I recently visited Old Earth in Kenneth City. A local vegan cafe, quickly gaining a following for it's tasty, veggie-packed eats, and good-for-you smoothies and desserts.
I wanted to take steps to eat healthier, and I decided to add a few meatless meals into the mix, to see how I felt.
It is doable to make more thoughtful nutrition choices if you are willing to dig a little deeper; learn about chemicals, substitutes, or skip Publix and drive to a specialty store for better ingredients. That’s the trickier part.
The simple answer? Eat your veggies.
At Old Earth, you can takeout, or eat in. There are small tables and chairs available opposite a cooler stocked with dill hummus, vegan cheesecake and sauerkraut, all made fresh. Behind the counter is a chalk painted wall featuring unique vegan options. Among these are smoothies, wraps and salads.
The tostada is a favorite of the customers and owners. Crunchy and spicy, the dish is a veggie packed dehydrated shell, layered with house-made guacamole, a spicy mushroom pate to replace meat or beans, shredded lettuce, onion, tomato, and their own cashew-based dairy-free sour cream.
Also popular is the veggie wrap. Mixed greens are mixed wih sprouts, cucumber, tomato, guacamole, and cashew and zucchini hummus-all wrapped in a dehydrated tortilla of sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and marinated onions.
Constantly providing their customers with fresh food that is healthy and tasty is a process that involves experimenting with ingredients and using them in different ways. They make everything in-house, from scratch, even grinding seeds to make flours and nut-based milks.
Perhaps you are a veteran vegan looking for dining-out options, or maybe you are toying with the idea of giving up meat and dairy, and you need help transitioning into a different lifestyle. Old Earth is a convenient and helpful place to start. The menu is not scary in the least, and the owners, Brooke Sparks and Hynak Sefranek, are willing and able to answer your questions.
Are you a carnivore who pretends not to notice the fruit and veggies portion of your food pyramid? It's literally, the biggest part.
This isn’t uncommon.
But being a part-time vegan, or at least, vegeterian might be worth considering for a few reasons:
It saves money. Buying meat can significantly add to your grocery bill, especially when shopping for an entire week’s worth of meals.
It saves time. How many times have you forgotten to defrost chicken or ground beef, only to arrive home to a frozen block? Plus, additional time is needed for trimming and seasoning meat.
It is better for your health. Meat is oftentimes full of chemicals and hormones that are given to the animal to make it bigger. Organic options are harder to come by and far more expensive for less product.
It is better for the environment. Studies show that the mass production of food accounts for large portions of our available emissions budget.
Start by adding a few meat-free meals to your weekly menu. A few lunches here and there, or dinner once a week. #meatlessmonday anyone?
Visit Old Earth sometime at their cafe, located at 6105 54th Ave in Kenneth City, or Saturdays at the Saturday Morning Market. Tell them I sent you.
Cheers to your health!