United Russia

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How Russia 's Putin, Saint Petersburg vegan in the 20 years under the authoritarian leadership of Vladimir-anarchist community lives. Hated by the extreme right and out of tune with That of Russia prevailing nationalist mood, the activists have a version of what would look Like your ideal Society and You are promoting this vision with delicious Food . You could change the setting to other young Russians?

Once in the month, The Eight People who work on the Horizontal take-away to a meeting in which You discuss air complaints, updates on The Menu and the vote on all the changes You want to make. In front of your restaurant, a hole-in-the-wall serves, to go vegan burgers, hot dogs, and nuggets, is littered with stickers promoting the anti-fascism, Anarchism and other vegan outlets in The City . Their meal-deal offer, Something That is commonly referred to as a "business lunch" in Russia , as "anti-business lunch".

lately, The Group has discussed, to switch whether or not the location of The Complex You currently are in, holds shows with captive animals, they believe, is cruel and exploitative.

Although some of them have been working longer than others, all eight team-members have an equal voice within the industry. There is no Manager and no hierarchies. Varya, 26, was at The Restaurant the longest.

Varya, from the Horizontal, says The Restaurant is based on social justice and Equality "That is why we are called Horizontal because each person is in our restaurant on the same level, and has the same rights and the same Status with all The Others ," she says. The Restaurant adheres to the principles of anti-racism, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, the abolition of borders and the liberation of animals. In a Country where People of non-Equality of confirmation or trans, shunned and sometimes even assaulted, Horizontal, in a room where someone is preferably is to be respected, pronouns.

The Group plans to compose a Manifesto of the kind That says, what his values are, to ensure That all new starters are on the same page. "For us, it is important That People That join us similar ideology, That they share our views, and That You understand, to say what "vegan" really us", Varya.

Horizontal, Food is One of about a dozen similar facilities across St. Petersburg, the promotion of the vegan Anarchism , "veganarchism" - by Cooking , delicious vegan.

", they are embossed, it was a microcosm of The World around You ' The concept of a "veganarchist" by the New York-based Brian Dominick, in his 1997 essay, Animal Liberation and Social Revolution, an anarchist. In it, he writes That veganism is, by Nature , closely associated with the anti-fascism, Human Rights activism and anti-capitalism.

The pet battles, That vegans and vegetarians is based a conscious decision, he says, on the systematic exploitation of People and animals - and it is only through the fight against all injustices, to fight together a vegan really against You .

in This struggle, he suggests, can be guided by individual measures and radical lifestyle changes.

"The Role of the revolutionary is simply writes," Dominick. "Make your life into a miniature model of The Alternative , revolutionary Society You envision. You are a microcosm of The World around You , and also The Most important of their actions on The Social context of which they are a part. These effects positive and radical in their Nature . "

Horizontal is "chick-un" nuggets are made from a blend of tofu and seitan, But although the word "veganarchism" came from the United States in the late 20Th Century , both Anarchism and meat-free diets have a long history in Russia .

The Russian Orthodox Church prescribes a plant-based diet during lent, and most of the traditional restaurants still offer a plant-based "lent menu". Ethical vegetarianism, meanwhile, flourished in pre-revolutionary Russia , in part because of the Example of the writer Leo Tolstoy in the late 19Th Century .

But fell for much of the Soviet period vegetarianism in disgrace, as a bourgeois indulgence. The Great Soviet encyclopedia went so far as to proclaim That "vegetarianism, which on the basis of false hypotheses and ideas, no followers in the Soviet Union ".

Today, only 1% of Russians say That they are Vegetarian , in about.

Anarchism , the 19Th Century Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin are considered to be two of The Most influential thinkers in the anarchist history.

Kropotkin radicals 1892 text, The conquest of bread, continues to influence anarchists across The World to This Day . In it, he says - among other Things -That One of the First Steps in any anarchist revolution would take for the People , the Food , and the means to produce it.

"We have to proclaim the boldness, That all have a right to bread, That there is bread enough for all, and That with this watchword is a triumph of 'bread for All', The Revolution . "

visitors to Lamas vegan grocery greeted with a painting of a cow holding two middle fingers.

Inside, rainbow flag, shopping bags, feminist stickers and vegan condoms, cake, and reusable straws are sold in addition to vegetable Napoleon. In the freezer, it's varenyky and pel'meni are made dumplings by A knife, a "feminist horizonta list of culinary project". In a back room, there is an inconspicuous hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Tempeh time. It is dedicated to serving dishes made with Tempeh - pronounced "tem-pay" of a protein, the Beans from fermented soy.

The tongue-in-cheek artwork is One of The First Things is to see the visitors, Lamas was describing in the last year, Anja, 30, and Igor, 33 - the Anya affectionately referred to as her "husband and Best Friend ". When I talk with them, they are celebrating the store first anniversary.

Igor tells me That with veganism becoming more and more popular in The City , she wanted to try and emulate, similar to rooms in cities such as Berlin. Not had the time she was there, But she knew it was in Europe, vegan-activist capital.

"People come here for The Feeling of Europe, of freedom, for a few minutes, as if You are in Berlin or somewhere," he says. "We try to create a space where People are vegans not be ashamed with your non-vegan friends, and You can say, 'This is not a vegan place - it is not strange, it's scary. '"

"not That We wanted to only llamas to start a business, But also a Café and a meeting place for our community," Anya . "We also had the idea of a hair salon in the vicinity, But this is still only an idea. "

Anya , The Front -left, and Igor directly behind her, entered The Shop of Iiuri, front-right, and in The Kitchen the previous resident Danya, behind him, Opening their back room for vegan cooks, a large part of the buildings in this community was a place and put your faith into practice, Anya says. In The Kitchen The First occupant Danya was a friend of Anya and Igor, who ran a pizzeria by the name of Daner Pizza. When he moved out, in a larger space, Iiuri Shilov, a Tempeh maker, moved. He had a soft-launch of his restaurant's Tempeh time at the beginning of August, before the official opening on 7. September.

'Food can be its own form of activism,' I, a large bowl of Fried Rice , Tempeh , and fresh Cucumber for 180 rubles - £2. 26. The Other options on The Menu , including sandwiches and soups, all move to the 200-ruble mark. Iiuri declared That he wants to keep prices low to vegan Food - and in particular, Tempeh - accessible to as Many People as possible.

"My mission is for more and more People try Tempeh ," he says, beaming with joy.

Iiuri first ate it two years ago, while he and his wife were on a trip through South-East Asia for their honeymoon. It was in Indonesia , he ordered a Tempeh dish, and he says he blew his mind. It had a taste of both fungus-Like and nutty, with a firm texture, a bit Like chicken. When fried in oil, with a small pinch of Salt , the taste was Like Nothing Else he'd ever eaten.

It quickly becomes an obsession. Every Day , after surfing, he would go back to the same Cafe and order the exact same dish That he had eaten, for the First Time , and I happened to have ordered just for me: Fried Rice , Tempeh , and Cucumber .

Iiuri for the First Time Tempeh discovered, while on his honeymoon in Indonesia , But when the honeymoon was over and the Bridal couple was Back Home , Iiuri could not find his new favorite Food anywhere.

"When we came back to Russia , I Tempeh wanted to eat. I kept looking for a Tempeh shop, or maybe even a Tempeh -Cafe , But there was nothing I could say find" Iiuri.

So he decided to make it themselves.

"I looked online and found an American book about the Tempeh -production. It was Old - A Man by the name of William Shurtleff wrote it had in the 1970S - But it was perfect," he says.

"It was super-disgusting," he says. "That is what I Saw . it hurt my soul. I felt so bad about all the time I had spent in order to eat meat and eggs and drink milk. "

veganism, russia, long reads, feminism, lgbt, food, diet & nutrition, st petersburg

Source of news: bbc.com