It's Bree and Ben

09/01/2024

Looking for ways to make a difference and have fun with others in our plant-based community this ? If you’re in the Metro Vancouver and on the Island this July, then sign up to volunteer for one of the most find plant-based events in the region! We’ll see you there!
Stay Green, Stay Positive! 🌱✨

We are now accepting applications for volunteers and committee members.

This is an excellent opportunity for those who wish to contribute to a significant community event and collaborate with a team of like-minded individuals. 🙌

Join us in shaping an impactful and memorable VegFest 2024. 🌱🎉 💫

Our committee meetings will offer flexibility with options for both virtual and in-person attendance.

Find the Volunteer & Committee Member Application Here: https://forms.gle/Wzt9jutHBeFaySNMA

Stay Green, Stay Positive! 🌱✨

07/12/2023

Our hearts sank when we read that Benjamin Zephaniah had passed away, and we’ll before his time. He was a famed poet, essayist, author, animal and human rights activist, and seemingly a very kind human being.

Our own Benjamin first came across Zephaniah’s poetry in one of his many books, “Talking Turkeys” while researching for his grad school research project. The cadence and rhythm of his words, the troubled and yet beautiful world they depicted, along with his well-poised arguments made for a man whose body of works are, and will continue to be, admired by activists, environmentalists, researchers, and artists. I still have yet to read most of his works, and I look forward to getting to know better who he was.

Thanks, Benjamin, for illustrating how empathy for all beings is the foundation of a just and beautiful world.

🌱

Did you know of Benjamin Zephaniah? If so, which works of his are your favourite?

24/11/2023

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our followers and readers in the U.S.! Here in Canada, the holiday is observed in October instead of November, so last month we celebrated with a casserole whose ingredients included mushrooms, carrots, tempeh, cashew, and brown rice. It went wonderfully with stuffing and a veggie broth made with veggie broth and nutritional yeast.

Which vegan and plant-based dishes and recipes did you enjoy today?

20/11/2023

One of the many wonderful things about the vegan community is that it is full of kind and inspirational people, and Julia and Shane of the Think Plant-Based Podcast are just that. For more than five years, they have featured vegan entrepreneurs, artists, actors, authors, activists, medical experts, chefs, bakers, researchers, marketers, and many others as guests to share and contribute their perspectives and insights into the vegan experience! It was a privilege for Benjamin to have been invited and featured among their many accomplished guests.

Check out the link below (or wherever you listen to podcasts), grab your favorite vegan snack and drink, and listen to their cordial conversation about vegan business in Vancouver, their favourite vegan-friendly destinations, and much more!




As always, special thanks to:
Level V Bakery
Bee My Guest
Tintery
Kind Cafe & Eatery
Vivus Pets Inc.
Blue Heron Creamery
Vancouver Humane Society
Folke Restaurant
True Nosh
Cera Rivers of The Singles
The Cider House
NUTTEA Canada

Other acknowledgments:
The Vancouver Heritage Foundation

UNBC Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences

In this episode, we talk to Ben Hagerty about his plant-based journey. We discuss vegan entrepreneurship and the best plantbased travel spots

02/11/2023

We love the Vancouver Metro Area for its vegan and plant-based businesses, yet it can be difficult to know and keep track of them all. Fortunately, the Vancouver Plant-Based Deals Book by has been a valuable help to us. It has introduced us to new and yet-unfamiliar eateries and markets, and amazing vegan entrepreneurs. We’ve even planned a few date days around visiting some of these businesses!

We recently visited in Abbottsford, BC, which is a cozy café and bistro. While its menu isn’t entirely vegan, it is plant-based and has delicious options, like vegan waffles and lattes. Ben isn’t typically a fan of , but this one from The Polly Fox is his exception. If you’re in the Lower Mainland and need a good sandwich, brunch, or coffee, then look for this place!

Do you have a copy of the Vancouver Plant-Based Deals Book? If so, which businesses have been your favourites and which are you looking forward to visiting?

01/11/2023

Happy World Vegan Day!
✌️🗺🌱
As we take time to acknowledge and reflect all of the activists, researchers, academics, policy-makers, and kind individuals in our global vegan community, we also want to give attention to those who make the vegan lifestyle not only practical, but a joy: entrepreneurs - specifically, chefs and bakers.

One of the most impressive examples of this - and our personal favourite - is Level V Bakery. Monica Tang and her team make some of the most beautiful and delicious Asian-Canadian baked goods and treats that deserve all the accolades in existence! From the delectable matcha drinks, to the ube buns, varieties of croissants, cupcakes, and matcha ice cream by .co, you’ll leave not only fulfilled but happy and inspired.

And speaking of vegan businesses in Vancouver, Monica’s husband, Tommy Nguyen, is owner of his own photography business, , whose mission also follows the vegan philosophy. Be sure to check it out at and send him a DM to inquire!

How are you observing ? Have any suggestions?

02/10/2023

🙂 **gratitude and PSA post** 🙂

This weekend was truly special as I got to celebrate and observe many important dates, including:

1. On Friday, I got to celebrate (as Mark Hagerty put it) 3 dozen years around the sun, which I spent doing what I love: exploring areas and businesses (like Platform 7 Coffee) in Vancouver I had yet to visit.

2. Celebrating

3. Start physical training again after a long hiatus to focus on grad school, family, re-starting a career, and continuing to set up my life here in Canada,

4. Playing volleyball with friends on the North Shore, and

5. Most importantly, taking the time to learn more about , which made for insightful reading at Platform 7 (while coincidentally wearing my orange shirt from University of Northern British Columbia).
Having grown up in the U.S., I received very little education about Indigenous studies, and I’m grateful to now live in an area that puts it front and center (I acknowledge there’s debate on its effectiveness, yet it’s a relief to see it publicly discussed whereas it’s not even a thing in other countries and regions!)

If anything, I hope you take the time to learn whose ancestral land you may also call home and learn more about them by visiting whose.land/en/

22/09/2023

What are some of the reasons why Ben and others adopt veganism?

How may location and culture influence how veganism is expressed in certain areas?

Is Ben an introvert or an extrovert?

All of these and more are discussed in the latest episode of Plant Your Seed Podcast! Thank you, Fred, for creating such an inviting space to have a comfortable and enjoyable conversation.

Listen to the Plant Your Seed Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts!

Ben Hagerty is an essayist and travel writer for the website, It's Bree and Ben, which he co-founded with his wife, Bree Nemiroff. Since 2017, he and Brianne have visited and written about vegan businesses in more than 60 destinations throughout Canada and the U.S. In 2020, Ben and Bree relocated to...

19/09/2023

Ben had the privilege to be a guest on another one of of our favorite podcasts this year, which was Plant Your Seed Podcast.

Most of the podcasts he’s been featured on this year have been about his graduate research project. This one was exceptional in that Ben and Fred focus is on the vegan philosophy and what it means to experience it. They discuss a great deal more, too. Want to know what that is? Then subscribe and download this Thursday’s episode wherever you get your podcasts!

Have you ever wanted to know good vegan places to eat while traveling??​​​​​​​​​⁣​​​​​​​​​_​​​​​​​​​Ben Hagerty is an essayist and travel writer for the website, It's Bree and Ben. He and his wife, Bree have visited and written about vegan businesses in more than 60 destinations throughout Canada and the U.S. []
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Listen this Thursday to his episode on Plant Your Seed Podcast!
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31/08/2023

🆕🌱Plant-Based Canada🌱 Podcast episode!

What does it mean to be a plant-based entrepreneur and what are the challenges, opportunities, and successes of these business initiatives? Join us for a chat with Ben Hagerty from “It’s Bree and Ben” (https://itsbreeandben.com/, ) on the latest episode of the Plant-Based Canada Podcast.

Benjamin Hagerty is a vegan essayist and travel writer for the website, It's Bree and Ben, which he co-founded with his wife, Brianne Nemiroff.

Ben’s vegan journey began in 2015, and from 2017 through 2019, he and Brianne embarked on a trans-continental road trip in which they visited and wrote about vegan businesses in more than 60 destinations throughout Canada and the U.S.

In 2020, he and Brianne relocated to Vancouver, BC, where he began his thesis project, which explores how vegan entrepreneurs in Kitsilano and Mt. Pleasant operationalize and experience the vegan philosophy. The findings of his project may be found in his academic blog series called, Ben's Vegan Vancouver. This year he earned his Masters degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies from the University of Northern British Columbia.

Ben currently works with organisations like the Canadians for Responsible Food Policy, Earthsave Canada, and the Plant-Based Cities Movement to bolster vegan businesses to municipal governments. For leisure, he still enjoys adventurous road trips with Brianne and learning new coffee-making techniques.

🎧Listen Here: https://plantbasedcanadapodcast.buzzsprout.com/

Plant-Based Canada’s Socials:
Instagram ()
X (formerly Twitter):
Website (https://www.plantbasedcanada.org/)

08/08/2023

13/03/2023

It’s been a sad and difficult year so far for vegan entrepreneurs and vegan businesses. The news of the closures of Very Good Butchers, the firing of the founder of Miyoko’s and Kind Cafe & Eatery was bad enough, and now Good Dogs Plant Foods is just another indication that cities and their governments are, generally speaking, lack the policies to provide hospitable environments for small business to flourish.

Write to your politicians and policy makers to let them know that this needs to change, and vote for policies and politicians who will fight for them.

03/03/2023

We have much in store for you this week! We’ve posted not 1, not 2, but 3 new articles in Ben’s Vegan Vancouver.

First, Ben writes about the common themes that vegan entrepreneurs, or VEs, experience in the Vancouver neighbourhoods of Kitsilano and Mt. Pleasant.

Then, Ben continues with the insights that he gained from visiting the VEs, and how to address the challenges that they face.

The series then concludes with a summary of the project, its significance, and what more research and further actions can be taken to ensure that vegan businesses thrive.

See the link in the bio of all of these and more!

18/02/2023

Ben’s Vegan Vancouver may be written from Ben’s own perspective, yet his observations during this project would not have been realized without the insights he learned from the entrepreneurs who voluntarily participated in this project by meeting and conversing with Ben in their establishments or online. He also researched books, newspaper archives, and academic journals to learn the history of vegetarianism and veganism in Vancouver and better understand what he was exploring.

This week, the fourth blog of the series, My Vegan Neighbours, introduces the 12 vegan entrepreneurs who participated in this project and showcases their businesses.

Next, the fifth blog reveals a brief history of, and how Religious Refugees, Rainbow Roads, and Ravenous Appetites during the counterculture movement all introduced vegetarian and vegan entrepreneurship to the Vancouver area.

Go to the link in our bio for these and more articles!



Level V Bakery
Bee My Guest
Tintery
Kind Cafe & Eatery
Vivus Pets Inc.
Blue Heron Creamery
Vancouver Humane Society
Folke Restaurant
The True Nosh Company Ltd.
The Singles
The Cider House
NUTTEA Canada

11/02/2023

Last week we introduced you to the first two blogs of Ben’s Vegan Vancouver - an academic, blog-based exploration of the Vancouver neighborhoods of Kitsilano and Mt. Pleasant. This week, we’re excited to continue with the next two blogs about the themes insights that Ben observed during this project.

The first blog this week delves into the question: does a vegan business need to have the principles of the vegan philosophy in its mission statement?

The second blog talks about how veganism may inform and shape sustainable and ethical travel.

Click the link in our bio to read these latest entries to Ben’s Vegan Vancouver, and be sure to be following us for more entries in this series.

Photos of sign and red grape tea with nut cream from in .

04/02/2023

We’re back! If you have been wondering why you haven’t heard from us in a while, it’s because of two things. One, promoting an ethical travel blog during a global pandemic seemed…well, unethical. Now that travel has returned and much of the world has dropped its COVID restrictions, we decided that 2023 is the year to come back.

Our new content features our new, seven-part academic blog series, Ben’s Vegan Vancouver, which will explore the ways in which vegan entrepreneurs in the Vancouver neighborhoods of Kitsilano and Mt. Pleasant experience the vegan philosophy…and much more!

Click here to check out the introduction and first blog, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with each new blog as it’s posted this month!

We will also be posting new city guides and discussing our new restaurant tier system very soon. More to come later this week!

18/08/2021

Some of our favorite travel memories have been in Montréal. We love walking the romantic streets of Old Montréal, pausing for espresso and maple candies. We enjoy finding hidden gems while digging through piles of books, sheet music, and vintage clothes in Plateau-Mont-Royal.
In our itinerary for three days in Montréal, we will guide you through the most beautiful and walkable neighborhoods, the best vegan restaurants, and the best small shopping streets. No matter if you’re visiting with your partner, your in-laws, or your trusty camera, prepare to be charmed by the beauty of this incredible city in Québec.
Click the link below to read our latest article.
https://itsbreeandben.com/2021/08/17/3-days-in-montreal-things-to-do-in-old-montreal-plateau-mont-royal-downtown-and-olympic-park/

Visitez Montréal / Visit Montréal, Canada Keep Exploring, Copper Branch, LOV, Barbie Expo, Antidote Bouffe Végane, Sophie Sucrée

22/06/2021

NEW POST: THE BEST VEGAN FOOD IN DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK

From the Dole Whip and blended drinks in Pixar Pier, to the opening of Avengers Campus Pym Test Kitchen Featuring Impossible Foods, vegan visitors to Disney California Adventure Park can now partake more than ever in the foodie haven that is the Disney parks.

Click to read and save our list here: https://itsbreeandben.com/2021/06/22/the-best-vegan-food-at-disney-california-adventure-park/