If you’ve been following the plant-based scene in the islands, you’ve likely heard the name Lillian Cumic. She’s the culinary powerhouse behind books like Hawai’i Vegan Paradise and Hawaii Washoku, and a beloved columnist for the Star-Advertiser’s Crave.

In a December presentation for the Vegan Society of Hawaii, Lillian shared her incredible journey from a "meat-refusing" toddler in Sydney to a professional chef in Japan, and finally, to her current role as Hawaii’s "vegan cheese whiz." Her story blends destiny, discipline, and delicious food.

Jeremy Jarvis, the Maui-based community organizer, radio DJ, and lifelong social justice activist known for their work in mutual aid, recovery support, punk and DIY culture, and vegan food justice, has lost their public journey with cancer.

The best available evidence suggests that 2050 is much more likely to be flexitarian than vegan. A flexitarian world is morally and environmentally unsatisfactory, but it is also not nothing. We can make a real difference by supporting efforts to make affordable, minimally processed, and appealing vegan food available to billions of consumers worldwide who have not embraced veganism but who are receptive to change.

Maui vegan restaurants ensure that no animals suffer or die for anyone’s meals. They make it easy to eat in alignment with animal ethics, health goals, or both, without turning every meal into a research project.

They also keep money circulating through small local businesses, and many lean heavily on fruit-forward, island-appropriate ingredients that fit Maui’s climate and culture.

If you are visiting, pick one stop per region and build a day around it. If you live here: put two of them into your regular rotation, then add the rest when you are already nearby. That is how a “scene” becomes an everyday option, not a special occasion.

Eat well, live pono, and check the latest hours before you drive.

“Why is eating meat with abandon getting a thumbs-up on every point on the political spectrum?” asks vegetarian and former vegan Alicia Kennedy, author of  No Meat Required, The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating (Beacon Press, 2023).

Tabay Atkins, the renowned 18-year-old yoga teacher and visionary vegan chef, is excited to announce a significant move set to transform Maui's culinary landscape. His beloved vegan food truck, Tabay’s Mindful Kitchen, a Southern California sensation since 2022, relocates to Maui for a planned July 1 opening.

How do you even begin to comprehend the tragedy of the Lahaina fire? Mothers, fathers, sisters brothers, aunts, uncles, children, workers and friends are forever gone. A community of homes and businesses wiped out. Irreplaceable cultural centers key to Hawaiian history no longer exist. A vibrant economic engine on Maui has been decimated.

Creative vegan chefs worldwide bring environmental sustainability, healthful nutrition and compassion for animals to the kitchen.  Some specialize in creating animal-free versions of traditional Hawaiian dishes and inventing new dishes that evoke the spirit and flavors of Hawaii.

Most people who live on Maui, like most people throughout the world, are not vegan. Is veganism incompatible with traditional Hawaiian culture?  In a Talk Story first, we turned to artificial intelligence – ChatGPT – for an answer.  Below is word-for-word what ChatGPT has to say:

A new Zoom lecture from the Vegan Society of Hawaii is called “A Unifying Theory for Lifestyle Medicine.” At first glance, one might be skeptical. This sounds rather ambitious, if not a touch grandiose. But when the proposer is Dr. Dean Ornish, you’ve got to pay attention.

Here on Maui we can use all the vegan dining options we can get — especially those featuring local, minimally processed ingredients. With only about a dozen vegan or mostly vegan cafes and food trucks serving the entire island —and not a single upscale vegan restaurant— Nui Life Kitchen Deli and Papio’s Place are welcome new additions.

For the most part, the environmental establishment ignores or downplays the decisive role of animal agriculture in advancing climate change. A few glimmers of hope are beginning to emerge. For example, Dr. Peter Carter, an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently said that the climate crisis will get worse unless meat and dairy are removed from diets. And no less of an international luminary than the pope urged people to eat less meat to tackle climate change.

Last May, business executive, engineer, activist and author James Morris Hicks presented a Vegan Society of Hawaii lecture about the impact of animal ag on climate change. He restated an established, but widely underappreciated fact:

“On a per calorie basis, animal-based foods require over ten times as much land, water and energy as do plant-based foods. So, if we cannot take the animal out of the equation when it comes to feeding ourselves, we will never learn to live in harmony with nature, thereby placing the future of our civilization and our species in serious jeopardy.”

Concerns about COVID have postponed this year’s celebration of La ‘Ulu, or Breadfruit Day. However, it’s still a good time to focus on this extraordinary plant. Why does ‘ulu (the Hawaiian word for breadfruit) deserve its own day? What’s all the fuss about?

For several years while working in the scuba diving industry, Marie LeBoeuf and her “was-band” travelled in developing countries. Eventually they wanted to reunite with the creature comforts of the western world. Having already lived in Florida and desiring a new tropical diving-friendly locale, they moved to Maui in November 1999. A few years later Marie embraced veganism.

According to one trade group, approximately 60% of restaurants fail within the first year of operation. When you add a pandemic, shutdowns and a slashed customer base, it seems like a miracle that a few local vegan outfits have recently opened or expanded.

Here veganism is personal. When you get to know Dorothy the Cow or Charlotte and Berney the Pigs, how could you even think about eating their cousins? Others apparently reach similar conclusions, because Leilani and other sanctuaries are motivating many to go vegan, or at very least greatly reduce their consumption of meat.

We at the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii trust you and your loved ones are not only coping during Covid-19, but thriving. We’re lucky to live Hawaii, where whole plant foods are abundant, as are outdoor exercises like walking, beach treks, swimming, hiking, biking. A whole food, plant-based diet and outdoor exercise are essential pillars of a healthy lifestyle.

Almost every day a fast food or grocery chain, big box outlet or food manufacturer announces a new line of “plant-based” products designed to mimic popular foods like hamburgers, fried chicken, mac ‘n cheese, eggs, sausage, pizza, donuts, hot dogs, ice cream and even tuna. One analysis suggests that the plant-based food market will be worth $74.2 billion by 2027. A commentator has even heralded the growing popularity of “plant-based” knock-offs as the arrival of “the new veganism.”

Vegans embrace ambitious goals, like achieving optimal health, working for a sustainable environment and creating a world in which animals are treated with compassiion. We reflect kūlia i ka nu‘u. We “strive for the summit.”

From time to time people send us collections of links they feel would be helpful to our readers.. Ethan Clark describes himself as “an average Joe who is passionate about helping people find a fitness routine that works for them.”  He shares his personal transformation and insights in findourfitness.com.

If you thought that combatting climate change and preventing future pandemics by reducing or eliminating corporate animal agriculture would come across loud and clear during the 2020 Virtual Maui Earth Day, you would be wrong. For people who care about our planet, veganism should be a no-brainer. At Maui Earth Day 2020, it was barely a footnote.

With COVID‑19, we realize coronaviruses don't just cause epidemics, but can explode into global pandemics. Coronaviruses have already told us they can become lethal and cause pandemics. It’s not hard to imagine a combination of transmissibility and lethality that could make the next coronavirus pandemic an order of magnitude worse.

Michael Greger, M.D., the best-selling author and creator of the exceptional online resource, nutritionfacts.org, is out with a new and exhaustively researched book, How Not to Diet. It’s a seemingly definitive examination of optimal nutrition, how certain foods contribute to obesity and sustainable, evidence-based weight loss. Books like this have made Dr. Greger the nerd hero of vegans everywhere.

Most vegans go about their lives doing little in the way of advocacy or activism. Stephen Beidner is a visible vegan.

Although rather mild-mannered and by no stretch of the imagination “pushy,” you’ll find Stephen networking at monthly Vegetarian Society of Hawaii lectures, leading the annual protest against the Makawao Rodeo, staffing literature tables at community events and encouraging restaurants to broaden their vegan options.