Vegetarian Star

Carrie Underwood and fiance Mike Fisher have ditched the traditional wedding cake and opted to be sweet tooth locavores and serve cupcakes made by a bakery near her hometown instead.

The rest of the reception menu has been decided on as well, as Carrie told Ellen DeGeneres, “We pick out food, and we know where we’re going to be. The big hurdles, but everything else we’re easy about…We don’t care.”

Because Carrie’s a vegetarian, she’s sure to have plenty of meat free options besides cupcakes.

If you’re in need of a vegan cupcake (along with sugar and gluten free), BabyCakes bakery has you covered East Coast or West.

The bakery that originated in New York City and now with a shop in LA, offers cupcakes, cookies, brownies and now even donuts that are completely free of animal products.

BabyCakes’ owner, Erin McKenna, started the company because she had multiple sensitivities to foods like wheat.

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Radhika Oswal just opened the New York outlet of her string of fast food vegetarian restaurants, Otarian.

The restaurant, which has a location in London, was constructed from recycled materials and lists the environmental impact of each dish on the menu compared to a meat one.

When she wasn’t counting carbons for a future menu item, Radhika took time to speak with Black Book Magazine on several matters, including her favorite foods and why a vegetarian fast food restaurant works.

On fast food v.s. fine dining:
We wanted to reach the masses. Vegetarian food is really misunderstood at the moment. I didn’t think people would be willing to sit for hours in a place to eat vegetarian food when they could spend $14 in 10 minutes. It’s just simple logic, really.

Favorite vegetarian dishes:
I like the Tex Mex Burger. I love the Biryani. I love the flatbread. I am Indian by culture, so, I love the spicy foods.

Typical mistakes that vegetarians make in their dietary choices:
Vegetarians who have been vegetarians for long don’t make many mistakes. I think it’s people who are trying to eat more vegetarian food make the mistake of not knowing the correct nutritional requirements around the carbs or not knowing the daily servings of vegetables and fruits. Balancing, especially things like vitamin D and B, in your diet are important.

For the entire interview, visit Black Book magazine.

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Disney Garden, a Disney brand of fruits and vegetables, has reported a 300% growth in Canada last year and competitors like Nickelodeon and Discovery Kids are hoping to get in on the market and promote their cartoon carrots to children.

The brand features fruits and vegetables with Disney characters on the packaging.

Bonus points: Disney Garden has organic produce!

“When you have Ronald McDonald, who is very recognizable, on the fast-food side, and you have the Disney characters on the side of fruits and vegetables, it seems to even the playing field,” says Debi Andrus, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, according to the Star Phoenix.

“What we’re trying to do is make fresh produce more fun, and as appealing to children as sweets might be,” says Michael Caito, CEO of Imagination Farms.

Not everyone wants Mickey Mouse promoting cucumbers, though.

“I am not about marketing to children. It sickens me,” says Erica Ehm, a Toronto-based mother of two. “But having said that, I don’t think putting carrots in a Cinderella package is going to damage the child. And if it somehow leads them to liking fruits and vegetables, that’s OK with me.”

Unless you’re kid never sees a television, a billboard on the street or talks to another child at school, there’s no way to hide the marketing tactics employed to suck them into the sugary cereal aisle.

If they’re going to be brainwashed, it might as well be about Tigger’s organic pears.

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Starbucks will introduce its vegan Frappuccinos nationally on May 5, according to The Consumerist.

Like many other drinks available at the coffee establishment, vegan, non-dairy versions have been available unofficially, and the vegan Frappuccino has already been introduced in Los Angeles.

Blogger Quarrygirl took to the web to explain more about the drink:

“The old method to make them used a base that contained dairy, but the new way you basically add a thickening syrup to base of milk/ flavour syrups/ coffee depending on the drink, so as long as the drink is made with soy it’s vegan. The coffee and creme frappuccino bases are vegan, however, the light one is not— and all the other inclusions and toppings are vegan except for whip (duh) and caramel drizzle.”

An email to a Starbuck’s manager by the Consumerist confirmed that indeed the regular frap base and cream base are vegan, but the light base isn’t, so don’t be afraid of fat little caffeinated vegan brothers and sisters.

The light base isn’t gluten-free either, which applies to both the regular and the cream.

In addition, like non-dairy drinks have their own pitchers, the vegan Frappuccino should be made in the soy pitcher.

While this should be standard procedure, it never hurts to ask.

And watch them while they’re doing it.

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When in Los Angeles, Kristen Bell can’t get enough of vegan restaurant Real Food Daily.

This she revealed to Black Book magazine in their regular “Where Celebs Go Out” feature, which has included plenty of vegetarian recommendations from stars in the past.

Tony Award winning actress Laura Benanti frequents ABC Kitchen, a New York restaurant that emphasizes locally grown organic foods and ingredients.

ABC NYC is far from vegetarian, but you can find something to suit your meatless palate like the chickpea and white bean soup and the ricotta ravioli.

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling for manslaughter charges to be filed against the Orlando, Florida marine park SeaWorld, in relation to several deaths, including the recent one by trainer Dawn Brancheau by Tilikum the killer whale.

PETA’s General Counsel Jeffrey Kerr sent a 12-page letter to Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar asking him to consider charges for both the park and its executives, saying they are “culpably negligent” for continuing to allow trainers to interact with animals despite previous events and a government warning three years ago.

There have been six publicized attacks on trainers since 2002, and an investigation by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health after an orca attacked its trainer in 2006 concluded it was “only a matter of time” before someone was killed.

“SeaWorld has shown reckless disregard for the lives of its trainers by paying them to be in close contact with massive, powerful, wild animal who can kill them in a flash,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement.

“Corporations must be held accountable when their greed causes suffering and loss of life.”

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Radhika Oswal was a “hungry vegetarian” traveling with her husband, Pankaj Oswal, chairman of Burrup Holdings Ltd. in Australia, when all she could find left and right were pizza and burger joints.

This was the reason she decided to launch Otarian, a global chain of vegetarian fast food restaurants, with a recent opening in New York City.

The couple is the same one that forbid construction workers from eating meat while building their billion dollar mansion in Australia.

Oswal jokes starting the restaurant was like getting her “PhD is vegetarianism and sustainability.”

The menu is lacto-ovo with several vegan options and according to Planet Green, the corporate office is aiming for a 98% recycling and composting rate.

Plus, there are carbon values for each item on the menu, comparing it to the carbon value of a meat item.

And how’s this for a fast food reminder? Otarian offers combo meals.

The carbon combos on the menu save at least 3 kilograms of carbon compared to a similar meat one.

“What’s really big is that three kilograms of carbon is equivalent to the amount emitted by driving 21 miles in an eco-car or 7 miles in a normal car, and is more than the average person’s journey to work every day,” Radhika said.

Counting calories is so yesterday.

Start scribbling in those carbon food diaries today!

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Aldo Zilli has taken best restaurant in The Independent‘s Best of Green awards.

Signor Zilli was converted into a vegetarian Italian restaurant in London, Zilli Green, a few months ago.

Although the UK Metro came up short with nice things to say about it, The Independent says Zilli Green wins for featuring multi-cultural seasonal dishes and avoiding the stereotypical vegetarian entrees like veggie burgers.

Bonus: The head chef at Zilli Green, Enzo di Marino, has been a vegan for 12 years, so he’s had plenty of experience sampling anything served to you.

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