The Karma Free Pizza Company, Rayner’s Lane

Restaurant review by Emily, Vegan Pledge Buddy 2012

Possibly the best vegan pizzas in London! The Karma Free Pizza Company is a relatively new restaurant that serves a 100% vegetarian menu. All pizzas can be made vegan by specifying that you would like ‘vegan cheese’. Gluten/wheat-free pizza bases are also available but you will need to telephone in advance if wanting one of these as they can take up to 30 minutes to prepare. 

"Possibly the best vegan pizzas in London!" Photo by Emily

The pizzas themselves are excellent value and very filling. There are a number of pizzas to choose from including those with (and without) fake meats or you can simply create your own pizza from an extensive list of toppings. Sides are also available (e.g., garlic bread, dough balls, wedges, samosas, a “super food” salad). My favourite pizza is the Higher Karma (asparagus, artichokes, roasted peppers, olives, tomatoes, spinach and pine kernels) but I haven’t been disappointed by any of the pizzas that I have tried here. 

Seating for 16 people only, but take-away is also an option. Follow this link for more info:  https://sites.google.com/site/karmafreepizza/ Great family-owned restaurant, worth going to. Be sure to specify that you are vegan at the time of ordering. 

Tibits - Restaurant Review

By Asa, Vegan Pledge Buddy 2012

One of my favourite restaurants in London is Tibits, off Regent Street. It is a great place to go for so many reasons:

• Good location – city centre (nearest tubes Oxford Circus / Piccadilly Circus)
• Very nice atmosphere – although I do like low key places, it is nice to see that it is possible for a veggie/vegan restaurant to look posh!



Photo © Copyright Ethical Eats - licensed for reuse
under this Creative Commons licence

• They have a buffet, so it’s quick and easy to get exactly what you want and you can have as little as you want too.
• It is a great place for lingering (well, apart from perhaps busy lunch times on weekends – less great then!); so if I’m waiting to see someone I’ll often pop into Tibits.
• The food is always reliably good.
• Meat eaters are often impressed with it – many have preconceptions that veggie places are in health food centres with rickety wooden chairs, so Tibits dispels this myth!
• They serve alcohol AND nice and innovative non-alcoholic drinks.

Photo © Copyright Ethical Eats - licensed for reuse 
under this Creative Commons licence

Since they’re not completely vegan, their vegan offer changes a bit, but I think they have improved their vegan dessert offer lately – sometimes there was only a fruit salad, but the last few times I’ve been there there’s also been at least one type of cake, a crumble and a chocolate/coconut mousse.

My Vegan Story ~ by Emily

By Emily, Vegan Pledge Buddy 2012 

I signed up for the London Vegan Pledge last year and 13 months later I am still eating the vegan way. I can honestly say that going vegan is one of the best decisions that I've ever made. There are so many good reasons for going vegan but my main reason was for the animals. Having been pescetarian beforehand, I read up on the dairy, egg and fishing industries and was greatly upset by what I found out. Just as much suffering to animals exists in those industries as it does within the meat industry. I came to the realisation that if I’m truly a person who does not believe in cruelty to animals then I just shouldn't fund it, on any level. Already showing an interest in becoming vegan, I found out about the Pledge via The Vegan Society facebook page and I registered soon after that.

With so many animal-free alternatives to all kinds of traditional meat and dairy foods, I found the transition from near-vegetarian to vegan fairly straight forward. During my Vegan Pledge month I really enjoyed shopping for vegan foods. Every time I went shopping I would come home with something new and my diet soon became more varied than it had ever been before. I spent time experimenting with new dishes and adapting old ones. I found out that I could still have all my favourites like pizza, curry and spaghetti Bolognese – I would just make these using animal-free alternatives like dairy-free cheese and veggie mince. A vegan alternative now exists for almost any food item that you can think of. Would you believe I still have sausages, bacon, ice-cream, yogurt, custard, biscuits, chocolate… even egg-free mayo! In next to no time I found out that I could get all of these in vegan versions and much more. I discovered lots of great vegan restaurants too, including Chinese which is my favourite.  

At the end of my Vegan Pledge month I reflected on my journey. I came to the realisation that I didn’t have good enough reasons to go back to being pescetarian so I just kept it up. I shared my new-found knowledge with my mum who decided to go vegan with me! We have never felt healthier or happier. But the best part for me is knowing that no animal has been harmed in order for me to eat and drink. 

Going vegan is the single most important thing that I could have done for the lives of animals. I would urge anyone to give it a try. You’ll be surprised by how easy and rewarding it is.  

Stumbling-block-of-cheese Part 2: Hard cheese...

By Robb, Vegan Pledge Buddy 2009-2012

"You might as well face it, you're addicted to cheese..."

Each year of the Vegan Pledge, giving up cheese seems to be the one thing that many pledgers think is going to be the biggest challenge. And if I had a pound for every time someone told me they "could never give up cheese" then I'd have... well... OK, only about £10. But you get the point.

However, it's not just the texture and flavour. Cheese has also been shown to be highly addictive. And that's not surprising, as it contains morphine, codeine, and other highly addictive opiates. And the casein in cheese also produces opiate effects when digested. No wonder cheese has been described as "dairy crack"!

So, for those who aren't yet ready to go "cold tofurkey", cheese substitutes can be the vegan methodone.

However, until relatively recently, if you loved cheese but wanted to go vegan, it was very much a case of "hard cheese". The first soya and nut-based alternatives to cheese weren't very good. They weren't even always vegan! But things have come a long way since then. We now have hard cheese, soft cheese, cream cheese, cheese sauce, cheese pizzas, and even breaded cheesy bites!

A selection of dairy alternatives from Bute Island

So here's an overview of the most commonly available brands and varieties...

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Bute Island Scheese - http://www.buteisland.com

Hard cheese:		Blue, Cheshire, Chives, Edam, Gouda, Medium Cheddar, Melty Mild Cheddar, Melty Red Cheddar, Mozzarella, Smoked Cheddar, Strong Cheddar, Tesco "Free From" Soya Mild, Tesco "Free From" Soya Medium
Cream cheese:		Cheddar, Chives, Garic & Herb, Original, Sweet Chilli, Tesco "Free From" Cheddar, Tesco "Free From" Garlic & Herb, Tesco "Free From" Original, Tesco "Free From" Sweet Chilli

This was the first acceptable fake cheese I tried - the smoked cheddar being my favourite. It crisped up nicely on the top of, say, a pasta bake. But never really melted.

Until recently, that is. At last year's Bristol VegFest they had some of the first samples of their new "melty" flavours - which melted really well in a cheese toastie!

Available online, in health food stores, and in some Tesco's.

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Redwood Cheatin' Cheezly - http://www.redwoodfoods.co.uk

Hard cheese:		Parmesan, Pepperjack, Red Cheddar, Soy Free, Super Melting Edam, Super Melting Mozzarella, White Cheddar
Cheese slices:		Super Melting Cheddar, Super Melting Mozzarella
Cheese products:		Breaded Pepperjack Style Cheezly Bites, Meatless Feast Pizza, Ham Style & Pineapple Pizza, Cheezly & Tomato Pizza

Cheezly was the first vegan cheese to melt properly, with their "super melting" mozzarella becoming my new favourite (and essential for pizzas) and their cheese slices being great for burgers.

Redwood also make a great range of fake meats (and other products). And they've just introduced a range of pizzas that use their cheeses too!

Available online and in health food stores (including Holland & Barrett).

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Vegusto No Moo - http://www.vegusto.co.uk

Hard cheese:		Golden, Classic (Blue / Stilton), Herb, Melty, Mild-Aromatic (Cheddar), Piquant, Walnut
Cheese products:		Sauce

When the owner of Vx (the vegan boutique near Kings Cross) gave me my first taste of Vegusto, my immediate response was "this is not like cheese... this is cheese!" OK, it had been around 15 years since I'd had "real" cheese, but this was the first to get the texture right - both waxy and crumbly.

Like Redwood, Vegusto also have an extensive range of other vegan products, such as fake meats and even pet food!

Available online and at the Loving Hut in Camden.

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Vegourmet - http://www.vegourmet.at

Hard cheese:

Paradiso (tomato and basil), Volcano (hot), Herbario (herb), Mediteraneo (olive & garlic), Montanero (smokey), Bianco (creamy), Santeciano (strong)

Having introduced the UK to Vegusto, Vx was also the first to bring us Vegourmet. 

Texturally, I find Vegourmet quite similar to Cheezly. But with a different range of flavours.

Available online and at Vx.

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Tofutti - http://www.tofutti.com

Hard cheese:		Mozzarella
Cream cheese:		Country Vegetable, French Onion, Garlic & Herbs, Herbs & Chives, Original
Cheese slices:		Mozzarella, Cheddar

Probably better known for their vegan ice creams, Tofutti also make a limited ranges of fake cheeses.

Available online and in health food stores.

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Life Free From

Grated cheese:

Parmezano, Cheddareese

Handy tubs of grated parmesan and cheddar style fake cheese. Great from sprinkling on pasta dishes.

Available in health food stores, and in some large supermarkets.

UPDATE: I've heard today that these have now been discontinued! So get them while you can...

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Free & Easy

Cheese products:

Cheese sauce

A quick and easy cheese sauce that can be made up with water or non-dairy milk.

Available online, and in health food stores.

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Daiya - http://www.daiyafoods.com

Cheese products:

Amy's Macaroni and Soy Cheeze

One of the most popular cheese alternatives in the USA, Daiya isn't yet readily available in the UK - except in Amy's Macaroni and Soy Cheeze (but beware - they do a dairy version too!)

Available online, and in health food stores.

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And if that's still not enough, you can always try using Marigold Engevita Nutritional Yeast Flakes (available online, and in health food stores) to add a cheesy flavour to sauces, etc. Or SAF's raw cashew cheese (available at Whole Foods Market, Kensington High Street).

So, no more excuses for not giving up cheese! Although the downside is that I'm not going to make much more money from those who "could never give up cheese".

But that's a small price to pay.

Stumbling-block-of-cheese Part 1: What's wrong with dairy?

By Cathy, Vegan Pledge Buddy 2010, 2011 & 2012, and Vegan Campaigns volunteer since 2009

Lots of new vegans say cheese is their biggest stumbling block. This two-part post is here to help.

The first thing to say is you are not alone: many have been through this before and found the way through. You will too! If that sounds like advice for people afflicted with some kind of addiction, well that’s not so far from the truth, seeing as cheese contains casomorphins, which have an opioid effect on the brain. The good news is, the addiction subsides and then vanishes once you wean yourself off it, and there are many great reasons to do just that.

This first post gives a very quick insight into those reasons. Tomorrow’s post will be on the more upbeat subject of how to live happily without cheese.

Since I mentioned weaning, let’s start there.

Suffering for cows and their calves…

Image from
animalaid.org.uk/images/pdf/
booklets/zerograze.pdf

No calf = no milk, so cows are kept almost constantly pregnant throughout their curtailed lives, with each birth followed by an agonising separation of mother and calf. The ‘lucky’ female offspring get to follow in their mothers’ footsteps: their reproductive systems exploited without respite from the moment they reach sexual maturity. As well as the loss of their calves, they suffer routine mutilation through the widespread practice of ‘disbudding’ (the industry term for burning off young horn tissue), as well as being subject to lameness, metabolic disorders, and mastitis due to being selectively bred over generations to massively overproduce milk.

Photo from Animal Equality 

animalequality.net/food/milk

The young males are either shot at birth or shipped to Europe to be incarcerated in veal crates which induce anaemia in the name of producing pale flesh for human consumption. Continental veal production is banned in the UK because it is deemed so cruel. However, some UK dairy farmers, keen to cash in on the flesh of their male calves, are now trying to promote ‘rosé veal’. Obviously profit is their true motive. The young calf is still taken from his mother, castrated, disbudded, reared indoors, and butchered after a few months. It is clear that the only way to have no part in the suffering of cows and their offspring is to say no to all forms of dairy. 

You can search ‘dairy farm cruelty’ on Google, YouTube, etc, and sadly you will find countless hits that illustrate the suffering that takes place in the production of cheese and other dairy products, much of which is very upsetting to witness. For easier watching, I recommend this watchable short video, in song form, recently released by the comedian Vegan Smythe, which uses humour to make some important points in an very accessible way, without any distressing footage.

Environmental costs

As with all animal products, cheese and other dairy products take a heavy toll on the environment. Dairy farms are one of the most significant contributors to water table pollution (this was actually one of the main reasons for refusal of permission for the controversial Nocton mega dairy). As ruminants, cows contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions as their digestive systems emit large quantities of methane. Together with emissions from feed production and fertilisers associated with dairy production, the industry is responsible for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The dairy industry is also responsible for 7% of the global water footprint, in addition to its vast land footprint for both grazing and the production of feed crops.

Human health issues

Using cows' milk as food for humans doesn't just hurt them and the environment – it is not a healthy choice for us either. This is perhaps unsurprising, when you consider that we are the only species that drinks the baby food of another, or indeed consumes milk after infancy at all. Although the industry spends millions trying to convince us that dairy products are good for us, we can meet our calcium needs from plant sources in a form that is more accessible to our bodies, and without the health problems associated with dairy. These include links to higher rates of osteoporotic bone fracture, some cancers, autoimmune diseases, and ear infections and allergies in children, as well as the prevalent symptoms of lactose intolerance. The overuse of antibiotics in dairy cows is now also being linked to antimicrobial resistance, with worrying implications for human health too.

So, the case against dairy is compelling - but, once you’ve realised that dairy-free is the way forward, how do you make the transition? This is what tomorrow’s post is all about, focusing on the one that people tend to find most challenging: cheese.

Further reading

Special report Milk: why the white stuff leaves a bad taste in the mouth - the Ecologist

Milk Myths Dairy Report - VIVA!

Milking the truth - Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation

Milk - Animal Equality

Dairy - Vegan Peace

Milk is cruel - Occupy For Animals warning: includes links to upsetting short videos

White Lies - the health consequences of consuming cow's milk - Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation

Confessions Of A Cheeseaholic - Vegetarian Times

I Couldn’t Give Up Cheese, So I Gave Up Animal Cruelty Instead - This Vegan Life

London Vegan Restaurants

By Cameron, London Vegan Pledge Buddy 2009, 2010, 2011; now mentor for the Vegan Easy Challenge back home in Australia. 

I'm an Antipodean vegan who has spent far too much time investigating London's vegan havens. Initially motivated by compassion, my veganism has extended over time from protest to celebration. 

London is one of the best cities in the world for vegan epicureans. With over 160 vegetarian restaurants, all of them with vegan options, you can go to a new one every week for three years, and by then a few more will have opened up.

The best online source to explore which vegan friendly restaurants are in your area is Vegan London, and for London and beyond there is the wonderful Happy Cow, though be warned it can sometimes get out of date so ring first. If you prefer a book you can read through and take with you, Vegetarian Guides are great too. You can also have a look at my review of the best Vegan Restaurants in London.

Diwana, Drummond Street © Copyright Stephen McKay;
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

London has so many vegan friendly restaurants, that I might classify my favourites into two categories. First is the day to day places, offering inexpensive good food. Beatroot in Soho, you fill up a box from the selection of tasty dishes and pay for the size of the box. Drummond St in Euston has three Indian all you can eat buffets, and having tried them all many times I couldn't decide if I like Diwana (above) or Ravi Shankar better. VitaO in Soho is great; you purchase a plate and then fill it as high as your engineering skills will allow. 222 in West Kensinton has an all you can eat buffet that is amazing value. I'll finish with Maoz falafel, the cheapest of all these and simply just fantastic falafel.

Saf cocktail

Now the more upper market places. Manna in Chalk Farm, London's oldest vegetarian restaurant, now fully vegan: just amazing. SAF above Wholefoods in South Kensington, again a must visit place. Itadaki Zen, organic Japanese in Kings Cross – what more do you need to know. Mildred's and Tibit's, both in the Soho area, are places you can take your most discerning friends.

Hope you enjoy checking out the great restaurants in London, and realise how lucky you are to live in one of the best places in the world to find delicious and interesting vegan food.

You can read more by Cameron on his website at camerongreen.org.

Ms. Cupcake, Brixton

By Emily, Pledge Buddy 2012

If you have a sweet tooth, Ms. Cupcake is a must visit. London’s first vegan cake shop, Ms. Cupcake is located 5 minutes from Brixton tube station. The company are endorsed by The Vegan Society sunflower trademark so you can be sure that all the treats you buy from here are completely animal-free. 

Counter-top spread at Ms Cupcake, Brixton:
"The naughtiest vegan cakes in town"

Treats are freshly baked on the premises each day. These include a number of cupcakes (over 120 flavours – see the website for details), sweet/savoury muffins, cookies, brownies and doughnuts. Gluten/wheat-free cupcakes are also available as are a selection of flapjacks and chocolate bars to go. Birthday and wedding cakes can be made to order for special occasions. See the website for more details: www.mscupcake.co.uk.