More than 20 years ago Steve Leckie bought a house in Bloordale Village and decided to share it with renters who were vegetarian and wanted to live a more communal lifestyle. Now the Lotus Feast Community House is home to 12 residents and has expanded to another house nearby. We talk with Leckie and one of his tenants, Vishal, about what it’s like to live at Lotus Feast, how you get in and what the future holds.

Links

Lotus Feast Community House: http://lotusfeast.com/

Lotus Feast on Workaway: https://www.workaway.info/en/host/289283348265

Lotus Feast on Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/4020596?source_impression_id=p3_1682266491_%2FONO5zsShA%2FPsKKx

Vegetarian Eco Camp: vegcamp.ca

Toronto Vegan Meetup Page: meetup.com/torontovegan/events/

Credits

Hosts: Steve, Marni

Editing: Marni, Jeanette

Theme Music: Matt Judge

It’s one thing to start a veg diet, and it’s another to maintain it. We talk to Dr. Andrea Polanco from Faunalytics about their recent study focused on identifying barriers faced by former vegans and vegetarians that led to them leave their veg diets and what we can do to help them come back.

Links:

Bringing Back Former Vegans And Vegetarians: An Obstacle Analysis: https://faunalytics.org/veg-obstacle-analysis/

Reforming Animal Agriculture Subsidies: A Guide for Advocates: https://faunalytics.org/reforming-animal-agriculture-subsidies/

Planting Seeds: The Impact Of Diet & Different Animal Advocacy Tactics: https://faunalytics.org/relative-effectiveness/ 

Faunalytics on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/faunalytics/videos

Canadians for Responsible Food Policy: https://responsiblefoodpolicy.ca/

Planted Expo Toronto: https://www.plantedlife.com/toronto 

Wishing Well Sanctuary Family Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/701312201606373/

Credits:

Hosts: Jen and Sweta 

Editing: Sweta

Episode Summary: Jen

Theme Music: Matt Judge

Whether it be at a family function, restaurant, or other social gathering, when someone who is non-vegan prepares a vegan meal for you, do you ever wonder if they got it right? Join Sweta, Barbi and Jen as they explore this question and share their experiences.

Links:

Evolving Vegan - TV Series

Coffee Wars - Movie

Credits:

Host: Jen, Barbi, Sweta

Editing: Sweta

Episode Summary: Jen

Theme Music: Matt Judge

A new plant-inspired restaurant, called Bellona Kitchen, opened in Toronto’s west end at the beginning of the year, bringing us vegan and vegetarian dishes with an Italian influence. We chat with Johnnie and Aggie Fusco, the owners of Bellona Kitchen, about the inspirations behind their restaurant, the experience they provide, and of course, their menu full of fresh and home-made dishes.

Links: 

Bellona Kitchen https://bellonakitchen.ca

Evolving Vegan https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/mena-massoud-explores-the-bourgeoning-world-of-plant-based-living-in-new-original-series-evolving-vegan-march-30/  

The Wurst Market Ever https://www.facebook.com/events/541768224716866/

Toronto Vegan Meetup https://www.meetup.com/torontovegan/ 

Credits: 

Host: Jen

Editing: Jeanette

Theme Music: Matt Judge

Everyone’s talking about AI these days, particularly about ChatGPT. We wondered if the game-changing (albeit super-scary) AI chatbot would be able to help us plan a plant-based meal. So we asked it. Several times. The results are amusing, amazing, and a bit underwhelming all at the same time.

Links

ChatGPT: chat.openai.com

Credits

Hosts: Jeanette, Marni, Jen

Editing: Jeanette

Theme Music: Matt Judge

How did vegans cook before the days of vegan recipe blogs, TikTok clips and YouTube videos? We used cookbooks! In this episode Barbi and Sweta discuss their beloved old cookbooks and even some zines. Hear about their favourites and some of yours as they journey through their baby vegan days.

Links:

Wishbone Lab

Tofu 101 Online Workshop

Family Festival at Wishing Well Sanctuary

Credits:

Hosts: Barbi and Sweta

Editing: Sweta

Episode Summary: Sweta

Theme Music: Matt Judge

Wondering about all those PC Plant-Based products you see in stores? Join us as we discuss what we enjoyed, hated and what could be made a bit better with some adjustments. Listen now!

Links:

Global and Mail: Canada to ban cosmetic testing on animals

CBC: Canada trails other nations on banning animal-tested cosmetics. A new plan aims to change that

Credits:

Hosts: Marni, Jenn and Sweta

Editing: Sweta

Episode Summary: Sweta

Theme Music: Matt Judge

Wishing Well Sanctuary is known as a safe haven for animals, and a place where you can visit and volunteer...but did you know you can also camp at the sanctuary? You can experience this magical place in all sorts of ways - from doing yoga with the llamas to getting a tarot card reading, watching a movie in a rustic barn, or even hosting your birthday, bachlorette party or any other special occasion that you can think of. Stacey Bowman is an animal caretaker at Wishing Well, and she dropped by to speak with us about all the exciting things you can experience at the site, plus we learn about some of the rescued animals like Hector the 40 pound turkey, and Thunder, the Llapaca. 

Wishing Well Experience https://wishingwellexperience.ca/

Credits:

Hosts: Barbi Lazarus, Jennifer Semotok and Jeanette Cabral

Guest: Stacey Bowman

Editing: Jeanette Cabral

Episode Summary: Jeanette Cabral

Theme Music: Matt Judge

If you’ve ever thought about fostering a cat but were scared to take the plunge this episode is for you. We speak with Bonnie Levine, the Executive Director of Toronto Cat Rescue, about what’s required of feline foster parents. Who makes a good candidate? Can you handle the emotional toll of a sick kitty? What if you want to go away for a few days?

Links:

Toronto Cat Rescue: https://www.torontocatrescue.ca/

Valentine and Anti-Valentine meetup: https://www.meetup.com/torontovegan/events/290767318/

Upside Foods and the FDA: https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/16/upside-foods-cell-cultured-meat-fda/

New York Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/18/us/new-york-state-bans-cosmetics-animal-testing/index.html

Credits:

Hosts: Marni and Sweta

Guest: Bonnie Levine

Editing: Sweta

Episode Summary: Marni

Theme Music: Matt Judge

We're off this week, but we'll have lots of great content in the new year. In the mean time, have a listen to one of our episodes from 2017 about goal setting. It has lots of good content to get your year started.

Links:

No Meat Athlete New Year's Resolution: https://www.nomeatathlete.com/3-steps-in-december/

Credits:

Hosts: John, Jeanette and Steve

Theme Music: Matt Judge

2022 Intro: Jen and Sweta

2022 Editing: Sweta

Image: Estée Janssens