If you're in Georgia and are looking for both a natural food store and cafe, this one is THE ONE. The cafe features all vegan food and menu items, while the co-op store itself is filled with some awesome vegan finds and deals. Completely vegan establishments outside of Atlanta and Alpharetta can be difficult to come by when you're not living there and don't feel like taking the long drive to and from the city. But Life Cafe is an outlier of that norm and their prices aren't outrageous either.

I have been dining at the Life Cafe for the past several years of my vegan-hood and my favorite menu item has been the blonde burger along with a few other items that are not on the menu anymore- but might come back. However, a new favorite (as there has been a recent menu change) is the soul food plate.





This is my absolute favorite bean burger made and served fresh by any restaurant--vegan and otherwise. The flavors are what make it what it is, and it's quite filling as well.



The plate comes with well-seasoned collard greens with tempeh, mashed sweet potatoes so sweet, it tastes like pie filling, and the American classic mac'n cheese (made vegan).


Another recent comeback is the Avocado Melt with "sun sauce", tomatoes, vegan cheese (maybe), and of course avocados!

Hearty Quinoa Mushroom Burger from #lifegrocery natural vegan cafe. #vegan #quinoa #quinoaburger #atlanta #burger #veganburger #veggieburger

A photo posted by RS (@rsblueberry) on Aug 27, 2015 at 5:11pm PDT

This burger is another new addition to the menu. It has a stronger resemblance to an actual burger with its meatier texture and melted Chao vegan cheese (which tastes just like traditional white American cheese).


Creamy Mac-n Cheese side

Barney Miller. Getty Images, ABC Photo Archives.

Characters/Diversity

Barney Miller (1974-1982) is definitely one of my very absolute favorite television shows among several other great shows from the 1970s. Barney Miller had a very diverse cast for a show that began in the 1970s, and strongly contrasts the lack of diversity in mainstream media today as the 12th Precinct police detectives and the reappearing characters identified among different genders, races, ethnicities, sexualities, and abilities.  The characters portrayed and established transcend the often dehumanizing social categorizations as they are portrayed as fully developed characters rather than typical stereotypes. None of these characters were ever constructed stereotypically nor were any of them confined to typical stereotypes. Instead, these characters countered common stereotypes which were addressed and subsequently opposed. No character was ever dehumanized as a sense of humanity was always maintained in each episode that humanized each character by providing a reminder that people are people regardless of their identities--- identities which are often used to excuse and justify violence, injustice, inequality, and oppression.

Barney Miller. "Vanished." January, 1980. Getty Images. ABC Photo Archives.

We are still dealing with the same issues regarding discrimination, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, the mistreatment of youth (all basically a result of ignorance and the refusal of some to see humans only as their label/identity rather than acknowledge them as actual humans), environmental concerns, political/judicial/social corruption, and several other systemic issues that continue to persist.

Barney Miller. "The Layoff." Season 2. September 1975. Getty Images. ABC Photo Archives.

Television

The only problem with these fantastic shows is how difficult they can be to find and the fact that they rarely air on television. Sometimes these shows can also be found on the internet but it takes a lot to find full episodes. Luckily, there are channels like Antenna TV and Me TV that show Barney Miller episodes and rewinds back to other classic and hilarious shows.

Overall, the show is brilliant and amazing as it addresses several important issues at the time, which are still issues of our time. It is a sitcom that appropriately and maturely deals with some really serious issues comically and is full of substance, something that seems to be lacking more and more throughout many popular, usually substance-less, diversity-lacking television shows.


Photos: Getty Images, ABC Photo Archives, Sony Pictures.