Pizza, Pizza!

We will talk about pizza this week! Specifically, vegan pizza. Pizza without cheese? Does it taste good? Absolutely!

Here is a link for eating out at chain restaurants while veg (including a few chain pizza places). Please note that this is a guide and you should check with the specific restaurant to ensure the ingredients are veg*n or suitable for your dietary wants/needs.

It is amazing how far vegan pizza has come. Little Caesars mentions vegans on their website. There are videos on making vegan pizza, even by famous chefs. There is apparently even one totally vegan pizza/sub place or maybe two in the country (my dream business!).

Locally-owned pizza joints where you should be able to buy a vegan pizza (please check ingredients before ordering to make sure): Monical's Pizza (multiple locations, but started locally), Village Inn Pizza on the corner of Springfield and Mattis in Champaign, Antonio's Pizza on Green St. in Campustown, Manolo's Pizza and Empanadas on Oregon in Urbana, Jupiter's Pizzia and Billards in downtown and at the Crossing in Champaign, and the new kid in town - Vinny's East Coast Pizzeria on Kirby in Champaign. We've heard that Papa Del's has dairy in all their crust so unfortunately we aren't aware of any vegan pizza offerings from this local icon. I've also been told that One World Pizza has dairy in all their crust. Do you have a favorite pizza place and know they are able to make a vegan pizza, let us know!

My husband is a special guest this week and will share his homemade pizza secrets!

In veg*n news:

1. Neal Barnard has a new article on Settling the Soy Controversy.

2. I mentioned this before, but here is the link to the PCRM 21-Day Vegan Kickstart.

We will also have a Co-op Corner and much more!

Weight, Sugar, Yummy Food

Today on FFT, we will attempt to tackle a sensitive issue.

Weight. Underweight to overweight, what are the health effects. How to find a balance.

Discrimination for people we are "overweight" such as the recent Kevin Smith incident.

What health issues may be linked to obesity?

Health issues which may be caused by being underweight.

Denying health insurance for children based on weight.

Veg*ns love to support other veg*ns. Now that tax time is quickly approaching, you might want to check out this ad for a vegan accountant on vegan.com.

I (VeganLinda) will also talk about vegan birthdays and mardi gras celebrations. We have a newish tradition of going to our friends' house for a vegan potluck and an awesome vegan King's Cake! Now that the festivities are over, I explore my intentions for giving up sugar or being more mindful of sweets at least until my next child's birthday in mid-April.

Meat-free Mike will have lots of fun stuff too! Listen today!

FFT for February 14, 2010

Greetings! "Meat-free" Mike here inviting you to listen THIS Sunday, 2/14/10, as Food for Thought radio presents the earlier-announced but highly delayed broadcast of Frances Moore Lappe's "Ending Hunger, Feeding Hope." Vegan Linda will be out this Sunday so it's a good time for us to listen to this thought-provoking lecture.

Happy Valentine's Day!

If You Haven't Been Listening, You've Been Missing...

All sorts of fun, interesting, informative content has been aired on Food for Thought over the last several months. Here are just a few links which we've mentioned.

Prairieland Community Supported Agriculture - PCSA:

All our listeners know we are big fans of local food and supporting local farmers. We interviewed Anna Barnes from our local CSA. She explained what a CSA is, what makes our local CSA special, and how you can buy a share (2010 shares are still available!).

Winter Composting:

Just because it is cold outside doesn't mean you need to throw those kitchen scraps away. Keep them working for you and keep them out of the landfills. Some tips on winter composting can be found here and here.

Vitamin D:

As much as I prefer to get nutrition through whole foods, I suggest people (veg or not) check out information on supplementing with vitamin D. If you are vegetarian or vegan, you want to look for D2 since it is plant-based (D3 is from animal sources). D is especially important in the winter months when one lives as far north as we do or for people who avoid or lack sun exposure.

E. coli O157:H7:

Article on grass-fed beef and e coli.

Local Eats:

Smile Politely is a wonderful local resource and online magazine. Often, they have articles about local food, food production, and restaurants. Now they have a new contributor with tips on eating vegan in C-U.

As always, we welcome your input. Let us know what you like, what you don't like, questions, comments, people you would like to hear us interview, topics you would like us to cover, etc. We love hearing from you!