Head to the rooftops of Bushwick this Saturday for Vegan Jam which bills itself as "New York's Premier Vegan Hip Hop And Fashion Event" (and who are we to argue?).

The event will feature performances by rapper Emcee Jermaine, poet Narubi Selah, and singer/songwriter Stephanie Rooker.

T. Leacock, will be showcasing her vegan fashion-line, "reciclaGEM", and DJ Henry C will be spinning old-school hip-hop.

Of course my first question was about the food, and here's what they're offering: "a number of platters made of pasta, and vegetables. There will be raw salads and mock-meat platters. We will also have a home-made vegan cheesecake made from tofu." Awesome.

The Jam happens Saturday July 3 from 3-7pm on the rooftop of Opera House Lofts at 27 Arion Place, Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Videos from Emcee Jermaine and Narubi Selah below. This is good stuff!

I'll be honest, you probably wouldn't catch me wearing the new Mike Dirnt-designed MacBeth shoes, but I'm glad that they exist. As a guy who crushes on shoes, (mainly the plastic Stacy Adams type stuff) it makes me feel good to know that the vegan shoe options are flourishing.

With that said, I like MacBeth shoes. They're reasonably priced, look good and (most importantly) are well made. I use my one pair for skating and they've held up well.

Score one for the vegans!

Babeland's Jaguar Harness is now vegan, according to Shewired. No leather necessary for super good times!

The insanely timely hilarious geniuses at Vegansaurus gave us a recipe for a vegan version of KFC's heart-clogging, rotting body parts, media darling sandwich, the Double Down. Oh my god, Rudy, get your deep fryer.

As of this week, Mondays are vegetarian days in San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors declared in a resolution Tuesday. Yaaaayyyy! Whatever it means in practice, we like the theory and hope it means more delicious veggies for all.

Since life isn't all fried seitan and Meatless Mondays, and because you need something to show your friend who doesn't understand that egg farming causes suffering, we give you the Humane Society of the United States's latest undercover investigation, released Wednesday. Warning: you might puke.


In restaurant news, Souen on 13th Street will close for several months starting next week to renovate, so if you like your hippie food served in a hippie restaurant, go eat there right now, hippie.

'sNice Soho will open NEXT WEEK so get in a sandwich-y, coffee-y mood with me!

Oh, and in other 'sNice news! Two of their employees were stabbed last month (shocking and horrible, i know!), so 'sNice in the West Village is having a benefit to support them on Sunday, April 11, 6-9 p.m. $10 at the door. There will be vegan pigs in a blanket! And me! I will be there!

Enough about restaurants. Registration for the Let Live conference in Portland is open. June 25-27 at Portland State University. Speakers will include Gene Baur, Josh Hooten, Andy Stephanian, Isa Moskowitz, Jasmin Singer, and others TBA.

I can appreciate satire. Even biting politically-incorrect sarcasm has its place in any dialogue; but these are just sad. Seriously, who wears these things?


Figure A: I kill one cow for every vegan who slights me
Translation: I don't have anger issues. I’m just edgy dude.

Figure B: The only thing vegans are good for is techno
Translation: I have a tendency to blurt out things that no one gets or finds funny.

Figure C: Vegans can eat my ass
Translation: I have a tendency to hi-five while wearing my hat backwards.

Figure D: Carnivores on Tilt. Herbivores on Wilt.
Translation: I love to use irrelevant uber-hip language like "that's so Avatar!"

This is just a smattering of what's out there. As it stands, most anti-vegan shirts are poorly conceived, insecurity-filled ill-witticisms of little to no value. They don’t convey a deep-rooted message or attempt to question a long-held institution - they aren't even funny. Frankly, they serve no real purpose and probably never will because they are championing the status quo.

Maybe it is just a shirt and it doesn’t require deep thought. But as with any shirt, regardless of the message: in the end you're the asshole wearing it.

• New York State Humane Lobby Day is upon us, March 24, people. This is our chance to talk about legislation that will directly and significantly affect the nonhumans with whom we share the state. Want to go but don't have a ride? Chartered buses will leave from Water Street and Midtown West the morning of. $25 pp.
• In the Awesome Vegan Shit on Etsy department, there's this (maybe NSFW?) Vegan Vulva Lip Balm, for the, uh, lips on your face. VulvaLoveLovely's store totally cracks me up with its vagina pendants, uterus plush dolls, breast pillows, and other assorted vag trinkets.
• And how's about these super cute handmade vegan flats?! Vegansaurus pointed these out earlier this week, but I can't not direct you them again cause I loves me some sustainably-made shoes!
• Speaking of shoes, we went to the opening of Melissa Shoes's pop-up shop at Kaight this week. Ooooh, shiiiiny.
• Discerning Brute founder Joshua Katcher will give a vegan cooking demo TOMORROW, hear me?, at JivamukTea Cafe 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event costs $75, and you can sign up here by going to the special events tab on the upper right and clicking "signup now!" next to Joshua's photo. (Pssst, you can check our NYC events calendar for more vegan happenings in the area, too!)
• SuperVegan is looking for writers! If you're interested, check this post and get in touch pleeease and thank you.
• TeaNY is reopening, say some news-rumors. Alas, the LES restaurant, which has been closed since it lost to an electrical fire in June '09, isn't answering the phones or opening the doors, so I have no real live dates for you at present. TeaNY, answer my calls, open up, and bring back your sweet, sweet, frothy almond milk tea lattes. I still love you.
• 'sNice is opening a new location at Sullivan Street between Prince and Houston, sooort of near TeaNY. Some time this month they will fill the sandwich and tea chasm below Houston. So, TeaNY, whatever with you. Oh, consumers are so fickle. (Just kidding. More is more. Give me my lattes.)
• New kid Terri is getting lots of fab reviews.
• Since you probably read the news this week, I won't belabor it except to say ENDANGERED WHALE SUSHI WHAT?!
• Let us close on a positive note: New York Magazine named BabyCakes's doughnuts "Best Vegan Treat." Meanwhile, Erin McKenna is working on a candy cookbook. Sweet.

Last night (as previously mentioned here on SuperVegan) was the opening party for the Melissa's Shoes Pop-Up shop inside of the Lower East Side's Kaight store. Naked feet, open shoe boxes and smiling gals trying on super cute shoes were the scene last night.


The vegan snacks amounted to little more than a few vegan thumbprint cookies in a bag, but there was vodka for the partakers and people seemed to be having a good time. (Seriously though, don't say you're providing vegan snacks and show up with a few cookies, because a hungry vegan might cut a b*tch)

Full Disclosure: I have dude feet. So, that means I can't partake in the cute shoes above, but, I love to browse like I do and I'm all smiles at the thought of happy girls wearing cute shoes. So, there!

Pictures by Dodai Stewart

It happens every year — well, it could. Cast as little Clara or Marie in the Nutcracker, every night you have to take off one of your shoes and hurl it at the Mouse King to deter him from devouring your precious Nutcracker. But you're concerned about this stage direction, key plot point though it is. Is this violent action reconcilable with the vegan way?

At the very least, you can make sure the shoe you throw is a vegan shoe. Before choreographer and animal activist Cynthia King — an alumna of The Boston Conservatory, The Ailey School, and The Rod Rodgers Dance Company — opened her Brooklyn dance studio in 2002, a canvas shoe with a leather sole was the concerned dancer's only option. I confirmed this after purchasing a bizarre pink plastic pair of something that came to a point in the middle and molded to the arch with all the flexibility of a flip-flop. Whatever it was, it was not a dancing shoe.

The decision to betray my principles and buy real, foot-shaped ballet slippers was traumatic and confusing, and none of you will have to make it, thanks to Cynthia. In 2003 she worked with a local shoemaker to develop gorgeous, durable, and affordable ($24.95 per pair) split-sole canvas shoes, using vinyl instead of suede on the bottom (your feet won't know the difference!), that hug the foot like a sock and create a more flattering shape than any of the Capezios, Sanshas, or Blochs of the pre-vegan past. So even though I'm told that Capezio can now do a special-order vegan slipper with a six- to eight-week waiting period (if so, they keep it quiet on their website), I'm sticking with Cynthia's. They're available immediately from her website and from Karmavore in Canada, and are simply the best slippers you're going to find.

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.

**Edit: Two late additions for Tuesday, June 16**

Be alerted of these and other events we think you'll care about by subscribing to our calendar.

Events are free unless otherwise noted.

Now until June 14

Watch new documentary HOME free on YouTube. More info in our recent blog post.

Saturday, June 13

National Pigeon Day: Praise the pigeon at Central Park and all over the country. Our very own Patrick Kwan will be speaking.
12-4pm
Central Park, Pilgrim Hill

Get friendly with a neeeeighbor at A Horse of Course!, a walk and discussion with Kathy Stevens at Catskill Animal Sanctuary.
1-4pm
$15, or $5 for members. Register in advance by calling Julie at (845) 336-8447.

Woodstock FAS hosts its family-friendly Jamboree. Games, face-painting, animals, and food by Isa Moskowitz. That's right--another chance to dose on Isa before she heads back to Oregon.
11am-5pm
$10. Register in advance at the website.

Tuesday, June 15

Protest against the netting and gassing to death of at least 2,000 NYC geese
12-2pm
Port Authority Headquarters, 225 Park Ave. South

Ingrid Newkirk's book-signing for The PETA Practical Guide to Animals Rights: Simple Acts of Kindness to Help Animals in Trouble
7pm
Borders, Columbus Circle

Thursday, June 18

Mercy for Animals celebrates the opening of its New York office with vegan appetizers and drinks at MooShoes. And wait, it gets better than vegan food and booze: MooShoes will be donating 10% of that day's in-store and online sales to MFA, so you finally have a scale-tipping reason to get that pair of Simples.
6:30-9:30pm
MooShoes, 78 Orchard St.

Friday, June 19

Join Mary and Peter Max for the kick-off party for the production of Standardized Testing. The film "follows PATH founder Kelly Overton...as he attempts to return his diplomas and get his tuition refunded in an effort to bring attention to the dangerous and wasteful biomedical research being done at the universities." Food will be provided by 4 Course Vegan, BabyCakes NYC, Blackwell's Organic Gelato, Candle Cafe, Frey Vineyards, The Power of Food, Tuthilltown Spirits, Vegan Treats Bakery, and others.
6:30-8:30pm
The Max Studio
37 W. 65th St., 7th floor
$100 and up. Purchase tickets here.

Lately, the editors over at W magazine have got a thing for veganism, sort of, or rather, sort-of-veganism. The V word is popping up all over their editor's blog this Spring. First there was the W Online Exclusive The Best Vegan Accessories, which couldn't battle with Andrea's response list and wasn't entirely vegan thanks to a Stella McCartney cashmere sweater. The list was soon followed by The Trails of a Fashion-loving Vegan-in-Training, in which aspiring vegan editor Dana Wood (who composed the vegan accessories list) lamented the painful irony of being an animal lover/ Farm Sanctuary supporter who, like mainstream media's vegan sweetheart Kathy Freston, can't resist fashioning herself in animal products like wool, silk, and a little leather trim.

Most recently, W magazine continues to tap into the vegan trend with an editor's blog post titled "She's Just Not That Into Meat" on actress Ginnifer Goodwin, star of HBO series Big Love and chick-flick He's Just Not That Into You. The article cites Goodwin's explanation of how she went vegan for concerns of both her own health and the treatment of animals. But wait, what's she wearing? It has to be faux, right? Nope. Click on over to the main W article on Goodwin and we learn that while she's not wearing much (as all good "vegan" celebrities should), everything she is wearing is made of leather and silk, save a pair of jersey underpants and tights.

Um. Okay. I think it's super that Goodwin isn't eating animal products and that she's being outspoken about it. And while I wish people would stop wearing animal stuff, I really don't care what Goodwin wears when she's just chilling out in Hollywood. Still, I do find it terribly annoying that she and W are using veganism as a way to drum up extra web copy, publicity, and street cred, but totally drop the ball on presenting it as a lifestyle that can embrace fashion. After all, shouldn't a magazine of W's caliber and supposed recent interest in veganism have the resources and wits to style a "vegan" celebrity in something other than leather S&M fetish attire? Bummer!