I recently moved back to Florida after living in England for a long time, and prior to that I was living in the Pacific Northwest, and before that was the East coast. The crux of my situation is that I have been called back to Florida due to family illness and a decent job offer. So, here I am, fresh from the London area, where I had a plethora of vegan and vegetarian outlets to choose from..... Now I am hard-pressed to find places that are vegan-friendly in the Tampa Bay area...I don't even KNOW ANY FELLOW VEGANS here!! HELP! It's hell starting over, but this really takes the piss! jadewisteria@yahoo.com
im from ft lauderdale and a few years back i moved to a small town in TN....the ppl here dont even know what the word vegan means! seriously, if i mention veganism i get "huh? whats that?" so yeah needless to say its not vegan friendly around here at all. no health food store...nothing but fast food chains and of course a fucking walmart supercenter (some one take me to san fran!) it can be really frustrating, i know. esp if you are used to having more options and fellow veg*ns around as you said. thats why i come to the forums tho, its nice to be able to chat with like minded folk. infact where i work someone asked me if i wanted to take part in the lunch in they were having (no veg options tho) and i mentioned i was a veg....somehow it spread around work like wild fire and the general manager refers now to me as the "tree hugger".
No health food stores at all? I bet if you mingle there you would run into some vegans. You can find vegan recipes and also links to online vegan grocery stores at www.vegweb.com
Elle, Thanks for the message! It's nice to know that others can relate to my frustration. At work (I am currently teaching), jokes are made that my classroom is to the "far left" of the school. The pinnacle was when a teacher in another department asked me if I was married (she already knew I was vegan and had lived overseas), and when I said "no", she looked at me with a shy grin and asked if I was "one of those raging feminists who don't shave". I suppose I am a freak of nature here because I don't plan to stay in one place too long. I was just speaking with my family today about how I feel the need to live in many different places before I die. I have now decided to go back to the Pacific Northwest. I think I want to hone in on Portland. Isn't Tennessee pretty though? My stepmother is from a rural area not far from Knoxville.
It's hard to mingle though..Especially if there aren't many "mingle zones".....for instance, where I live there isn't a proper coffee shoppe, or any type of place to sit and chill, and meet others. I live in a highly populated and congested area. There's no shortage of chain restaurants like Chilli's, Ruby Tuesday's, Bennigan's, and all the name-brand shops....However, there's no hub..no social hub. Just stores, chain restaurants, horrible bars and medical supply stores.
yeah some people can be super closed minded....they just dont GET IT. esp at work.....everyone there is pretty conventionally southern....all the girls are married (even the ones younger than me) and they seemed surprised that i wasnt married nor had a boyfriend. (hello! that is the last thing i want right now!) TN is pretty but Im totally surrounded by hunting, meat eating, bush supporting, christian conservatives. i really stand out here.....people stare at me like im from another planet sometimes. infact i really want to check out portland myself~ seems like the ideal place for me, except for the cold weather.
Cheers for your reply! I guess it's safe to assume that you are not planning on spending the rest of your life in TN anymore than I am going to be residing in Florida. I can only imagine the stronghold that the bible belt has around TN. It's the same here. I have students who are married, and they are only 17! Portland is great. The rain doesn't bother me. I lived in England and never really had a problem with it. Some people get SADS though and it drags them down. You just learn to wear a lot of layers of clothing! I personally find it more fun to dress in colder weather. I don't get many chances to break out my scarves and hats in Florida!
LOL as a fellow Brit, I can totally relate to that. The heat would probably kill me, or I'd kill someone else (hot weather makes me cranky, and I'm pretty bitchy at the best of times) Quite fancy living in Portland too, looks like fun. At the moment I'm stuck in Southampton. Maybe you could try and find some local AR/veggie groups, maybe google it or something. Good luck
Thanks! Southhampton is lovely though! It does seem that England, in general, is a bit more open to veganism and certainly to vegetarianism. There are parts of the states that are very liberal and open-minded, but it's very regional. Have a great day! PS. Portland is incredible. As cities go, it's truly beautiful....
I feel your pain, i know no vegans except one and he's my best friends dad, who is kinda creepy! everyone is all against me over the vegan thing so i know exactly what you mean! it sux no?
I don't know where in TN you are, but there are some great places in Knoxville. There are two natural food stores and several veggie restuarants. There is a coffee shop in the Old Town area that has great vegan food. Also in mid-TN there is always the Farm. They have a wonderful little store on their property. Most everyone who lives there is veggie if not vegan. Sorry I don't know much about Florida. But I'm sure there are places out there if you look. I've found great veggie food in small town Iowa. If they have it in the middle of beef country, you can find it anywhere. Kathi
I just did a quick internet search and came up with these three listings. Chuck's Natural Food Marketplace - 8.2 miles NE - 11301 N 56th St, Tampa, 33617 - (813) 980-2005 Aubrey Nature Lab-Mfr - 4.4 miles NW - 4419 N Manhattan Ave, Tampa, 33614 Ansley's Natural Marketplace - 3.1 miles W - 3936 W Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, 33609 - (813) 879-6625 Kathi
I am very new to veganism or vegetarianism. Not really sure where I stand yet but I do know that it literally makes me SICK to eat meat! I just wanted to post here and say that I understand what you all are talking about with people not understanding! I live in a very small town in Alabama and let me tell you, people do not understand it! I am also 19 weeks pregnant and I get it all the time that I am NOT being helathy for my child. OMG! Please! Anyway I just wanted to say that I relate with people not understanding. Luckily for me about 45 minutes from where I live there is a good health food store so I don't feel so overwhelmed.
really sista , i guess you have been planted in virgin soil and unless you sprout and bloom , how will those boxed in minds get the real picture of harmony and non violence...eehhh just stick in there for a while and maybe the testing time will yield sweet after a while. peace and love xxx muahhh ps; i live with 3 roomies who are 100% meat freaks but slowly they're comin round coz i never fall ill as much as they do. i guess am tryng to shine a little light in my dark corner hoping that i will leave an indelible imprint on their minds.
