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Campus cafe “La Taula Verde” championing plant-based dining for the month of Veganuary

(Toronto, ON – January 18, 2024) — Veganuary, the global campaign that encourages people around the world to try vegan food in the month of January and beyond for the benefit of the planet, health and animals, has arrived at the University of Toronto!

“La Taula Verde” café (also known as The Green Beet) is located at the Gerstein Science Information Centre Building library on the University of Toronto St. George campus, has shifted its original menu to a now fully plant-based menu for the month of January in celebration of Veganuary. The current menu has tasty and warming soups, delicious grab and go snacks, and filling entrees, as well as satisfying hot and cold beverages and fair trade coffee.Chef Nancy Manotas, who is the lead chef at “La Taula Verde”, says she is partaking in Veganuary because she has studied a lot about longevity foods, “I am very interested in longevity. I think that longevity foods go hand in hand with plant-based foods” (see Video 1).

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(Toronto, ON – January 18, 2024) — Veganuary, the global campaign that encourages people around the world to try vegan food in the month of January and beyond for the benefit of the planet, health and animals, has arrived at the University of Toronto!

“La Taula Verde” café (also known as The Green Beet) is located at the Gerstein Science Information Centre Building library on the University of Toronto St. George campus, has shifted its original menu to a now fully plant-based menu for the month of January in celebration of Veganuary. The current menu has tasty and warming soups, delicious grab and go snacks, and filling entrees, as well as satisfying hot and cold beverages and fair trade coffee.Chef Nancy Manotas, who is the lead chef at “La Taula Verde”, says she is partaking in Veganuary because she has studied a lot about longevity foods, “I am very interested in longevity. I think that longevity foods go hand in hand with plant-based foods” (see Video 1).

She also prepares delicious creations daily, like vegan yoghurt cups & scones, which are made with organic ingredients: “You can eat here,  these organic vegan yoghurt cups that we prepare here to be high in protein and delicious (Video 2)….these are vegan scones… we don’t use any eggs, or milk or cream. These are organic and we use organic spelt. They are delicious, look at the inside, they are so perfect!” (Video 3)

Every January, businesses around the world are launching bigger and better vegan menus to capitalize on the huge popularity of Veganuary (over 700,000 people participated in 2023).

Students at universities around the world are also starting to demand plant-based foods to help curb the climate crisis and this has now happened at the University of Toronto via students from Plant Based Treaty University of Toronto student club, which have raised their voices and shared plant-powered solutions with university Chefs. They proposed the owners of “ La Taula Verde” support the student’s desire to bring Veganuary to campus as well as endorsing the Plant Based Treaty and they are thrilled with the results.

Yarim Hinojosa, President of Plant Based Treaty UofT Student Club, says, “The food at La Taula Verde is amazing and good for the planet. It is delicious, reasonably priced and it’s good for the students, staff and faculty at the university. We are so thankful that Chef Nancy at La Taula Verde was open to hearing our student voices wanting to see Veganuary on campus to help us and the university fight the climate crisis and lower our carbon emissions, and land and water use through delicious plant-based foods.”

Aniket Biala, a member of the Plant Based Treaty UofT Student Club, also says, “I am so happy to see Cafe Taula Verde adopt Veganuary and fully make their menus free of animal exploitation or harm. Plant-based menu prepared by Chef Nancy is not only delicious, but compassionate, peaceful, and sustainable” 

Uday Singh, campaigner with Plant Based Treaty Toronto, says, “La Taula Verde’s ‘Veganuary menu’ helps individuals at the university make much better choices for the environment, health, and animals when the Café procures, purchases and supports plant-based products which are much are lower in carbon emissions, land and water use than animal-based food options (ex. meat, eggs, dairy, etc.). It’s a win-win, hope to see this menu carried on to the end of the year and see UofT shift to fully plant-based menus and offerings across campuses, in addition to other institutions, governments and communities!”

The Veganuary global team shared that they feel inspired “We’re thrilled that La Taula Verde has made the switch to a fully plant-based menu for Veganuary this year and inspired by the students who worked to make this possible…Trying vegan is a positive step that students everywhere can take to cast a vote for a greener planet, and it is much easier when there are plenty of great-tasting plant-based options available. I hope other campus cafes around the world will follow their lead.” said Wendy Matthews, International Head of Partnerships and Expansion at Veganuary. 

About Plant Based Treaty

Formed in 2021 as a global campaign, the Plant-Based Treaty’s tenets are to relinquish, redirect, and restore the global food system. The treaty aims to stop the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture. Endorsed by dozens of cities so far, including Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and Los Angeles, the treaty has attracted support from 120K individual endorsers, 5 Nobel laureates, IPCC scientists, and more than 3K groups and businesses. www.plantbasedtreaty.org

About Plant Based Treaty UofT

Plant Based Treaty UofT is a group of students who support & act upon the values of the Plant-Based Treaty campaign as well as the scientific data of the “safe and just” report, with the goal of transforming industrial food systems at all U of T campuses (UTM, U of T, UTSC) to tackle the Climate Crisis and help us reach our climate targets through food sustainability solutions! 

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About Veganuary  

Veganuary is a nonprofit organization that encourages people worldwide to try vegan for January and beyond. Since Veganuary launched its first pledge 10 years ago – in January 2014 – millions of people, coming from almost every country in the world, have officially taken part, with campaign hubs in Germany, USA, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, India, Spain and the UK. This New Year’s revolution has also been embraced by businesses, with hundreds of companies taking part in Veganuary last year, launching thousands of new vegan products and menu items. Veganuary is free to join, and people can sign up at www.veganuary.com.

About La Taula Verde:

Café with seating located in the basement of Gerstein Library at the University of Toronto St. George campus.

https://www.instagram.com/lataulaverde/

9 King’s College Circle, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8

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