Republic Of V - The Bay Area's All Vegan grocery Store

I had the pleasure of interviewing Christie Griffin of Animal Place's Vegan Republic, The Bay Area's all vegan grocery story.choose compassion with every actionOur motto at Animal Replace's Republic of V is: choose compassion with every action. We want to make veganism fun and accessible to everyone! By shopping at Animal Place's Vegan Republic, you are not only supporting dozens of independent vegan businesses, you are also supporting Animal Place. All of our profits go to support Animal Place's sanctuary for farmed animals in Grass Valley, the Rescue Ranch in Vacaville, and education efforts to encourage veganism.What products?We focus on providing hard-to-find vegan food, snacks, personal care products, accessories, t-shirts, and books. Some staff favorites are: awesome vegan cheeses from Miyoko's Creamery and Vtopian; chocolate bars and bites from Sjaak's and Amy E's Bakery; jerky from Sam's Harvest, Louisville, and Vegan Dream; amazing faux meats from Taiwan and Germany; great deodorants from Meow Meow Tweet, Bare Bones, and North Coast; fabulous lip balms from Crazy Rumors and Hurraw; and body butters and lip balms from Ellovi and Boodah Organics; just to name a few. We also have a fun collection (which will be expanded for the holidays) of t-shirts, wallets, belts, bags, jewelry, books, etc.Animal Place, The Farm SanctuaryIn May, Animal Place, purchased Republic of V. Joe Haptas and Noelle Callahan, the original owners, offered the Republic of V to Animal Place so the non-profit organization could help take it to the next level by increasing the impact of the store. Now when people shop at the store, recently renamed Animal Place's Vegan Republic, they are directly helping animals. Profits from Animal Place's Vegan Republic fund the organization's sanctuary, rescue efforts, and outreach activities.The beginningsThe store's original owners, Joe Haptas and Noelle Callahan, started the Bay Area's only vegan store in February of last year with the mission of making veganism fun and accessible to everyone. The store has always had, and will continue to have, an emphasis on artisanal and hard-to-find vegan products. Joe and Noelle offered the shop to Animal Place to increase the impact of the store. As I mentioned, now when people shop at the V, they are directly helping animals.What can we do to help the animals?As Kim Sturla, Executive Director of Animal Place, says: "The single most important thing people can do to help farmed animals is to adopt a vegan diet." Most people do not go vegan overnight. Many go through a period of transition, like starting with Meatless Mondays; and gradually increasing their meatless, dairy-free, egg-free meals to several days a week; and then becoming vegan. We are here to help with that transition. Once omnivores see how many fantastic vegan options their are, it is much easier to adopt a vegan diet and a compassionate lifestyle. It easier now than it has ever been!Interesting FactsWe are living in the Golden Age of vegan cheese, my friends. In all honesty, there have never been so many scrumptious vegan options to suit any cheese craving you may have. Fancy cheeses, sandwich cheeses, melty cheeses, mac 'n' cheeses, there are so many wonderful vegan cheeses!How can we help?You can help us help animals simply by shopping at Animal Place's Vegan Republic! And please tell your friends, family, neighbors, veg meet-up group, canine enthusiast club, trivia team, etc. about us. Thank you!Anything else?We also have a lot of fun events at the shop. Here is what we have lined up for December: Friday, December 18, 6:00-8:00 pmHannah Kaminsky cookbook signingWe will have the talented vegan author and photographer Hannah Kamisky at the V signing her new book Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season. She will be bringing a treat or two from the book, so you can taste the amazing recipes for yourself!Come on in and find out more.Christy GriffinManagerAnimal Place's Vegan Republic1624 University Ave.Berkeley, CA 94703510-280-5778christy@animalplace.org From our family to yours,Sanctuary Bistro