Mitzi Buys
For most non-vegans the idea of having to prepare a meal for vegans can be quite daunting. What on earth to serve them? Carrots and a few celery sticks?
No need to panic. The Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary recently brought out a fabulous vegan recipe book, Love Lives Here: Vegan Food from a Farm Sanctuary, featuring easy, nourishing dishes, each one beautifully illustrated.
Hermanus Times spoke to Nicola Vernon, a vegan for 18 years and owner of the Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary. “Over the last 10 years we have had many volunteers from all over the world coming in to help us with the animals. Each night, after a hard day’s work, we all sit around a table for a communal meal one of the volunteers has cooked.
“We have had wonderful food that has been inspired by Finland and the rest of Europe, Brazil, Mexico, Asia (we’ve had Korean and Chinese volunteers), Australia and India. The idea for this recipe book arose from all the delicious meals we’ve had from these volunteers, whose ages ranged from 18 to 65.”
Asked about the difficulty of obtaining ingredients for these vegan recipes, Vernon mentioned that all the ingredients for the recipes in the book were sourced locally in Greyton. A lot of the vegetables come from the gardens of former piggeries in the Pigs to Plants programme.
“We buy our vegetables on Wednesday mornings from the market we set up to sell these fresh, organic, locally grown vegetables.
“You just have to stretch your mind a bit when cooking vegan food, but the book with its simple and easy recipes is a wonderful way to show how vegan food can be delicious as well as nourishing.”
Love Lives Here: Vegan Food from a Farm Sanctuary is available from the Art of Compassion Gallery in Greyton, as well as leading bookstores such as Exclusive Books and Wordsworth, and some private bookshops. All proceeds go to the Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary.
