From Farm Sanctuaries to Food Festivals: Your Guide to December's Vegan Wonderland

Hello everyone,

Hold onto your winter squash, folks! This week's vegan scene is sizzling with everything from sanctuary soirées to south-of-the-border feasts. The Zend is throwing open their farm gates for a day of sanctuary tours and vendor delights, while Compatible Delights is cooking up an exclusive culinary experience with Chef Brown that promises to be unforgettable.

Meanwhile, the plant-based industry is serving up some fascinating paradoxes – despite being an $8 billion behemoth, it's still playing hide and seek with half of America's taste buds. But who needs convincing when you've got NFL stars like David Montgomery choosing carrots over turkey on national TV?

For the holiday hunters among us, Trader Joe's is stocking up on vegan seasonal treats, and VegNews is schooling us on winter squash varieties we never knew existed. Speaking of squash, this week's recipe puts a Mexican twist on spaghetti squash that'll make your taste buds do the salsa!

Events for the upcoming week

• On Saturday December 7th, the Zend will offer an open farm day including sanctuary tour, vendors and giveaways from 11am - 7pm in Justin TX. For details and tickets visit here.

• On Saturday December 7th, Compatible delights will offer and exclusive dinner experience by Chef Brown at 7pm in Fort Worth. For details and to purchase tickets, call or Zelle at (682) 882-6111.

• On Sunday December 8th is Fort Worth all vegan food festival & market, from 11am-4pm at Belenty’s Love Mexican Vegan Restaurant. For details, visit here.

• On Saturday December 7th, from 10am-2pm Compost Carpool: Pumpkin Composting Drop-Off - Fort Worth takes place at Mindful Market, 1201 Wesleyan St. Fort Worth , TX.

The Plant-Based Paradox: Why an $8 Billion Market Still Can't Convince Half of Americans

The U.S. plant-based food market, now valued at $8 billion, faces a complex landscape of opportunities and challenges. While plant-based milk leads the sector at $2.8 billion, meat alternatives struggle with consumer adoption as over half of Americans have never tried them. Despite challenges like inflation and price sensitivity, industry analysts project continued growth through 2029, though at varying rates. The success of the market largely hinges on addressing key barriers including taste, price parity, and convenience, while capitalizing on growing consumer interest in flexitarian diets.

You can read the original article here.

Weekly News

• I’ve covered many sports people and athletes who are vegan and here is one more to add to our growing list. the Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery was seen eating a carrot on screen while his team mates feasted on a turkey on Thanksgiving day.

• It holiday season and the best part of holidays is the food. Trader Joe’s being one of our favorite destinations to shop for vegan food, I thought this article listing all the vegan seasonal treats available at Trader Joe’s would be helpful.

• Keeping the seasonal food theme, I found this article about Winter Squash from VegNews interesting. It not only talks about the health benefits but also the lists 7 types of squash, most of them I didn’t even know about.

• US dietary guidelines are shifting towards plant based whole foods. Learn more here.

Recipe of the week

Mexican Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

A nice quick dinner recipe which includes beans, corn, peppers and onions. Click the link above to get the actual recipe.

Meme of the week.