Keri Cronin

Category Archives: Events


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Niagara VegFest News

Great news on the Niagara VegFest front! We have received funding from the City of St. Catharines. This will help us continue to build and promote the festival for 2013. A huge thanks to the City’s Cultural Investment Program for this grant.

It may be a cold and gloomy day in Niagara today (apparently it is Blue Monday), but before we know it, Niagara VegFest will be upon us! We are working away getting things ready–much excitement here at Niagara VegFest headquarters! Registrations are starting to come in, the list of speakers is nearly finalized, and we are busy working on other plans for the festival. Stay tuned!

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Niagara’s First VegFest

Saturday June 2nd marked the first ever VegFest in the Niagara Region. I was part of the organizing committee for this event and while we were hoping the day would be a success we simply could not have anticipated the overwhelming response to the festival. Doors opened at 10 am and by about 10:30 we realized that we were going to be seeing some pretty large crowds during the day. The final attendance tally was 1250! This completely exceeded our expectations and at times things got a little crowded. However, everyone was in good spirits and took it in stride. As one of my colleagues remarked, “yeah, it was a little crowded, but it was exciting! It made you feel like you were really part of something.”

We had 30 fabulous exhibitors and vendors who ended up selling out of most everything by the end of the day. We had 4 generous sponsors who stepped up and took a chance on a new festival–a huge thanks to Kindfood, Sestres Coffee Shop, The Naked Sprout, & Bamboo Natural Food Market for their help in making the Niagara VegFest a reality. Thanks also goes out to VegFund for awarding us a grant to help put on the festival. We also were incredibly grateful for the assistance of Niagara Action for Animals and all our fabulous volunteers. What a day! I think more than anything what I took away from Niagara VegFest is just what an amazing community we have here.

I was also so impressed with all of our speakers. Marni Wasserman kicked off the day with a session on green smoothies, and even made enough to give samples to the audience. After that we had Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan from Our Hen House speak on the subject of food activism (one of my favourite topics!). Our third speaker was Chef Douglas McNish who talked about the path that he took to become a vegan chef and cookbook author. (note: Doug sold out of books at the festival–they are a huge hit! Make sure you order one!) Our fourth speaker was local athlete Jennifer Hintenberger, who just happens to hold some world records in kettle bell and who also happens to be vegan. She talked about how she overcame numerous illnesses because of her plant-based diet and I love how people like Jennifer help to shatter the myth that vegans are weak–she is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met! (for more on Jennifer’s story, check out her appearance on this week’s Our Hen House podcast). All of these speakers were so compelling and talked about the many benefits of a plant-based lifestyle. They were funny, engaging, and informative, and I was so honoured that they all so enthusiastically agreed to be part of Niagara’s first VegFest!

We closed the day with a screening of Vegucated, a fabulous film that is getting great reviews all over the world. We had a great audience for the screening and many people have since asked me where they can get a copy of the film for their own collection. It is a must see!

A huge thank you to everyone who came out to the festival and helped make it the success it was. Plans are already under way for the 2013 Niagara VegFest. Stay tuned!

Update: check out Our Hen House’s episode featuring Niagara VegFest!


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Niagara VegFest

So, I’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. Life is busy.

One of the things that is keeping me busy is planning (with my awesome VegFest planning team!) the first-ever VegFest in Niagara.

Mark your calendars for June 2nd and come celebrate the many wonderful things about a plant-based lifestyle at the Niagara VegFest. There will be delicious food, workshops, vendors, exhibitors, prizes, a film screening, and some absolutely amazing speakers!

Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan of Our Hen House were recently named “Indie Powerhouse of the Year” by VegNews, and you can catch them at the Niagara VegFest!

photo by Jo-Anne McArthur

We are also so excited to welcome Douglas McNish to the festival. In addition to speaking about his role as a vegan chef at places like the Windsor Arms, Douglas McNish will also be doing a signing of his new book, Eat Raw, Eat Well.

Douglas McNish

We will also be joined by the ever-amazing Marni Wasserman. You don’t want to miss her healthy living, plant-based demo.

Marni Wasserman


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A Night With Gene Baur

Last night Gene Baur, the co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, came to St. Catharines. He was here to give a talk at Brock University (thanks to Niagara Action for Animals, the Brock Animal Rights Club, the Critical Animal Studies program at Brock and several dedicated inviduals who helped make this a reality). Over 100 people came out to hear him talk – an amazing crowd! Gene Baur’s story is so inspiring! He has gone from selling veggie dogs at Grateful Dead concerts to being one of the most influential advocates for animals in our generation. He has helped bring the message of “compassion for all” and the importance of adopting a vegan lifestyle to countless people, and I’m so glad that he was able to bring these messages to Niagara this week.

One of the things that Gene Baur talked about last evening was the importance of community, of people coming together to voice their anger at the factory farm system, to learn together, to share good vegan food and to support one another in these journeys. This point really resonated with me — although I have “loved animals” all my life and was a vegetarian for many, many years, it wasn’t until I found the vegan/animal activist community here in Niagara that I took the plunge to a plant-based diet. Without a doubt I can contribute this to things like the Niagara Action for Animals potlucks, and meeting the dedicated activists in this region, many of whom I am proud to call friends and colleagues.

Prior to the talk at Brock, there was a private dinner in Gene Baur’s honor at Rise Above in downtown St. Catharines. In attendance were the organizers of the 2011 Niagara Walk for Farm Animals (including yours truly), the top 3 fund-raisers from the 2010 Niagara Walk for Farm Animals, and 4 lucky people who had their names drawn from all of those who had pre-registered for this year’s event. It was such a great group of people, and we all enjoyed the chance to chat with Gene Baur, such a kind and down-to-earth sort of guy. Oh, and the food!! We started with a delicious cucumber-based salad topped with summer fruit and nuts. From there we had an amazing gnocchi (probably one of my favourite things to eat in the whole world!) in a cashew cream sauce. Dessert was a cinnamon bun pudding with vanilla icing. (do I even need to say it was all vegan?!). Simply amazing!


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A Busy Spring So Far!

Spring has been a bit of a whirlwind here so far! The last little while has been one of the most hectic times in recent memory.

I took an quick trip out to Edmonton for the Cross-Pollination workshop at the end of March. This was probably the best professional gathering I’ve ever attended – it was a small, invited group of people which allowed for really good discussions. There were no concurrent sessions and we all were asked to workshop our papers, which had been circulated ahead of time. There were so many interesting topics discussed and it was just amazing to have the opportunity to really think deeply about how “environmental thought and activism” (to borrow from the event sub-title) can emerge from the arts and the humanities. So many excellent papers and so many exciting ideas exchanged. I think I thoroughly enjoyed the entire event, but if I had to pick a highlight I think it would be Lyndal Osborne‘s discussion of her work. Absolutely incredible stuff! (and to think I used to be both a student and a sessional instructor in the same department as Lyndal but did not actually meet her until this workshop. How odd!)

While I was in Edmonton I got to have a quick whirlwind visit with my parents, which was lovely! We went for a celebratory dinner at Padmanadi, one of the most delicious vegan restaurants I’ve ever been to! The food is Chinese food-style, but made with analog meats instead of the “real deal.” Loads of yummy fresh veg too! What a treat it is to be able order anything from the menu!


I also got to spend a fabulous evening with Fiona, a good friend who I haven’t seen in ages because she has been living in places like New Zealand, the UK and Alaska. The stars aligned and we were actually in the same city for the first time in about 5 years! We went to the Hotel MacDonald for old time’s sake (we used to go there for drinks and to restore our sanity when we both lived in Edmonton) and had a blast ordering a ridiculous amount of ridiculously expensive appetizers ($10 popcorn anyone? But it was tossed in truffle oil, so…) We were too busy yakking to take any photos, but it was such a great night!

The week after I got back from Edmonton was the “Thinking About Animals” conference at Brock. It was so amazing to see such a great turn-out for this event. I don’t know the exact count, but people came from all over to discuss, debate and think critically about relationships between species. It was fabulous and I was sorry that I had to miss so many sessions due to teaching and other commitments. (the perils of attending a conference at one’s home institution, I guess)

The 2011 Niagara Social Justice Forum came on the heels of the “Thinking About Animals” conference. I was part of the organizing committee for the NSJF this year, so it was an especially intense time. We had a great day for the forum – beautiful sunny skies, perfect for the nature walks along the escarpment that were booked for mid-day. There were 18 workshops on a wide range of topics (everything from youth homelessness to water access and social media to the rates of diabetes in Aboriginal communities), an “art space” (featuring an exhibition of images to raise money and awareness for Toronto Pig Save, a children’s art competition and a craft table where participants could paint messages of social justice on a banner and make their very own compostable plant pot and then plant an heirloom tomato seed donated to the event by Tree & Twig), a performance by WomEnchant, and a screening of NFB’s Reel Injun. A long, wonderful, rich and rewarding day!


I thoroughly enjoyed all of these events, but I’m glad that the pace is going to slow down a bit now. Classes have ended and it is time to turn my mind to summer research/writing + gardening. I’m looking forward to some new adventures on both of these fronts!


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A Mini-Break in Toronto

In order to beat the winter blahs I took a mini-break in Toronto this weekend. While it wasn’t the sun, sand and surf of a destination like Cuba or Mexico, it was still nice to change up the routine a little bit.

After going over to the p|m Gallery to attend the opening of a show called “Immersive” (a great show featuring work by my friend and colleague, Duncan MacDonald), we stumbled on to some fabulous live jazz at the Communist’s Daughter. We had just planned to go there for a post-gallery pint, and had no idea of the treat we would discover once we walked in. The tiny bar was packed to the rafters with people enjoying the “Saturday afternoon Gypsy Jazz” show. Musicians were crammed up against the front window, and behind the bar was Michael Lewis Johnson – pouring pints, playing the horn and belting out jazz tunes. We ended up staying for two sets, enjoying the music, the atmosphere and the people. While I have included a picture below, no camera footage could ever come close to capturing this experience, you really have to be immersed in it! I hear this takes place every 2 weeks – I’ll certainly make a point of heading back for another show!

Earlier in the day, we had brunch at Sadie’s Diner. I was especially looking forward to checking out Sadie’s this weekend because of a fabulous exhibit of work by 6 artists, all of whom are either currently students in the Brock Visual Arts program or who have recently graduated from our program. The exhibit is called “Playing House” and it will be up until the 28th of March – if you are in Toronto, be sure to check it out! (and grab some delicious vegan pancakes or a tofu scramble while you are there too!) Congrats to Miranda Austin, Carley O’Hara, Julia Prudhomme, Bethany Scholl, Bruce Thompson and Michael DiRisio on a great exhibition!

I was also happy to have a chance to check out Panacea and The Loving Hut (vegan AND nut free!! Yay!). I also discovered that places like Rancho Relaxo veganize many of their dishes by adding Daiya cheese and/or faux meats. This seems like a simple enough premise, so why can’t other eateries do this? That evening I was dining with a vegetarian and an omnivore and we all were able to find something we liked on the menu. Don’t get me wrong – I love an all-vegan place and I am not at all suggesting that everyone should run around and eat “fake” cheese and meat every day. However, there are times when it becomes necessary to pick a vegan option at a “mainstream” restaurant and I’m always impressed when there are more options than a measly “garden salad” on the menu.

All-in-all, a whirlwind trip into Toronto complete with good fun, good friends, good art, good beer and good eats. And really, what else could I ask for?!

Happy February! Spring will be here before we know it!


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pARTners for change

Last evening was “pARTners for change,” a fund-raiser in downtown St. Catharines. The event was a joint initiative between the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts and OPIRG-Brock, and money raised goes to support student scholarships and community programming through OPIRG’s downtown InfoShop.

We are still tallying everything up, but I certainly felt that the evening was a success. So many wonderful pieces of art in the show/sale (thank you to all the artists who generously donated work), and so many wonderful folks who showed up to enjoy the evening.

Good food, good drink, good company, good deals, good art, and two good causes!

We hosted the event in two spaces – at Pan and at the OPIRG InfoShop. The two locations are just a couple of minutes apart on foot and our lovely antler-wearing student volunteers did a great job of making sure everyone knew where they were going.

Our organizing committee needs to meet and take stock of how things went, but I sincerely hope that this will become a regular event.


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For the Birds!

This weekend we drove down to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY to attend the Celebration for the Turkeys. This event, of course, takes place around the same time as American Thanksgiving and is a symbolic way of both celebrating the animals rescued at Farm Sanctuary and remembering those millions and millions of animals who are not as lucky. At this event turkeys like Daphne and Velma get fed tasty treats like cranberries and mashed pumpkin.

We spent a few hours at the farm, hanging out with the cows, pigs, chickens, geese, goats and rabbits. I absolutely love Farm Sanctuary — one of my favourite places on earth!



After spending time at the Farm, we all gathered at the Harbor Hotel for a vegan thanksgiving dinner. So delicious! The menu included: a yummy salad with pomegranate, a pumpkin soup that might just be the best soup I’ve ever had in my entire life, mashed potatoes, a beans and greens mix, Tofurkey, assorted veg and some delicious desserts (including chocolate dipped strawberries).

We stayed at the Marmalade Cat B & B in Watkins Glen and enjoyed a delicious vegan breakfast, complete with french toast. (thanks Sally!) There were 3 lovely cats who lived at the house — Charlie, the orange and white cat, was especially friendly!

Good Groceries was right next to the B&B and it was great to shop for products that we can’t yet get in Canada — things like the Tofurky pizzas with Daiya, Soy-based Whipped Cream and Field Roast sausages. (I know, I know! Prepared foods are not the most nutritious and we generally don’t eat them, yet it was really exciting to see and purchase products I’ve heard about in the vegan blogosphere but have not yet had access to. I promise to use them sparingly!)

While we were down in the Finger Lakes region we decided to nip over to Ithaca. I was so looking forward to going to the Moosewood Restaurant, but it is only open for dinner on Sundays. My disappointment was short-lived though — we found a funky little waffle house that had vegan waffles. Yay!!


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Vegan MoFo!

How on earth did it get to be November 1st already?! Instead of fretting about how much work I have left to do this term or how I’m dreading the cold weather I will focus on Vegan MoFo. Yeah!!

Vegan MoFo stands for “Vegan Month of Food” — bloggers around the world are taking up the project of writing about veganism (food, recipes, restaurants, ethics, challenges, celebrations) throughout November.

I’ve been writing about some of the recipes I’ve tried out since adopting a vegan lifestyle earlier this year. It is funny though, I didn’t set out to become a “food blogger” but I’m enjoying it all the same. So I will keep blogging about new recipes I’ve tried, etc. I also have 2 distinct topics I’d like to write about during Vegan MoFo:

1) Being a vegan at Brock University. Recently People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced that Brock University is in the running for the title of “most vegan friendly campus.” This does not at all match up with my experiences at Brock, so I decided that my Vegan MoFo project #1 will be an extra vigilant effort to try and track down these vegan options on campus. I’m not on campus every single day, but when I’m there I’ll be on the lookout. [note: for you Brock folks out there, feel free to send me submissions or omissions on this front!]

2) Brooklyn’s in Thorold is my new favourite place to eat. It is a pub with a vegan menu and fantastic staff. The problem is that every time I go there I always eat the Smokin’ Soy ‘Chicken’ Sandwich because it is so darn delicious and I just can’t help myself! (we’re talking serious cravings!!) The vegan pub menu at Brooklyn’s has 12 items on it (including my favourite sandwich) and my Vegan MoFo project #2 is to make my way through the menu this month, blogging about each item in delicious and graphic detail!

Happy World Vegan Day!


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Walk for Farm Animals

We held our first-ever Walk for Farm Animals in St. Catharines this past weekend. The event was one of about 70 taking place across North America to raise money for and awareness of Farm Sanctuary. I travelled down to Farm Sanctuary this past spring and it was, in short, a life-changing experience. When the call went out for cities to host a Walk for Farm Animals, I knew this was a way I could get involved and help out.

We selected the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend for our walk, and it turned out to be just a perfect weekend. The sky was blue, the sun was warm, the atmosphere was one of happiness and celebration. We had 80 walkers come out and join us on Saturday, Oct. 9th. 80!! I was so impressed! Our group raised about $6100 for Farm Sanctuary, so I was really delighted about this too. A big shout-out to everyone who joined us for the Walk and to those who sponsored a walker. We couldn’t have done it without you! (for more on the St. Catharines Walk, see these articles from the local press)

I also want to acknowledge the kindness and generosity of the following people and businesses who donated food, time, raffle prizes or helped to promote the event: Allison Arbour, Brooklyn’s, Kindfood, Niagara Action for Animals, OPIRG-Brock, Strega Cafe, The Peanut Mill. You all are wonderful!

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