Amy's Kitchen

Concerned about the alleged use of hexane in many veggie burgers, including Amy's Kitchen's, I wrote to the company. Andy Berliner (CEO/Co-founder), wrote me back a personal message and assured me that out of their own concern, they had eliminated production of any product made with known neurotoxin, hexane.

Sometimes, when you're used to seeing food on the shelf in supermarkets, you forget that there are real people behind it. I'm so glad Amy's has that kind of customer service. It warms my heart.

(btw, Amy's California Burgers are both hexane free, and the best veggie burgers I've ever had)

Read our correspondence:


-----Original Message-----
From: Ali Lipman [mailto:ali.lipman@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2010 8:32 AM
To: Amy
Subject: Amy's Contact: Hexane in Veggi...


Sent: April 17th, 2010
From: Ali Lipman
Email: ali.lipman@gmail.com

------------------------------

-------

Dear Amy,
Dear Amy's,

When people ask me which veggie burgers are the best, I tell them hands down it is Amy's California Burgers.

I loyally consume all vegan Amy's products because they are the tastiest in the world.

I'm writing because I am distraught. According to this article,

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/04/which-veggie-burgers-contain-neurotoxin

Amy's dips soybeans in hexane (a known nuerotoxin), to separate the fat.

I am scared to continue buying your product because I don't want to harm my body. I've always believed that you are a health-conscious company. Will you please set the record straight for me?

Thank you so much!

Love,

Ali

From Ali Lipman

Reply:

Hello Ali,

Hello,

Because of concerns around soy protein extracted with hexane, we have eliminated the use of any soy protein ingredient that uses hexane in its processing.

Only four products (some of our veggie burgers) out of over 170 products have ever contained soy protein concentrate. We have replaced soy protein concentrate in these products with organic tofu. Tofu production is similar to cheese making and uses no unnatural ingredients. To see our tofu being made check out this video: http://www.amys.com/about_us/our_kitchen.php#tofu

Our best selling burger, the California Burger, has never contained soy protein of any kind.

Amy's remains a family owned business and we take great care to make healthful foods with organic ingredients. We welcome communication from our customers and invite you to visit us at www.amys.com

Andy Berliner, CEO and Co-founder of Amy's Kitchen

I Need Your Help!

It is not a matter of how much Greg wants to get rid of me so he can go back to his rotation of processed meats and cheesy mashed potatoes. It is a matter of telling our University that we demand the same choices that other colleges statewide have. It is a matter of demanding a diverse menu of lower-cholesterol foods that are both tasty, and rich in nutrition.

Lets do this.

Meatless Thursday

More on the battle with Aramark (taken from the Campus Dish at UML website):

	Are there options for vegans, vegetarians or others on restricted diets?
	Yes, since many of our retail locations offer meals cooked to order, diners may select what is best suited for their dietary needs. All our locations offer daily vegan or vegetarian entrees. Contact us at 978-934-5369 for more details or to review specific dietary needs.

...Actually, the ICC dining hall does NOT offer a daily vegan option aside from cereal with rice milk, and fruit. There is not one vegan salad dressing, the vegetable dishes are often cooked in butter (or are cold and soggy), and the majority of the chefs are not trained to meet specific dietary requirements.

In fact, most of them don't even know what vegan is. I mean, they are chefs for crying out loud, and they cook food for a living. Aramark, how could you leave this one out in their training?

When I met with Greg, and the Executive Chef (his name alludes me, but he told me he loves pork), I handed them a packet of 160 recipe ideas that I pulled from vegadvantage. I also mentioned that April 15th is Meatless Day in a calender I provided them with. Along with the other things I was promised that day, I was assured that this day would be recognized.

Well today (I guess yesterday now!), was that day...Meatless Thursday. I left work early to make it to the dining hall, anticipating all the goodies they cooked up. Would it be something vegan and delicious? A Tofurkey with vegan mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce? Seitan sauteed with fresh vegetables in an orange sauce? Vegan green bean casserole?

Nope.

Want to know what I had for dinner tonight? Penne with Marinara sauce...they same goddamn dish I have every single (goddamn) night....with some beans and tempeh I grabbed from the salad bar.

Their idea of Meatless Thursday was raviolis, cheese lasagna, and penne with marinara sauce.

...or Starch, with Starch, topped with some more Starch.

Seriously, Greg? After I gave him 160 recipes, that frankly ALL sounded delicious to me, he still thinks that vegetarians only eat pasta? Has he been living under a rock? That's how vegetarians/vegans get sick and quit. There is only so much enriched-wheat flour your body can take before it says no more.

Poor Jared (student, slave to Aramark, and allay), had to listen to me complain about it. I asked him to grab Greg for me, but Greg was probably hiding under his desk on the 2nd floor in the fetal position. I called him and left a message instead. He knows that he's in trouble. Not because I plan to go higher than he is, but because he hasn't figured out that all he needed to do to please me as a customer, was go through with the suggestions I made in the first place.

I'd like to make him dinner some night. I've lost patience with his ignorance regarding healthy options and vegan choices.

Now what I want to know is,

Is the 2,000 bucks I spent on my meal plan, refundable?

Organic Solutions

This past Friday, I have officially been vegan from 1 year and a month. The first week was an experiment that ended up being expanded until this very day: learning to read labels, memorizing animal-derived chemical names, and becoming comfortable explaining my ideals.

The secret to success (like every mother would tell you), is to eat your vegetables. Its the only way to get proper nutrition when you cut certain things out of your diet. It might suck to switch out mac and cheese for veggie stir-fry, but lets face, the latter is more nutritious (and doesn't leave you feeling like you swallowed delicious, delicious, bricks).

So as of today, I am an intern on Heirloom Harvest Organic CSA in Westborough MA. This is my newest adventure...becoming more in touch with my food by exploring the ways it is grown. So the question is: which do you prefer? Hairnets, Assembly-line, food processing, or teamwork, love, and community. Again, for me its the latter.

When you throw 'organic,' into the mix, you take out the chemicals that are harmful to both humans and pests. Therefore, you have to explore new solutions to keep the bugs from eating your food (Anything is fair game, so long as it wont harm YOU).

For the kale, we used diatomaceous earth and beneficial nemetodes to keep kale-eating maggots of them. The diatomaceous earth is quite sharp, and the nemetodes are like little-writhing guard dogs (I don't really know, you can't see them at all with the naked eye, but that's how I like to picture them).

Also, the Remay helps keep the bugs off. Whenever I saw Remay from afar, I imagined it feeling like a trash bag, but actually its a fiber made of plastic. It behaved like a sail in the windy field. It took us 4 of us to lay the first and second bed of it down.



I was most taken aback by the enthusiasm of each member that came to do their required hours. I was thrilled with the efficiency of our teamwork. Everyone holds their weight because it's the only way the farm can function.


I will probably continue to journal about my experiences on the farm. It will certainly be a great summer.

In other news, I had trouble with Aramark again tonight. They didn't make a vegan option and the chef didn't know the difference between vegan and vegetarian so he told me the pasta and sauce was vegan. I didn't realize it wasn't until after I took a bite. I got really frustrated, and I didn't have the patience or time to deal with it. I started crying and they gave me my money back. I hate spending 6 bucks to eat a bowl of cereal. I could buy a box of cereal for less than that.

If I was Jaime Oliver, I might be able to show them how much fun fresh, healthy food can be. I'm counting down the days until I am no longer their customer.

Aramark Hates Vegans

The subject of food comes up quite often when eating in the dining halls. Just yesterday, we were walking down the stairs, and my friend Greg said, "Are you excited not to be able to eat anything at dinner tonight?"

He was joking with me, but wasn't so far off. I've talked to more than one vegetarian that said they would like to go vegan, but think it is not feasible at college.

"Isn't that hard to do?" Travis asked me today while in line at the noodle bar. I thought back to the time the cook left me crying. I'm not being melodramatic either, they became very frustrated when I asked for something without cheese on it.
"We're down two people tonight. Why wont you just eat what we've made?"
"Forget it, I'll have a bowl of cereal," I mumbled, but he persisted:
"We've made all of this food, I just don't see what else you could possibly want."

Being a forced customer of Aramark is like being punished for eating ethically. So I wrote a letter, and the letter got me noticed by the Director of Dining Services, Gregory F. Gamwell.

Greg found me eating white rice with cold black beans I had found at the salad bar. He asked to meet with me the following Tuesday.

Opportunities to discuss serious change come few and far between, so I decided to make sure I was thoroughly prepared.

My research brought me to: http://www.vegadvantage.com/ , a website designed with resources for dining halls and restaurants to improve their veg-friendliness. Using their information, I compiled a packet of information with testimonies, recipe suggestions, and statistics.

Greg assured me that there would always be a vegan option in the dining hall. Indeed, they have fixed the problem. Now there is always pasta and marinara sauce....so much for nutrition.

Last night, Greg approached me and asked me how the food had been. I was frank with him: I'm moving off campus, 40% cause I want to move out of home this summer, 60% because I need to cook for myself or I'm going to become sick and die at a ripe young age.

They're not going to cook vegetarian options in the dining hall. I am sad for Aramark for missing out on a demographic, sad for my school for entering a contract with them, and sad for all the young people that will never explore other options because they weren't given the opportunity to.

Alright I'm done. Not with my personal boycott, but with my rant.

Saturday I'm making Vegan Matzo Ball Soup. Hopefully I'll get some pictures!

Steampunk Dinner Party

Theme parties with vegan cuisine. Everyone loves this. I made mushroom lasagna and eggnog cheesecake from fat free vegan (check her link under my blogroll). Both recipes ruled and were really easy to make.

Emily's Nut Roast
Mushroom Lasagna

Maria's Pesto Pasta

Chocolate Castle

Eggnog Cheesecake