sarah's sustainable life

food equity. what does that phrase mean to you? currently, food equity is a social justice movement aimed at evening out the amount of food and money spent on food that is in such extremes around the world. a social justice activist, high school teacher, and vegan named christopher greenslate, together with his other half kerri leonard, recently published a book entitled, “on a dollar a day: one couple’s unlikely adventures in eating in america”. the premise for the experiment was this: tired of the cost of groceries rising, and wanting to become more aware of the hardships of others around the world, kerri and christopher undertake a month of eating at less than $1 per day per person. sound impossible? want to know what they ate, how it worked, and what, if any, good has come out of it? buy the book, read the blog, or get the synopsis interview in the current issue of vegnews magazine. i found this intriguing! and it has inspired me to look closer at what i consider “essential”.

i was totally shocked wednesday morning. for first time in probably years i stopped at a starbucks for a cup of tea (because it was on the way to my destination). though i was hungry, i went in search only of tea, for any vegan knows that mainstream coffee shops are not the place to find healthy vegan munchies (except the occasional overpriced banana). but there they were! baskets of vegan goodies waiting to be devoured! i settled on a “two moms in the raw” granola bar because it was a brand i have been wanting to try anyway. according to vegnews magazine, vegan meal options are on the rise. in a nationwide survey of chefs, vegan menu additions were number 13 on a long list of major trends in the food industry for 2010. can we expect to see a veggie grill open on every corner? unfortunately not, but i am already starting to see the progress and, after years of suffering through dry salads and naked baked potatoes in most restaurants, I AM READY!