Rawberry
A plant-based juice bar and cafe helping you feel good.
What is it: A vegetarian juice bar and café just off Winchester High Street
Why you’ll love it: Massive pink letters on the window announce its ‘Feel Good’ factor and once you step inside the bright café space (if allowed at the time of visiting) you’ll instantly get how different this place is.
What you need to know: What you eat affects how you feel – that’s the idea behind a menu of juices with names like ‘Belly Buddy’ and ‘Super Skin’ and Smoothies that include ‘Green is the New Black’. Caffeinated options go the Beetroot and Turmeric Latte route and there’s even a Superfood Hot Chocolate.
While there: Check out The Study Hub downstairs, 6 tables reserved for serious work, and getting out of the house when that option is available to us again.
What they offer beyond the cafe: Weekly juice deliveries – bringing bottled sunshine to you over grey days – and for those times when all the supermarket delivery slots are booked, opt for one of the essentials provisions and raw boxes. Also, see retail treats – like Soakin’s line of bath salts for when this world of ours is getting too much.
Why we think it matters: If you are of the post milk generation, believe that independents are crucial to healthy communities – this is a family run business - and sustainable sourcing goes hand in hand with your daily coffee – they serve River Coffee Roasters which makes sure the people who produce the beans benefit too – then places like Rawberry have a role on our High Streets. Our everyday choices like where we pick up our daily cup have impacts beyond just making us feel good (or awake), helping our communities, food producers, and even the animals taken out of the food system.
In their own words: ‘At Rawberry, we know it can be difficult to find alternatives on Winchester’s High Street; Whether it's vegetarian, vegan, gluten or dairy-free. Options are sparse. This is why for the last three years, from our beginnings as a humble market stall, we have been working on the alternative.’
To find out more: Website / Instagram / Twitter
Miyoko's Creamery
Miyoko’s Creamer is making “doing good” feel very easy for the rest of us.
Doing Good From Home with Miyoko’s Creamery
What is it: Founded by celebrity chef Miyoko Shinner, Miyoko’s is a California-based vegan cheese company whose mission is to shift the dairy industry from animal to plant-based. They call this the Evolution of Dairy and it is all very exciting!
Why you’ll love it: More than being one of the most delicious dairy replacement items we’ve ever had (and, truly, we’ve tried it all) we love Miyokos because it stands for something. While their mission is partially to help you make an out-of-this-world mac n cheese that will blow the minds of your very non-vegan friends, it is, equally, to shift our world completely, by inspiring more people to go vegan. (They even run a farm animal sanctuary!)
What you need to know: If the world stopped consuming meat and dairy, global farmland use would be reduced by over 75 percent. That’s the equivalent of the United States, China, the European Union, and Australia combined reverting their farmland back to a natural environment. Buying an electric car, lowering your thermostat, and taking quick showers all pale in comparison to simply eating less meat and dairy. The way we produce, consume, and waste food is unsustainable. Every person has the power to effect change just by their daily food choices. (Source: The Guardian)
What they offer: Literally: Vegan cheeses, butter and spreads made by skilled cheesemakers, using traditional cheesemaking cultures and processes resulting in a line of products so good that we actually can’t even understand how it is possible. (It also makes all the dishes we bring to Thanksgiving instant hits with our otherwise skeptical families). Figuratively: hope for a sustainable world that does not depend on the exploitation of animals.
Why we think it’s different: If you were vegan over a decade ago, you might remember the floppy American-cheese-esque slices that once sat on the outskirts of the produce section, near the tofu. They were, putting it lightly, a travesty. (Though we thank them for a stepping stone in the dairy-free evolution.) Miyokos is different because its products are aged and processed in a way that mimics the dairy industry processes. In short: we’re able to make mac and cheese and lasagna and brown butter sauce without feeling like we’ve sacrificed anything in regard to flavor or texture. More than that, we feel GOOD about ourselves when we make this switch. This. . .is a game-changer.
In their own words: “Our mission is: Phenomenally Vegan. What do we mean by that? It’s the new gold standard for the future of food that emphasizes artistry, integrity, ethics and conviviality. It's the credo that drives everything we do from the creation of our products to inspiring others to try this phenomenal lifestyle. Phenomenally Vegan is how we change the world. Together.”
Why we love them: In addition to their wonderful products, lovely founder, and ambitious mission, we love Miyokos because of their dedication, honesty, and adherence to their values. In 2015, Miyoko founded Rancho Compassion, a farmed-animal sanctuary based in west Marin County. Here, over 70 (otherwise slaughter-bound) animals have the chance to live out their days in peace and comfort. Visitors are encouraged to come and interact with the animals, receive education into humane living and maybe even cuddle a cow. (All offerings are virtual for now, but the sanctuary is still very much in operation!) We love Miyokos because they’ve found a way to take their passion for all living beings and put it into products that are actually capable of freeing those same beings. They make “doing good” feel very easy for the rest of us.
