| Food
Industrial agriculture, fuelled by an economy with an obsession
for profit, is turning our food production and distribution systems
into a monoculture. The consequences; massive soil erosion; increased
use of toxic herbicides; genetically engineered crops with unknown
dangers; practical slave labour for third world cash crop labourers;
loss of diversity - in the fields and on the shelves.
Buying locally produced organic food and fair trade for imports
such as coffee helps to reverse this trend, it might seem more expensive,
but what price our health, equality and the environment?
Good whole food shops
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Chorlton Wholefoods
64 Beech Road, Chorlton. 881 6399
Nature's grace
37 Barlow Moor Rd, Didsbury. 434 6784
On the 8th Day
107-109 Oxford Rd. 273 1850
Organix wholefoods
7 dale st, northen quarter. 2280220
The Good Life
6 victoria stn approach, nr Victoria Station. 834 5224
The Laughing Lentil
10 King Edwards Buildings, Bury Old Rd, Cheetham Hill. 740
5766
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Unicorn Grocery
89 Albany Road, Chorlton, 861 0010. Manchester’s best
wholefood co-op, loadsa fresh organic veg, beer, wine and
food staples, completely vegan and a deli counter, what else
do you want?
Withington Healthfoods
486 wilmslow rd, (near the cinema), Withington. 4456696.
Good whole food deliveries
Limited Resources
Organic veg and fruit delivery scheme also selling other green
household product. They don’t run a shop, phone them
up! 226 4774.
Lembas
Wholefood distributor, based in Sheffield. If you can order
stuff in bulk this is worth a go, minimum order for a free
delivery is £100 if you live in Manchester, they haggle
for a delivery charge if the order is smaller! Club together
with a few mates, there are good savings to be had. Phone
0114 258 6056 or check www.lembas.co.uk
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Can't be arsed to cook?
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Greens Vegetarian Restaurant
43 Lapwing Lane, Withington. 434 4259. BYO wine, but book
ahead. 3 course meal & coffee £18ish. Cheaper fixed
courses £10.50 Opens Tue-Fri 12-14:00 Sun 12-14:30.
Mon-Sun 17:30 - 22:30 Good if you’re not paying or want
to impress.
Mistys
531 Stockport Rd, Longsight. 256 3355. In Longsight, head
towards ASDA through the precinct. Small and friendly veg/vegan
café serving good value home made meals, cakes and
drinks. Meal £4. Opens 9:00 - 18:00 Mon to Sat, 11:00
- 17:00 Sun.
Café Pop
34-36 It’s gone now but will soon be back, or so the
people in the shop upstairs tell us. Oldham St, Northern Quarter.
Up Oldham St, off Picadilly Gardens, look for the target sign
on the right. Kitsch heaven, with reasonable value, all day
veg/vegan breakfasts and more besides. Breakfast £3-4.
Earth
16-20 Turner St, Northern Quarter. 8341996. Hidden below the
Manchester Buddist Centre, this is a welcome retreat from
the hectic city. Beautiful food, herb teas and juices in a
very calm and friendly atmosphere. Meal £3-4. Opens
10:00-19:00 Mon to Fri, 10:30 - 17:00 Sat.
The Drawing Room
254 Moston Lane, Moston, 203 4967. NW Manc. On the right of
the road going out of Manchester between Albine St and Pym
St junctions. Cosy Atmosphere, open fire and excellent quality
meals. BYO alcohol. 3 course meal £16ish. Open Wed-Sat
18:30-23:30 (last orders 21:30)
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The Greenhouse
331 Gt. Western St, Rusholme. 224 0730. West off Wilmslow
Rd, 300 yards on your right is a very small but nationally
renowned restaurant. Wide choice of veggie and vegan meals;
country and organic wines supplied! 3 course meal £
10 upwards, half litre house wine £4. Open 365 days
(inc. Chrimbo!) Evenings Tues-Sun (from18:30-11:00). Lunch
Sat-Mon (12:00-15:00). Students 2 4 1 www.dineveggie.com
On the 8th Day Vegetarian Cafe
111 Oxford Road Rotating menu of vegetarian and vegan food.
Average meal £3-£5. There is also a healthfood/wholefood
shop, and a new restaurant, opened September 4, which is open
from 7pm to 10:30pm, Wednesday to Saturday. 273 1850
Rusholme
Follow Oxford Rd. south until it turns into Wilmslow Rd. and
you are in Rusholme, home of Manchester’s famous Curry
Mile. This is a strip of curry houses half a mile long. Prices
are pretty uniform, about £5 for a curry. We like Punjab
Sweethouse and Jaffa Cafe.
Herbivore’s Cafe
in Burlington Rooms next to John Rylands Library. Cheap light
meals (£1.50 for soup and bread) located conveniently
on campus, good place to meet friends. Very bad coffee and
they don’t have soya milk.
Cafe 306
306 Oxford Road
A nice vegetarian cafe with decent veggie and vegan food (about
£4 for a meal) and the best coffee in Manchester.
Zumbar
14 Oxford Road, Manchester
Veggie burgers for £2, and vegan pizza!! It’s
also a bar but the drinks are expensive.
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Fairtrade
A lot of our food is produced by slave-like labour in poor countries
in the South. Often the workers who produce luxury items such as
coffee and chocolate, can’t afford to feed their families.
Fairtrade pays workers a better wage, and helps communities with
things like sanitation, schools, etc.
Organic Food is food that isn’t genetically modified and wasn’t
coated in pesticides, herbicides, and other poisons while it was
growing. Sounds like a good idea.
Vegetarianism and Veganism
Loads of people in the UK have gone vegetarian because of the implications
of factory farming, animal cruelty, BSE, the environmental consequences
of mass meat farming and many other reasons. More and more people
are going vegan too. Being vegan means not using any animal products:
no meat, fish, dairy products, honey, leather.
The simple fact that made me go vegan was this: dairy cattle have
their calves taken from them at just a few hours old, so that the
calf can be turned into veal. So when you buy that pint of milk
or cheese sandwich, you’re giving money to those who torture
and murder calves for veal. Each dairy cow is enslaved for her whole
life, with milking machines taking the milk from her. When I finally
got up the courage to go vegan, it was easy, and I know that I’m
not contributing to the environmental devastation caused when rainforests
are destroyed to make way for vast dairy herds, or monoculture crops
of soya beans to feed them.
For more info on veganism: www.vegansociety.com
Or if you want to find out about vegetarianism: www.vegsoc.org
If you want to get involved with animal rights activism in Manchester,
try Manchester Animal Protection: www.mapsoc.org.uk
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