We delivered a big order for a customer who is very supportive of reusing unconventional packaging. Creating less garbage is what we are after!

Since last week we have had our online vegan food shop officially open. This existed for a while in our heads and finally, we had the courage and means to make our dream come true. Though offering good vegan food is our main output, creating less garbage (and not participating in food waste) is just as important.

Creating vegan food…

When you are thinking of the food we offer, we hope you think of tasty, filling, and flavourful food. The kind of food you remember eating when you were young, the food the wise old women in your family made. But you do not have time to make it at home, or have no interest and learning to make yourself. Food which you can’t buy from the store. And you wouldn’t want to either, because freshness would be lost. As though the store-bought food you crave, may fill the gap for your tastebuds, it definitely creates a gap in your health. Commercially produced foods are always full of empty calories, fillers, and unnatural ingredients and additives to stretch the dollar. Nobody should put that kind of stuff in their bodies.

When we think of the food we are creating, we are following the next simple rule set out by wonderful food guru Michael Pollan:

“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”

Michael Pollan

And another famous quote from “Finding Nemo”, which has inspired us a lot, in a bit changed form:

“Fish/animals are friends. Not food.”

Bruce the Shark

Simple as that? Right? This is why our recipes are simple and made of few natural plant-based ingredients. We love animals and want them to enjoy their lives. By using only plants, simple herbs, and spices, we are creating pleasant cruelty-free eating experiences. The ingredients do not come to us packed in many packages, and they will not reach the customers packed in many packages. Creating less garbage? Yes, please.

…against shallowness…

We are just making good vegan food. Period. We are not aiming for our products to be visually top-notch. Though we are aware of the fact that we first eat with our eyes, we may not deliver so much in the visual section. But we definitely want to slam in the culinary section! I think this is agreeable, better a bad looking and tasty food, than good-looking, yucky and unhealthy food.

Though I love photography and always want to take good food photographs, I am never aiming to create beautiful, colorful, but always the same-looking Instagram suitable photos. I admit that the vegan food feeds look gorgeous. The creativity of the people is out of this world. I respect plant-based home or professional chefs who make good meals and have wonderful photos. Though I appreciate their work, this is not something I aim to do myself. I want to create less garbage and have the food on the photos look how it actually is. I don’t want to be popular on Instagram, because I want to reach people who appreciate what we are creating. Real food made of real ingredients by real people.

…and commercialism

We do not like buying for buying’s sake. And shopping. And malls. We do not want to add to the richness of big corporations. We are doing everything opposite as much as possible. Commercialism doesn’t help to create less garbage, it only adds more. We do not want to invest in fancy, and beautiful packages you are using just once. The package is meant to be practical, not to give you a wow-effect. This should come while eating the food. Again, I do appreciate it when people put so much effort into making their products beautiful. I myself like simple, environmentally friendly packages or reusing of what is already there. Too many things exist already and via mutual aid, we can share and trade things we do not need. A different approach can be done if the volumes are small and you really care.

So we are saying no to single-use plastic and will not buy any containers or Ziplocks or any plastic items to pack our food into. We have been given by our kind friend some of the above-listed items and we will be using what we have.

Conclusion

How lucky we are that the big order we had was received by a kind person, who actually noticed our so-called homemade attempts to create less waste. We delivered a pack of 6 Pride rainbow cookies with glaze, which we didn’t want to put in a large container with a lid. Instead, we decided to use just the lid as a plate and covered it with foil instead (already had). If you are smart, creative, and care above all, you can use foil many times after you have bought it home, depending on its condition.

Our kind customer noticed this and mentioned that in their follow-up email. They were even so kind as to offer extra containers, which we collected the following day. They said that they wash them and prefer that they be reused at least once before ending up in the landfills since the notorious black takeout food containers are not recyclable (the downside of the ordering in) because the machines cannot detect black. Such are the people we want to reach. Who wants to support food that doesn’t torture animals, to create for customers who appreciate taste over looks, and understand the idea of reusing and a more low-impact lifestyle.

Feel free to leave a container on your porch next time you are ordering from us! 😉