In this episode, Sunny Simon, President of The Cleveland Vegan Society, joins us to talk about veganism and VegFest 2024, coming to Cleveland's Huntington Convention Center on Saturday, June 22. It's the largest Vegan festival in the Midwest, and it will be delicious, fun, and informative for vegans and non-vegans alike. The Cleveland Vegan Society created VegFest over 12 years ago to celebrate veganism and to encourage more plant-based eating. This year's festival features an impressive lineup of activities, speakers, cooking demos, a cruelty-free marketplace, a kids' activity area, yoga, and more.
Join us as Sunny shares about becoming a vegetarian and then a vegan thirty years ago and the environmental and humane reasons she advocates for the vegan lifestyle. She also clears up some misconceptions about vegans and offers tips for transitioning to a more plant-based diet. Everyone is welcome at VegFest, where over 13,000 people will gather to eat, have fun, and learn from speakers, including Sarina Farb, Christopher "Soul" Eubanks, Will Brooks, Dr. Keary O'Connor, and Gwenna Hunter. Cooking demos include chefs Chad Goodwin, Sonia Steele, and Anna Marie Harouvis. Whatever your dietary preferences, there will be something to satisfy everyone's tastes.
In this episode, Sunny Simon, President of The Cleveland Vegan Society, joins us to talk about veganism and VegFest 2024, coming to Cleveland's Huntington Convention Center on Saturday, June 22. It's the largest Vegan festival in the Midwest, and it will be delicious, fun, and informative for vegans and non-vegans alike. The Cleveland Vegan Society created VegFest over 12 years ago to celebrate veganism and to encourage more plant-based eating. This year's festival features an impressive lineup of activities, speakers, cooking demos, a cruelty-free marketplace, a kids' activity area, yoga, and more.
Join us as Sunny shares about becoming a vegetarian and then a vegan thirty years ago and the environmental and humane reasons she advocates for the vegan lifestyle. She also clears up some misconceptions about vegans and offers tips for transitioning to a more plant-based diet. Everyone is welcome at VegFest, where over 13,000 people will gather to eat, have fun, and learn from speakers, including Sarina Farb, Christopher "Soul" Eubanks, Will Brooks, Dr. Keary O'Connor, and Gwenna Hunter. Cooking demos include chefs Chad Goodwin, Sonia Steele, and Anna Marie Harouvis. Whatever your dietary preferences, there will be something to satisfy everyone's tastes.
You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, where the eco-curious explore the unique and thriving environmental community here in Northeast Ohio. My name is Diane Bickett and my producer is Greg Rotuno. Together we bring you inspiring stories from local sustainability leaders and invite you to connect, learn and live with our community and planet in mind. Hello friends, as I introduce today's topic, I want to mention my dad, frank Tainer. He was in the grocery business for over 40 years. He started his first grocery store with my grandfather in the 1950s. He had a shop a butcher shop and a grocery store at 131st and Miles in Cleveland, and in the 1970s he opened two more stores in Geauga County.
Diane:
Whenever people asked him about his success, he would just shrug and say well, people got to eat. Well, that's certainly true, but eating, I feel, has become complicated. Back in the day we were generally a meat and potatoes kind of people. We ate what we ate, and then we had dessert. Nowadays, I think, we're much more conflicted. We know more and we know we should eat plant-based for our bodies, for our planet, for our consciences. But for some of us it's hard. We like cheese or an occasional cheeseburger. Where do you fall on the dietary spectrum? Wherever it is. I hope you will join me and my guest, sunny Simon, with the Cleveland Vegan Society, the host of the 2024 VegFest, which is coming to the Huntington Convention Center on Saturday June 22nd. It's the largest vegan festival in the Midwest and it's going to be delicious, fun and informative for vegans and non-vegans alike.
Sunny:
Welcome, sunny. Yeah, thanks, diane, thanks for having me it's just it's really happy to be here to talk about veganism and the Cleveland VegFest. We're all really excited to bring it back after we took a break after COVID and we're bringing it back strong, Awesome.
Diane:
Well, we're excited. It's good to see you. I haven't seen you in a little while and people who don't know you should know that you're a Cuyahoga County Council member. You're an attorney. You're a former Cleveland City Council.
Speaker 3:
no, South Euclid Council person.
Diane:
You're an animal rights activist and you're the president of the Cleveland Vegan Society.
Sunny:
I don't know how you do it all but you wear many hats I do yeah.
Diane:
So thank you for all the work you do public service-wise. Tell us what year, how many years has the VegFest been happening? Tell us what year, how many years has the VegFest been happening?
Sunny:
So we started VegFest in, I think, 2012. We decided a group of us came together, recognizing a need to educate people about the, you know, the benefits of plant-based eating and the ethics of being vegan. And there was, you know, festivals sprouting up through actually this country and others. So we thought it was time for Cleveland to do it. So we formed our Cleveland Vegan Society to put on the fest.
Diane:
Awesome. So that was a sole purpose, or have you been doing other things in terms of promoting veganism and connecting people?
Sunny:
Yeah, Thanks for asking Originally. No, the big event is the VegFest and that was what we started with. However, we learned pretty early on that there was a great need and demand. People were, you know, looking for information. So we expanded what we did. We had Speakers Bureau. We would go out to the communities and have tables and talk to people and show films and, really throughout the year, put on other smaller events. But I'll tell you, VegFest is pretty big. Last time we had it was in 2019 and we had over 13,000 people. So it is a round the clock job to get that going.
Diane:
It's huge. I was there in 2019. That was the year we made it a zero waste event, so I stood at a waste sorting station for a few hours and it was pretty awesome. We had compostable plates and we were composting the food with people hadn't eaten, with Rust Belt riders, and then there was a recycling station and then a very small little trash can for things that could not be, you know, managed in another way, but it was fun. But I was shocked at how there were thousands of people there, thousands yeah, we were shocked too when we first put it on.
Sunny:
We didn't know what to expect. It was something very new to Cleveland and we we had to put on a fundraiser and didn't know what to expect, but that was sold out pretty quickly. This is back in 2012 and we started at Cleveland State University, at their student center, to put on the first um VegFest and you know, after we we had thousands of people the first year, second year, more, and the Cleveland State people told us we were kicked out because we should be considered a convention.
Sunny:
So that was pretty enlightening that people are interested in this and want to learn more, and it's grown since. So we've been at the Huntington Convention Center for the past three VegFests.
Diane:
Well, congratulations. You must have a legion of volunteers that help you and your board members as well. We do, we do.
Sunny:
We've been an all-volunteer organization. We have done it on our own. We had no experience in putting on a convention. We didn't know we were doing that, but we had such talent coming together in different sectors that we were able to continue on. And this is the first year actually where we'll have consultants helping us put on some of the work, because we all have full-time jobs and we needed some help.
Diane:
Nice to pawn off some of that load on to some other people. That's great. So how long? I'm curious. I should probably know this about you, but I don't. How long have you been vegan?
Sunny:
Yeah, thanks for asking. I've been vegan about 20 years, but prior to that I was vegetarian for probably 10. So I started off with being a vegetarian and gradually learned actually, not gradually when I learned about what happens to animals to produce milk or all eggs, it was very enlightening to me and instantly upon seeing what occurred, I went vegan and haven't looked back.
Diane:
Okay, so it's been almost 30 years since you've vegetarian tasted any meat.
Sunny:
Yep, okay, yeah, yeah so it's do you?
Diane:
remember how you felt when you kind of just got, did it all once and for all and got and stopped eating meat and dairy and eggs and things.
Sunny:
So I remember seeing a film called Peaceable Kingdom and it was brought to Cleveland by the filmmakers and they. It was a documentary about the animal production for dairy and eggs. And I remember during I mean, I was a mess, because what's my drives me? It's my love for animals. I've always just been animal rescuing. If there was a pigeon, a cat, a dog, it was something you know as early as I can remember, I had this affection and affiliation with. And so as I began to learn I mean, I love my dog, I love my cat, I love my I had everything. I mean, I love my dog, I love my cat, I love my I had everything.
Sunny:
And it was like when I learned that why don't I love this pig or this, you know, this cow, it started to just, you know, resonate with me that, yeah, there's really no difference from their perspective. And if I'm treating these other animals with kindness and love and make sure that they have to, you know, put to sleep, that it's done in the best possible way with you know, anesthesia. And you know and here we are like, treating, for my perspective, these, these other kinds of animals differently. And when I started learning about that, I went vegetarian. It was gradual. I mean, I got rid of the meat, the, you know, the beef, the, then the sea animals. I learned about that with the fish and the oceans. And then when I saw this film on the dairy, which it wasn't clicking until I saw that, and I just remember that I just my friend was with me that day and we said we're done, and that was it. And here I am, you know, being, I hope, an advocate.
Diane:
Well, you are an advocate, being, I hope, an advocate. Well, you are an advocate. I feel that there is a disconnect between the way we look at our pets and then the way we look at what's on our plate. How will VegFest kind of help people make that connection?
Sunny:
So VegFest is set up. Our board early on wanted to make it fun, we wanted to make it educational and we also wanted to cover all the reasons why going vegan benefits our planet. Now that includes the environment. So we have speakers that will address each aspect the animal animal, you know, compassionate animal issues and we address the environment. Environment, we address human health, we address body fitness and we try to really incorporate everything that um people, why it makes the planet better. So that will have all aspects of speakers, but also um children's activities. We had food demos for people who want to learn. I don't know, know what to cook.
Sunny:
That seems to be a stumbling block. So we do. We have three food demos. One's a chief chef, Chad Goodwin, from Columbus, who has a food show that's pretty well known. What's his food show? He does a vegan food runoff, Like I don't know the best. I don't even know what these shows are, but he's all vegan.
Diane:
Is it on Hulu or something, or can we find?
Sunny:
it.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, you can.
Sunny:
You can. So we've got some local people too, who we wanted to showcase, but it's fun. We have a film going about the environment during the day that people can watch film if they just need to get away, and tons of food. So you asked about how does this? You know it's fun, but it's also educational. Anything that people want to learn about is going to be there, yeah, and it's free.
Sunny:
Ah, okay, with a $5 suggested donation at the door yes, at the door, so we can do this again the next year Do you want to give a shout out to your sponsors that are making this possible.
Sunny:
For sure. So we have Squash the Beef, which is a food truck, a vegan food truck that actually came into fruition from being at one of our first VegFests, into fruition from being at one of our first um veg fest, because we're like an incubator for local vegan businesses, restaurants that once you know they start to you know produce their food and and show what they make and how delicious it is, their business grew so they're a great sponsor.
Sunny:
we have city of cleveland water, who will have their water truck there, so people are not going to have water, you know plastic water bottles, bring your refillables and we have a shingle uh animal sanctuary, so, um, our sponsors have been amazing and we just hope you know the attendees have always been so generous with the five dollar donation. They'll get a swag bag and um be able to put their goodies in it when they walk around what are the?
Sunny:
hours for veg fest. It opens at 11 to the general public till 5. But if you're, we have something new. It's a VIP where you can. If you pay $20, you get in there an hour early at 10 am, so you have much more opportunity to go to your vendor without waiting in line, because the lines tend to be long. As you know, diane, you were there. So people want to be a VIP. They'll get their own swag and be able just to shop around for an hour before the general public comes in.
Diane:
Do you want to talk about any of the speakers individually? I see? Well, you have several chefs.
Sunny:
Chef Sonia Steele is on our board. She actually won an award last year for what she created with Impossible Burger, and she'll be demonstrating that. Impossible Burger obviously is the alternative to beef, and she's been able to really come up with some interesting ways to cook with that, so Impossible Burger will be a sponsor of ours as well. And then we've got a local chef, anna Marie Harvos, who's known as Anna in the Raw, has been here in Cleveland cooking raw vegan food forever, and so she's a well-known vegan chef and she's going to be doing a food demo.
Sunny:
Okay, what's her restaurant? Does she have a restaurant or a food truck? She has a place downtown, um, where she has a lunch place, and I think she does some catering. So people really follow her and she's one of the originals, so we're really proud to have her. Um. So christopher soul eubanks is going to speak on animal rights and justice, because we know those things are connected in my mind too, and he'll speak to this. When there's injustice going on with any animal, whether it's human or not, that impacts all of us. So he's going to speak to the justice of animal rights and what we do with them, especially, you know, putting them in factory farms and really just treating them like they're, you know, just inanimate. Where's he from?
Sunny:
He is from Atlanta and he does speaking gigs and he's up and coming, so we're really excited to have him. Serena Farb is going to speak about the environment. She travels in a van across country. She was her mom's vegan. She's spoken at our events before, but now she's grown up vegan and she's focusing on environment and the connection. Will Brooks is local. He actually is going to talk about fitness and being vegan, that you don't have to be a scrawny.
Diane:
If you want to see someone fit, go to the VegFest website and get his profile picture.
Sunny:
Exactly Say no more.
Speaker 3:
He had a spinal injury.
Sunny:
I'll say that and he probably didn't think he could walk or do much anymore, but he went on to a vegan diet and he attests that that's what brought him back to health and that's what he's going to be speaking about. Okay, he's pretty buff. Dr Carrie O'Connor is a physician and she also is going to speak to the benefits of the plant-based diet for human health. Obviously, that's really integral. And then Gwena Hunter is a local from Collinwood who moved to LA and she started the LA Food Bank Vegan Food Bank in LA. So she's going to talk about what she does and why and how it's taken off in LA. So we've got an assortment and you know, a couple local speakers we really want to feature from Cleveland.
Diane:
That's an incredible lineup. Is there a schedule on the website so we know when the speakers are going to be speaking?
Sunny:
if people can't come the whole day, yeah that will be going up, I think first is Dr Carrie O'Connor, then Christopher Sully-Eubanks, and then we go down to Will and, I believe well, serena and then Gwenna, but everything will be on the website. We're having yoga at 10 am. People want to? Start off with a fetch-fetch yoga. That's pretty popular because people eat all day and they want to be able to at least do something, move a little bit before indulging.
Speaker 3:
Do something, move a little bit before indulging.
Diane:
That's a big weekend in Cleveland, so that's a solstice weekend. It's also the Blazing Paddles Paddle Fest, so I'll be downtown 530 in the morning to volunteer for that. Then I'm going to wander over to the convention center for VegFest. But the Detroit Superior, no, the Veterans Memorial Bridge Lower Deck is open too right for the general public and there's like an art installation that's really cool.
Diane:
I remember when, you guys, when the county opened that up, it was, oh gosh, it was the 50th anniversary of the last fire on the Cuyahoga. That's why that was open, you know every weekend seems big.
Sunny:
We originally planned VegFest the weekend before, but the Rolling Stones is coming in. I'll be there. You're going to the concert Breaking the bank, so we knew there would be no parking and we thought we better move it one weekend after Smart.
Diane:
Cool, I read that agriculture is behind 15% of the global emissions and half of those emissions are from livestock, and that, you know, giving up beef alone would help reduce our carbon footprint more than giving up cars.
Sunny:
Absolutely. The United Nations has a report about this. About one third of greenhouse emissions is linked to to food, and particularly in the animal agriculture sector, and it's it's huge. It's um we know that the methane emissions from erasing the, the cattle um nitrates, um. You've got deforestation to make room for cattle where probably they shouldn't even be grazing in a lot of hot zones. So it's a double whammy because you're taking away the trees that help combat climate change. At the same time you're putting cattle in there. That's emitting the methane, and you know, not to mention the runoff and the transportation.
Diane:
And we have a lot of factory farms. I mean a lot of that's going on in the Amazon, right, but a lot of the deforestation for beef production, correct so many factory farms like chicken and hog farms here in Ohio. So much of our land is used to grow animal feed rather than human food too.
Sunny:
And when we talk about equity and how we feed people and a planet that's just getting more and more populated, you know, um, yeah, diane, it was on my list to mention world hunger and that being something that if we reduce what we eat, the meat, the animals that it would, it would change that because we're diverting water. One, you know what all the water is going to, feed you know a cow to to produce meat, when people don't have water anymore in a lot of places because of the drought. And then you've got the food that's being grown, the grain that should be going to the people. Instead it goes to feeding the livestock that you know produces one you know one pound of meat which could be feeding a lot of people. So it impacts world hunger hugely. So I'm really happy you brought that up. It's another reason and we talk about that at VegFest too a well-fed world is a real you know, effective organization that speaks to that.
Sunny:
But environmentally this would turn things around if we could really just get away from.
Diane:
You know, change our diet a little bit at least, yeah, and we can all kind of move in that direction.
Sunny:
Can we talk about the ocean a minute, of course. So when we think about going vegan, we think about, you know, the beef and the chickens and the factory farms and we also we don't eat fish and because you know, obviously from animal, if you're coming from an animal compassionate perspective, you don't want to. You know pulling fish out, that feel pain, we know they do. But if you're coming from an environmental perspective, it's huge. From the commercial fishing, especially the trolling, of all of you know, the, the fish, the in it snacks, larger mammals, you know, see sea animals in there. It's just stripping, we know, by 2050. First of all, you know the plastic pollution is part of the fishing industry, because that's the majority of the plastic in the ocean is from the fishing rods and the gear, from the nets and the fishing. But also you're wiping out our oceans of the wildlife, of the species. I mean just it's horrendous. So our oceans are suffering equally. We just don't see it.
Diane:
I'm glad you brought that up and I also should mention that Sonny Simon here led the creation of the Cuyahoga County Bag Ban, which is in place. Not too many people know about it but I carry my reusable bags wherever I go and um katherine stirinsky at the county is really pushing hard to to get the businesses compliant with that, with that law thanks.
Diane:
Thanks for mentioning that, um, so what do you think? Um, are some of the misconceptions or stereotypes about vegans? I feel like, and it's probably in my head, it's probably not a real thing, but if I'm with a vegan, I feel like I have to. Not, I mean, out of respect for that person, I'm going to try to not eat anything that they would, you know, anything with dairy or meat in it. Or if I'm with a vegetarian, I'm going to probably not eat any meat in that meal. My daughter is a vegetarian. She's seen me eat meat, but, um, but I feel like they're judging me and it's probably not. It's probably just in my head. Yeah, I mean, we certainly there might be. You're a kind-hearted person. I'm pretty sure you're not judging me.
Sunny:
Well, when I first got on this bandwagon, I became a zealot, you know, because once I learned about all of this, I was trying to convert and my family's like just shut up already. But then, after a while of learning about respecting people's positions and never to speak about veganism while eating with somebody, and I've made that a rule I don't care what you eat, it's not about me actually, it's about the animals and it's about the planet and it's about you know. So I leave that between the person I'm with and how they're impacting. But certainly vegans, there might be judgmental vegans, but you know, as I evolved and my board and people have been doing it, we know to just let it be, but also to provide a forum and a way for people to learn about it and they can make their own choices on that. Another misconception is all we eat is, you know, lettuce or something boring like salads, and we really don't eat anything Some gross tofu that they used to make in the 1970s.
Diane:
And we've advanced since then.
Sunny:
We have a whole panoply of food that is delicious and healthy, and I just went to an event tonight and I got there to hopefully eat something and you know, the host said well, we're sorry, the vegan wraps are gone. We, we knew that you'd be here. So we made sure there's vegan and it was gone. And that's not unusual at places that the vegan food goes first. But that's the other misconception. And in fetch you're going to see all kinds of bakery and um you know delicious food and sweets. So yeah, that's another misconception.
Diane:
I think the vegan wraps go first because people want to try it. Plus, they don't want to have to go home and try to make it, so you make it more accessible. So that's great. I think it's important for people to be respectful. We're all on different places in the dietary spectrum, and what tips might you have for people who want to move towards the vegan direction or vegetarian direction? Can you talk a little bit about what local restaurants have vegan options or are vegan friendly? How you make tofu taste good? What cheese brands are good? That kind of stuff.
Sunny:
Yeah, so what's traditionally been in place is Meatless Mondays. That's been a campaign forever. I think it was PETA. But you know, if you could just take one day and eliminate, if you're starting off with beef, get rid of the beef for a day once a week. Or chicken and do a gradual transition that way, just at least once a week. Or chicken and do a gradual transition that way, just at least once a week, to hopefully at some point eliminate it all for that day, because we consume a lot you know, one of the other misconceptions is we can't get protein.
Sunny:
I wanted to mention that, that we're all right scrawny, and thanks for bringing that and suffering from lack of protein.
Sunny:
But I can tell you that there's. We eat waste in this society, too much animal products and protein and it's really causing a lot of health issues. So we get our protein through. You know different places. I make sure that you know whether it's beans or you know the different forms of the beans, the tofu, there's broccoli. There's ways to get protein, and I so. Anyway, if Will Brooks can do it and look like to get protein.
Diane:
So anyways, if Will Brooks can do it and look like he does I know he can't do it- Exactly so.
Sunny:
The other tips yeah, there's all kinds of easy now to be vegan. When I started it was not easy. There was no substitute cheeses or impossible burgers, but I can say now that any restaurant I go go any place there's always a vegan option and there's a couple yeah there's vegan restaurants too.
Sunny:
There's um cleveland vegan catering. That's a sponsor. I wanted to mention them. They're going to be at fetch fest. There's birch cafe on the east side food estafa all vegan. So there's some vegan restaurants, but wherever I go, I can always find something okay to eat.
Diane:
Good to know, and what's your favorite cheese substitute brand?
Sunny:
I try different things, so I put the Daiya cheese is a good brand. That started, it melts and you can do whatever you want with it. There's pizza that Daiya, frozen pizza that Daiya has in the grocery store, so I can have a frozen pizza easily, and there's even meat substitutes on there, so okay my daughter wants me to ask you how do you make tofu taste good?
Sunny:
okay, so I do not know that we're still trying to figure that one out, okay, I think it's a texture more than the taste, because it really doesn't have much taste. But it does have a strange texture. I think people tend to let it you know, I'm sure you're doing this marinate and then let it sit and press it and just grill it. Yeah, that's a trick that I don't know the answer to.
Diane:
Another vegan I know, turned me on to Mitchell's vegan chocolate ice cream, which is out of this world.
Sunny:
I mean the ice cream is. You can get all kinds of delicious ice cream. There's nothing I miss out on. I guess, if that's anything, that I go to Mitchell's, I can have vegan ice cream. I can really go anywhere to get the. There's so much variety out there and be great Good to know. One of our board members has um bitchy vegan homo is his big what bitchy vegan homo um is a baker and he, he um has a great line of um bakery baked goods.
Diane:
So that I just want to give. I might have to get some of those. Uh, for the show notes, I might have to get some of those to link.
Sunny:
Okay, so yeah, we hope people come and it's just, it's just a really great, great fun day.
Diane:
Yeah, it really is, and and it's a family friendly event and you won't feel like you're the only non-vegan there if you're not a vegan and it's welcoming for everybody. No, I Diane, I told you, and the food is delicious. It's delicious, so come hungry.
Sunny:
Come hungry Veg, curious vegan veg, it doesn't matter, it's those that you're going to have a good time. Yeah, and bring your kids, because we have a kids area too. Awesome.
Diane:
Well, thank you so much for joining us on EcoSpeaks. I enjoyed the conversation, it's great to see you again and I will see you at VegFest. Thanks so much, Diane. Take care.
Speaker 3:
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