Quality Vegan Pizza

One of the more challenging aspects of veganism, excluding the arguments against the vegan lifestyle, is going out to eat. Finding a vegan restaurant that is nearby can be really difficult and inconvenient unless you live in a city. Driving all the way to the city to dine at one or a few vegan restaurants is a bit ridiculous to do on a regular basis or anything more than once in a while. So it's really nice to find regular, non-vegan restaurants that can work with the vegan diet/lifestyle.. there is even a vegan menu for Mellow Mushroom.





There are a few pizza places I really enjoy that offer both quality food and vegan options. In the past few years, I have found that Mellow Mushroom and Maddio's Pizza Joint are nearby pizza places that make for great alternatives to vegan restaurants. Both restaurants offer vegan options and their regular crusts are vegan (you can still ask to make sure). Mellow Mushroom also offers a gluten-free, vegan crust that is much lower in sodium than the regular crust and is made of ancient grains- I didn't take a picture of that one though.

Mellow Mushroom is my very favorite non-vegan restaurant and in the past couple months, I have probably ordered and eaten there so many times I don't even know the number. But if you're looking for or longing for a vegan pizza that is baked fresh, with really fresh ingredients, and not some prepackaged, frozen, vegan pizza, I highly recommend visiting a Mellow Mushroom restaurant.






One of the great things about Mellow Mushroom is that if you order Daiya vegan cheese and/or make it known that you're vegan, they already know not to add butter, parmesan, or any other non-vegan items to your pizza. And this is awesome because I too often forget to (verbally) provide the common vegan list of what-not to add to my meal- "no butter, no eggs, no meat, no dairy, no milk, no etc." I often forget to include all of these no's when placing my order at a regular/non-vegan restaurants because I usually eat out at vegan restaurants and going out to a non-veg restaurant is not something I usually do unless I'm familiar with the place (and I am very familiar with Mellow).

The same thing also goes for Maddio's Pizza, only you can see how the person prepares your pizza, and you will also notice that they usually change their gloves after making every pizza (if not, just ask for them to do so).  I'm pretty sure that the Mellow Mushroom and Maddio's chains are nationwide in the U.S., and they should provide vegan opinions such as Daiya vegan cheese, tofu/tempeh, and of course a variety of fresh vegetables.

Last time I went to Maddio's, I didn't take a picture of the pizza itself, but here's one of the take-out pizza boxes with a vegan dessert I made later on (will share the recipe of the photos below in a later post).



Fast forward to 2020, Atlanta has an awesome small business chain of ALL VEGAN pizza restaurants called Plant Based Pizzeria! So if you're in ATL and would like a place where you don't have to triple check for non-vegan contamination

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On another note regarding representation in media, I came across a number of articles that not only mention Olivia Wilde's part in the UCLA "State of Female Justice" panel, but also also examine the usual sexism within the film/television industry and media in general. This article led me to a great discussion panel from Laura Flander's GRIT TV. 






This State of Female Justice panel features some really great and inspiring women Eve Ensler, Ashley Franklin, Susan Burton, Olivia Wilde, and Kimberle Crenshaw. I'm actually familiar with Crenshaw's works since I have read a few of her essays on intersectional feminism and how women of color are greatly disadvantaged/marginalized in the legal system in my feminist theory course.

I highly suggest that this video be watched in its entirety because it is brilliance. These women accurately articulate only a few of the major and severe, complex systemic issues women still face in our society, showing that there is so much more that needs to be done to create positive change for women.