Stores for vegan food

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

Looking for some stores in the East Bay, (besides Whole Foods) that stocks vegan foods. Also, what is the best store for the entire Bay Area?

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Kim

 

Take care of your body, it's the temple of your spirit. Grnflea

[Guest guest]

For the " best of the bay " for vegan shopping, I vote for Rainbow Grocery

Collective (http://www.rainbowgrocery.org/) in San Francisco.

 

In the East Bay - it depends on which city you are in, but have you gone to

the Berkeley Bowl (http://www.berkeleybowl.com/)? I grew up in the East Bay

and actually haven't been there since they moved from their original

location long ago - but it used to be pretty good back then.

 

Kasie

[Guest guest]

A lesser known east bay store that has many good vegan items is Alameda

Natural Grocery, located in the Marketplace at the corner of Park and

Buena Vista in Alameda. Their bakery stocks quite a few vegan items,

and their grocery store has lots of frozen and fresh items I can't find

anywhere else, including Monster Muffins and cookies. Sadly, the

adjacent coffee house has no vegan selections, but they do have soy

lattes and soy milk to add to coffee. (So if you're in the mood for

coffee and a pastry, just get the pastry from the bakery before going

into the coffee house.)

 

Karen

[Guest guest]

Elephant Pharmacy in North Berkeley stocks quite a few

vegan items, including Vegan Gourmet Cheese, Tofutti

Better Than Sour Cream and Cream Cheese, and a variety

of ready-made wraps, burritos and other lunchtype

items. Which is most excellent, being that I work

right across the street from it.

 

Also, just a head's up that Cafe Gratitude is opening

another restaurant next month in North Berkeley as

well, on Shattuck at Virginia.

 

http://www.withthecurrent.com/menu.html

 

 

Maria

 

 

 

--- Karen <karen wrote:

 

> A lesser known east bay store that has many good

> vegan items is Alameda

> Natural Grocery, located in the Marketplace at the

> corner of Park and

> Buena Vista in Alameda. Their bakery stocks quite a

> few vegan items,

> and their grocery store has lots of frozen and fresh

> items I can't find

> anywhere else, including Monster Muffins and

> cookies. Sadly, the

> adjacent coffee house has no vegan selections, but

> they do have soy

> lattes and soy milk to add to coffee. (So if you're

> in the mood for

> coffee and a pastry, just get the pastry from the

> bakery before going

> into the coffee house.)

>

> Karen

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

Pain-Free Recipes at GoVeg.com!

http://www.goveg.com/vegetarian101.asp

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

In the North Bay, our favorite store is Community market in Santa Rosa

- an all vegetarian store with mucho vegan.

Eric Borgstrom

[Guest guest]

> Looking for some stores in the East Bay, (besides Whole Foods) that stocks vegan foods. Also, what is the best store for the entire Bay Area?

 

With all sincerity, any place that sells produce and staples like grains and beans are great places to buy vegan foods. I don't want to give new or aspiring veggie people the impression that they can't be vegan without a natural foods store near them.

 

Now, if we're talking about convenience foods (already prepared refrigerated foods, frozen items, fresh deli items), or specialty vegan processed foods (like the vegan cheeses or sour cream, etc) then that's a different topic, of course.

 

I live in a small town and there are small natural food stores but it does tend to be more expensive. But there is a large Safeway's, and as I recently said, it is even selling more organic foods, and I noticed more of them are vegan. In the last BAVEG newsletter, we asked folks to follow-up and ask Safeways for more vegan/organic foods .. and just a couple of weeks ago, we noticed more vegan foods in their new Organic O line. Safeways called in response to my comment card, so I'd like to take all credit (just kidding)

 

Anyways, I think the large natural food stores are good at carrying more specialty processed and convenience vegan foods, as are specialty stores like TRADER JOE's (which has great prices on soy milk, canned beans, frozen organic broccoli -- a lunchtime staple for me )

 

But, for people who don't live near these stores, or don't have the budget/interest to buy these foods, it is possible to be vegan and shop at a store like Safeway's. I know this from first-hand experience. (I did tell Safeway's that their organic canned bean prices are more expensive than TJ's!)

 

Newsletter article to write Safeway's

http://www.bayareaveg.org/newsletters/BAV-News-Jan2006.htm#cia

 

Safeway's vegan foods

http://www.generationv.org/index.php?blog=6 & title=vegan_enchilada

 

Cheers,

Tammy

 

 

Now podcasting and blogging at -

http://www.GenerationV.org

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

On Jan 28, 2006, at 9:31 AM, Tammy, Bay Area Vegetarians wrote:I live in a small town and there are small natural food stores but it does tend to be more expensive.  But there is a large Safeway's, and as I recently said, it is even selling more organic foods, and I noticed more of them are vegan.  In the last BAVEG newsletter, we asked folks to follow-up and ask Safeways for more vegan/organic foods .. and just a couple of weeks ago, we noticed more vegan foods in their new Organic O line.  Safeways called in response to my comment card, so I'd like to take all credit (just kidding)While I am always in favor of rewarding mainstream retailers for doing the right thing, I am wondering whether Safeway's new organic line represents a new commitment for natural foods, or if they are just cashing in. Remember that food corporations actively lobby to downgrade the legal definition of "organic", with the goal of selling food produced with chemicals at higher prices. As long as they can label it "organic" and make more money, they won't care what's inside. (That said, I have no idea whether or not Safeway is doing this. It is very possible that their products are the real thing and they have good intentions.)Another concern is that the organic food you get from Safeway will most certainly not be local, so what chemicals and petroleum aren't used in growing your food will still end up as pollution during shipping. By all means, support their new product line if that is the best option available to you. But if you have a choice between a natural food store with a commitment to local and organic foods (like Rainbow), vs somewhere like Safeway, I would advise avoiding Safeway.Here's an interesting article written by the ever-brilliant Umbra Fisk about the tradeoffs between local vs organic foods.http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2002/11/26/umbra-organics/index.html

[Guest guest]

"By all means, support their new product line if that is the best option available to you. But if you have a choice between a natural food store with a commitment to local and organic foods (like Rainbow), vs somewhere like Safeway, I would advise avoiding Safeway."

 

Let me clarify ... to avoid any confusion, the new product line at Safeway's, "O Organics" is about packaged foods, not fresh produce.

 

For fresh produce, when I am shopping in SF, I actually like "Other Avenues" better than "Rainbow". It doesn't have the same quantity of selection, but I feel the produce is very high quality (i.e. I consistently buy Fuji apples, and I've always had good good ones at Other Avenues).

 

Cheers,

Tammy

 

 

 

 

Bay Area Vegetarianswww.BayAreaVeg.org