You can also call it mindful eating. 
Plant based eating has become very popular and even though I’m not really vegan, I prefer to incorporate more veggies and an overall healthful eating regime into my daily life. I have several completely vegan friends though. And let me say that it is more challenging to accommodate them. For instance I love cheese and I’ve had a hard time (until now) finding a cheese that isn’t really cheese as we know it, but tastes like it. Do you know what I’m talking about?
But as of only yesterday I’ve discovered a world of wonderful substitutes that are as tasty as they are non-dairy. It was a bit overwhelming to say the least with all the various vendors and not knowing which way to turn or what to eat first. That’s not to say that I’m going to give up on buying my regular weekly grab bag of French/Swiss/German/Canadian/Worldly cheese from Les Amis de Fromage anytime soon. It’s just that I’m willing to adapt and experiment with plant based types of foods which keep getting better and better as they merge into the mainstream food chain.
The foods we eat have a significant impact on the health of the planet.
I just attended the second annual Planted Expo here in Vancouver which took place over the past weekend at the Convention Centre West downtown – the place for large events. This event was much larger than I expected. Infact, it’s the largest event of its kind in Canada.
The need to talk about the benefits of eating a plant-first diet is at its peak. British Columbia is the province with the highest share of vegetarians and vegans and we know meat and dairy alone account for 14.5 percent of global annual greenhouse gas production—so it’s no surprise that for a while now, Canadians have shown interest in cutting back on meat. Committing to eating less meat however is easier said than done. It’s time-consuming to figure out how to best create a well-balanced, nutritious meal.
A few examples below taken from vendors at the show and from the blog of plantedlife.com
Ready made meals for everyone (not only Vegans):
Marie Grapé is co-founder of Manna Sacred Meals. As a Filipino-Canadian woman, she grew up being used to a heavy animal-based diet. When she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, she decided to take a step back to consider how her food habits were affecting her health. “I felt compelled to defy traditional medicine and normalize my disorder so that everyone moving to a plant-based diet for health reasons can do so easily while enjoying the same breadth of variety in flavours and textures as everyone else.”
“The first challenge is that the change seems really daunting when the majority of us have been conditioned to have meat with each meal. A second challenge is a process by which people shift. Often people shift overnight and end up blaming the lack of nutrients on the plant-based lifestyle. This is why we launched Manna, we take the burden away and allow people to fall in love with the benefits and flavour of great plant-first meals!”
Sustainable Snacking:
The team at Kove (Silver Sponsor at Planted Expo) is developing the tastiest, most delicious foods made with Cascadia Seaweed, seaweed grown in the pristine waters of the Pacific Ocean in partnership with First Nations. By simply cultivating seaweed in the ocean, Cascadia and Kove are working to solve some of the biggest challenges humanity is facing today; climate change, economic instability and food security. Kove’s first product powered by Cascadia Seaweed is its furikake style signature seaweed seasoning SEA SPICE which is available in retail stores and online. We put the sea in seasoning, so you can put it on EVERYTHING you love to eat. Salty, crunchy, garlicky, sea-weedy, and absolutely yummy. Good for the Planet, Good for the Community, Good for You. The sustainable way to snack.
Guilt Free (and “Free”) Chocolate:
I bought the last bag of Drop Naked Salted Nut Caramel Chocolates.
Not only delicious but hand made with limited ingredients like dates, cocoa butter, Madagascar vanilla, hazelnuts and raw cane sugar. Made by Matan Volach. matan@dropnaked.com
At the time I didn’t realize that I’d be eating a satisfying lunch with dessert there. My friend Lynda accompanied me and she ate just as much.
Photos: d. king
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
You must be logged in to post a comment.