Juliet Freudman, iEG contributor
How was your World Vegan Day?!
November 1: A day when most of the country is battling that post-holiday slump recovering from Halloween hangovers, we vegans are still celebrating. World Vegan Day, which began in 1994 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Vegan Society, only comes around once a year, so we have to make the most of it!
New to Chicago, I don’t know the city too well, but as a vegan foodie, I put The ChicagoDiner on the top of my to-do list. So what better day to try out this vegetarian restaurant than the day that celebrates exactly what it offers? Along with my college’s Veg Society, I set out for Chicago with an empty belly and high expectations.
And without a doubt, those high expectations were met.
Vegan, even vegetarian, restaurants overwhelm me with options since I’m so used to having (at most) three choices in normal restaurants. I decided to order the meal that made The Chicago Diner famous in the first place: The Radical Reuben- a bursting sandwich of corned beef seitan, grilled onions, peppers, sauerkraut, vegan thousand island dressing, and vegan cheese.
My one regret: I didn’t save enough room for one of their mouthwatering milkshakes. (Hey, just another excuse to go back, right?)
To make up for the dessert I didn’t eat at The Chicago Diner, I finished off my celebration of World Vegan Day later that night with a chocolate, peanut butter cupcake I bought from Whole Foods.
Then to top it all off, I found out that Ben & Jerry’s is in the process of making vegan ice cream, set to be released in 2016.
At the end of the day, although I can’t argue that living a vegan lifestyle isn’t reason alone to celebrate, I also realized how much veganism has grown over the past half-century. I’m growing increasingly appreciative to live in a city where I can find so many vegan options and to study at a university that offers a Veg Society.
And if you missed World Vegan Day on Sunday, don’t stress – November is World Vegan Month, so you have plenty of time to celebrate the joys of living a plant-based, environment-friendly, animal-loving, self-nurturing life.
Juliet Freudman is a freshman at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism who can be found eating chocolate when she’s not dreaming of Paris.