends and family to foods they love and need, without leaving too high of a footprint on the planet (by keeping it plant-based, local, organic, and wrapping in re-usable containers) and leaving nothing cluttering up their houses after the holidays (better to give food than items/objects/products as gifts). Btw, the Loving it Vegan site is a go-to of mine for recipes.

"In Tune to Nature" is a weekly hour-long radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or friend Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/  While there, consider donating to Radio Free Georgia, a 50+ year old progressive, non-commercial, indie radio station, run largely by volunteers like me.

Take care of yourself and others, including other species.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.

Photo Credit: Carrie Freeman sharing some home-made vegan chocolate candy cane cookies

Background Christmas Music Credit: Sound Gallery by Dmitry Taras (from Pixabay)