In conjunction with Blu Toddy, "an early stage functional beverage and food developer," some Little Lad's treats are currently available at the Columbus Circle Market. Located at the Merchant's Gate at the southwest entrance to Central Park (right across from the Time Warner Center), the market offers a wide variety of shopping opportunities from unique vendors. Many of the products are handmade and the artists are on hand to discuss their work; what an especially nice alternative to the mass-produced gifts you would otherwise be purchasing right across the street!

When you need a break from shopping, bypass the non-vegan giant gingerbread men and go directly to the Blu Toddy booth. There you will find a trio of Little Lad's offerings: blueberry lemon cookies, blueberry tarts, and mini blueberry pies-- priced between $2-$3.

This weekend was the 14th Annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. I was so there dude - here are my top 10 observations.

10. Investment Firms will always seem out of place at events like this. I rarely go to food based events with financial planning on the brain.

9. Some people in the crowd have no idea that they're at a vegetarian food festival as exhibited by comments like "Wait. This is ALL vegetarian. UGH!"

8. Renewing your subscription to VegNews is best done at the BVFF because not only is the timing perfect but they give you free stuff too.

7. Sooner or later the organizers are going to have to move this event to a bigger space. Seriously, sometimes you have to swim through people like some kind of vegan Michael Phelps.

6. The BVFF is better when Isa Chandra Moskowitz is in attendance, because, y'know she's the bomb and I was hoping to get a signed cookie book.

5. The sheer sight of the Vegan Treats table may make you weep bulbous tears of joy.

4. Just because something is vegan does not mean it will taste good.

3. It's best to starve yourself before the event because there is a good chance that if you don't your stomach might explode.

2. Samples are really the life blood of this event. Without samples, the squished feet, the random nefarious odor combination and line-cutters might supersede the event's worth.

1. Old ladies with Farm Sanctuary shirts will sucker punch you in the ribs to get the last Cedar's Hummus snack pack. Seriously.

We've set up an online store (via Amazon.com) to house products that we recommend. Here you'll find SuperVegan favorites in the realm of books, DVDs, snacks, shoes, and more.

If you're looking for gifts or cookbooks with a vegan theme, this is a good place to start. Everything in the store got a positive review on SuperVegan or is recommended by a SuperVegan staff member.

SuperVegan makes a little bit of money from Amazon every time you purchase something via this page, so this is a great way to support our work. (Hey, this web server doesn't pay for itself!)

Click here to visit the SuperVegan store.

The good people over at W magazine (the periodical for those who deem WWD to have too many initials) shot us an e-mail (they're fans of ours, heeeey!) with a link to their first ever vegan article! We'd like to applaud editor Dana Wood for pushing cruelty-free friendliness. Awesome!

Now before you get all crankypants about their favorite vegan accessories having an average price of $245, keep in mind that (according to the internet, if it can be trusted) "80 percent of the magazine's readers are female and have an average household income of $135,840." I'm gonna go out on a gangly limb here and say that the 80 percent of the 87 people who read SuperVegan are female and make significantly less monies per annum and use their Working Assets credit cards on exciting new foodstuffs, not pricey new pumps (as witnessed by Natalie Portman's beautiful but cost ineffective shoe line Te Casan's untimely demise).

However, as I've said before, being vegan is no reason to dress badly. In fact, if you do, you are giving us all a bad name, Jerk. I like my fashion just like I like my faux meat--you shouldn't be able to tell it's vegan. And part of the hidden charm of this lifestyle choice is that faux-accessories are cheap! So here's the SuperVegan list of 15 chic vegan accessories that you might actually be able to afford during this economic apocalypse.

• Want to see an end to dogs being sold in pet stores? Me too. Join the NYC Animal Advocacy Network for the kickoff of Best Friends Animal Society’s Puppy-Store-Free NYC campaign on Friday, Feb. 20, at 6:15pm.
• I was bummed when Pumpkin’s went under; I like giving my money to vegan places, and how often does a vegan market come along? On its heels, the V-Spot is having so much trouble staying afloat, they’ve closed for lunch and are three weeks overdue on the rent. Help add to their coffers by attending a “rent party” on Monday, Feb. 23, between 6 & 10pm, with full menu and $3 beers.
• Another worthy vendor: Above and Below Herbals creates handmade vegan (and often organic) body care free from synthetic materials and other unecessary crap. I’m allergic to pretty much everything, but my skin loves, loves, loves their Body Butter, Moisturizing Cream and Lip Balm. And there’s free shipping within the U.S.! Place your order now at info@aboveandbelowherbals.com.
• Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the hearing on the carriage horse ban in January. But you can still help. Write to support Intro 658 and oppose Intros 652 and 653. And if you haven’t seen it yet, get to a screening or pick up a copy of Blinders.

The Humane Society of the United States and New York State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal revealed today that some of the largest retailers in New York--including Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue--have been selling unlabeled fur-trimmed garments in violation of state law.

HSUS investigators and Assemblymember Rosenthal visited stores in New York City with undercover cameras last month to determine whether retailers are in compliance with the 2007 law Rosenthal authored.

The law requires that all apparel with real or fake fur be labeled as real or fake, so that shoppers can have access to important product information. The investigation showed that Bloomingdale's was selling unlabeled "Parajumpers" and "Steve by Searle" brand jackets trimmed with animal fur, and that Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue were both selling "Moncler" brand jackets trimmed with unlabeled animal fur.

"I passed this law to ensure that consumers in New York could make informed decisions about the type of clothing they are buying," said Rosenthal. "Many people prefer not to wear animal fur, and they should be able to tell at a glance whether an article of clothing is made with fur or not. Retailers have had more than a year to comply with this law, and it is appalling that so many have disregarded it," she said.

In the continuing exploitation of animals in the interest of selling crap, “design studio” Partners and Spade, which opened last week, apparently has about 15 live birds in one of its windows.

Reader K.C., who tipped us off, tells us the lights are almost always on, which is wreaking havoc on the birds’ sleep cycles, and as a result, some of them are crashing into the window. And because their food and water dishes are on the floor of the “display,” they’re becoming contaminated with urine and feces.

I found some references to aviary construction and aviaries for sale, but that doesn’t justify the owners in keeping these poor birds in a tiny space and basically driving them insane. (I also found references to “collections”; while the writer might have been talking about the artwork in the store, it reminded me of how zoos use the term, which turns my stomach.)

Anyway, the birds don’t belong there, so let the owners know, will you? You can send an
e-mail to Partners and Spade, or call them at 646-861-2827. The store, which is at 40 Great Jones St. bet. Bowery and Lafayette, is open on weekends (Sat. 11-6; Sun. 11-5) and by appointment only on weekdays.

Update: I'm happy to report that P&S e-mailed K.C. to say that the birds will be removed midweek (see the comments). Thanks to everyone who intervened!

Update 2/13/09: The birds are still in the store window! Please continue to call and e-mail and tell management you will not shop at their store until the birds have been removed to a proper home, as promised.

Looking for something to fill the void that's in your life? Find that perfect little black dress, comfy vegan shoe, elusive vintage veggie cookbook, and more while doing good at today's Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary benefit tag sale!

If you didn't get a chance to stop by Williamsburg at the Aurora Lampworks Showroom yesterday at North 11th Street between Bedford and Driggs, the benefit continues on today from Noon to 4pm. And even if you did stop by yesterday, make sure to stop by again today as there are many more new items and yesterday's leftovers are now priced to sell!

Here's a flickr photostream of some of the many awesome items available for sale (as of yesterday) such as: $5 activist and just plain fashionable t-shirts and tanks, jewelry, cute jackets, vintage and refurbished lamps and metal accessories, posters and artwork, Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, and more!

All proceeds benefit the wonderful critters at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! Even if you can't make it, you can still make an online donation and sponsor an animal at their website.

• Okay, the Food Network would never turn Iron Chef veggie, but a live version with a vegetable as the secret ingredient is taking place this weekend in Billyburg. On Sunday, from 2 to 5, head to McGolrick Park for the 2nd annual Iron Chef Kohlrabi. Judging begins at 3, and the winner gets an Iron Chef prize pack, whatever that is. Brought to you by the Greenpoint-Williamsburg CSA
  and Garden of Eve farm.
• Two happy announcements this week about sellers going fur-free: the Home Shopping Network and Overstock.com. For info about other do-gooders in the biz, check out HSUS’s list of fur-free designers and retailers.
• Could it really be happening? After all the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages has done to get carriages banned in the city, it looks like Alec Baldwin might finally have legislators convinced to give it a go!

Herbivore Clothing Company has a new t-shirt design that reads "Factory Farms are mean and nasty." Buy one (or twelve) of these fetching $25 shirts this month and they'll donate 15% of your money to Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Not into buying new stuff or can't find enough new stuff to buy? Support Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary by scoring unique vintage clothing, shoes, housewares, jewelry, furniture, and more at the benefit tag sale held the weekend after this one in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Still don't wanna buy anything? Volunteers and donations are also needed. No excuses! (See our calendar for details.)

There are also no excuses for having an apartment that smells like cat poop or boiled veggie dogs. How about freshening things up with A Scent of a Scandal's Roll in the Hay candle? 15% of all sales of the cruelty-free, soy wax candle benefit Farm Sanctuary.