Start of tour
Iowa City, Iowa
May 23, 2011End of tour
ABOUT THE TOUR
Our co-founder and president, Gene Baur, is embarking on a cross-country adventure, the Just Eats Tour: Exploring Vegan America. In his iconic Volkswagen van, Gene will travel across America seeking out the game-changers at the heart of the movement. Through recipes, videos, photos, blog posts, and interviews, Gene will explore the past, present, and future of the vegan movement. Oh, and he'll be eating well and sharing delicious recipes he picks up along the way. We want you to be a part of it! Follow the van, share your recipes, take the Vegan Challenge, and enjoy the food and stories behind it all. The Just Eats Tour is traveling from Farm Sanctuary's 25th anniversary Gala at Cipriani in New York on May 14 to Farm Sanctuary's Country Hoe Down in Orland California on June 4.
TAKE THE VEGAN CHALLENGE
For the three weeks that Gene was on the road for the Just Eats Tour: Exploring Vegan
America, he put out the challenge for website followers to eliminate meat, dairy, eggs,
and other animal products from their diets. Many of you took him up on the Just Eats
Tour Vegan Challenge, pledging to go vegan for the duration of the tour! Some stuck
with it from day one, some joined in half way through, and some simply tried a few
new vegan recipes. Yet everyone taking the challenge made a difference in the lives of
farm animals, their personal health, and the planet- all while discovering how delicious
and satisfying vegan meals can be! While the tour has come to an end, new vegan food
options are being added to menus and grocery store shelves every day. We encourage
everyone to continue choosing plant-based foods and enjoying the tastes of vegan
America!
COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE
Thank you
New York City
May 14, 2011 in Manhattan, New YorkWilmington, Delaware
May 16, 2011 in Wilmington, DelawareAvondale, Pennsylvania
May 16, 2011 in Avondale, PennsylvaniaLancaster, Pennsylvania
May 16, 2011 in Lancaster, PennsylvaniaMany of you have heard the story of Hilda, a live sheep discarded like trash on a pile of dead animals behind the Lancaster Stockyards in Lancaster, PA. Hilda became the very first animal rescued by Farm Sanctuary and went on to live with us until 1997. Next on the tour, Gene will be revisiting the location of the former Lancaster Stockyards, as well as stopping by the Wilmington, DE home that served as Farm Sanctuary’s first haven for rescued farm animals. That evening, Gene will join guests for dinner at Lancaster’s historic Stockyard Inn, which for decades has served steak dinners to hungry cattleman. On May 16, however, the menu will be a little different: the Inn has agreed to serve a gourmet vegan dinner to celebrate Farm Sanctuary’s 25th anniversary! Join us for a reflective journey into Farm Sanctuary’s past, and a triumphant celebration of its future!
Home in Watkins Glen
May 17, 2011 in Watkins Glen, New YorkFollow Gene online as he makes the journey back to the rolling green pastures of Farm Sanctuary’s New York Shelter in Watkins Glen. The 175-acre sanctuary has been a refuge to thousands of rescued farm animals over the past 25 years and currently is home to over 500, including chickens, turkeys, pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats. Gene will take viewers on a virtual tour of the farm, telling the stories of the rescues that brought these residents to our shelter. Watkins Glen may be a small town, but the big influence of Farm Sanctuary is apparent in numerous vegan options at local restaurants – from one popular lunch spot that offers a “Sanctuary Special” sandwich to the Burger King where the very first BK Veggie was served. Check back soon for posts from this joyous return to the roots of the nation's largest farm animal protection organization!
Akron, Ohio
May 19, 2011 in Akron, OhioColumbus, Ohio
May 20, 2011 in Columbus, OhioThe Vegan Windy City!
May 21, 2011 in Chicago, IllinoisThe VW will be pulling into Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood to visit Karyn’s on the Green, a chic vegan restaurant that has been “making vegan sexy” in the Windy City. On Sunday, Gene will travel to the suburb of Hindsdale to talk to members of its Unitarian church about what it means to be vegan. Before heading off, he’ll enjoy some of Chicago’s famous soul food -- vegan style! -- and share the recipes and hot spots Chicago has to offer.
Iowa City, Iowa
May 23, 2011 in Iowa City, IowaOmaha, Nebraska
May 24, 2011 in Omaha, NebraskaTulsa, Oklahoma
May 27, 2011 in Tulsa, OklahomaDallas, Texas
May 28, 2011 in Dallas, TexasAustin, Texas
May 30, 2011 in Austin, TexasPhoenix, Arizona
Jun 02, 2011 in Phoenix, ArizonaLos Angeles, California
Jun 02, 2011 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaOrland, California
Jun 04, 2011 in Orland, California
Leaving Iowa
May 24, 2011
After a hearty breakfast of vegan monte cristo, Florida strawberry omelet waffle with a side of grilled tempeh, and the Texas omelet waffle, we are on the road headed for Omaha, Nebraska to meet up with Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World," "Veganomicon," "Vegan Brunch," and "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar." We are pretty excited to hear Isa’s story of how she came to live in Omaha after living in the vegan meccas of Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, New York. Is Omaha the next Portland?
Echollective Farm
May 23, 2011
Derek Roller has been farming ”veganically” for more than 10 years, growing vegetables for the local food co-op and restaurants and also for his Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Farming exacts long days and a lot of hard work, and farmers deserve a fair wage for their labor. I have great respect those who grow our food. After speaking with Derek, I ran into Echollective Farm worker and resident Jess Kettler, whom we spotted strolling around the farm gathering her dinner in a wooden bowl (both cultivated and wild greens). What a fresh, healthy way to eat!
Vegan Voices in Iowa
May 23, 2011
Elizabeth Cummings and Tom Glorfield both grew up in Iowa eating meat like those around them, but as they became more aware of what happens to animals exploited by the food industry, they went vegan. Tom’s vegan story starts with one of his first jobs: He worked for a pharmaceutical company, picking up pig organs from a slaughterhouse. After touring the slaughter operation and witnessing the cruelty and despair there, he stopped eating pigs. In time, he stopped eating all other animals. Elizabeth always had a natural connection with animals but first learned about efforts to prevent the inhumane treatment of farm animals in the early 1990s. Since that time, with information becoming more and more widely available through the Internet, Elizabeth has worked to raise awareness and help animals. In 2008 she even traveled to our shelter in Watkins Glen, NY, to help care for pigs rescued from the floods that devastated Iowa that year. We also met Carol Throckmorton, an Iowa dietician who advises cardiac and diabetic patients to shift their diets away from animal foods and toward plant foods. Carol worked with Dr. Dean Ornish on his seminal research, which showed that plant-based diets could reverse heart disease. What’s your vegan story? We’d love to hear it - please share your story with us via our Facebook page www.facebook.com/GeneBaur.
Fair Grounds Coffee Shop
May 23, 2011
After getting settled in Iowa City, our first stop was Fair Grounds Coffeehouse where we enjoyed grilled vegan panini "cheeseburgers", a "BLT ...hold everything grilled panini" and a vegan grilled California "chicken" salad wrap. For dessert: red velvet cake, a caramel apple cake and a slice of silky chocolate pie.
We've arrived in Iowa City!
May 23, 2011
As we drove west from Chicago through rural Illinois and into Iowa we passed by expanses of cropland growing feed for industrially raised animals, smelled the stench of factory farm waste and saw livestock trucks along the highway (follow my Twitter and Facebook posts for real-time (frank) commentary). And, we also met more vegans! www.facebook.com/genebaur and www.twitter.com/genebaur
