Plant Based Business Opportunity in Cornwall

If you already live in Cornwall or dream of living in Cornwall, and have aspirations to run your own plant based business then La Cantina Cafe at Mount Pleasant Eco Park, in Porthtowan could be just the opportunity you are looking for.

As a multi-purpose events space, Mount Pleasant Eco Park is a vibrant and popular destination for veggies, vegans, and those with a passion for the environment, community, great food and cracking music.  The year round events at the Eco Park reflect this diverse audience and include everything from gigs, conferences, retreats, markets, and weddings to its annual Tropical Pressure Festival, frequent Roots Reggae Roasts and supper evenings.  The park also includes busy workshop units, community gardens, an organic allotment (run by the Down to Earth Foundation), a wild camping field, and at the heart of it La Catina Cafe; all of which are perched magnificently overlooking the beautiful north Cornish coast.

If you are a chef with a passion for plant based, fresh, organic cooking and you like the sound of working in such a happening and beautiful place, then you could be just the person the Eco Park is looking for to take over La Cantina Cafe and make it your own.  Experience (at least 5 years catering experience) and drive is a given but armed with both of these they are looking for someone who can grow the business to its full potential and even possibly expand.  

For full details on this exciting opportunity and for details on how to apply, check out the Mount Pleasant Eco Park Job Vacancies page. You can also drop Sophia at the Eco Park an email to discuss this opportunity in full.  The Facebook page also gives loads of information, up to date happenings and a great general feel of what the Eco Park is all about.

A Land Base for The Naturally Vegan Plot!

A couple of years ago we wrote about The Naturally Vegan Plot, a veganic gardening project set up by two Cornish vegans, Elaine and Jim.  Since then they have tirelessly worked towards growing this project but have had various set backs centred around the land they had rented.  As a result, and to ensure the future of the project, Elaine and Jim have decided the only way forward is to buy land as a permanent and secure base. To this end they have set up a Crowdfunder campaign to raise enough money for at least one acre of land.  With their plants and resources currently in storage, this campaign represents the make or break of the whole Naturally Vegan Plot project.  

As vegans we tend to be more switched on than most as to where our food comes from, the importance of growing our own, the protection of the soil, land and wildlife.  Basically on the most simple level, being in touch with and protecting the land is a crucial ingredient in securing our future food needs, let alone all the other factors associated with the less sustainable and non vegan food production options.  

So please, if you can afford to do so on whatever level, support this project by contributing to this Crowdfunder Campaign.

To read more about the project and to find out about their other events and fund raising activities visit The Naturally Vegan Plot's Facebook Page.  There is also loads of information on the Crowdfunder Campaign page.

Eau De Badger

In the depths of the hot summer we had installed a Belfast sink in the front garden to serve as a watering hole for the increasing amounts of wildlife that hone in on our tiny green patch.  The small bird bath and dog bowl offerings that we had previously provided had seemed insufficient and required daily (sometimes twice daily) top ups to keep up with demands in the heat of the moment.  

However, the water in our expanded 'pond' has been disappearing quickly too, to the extent that I was thinking there might be a leak.  Daily sips from next doors cats, the flock of 40 odd sparrows, and the clumsy bathing antics of the collared doves still didn't seem to account for the daily loss.  There had however been no puddle under the sink to indicate a leak.  I knew that the badgers had utilised the previous dog bowl facility I had provided (evidenced by the gathering of jowly grit the next morning after a fresh filling the night before).  However despite this, I don't think I had fully accounted for the slurpability of the black and white bandits when it comes to a good water supply.  

After another watering can of water was emptied into the depleted sink, I made a mental note to borrow one of the trail cameras from work again and duly brought it home the next evening.  The results indicated that indeed I had very much underestimated the value of the new bar we had recently opened in our front garden for our black and white clientele.  At least 30 seconds (that is as much as I had set each clip to record) of slurping was sucking up the pondy cocktail on occasions throughout the night.  The water obviously tastes a whole lot better with green garnishes from the pond than straight from a clean dog bowl.

Humorous slurping noises aside (turn up the volume on the top clip), this all very much highlighted something I am quite passionate about.  Many people choose to feed birds (I do and it is possibly one of the reasons for the increased sparrow population in our garden over the years - along with the tall safe vegetation we offer) but many forget that more importantly wildlife needs a good clean source of water.  It may have been highlighted more this summer but the truth is, wildlife needs this all year round, including during icy winter periods too.  So dog bowl, pond, sink, washing up bowl, or old re purposed/reused plastic container; fill it up and stick it out there and you'd be amazed what might come along and set up its bar stool in your garden.

The Case of the Disappearing Seitan Jerky and Other Mysteries

In the past two days a couple of very mysterious incidents have occurred.  

The first, like it does, concerns some seitan jerky I was in the process of making.  I love Primal Strips and have been wanting to try and make my own jerky for a while.  After all, I love them but hate the plastic involved.  I set about fiddling around with a seitan recipe I use quite often now, slicing and then coating it in some homemade BBQ sauce (combine tomato puree, cider vinegar, crushed garlic, maple syrup, soya sauce, a few drops of chilli sauce and a few drops of hickory smoke) before baking it.   Thirty minutes later I went to check it.  Hmmm, it seems that our oven is so smoking hot that one whole slice of jerky had completely evaporated.  Mystery number one.  

Okay, so it really wasn't that much of a mystery when you live with a food loving Phil.  I went to tell him about it, with a wry smile, to find him still chewing......innocently.  The mystery was more how he had astrally projected himself past me at some point in the preceding minutes to nick some.  

Well the jerky was ready anyway so I thought it was my turn to try it.  Phil obviously requested another bit.  Before we knew it.........well it was history.  I told myself that the cooler it got, the crunchier it seemed to become anyway so best to eat it whilst it was fresh and experiment again with making some more soon.  Taste wise, it was damn good.  Texture wise, it needs more work if we weren't going to scoff the lot straight out of the oven.

Mystery number two occurred today.  Again, like it does, it involves bats.  Have you ever seen bats during the day?  I'm not talking about dusk time but a clear, sunny day around 4pm.  There were about 4 or 5 of them flying around quite happily for about 5 minutes or so in a quiet Cornish wooded valley in the back of beyond we happened to be tiptoeing around.  Weird huh?  I looked it up when I got home and it seems that it isn't unheard of.  Mystery again solved but it was pretty amazing to see.

Oh I do like a good but trivial mystery to solve.  I guess that is the Scooby Doo coming out in me?!

Fig Leaves and Thieves

Any of our regular blog readers may remember our relatively frequent musings on our beloved fig tree in our front garden (well beloved to me more than Phil!).  Despite its relative age it still only produced its first single edible fig for us to enjoy in 2016, then zero last year.  The wonderfully warm summer weather this year however seemed to have worked its wonder on swelling the fruits and, with no usual violent Cornish summer gales to knock them off, we looked like we were in for the best harvest yet.  

Every time I left my nightly badger "leave our squashes alone please" offerings or topped up the bird feeders in the front garden, I would have a glance up into the luscious green fig branches noting where each swelling fruit was or, on the lower branches, having a quick squeeze to check for ripeness.  Then I started to struggle to find the figs in the places I was sure I had seen them before.  The ones on the lower branches still seemed to be there though thankfully.  Then after a few days away I checked the aforementioned lower figs to discover that something had beaten us to it.  Two out of the three were visibly pecked to smithereens, despite the fact that they weren't quite ripe enough yet!  Determined that I at least deserved a little look in on our figgy offerings, I literally 'bagged' the remaining one.  Wrapped in a plastic bag protection I imagined this would not only protect it from suspected beaky raiders but help enhance its ripeness.  It worked from the former point of view but sadly the bag enhanced the ripeness just a little too much and it was way too ripe when I returned to it.  Not that it stopped the figgy raider from enjoying the fruits of my labour.  As soon as I had unbagged it, the masked attacker was caught red beaked and the fig finally succumbed in dramatic abandon.

Well that was that for another year, unless the new figs forming were going to suddenly get a growth spurt on before winter set in.  Another plan was needed for next year; one where the fruits were equally shared out.  In the meantime, I suddenly remembered something I had read about making fig leaf tea.  It had been in the depths of winter when the fig tree was devoid of leaves but a quiet determination to at least make use of some parts of the tree had unearthed the thought in my head.  I returned inside for a quick search and found very quickly that not only could you use fig leaves to make a tea but it seems it is really good for you too!  

A quick nip back outside, leaves picked, kettle boiled and I was brewing up a sample whilst I continued to read about the benefits.  It seems that for health reasons, particularly to benefit the treatment of diabetes, people take fig leaf extract.  Perhaps this is because they don't readily have a fig tree to hand, as a tea of boiled fresh leaves was also stated as beneficial.  In addition fig leaves have a positive effect on blood pressure, along with various other ailments including cancer.  Apparently they are a good source of fibre and calcium too.  The more I read, the more I felt a little better about old figgy outside and its inability to produce us big juicy fruits.

After what seemed like a sufficient brew, I poured myself a cup.  The smell itself was enough to indicate this was going to be good, and it was.  It is slightly reminiscent of a sun warmed bank of Cornish gorse or to put it in less Cornish terms; it smelt and tasted mildly coconutty.  It was delicious.

I merely took two leaves, cut them up and poured boiling water over them.  I have since read that generally people boil the leaves in water for about 15 minutes so I'll probably try that next time too.  For winter use it seems that the best approach is to dry some of the leaves before grinding them to a powder and then using this to make tea.  As we now have a dehydrator, that immediately went on my 'to do' list.  I even read that people use the leaves as edible wraps.  Hmmm, I wasn't so convinced by that but maybe I need to investigate the recipes first and give it a go before I dismiss it.

I felt pretty good after a couple of cups of fig leaf tea.  I even nearly forgot all about the fig thieves outside.

Reflections on Death

Fifteen months ago I lost my dad.  Four weeks ago my mum followed; hence the recent blog silence.  I was beside both of them for minutes, hours, days, weeks; holding their hands before, during, and after.  It is where I wanted to be, despite the fact it digs a hole right through you.  As you can imagine, I have spent much time reflecting on death recently.  The mind can be a muddled place as a result but I wanted to honestly and openly share some of these thoughts in the hope that others will find them interesting.

As vegans we have a respect for all life but what about death?  My first honest thought to share is that by the time death came to my parents, I welcomed it for them; willed it even. For the last four days of mum's life she was taking twelve laboured breaths followed by thirty seconds of not breathing, before gasping back into the cycle; that's four days non stop until the last thirty minutes or so when she thankfully calmed more.  My dad was less laboured but had more pain but ultimately for both it just seemed like such hard work for them.  When the time came I was flooded with numbness and huge relief.  I welcomed death, as I am fairly sure they did.  But a vegan welcoming death to another living being?  Under the circumstances I imagine most would agree this is totally natural but as a vegan, I also found it conflicting in my muddled mind.

My second honest admission is that such was the suffering, and for both thankfully they were blessed with less so than many, I did have thoughts of how I could 'help'.  This thought was both natural and shocking to me at the same time.  Mum even said about five days before she died "please help me".  I asked her in response, "have you had enough mum?" and she said "yes".  It tore me apart.  You can see why people do 'help'; that love drives people to do it.  That whole saying 'cruel to be kind' seems to have some substance here.  Ultimately though I couldn't have done it.  Some of it comes down to cowardice; whichever way that coin is flipped, but also I know really my dad and mum would have hated me facing consequences.  So instead I resorted to being there, monitoring, feeding back to the caring and loving staff my translation of pain and discomfort levels so medication could be tailored.  It had been a startling thought though; a vegan with fleeting thoughts of basically murder?

This is when I then got to thinking about our animal companions.  As hard as it is, us humans are given that 'power' to decide when our non human family members can no longer endure suffering and end it for them; peacefully, quickly, gently.  How easy the world perceives we can make that decision for animals and yet not for our human loved ones.  Does that make life cheaper for animals or humans?  If you love that living being, that dying being, you should be trusted to help both.  My parents both signed 'Do Not Resuscitate' orders a few years ago.  Maybe there should be a witnessed order available for 'please euthanise' too?  I'm potentially on very dodgy ground here but as a non speciesist being I am perplexed as to why the euthanasia debate still rumbles on for humans.

Another reflection for me centred around medication.  The pharma industry is the epitome of the devil to me on the most part but here I was discussing, requesting and willingly accepting the increased medical needs of my parents.  It was surreal how desperate and reliant I was, even thankful that an extra dose could offer some reprieve from any suffering as things progressed.  I spent some time talking to a lovely lady whose dad was in the room opposite my mum.  Her dad too was struggling.  Our despair was reflected in each others faces as we talked in one of our many 'take five' moments in the sitting room of the hospice.  She surmised that she would rather go into the middle of nowhere and take a load of hallucinogens if she were in the same position as our parents.  I had to agree.  This was by no means a reflection on the loving, caring and beyond amazing staff at the hospice.  It was more a reaction to the chemical cocktail constantly administered to enable the long drawn out process to be more comfortable.  As a vegan I think it comes down to choice.  For my mum and dad I facilitated what they chose.  When my time comes, and if I can make a choice, well I will.

I have already mentioned the nursing/hospice teams involved in my parents care.  How these amazing people can, in the face of what they experience day in, day out, maintain such unconditional and compassionate love and care is just mind blowing.  It brings tears to Phil's and my eyes just thinking about it.  Nothing was too much trouble.  Humans certainly know how to look after their own (although I truly recognise that this isn't necessarily the case the world over and horrible atrocities do indeed occur).  Dying humans are on the whole lavished with care; even in death and the ensuing ceremonies, service or rituals.  The death of some animals are indeed ritualised (cruelly so) but generally animals are led unceremoniously to their deaths and then ceremoniously served up on a plate.  This was just another random thought that a very muddled vegan had at the time.  

Here is another thought surrounding humans.  Many vegans associate kindness purely with other vegans.  Well I must say I have met some pretty uncaring vegans at times.  I have also met an awful lot of non-vegans who have shown me unconditional love; particularly so in the last two years.  To draw a distinction here is just insane and short sighted.  Kindness is kindness; whatever form or level it takes.  It shouldn't be dismissed purely because it doesn't go far enough.  

I could go on describing other thoughts and emotions during this dark time including anger, flatness, frustration and multiple stages of exhaustion and confusion but I imagine these are more natural reactions experienced by many.  Indeed I am kind of hoping that all of the things I have shared would be recognised by at least some others too.  Possibly they are a lot more natural than I thought?

Life does go on though and as I have now returned to Cornwall after my mum's funeral and sorting out some of my parents house, this outpouring I guess is also only natural.  I hope now to be able to move on to reflect on the wonderfully unusual, caring, funny and treasured moments of life with my parents instead.  They were both extraordinary in their own unique ways.

So to finish on a lighter note, here are two poems I wrote for my dad and mum, and which formed part of their commemorative services.

Robin Gill (The Robin) - 1936 - 2017

Yvonne Gill (The Chough) - 1942 - 2018

The Robin

Mum and Dad Summer 2015

I saw a robin perched on a tree

His tune was full and strong

I love the song he sung for me

Although the words were wrong

I saw a robin sat on my spade

He watched me as I planted

“You plan, you sow, you water” he said

“But you should never take life for granted”

I saw a robin upon the fence

As I walked along the way

Each time I passed he followed me

To ensure I was okay

I cannot see my bird no more

But in my heart he sings

And every bird I see now

Is my Robin on the wing

Upon the tree, upon the fence

And on the spade as well

My Dad will ever guide me
And in my life will dwell.

The Chough

The chough arrived when the sea below was turbulent and stormy.

The wind was strong to fly against with her battered wings still forming.

The cliffs seemed high but on she flew towards the solid ground.

Despite the violent heave of wave reaching up to pull her down.

She reached the shore, the sun came out and shone upon her black feathers.

She preened them now with golden beak to remove the salt strewn weather.

The gold of legs now stood her strong as she surveyed the world around her.

It was time to leave the past behind and search for her own future.

She launched herself high in the sky with a joyous burst of shrieks.

Twisting, turning, tumbling with acrobatic feats.

Her bold display soon caught the eye of a handsome little robin.

Whose breast of red and cheeky song the lucky chough was soon winning.

Their nest was built on solid rock and in it soon two youngsters.

And as the years went on this little family had much adventures.

Like her, the little chough had taught her girls to live and dare.

So they fledged the nest and went in search of lands full of choughs and bears.

Not long ago the robin flew towards the setting sun.

Distraught, the little chough took flight to follow his voyage on.

I see them now in bluest sky and above the azure sea.

Or amongst the bluebell woods upon their planted trees.

Whenever I saw a robin my mum I always told.

And a phone call made immediately upon spotting black and gold.

Whether Barranco bound, in Bretagne or on my Cornish bluffs.
I’ll still always call you mum to tell you of our choughs.

OJ Seitan

I've just ordered a new stock of vital wheat gluten flour as I suddenly seem to be getting through it and my stocks are wavering on the low side.  One of the reasons is that I am back in my own kitchen, after a spell of being away in Kent, and so enjoying the time and the quiet creative chance to explore new recipes.  The other reason is that I have discovered the wonders of using oranges in cooking, particularly so with seitan.  

Using oranges isn't a new experience completely.  We've enjoyed a few tasty wonders whilst eating at our favourite restaurant Eurasia in Southern Portugal where Mila, the resident goddess of Portuguese fusion food, has employed the very accessible orange as an ingredient in a few of her buffet dishes, including a seitan one.  Quite why it took so long to explore the orangey possibilities myself is beyond me.  It took a browse through a free Waitrose newspaper, and a chance upon a far from vegan recipe, to have me putting oranges on my shopping list as a savoury recipe ingredient rather than a sweet treat.  The recipe involved chicken but I had the ability to look beyond that and think seitan instead. Coupled with fennel and the seitan, the recipe involved only a few other ingredients including orange juice and zest, olives, mustard, and thyme.  In fact here is the recipe (although it pains me to include a link to a non vegan recipe) and I implore Waitrose to include in their 'Cook's Tips' at the bottom a vegan alternative.  It doesn't involve that much compassionate imagination after all.  

The recipe was a little 'off piste' for us mostly for the fact that it involved the little used oranges, but also involved mustard; an ingredient I am fond of but Phil is a little dubious of.  I'm gradually introducing it more and more in the hope that it will infiltrate his life in the same way that California and Brittany did.  When I announced to Phil a few years ago that I wanted to revisit California he was reluctant; an artificial impression of Americans and American life emblazoned on his mind.  I insisted it wasn't like that and as it was my birthday pulled the ace card out on him and we went.  He loved it.  Same with Brittany.  His impression of the French was a meat loving, English hating nation; a misconception I was determined to dissolve.  I have the advantage of being able to communicate reasonably well with our French neighbours (after all I am of French Canadian decent) and I have immense respect for the French pride (misinterpreted as arrogance).  A few beautifully baked French baguettes,  bottles of amazing French wine, spotlessly presented French villages and polite smiling French exchanges later, he was sold.  Now he asks me when we can return.  Mustard is taking a little longer, French or not.  Anyway, I digress.  I completely blame that on the amazing bottle of French Beaujolais I am currently drinking.  

Seitan boiled but yet to be marinated and baked

Despite the mustard the veganised version of the tray bake was greatly enjoyed.  The orange added a really different and fresh taste dimension to the dish and so I decided to explore further.  The one session of basic seitan making had provided enough for three meals as it turned out.  There are multiple recipes for seitan available online or in cook books so search out any of these and experiment (a quick search of our own blog will reveal many of our experimentations!).  The one I've used recently was printed in the latest Viva magazine as Seitan Chicken Poppers  but I stopped short of deep frying as per the recipe as we tried that and just found that too greasy.

I then happened upon a recipe from my treasured Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook (many a happy meal in Palm Springs led me to buy this a few years ago).  It was a Moroccan style marinade to make Moroccan steaks from seitan.  Just perfect it was, and very quick to make before applying to the already made seitan pieces.  Obviously I cannot just repeat the recipe here for copyright reasons.  However, I just found the exact same recipe (Rockin' Moroccan Marinade) online so follow the link to jazz up your home made seitan, or tofu, or tempeh to get that orangey summery hit.  I marinated my seitan for a few hours then baked for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees C.  There was even enough marinade to store and repeat a few days later.  

Get orangey and enjoy!

Cornish Vegan Markets

For a couple of years now I had been talking to Phil about starting a regular vegan market in our village hall.  Unfortunately family events in this time had given me neither the energy or the time to pursue this.  Then about a year ago a regular monthly market sprang up in the village hall.  Although not totally vegan, the vibe and options were sufficient for us to make regular visits.  Then lo and behold, recently news came to me from a friend of a totally vegan market at our village hall, literally a few doors along from our house.  It can't get any better than that.  Our dream had come true!

Hosted by Vegan Events Cornwall, the first vegan market is this Saturday 12th May, and it looks like there are plans for this to be a regular event.  With proceedings kicking off at 2pm and running till 5pm, expect vegan goodies, a zero waste shopping section, hot food, a 100% vegan bar and activities to keep the kids happy.  For more details, including how to get there, please visit the Cornish Vegan Markets Facebook Events page.  As it says in the image above, please do check for details of changes on the events page too, including for future venues in Cornwall.

Sadly I am unable to go this Saturday, entrenched as I am with more family priorities at the other end of the country.  However, Phil I am sure will represent me in spirit and food consumption and I very much look forward to enjoying future Cornish Vegan Markets, wherever they may be in Cornwall.

Portuguese Vegan Law

After a turbulent and emotional couple of years on a few different levels I am happy to report that we are finally getting the chance to return to our second home in Portugal.  No, we have not become European property barons and neither are we abandoning our beloved Cornwall either.  Our second home is indeed Miles Davis the camper van (he's Kind of Blue) and we park him wherever the sun triggered herbs of Portugal smell the best.  That normally involves a bump down a muddy track somewhere into the wilds where encounters with belligerent wild boars whilst cleaning your teeth under the dazzling stars is not unknown (that is quite another story).  It is hard to express how much we love and find solace in those days when we might not see another human being but are surrounded by the quiet sounds of nature.  We love Portugal.

We've never found it hard being vegan in Portugal.  You only need to put in the search words 'Portugal' or 'Eurasia' in the 'search this blog' over there on the right to read all about the wonders we have found, cooked, and experienced in this welcoming and beautiful country to know that.  We have even been learning the language (estamos até aprendendo a falar português).  

Since our last visit we have even more reason to love the Portuguese as last year the Portuguese parliament passed a law that made offering a vegan option mandatory in all public canteens.  This includes schools, universities, prisons, hospitals and all public buildings.  Credit should go to the Portugal Vegetarian Society (Associacao Vegetariana Portuguesa) for leading the charge back in 2016 with a petition that led to the debate and making of the law.  

No other country, to our knowledge, is yet to follow this fine example.  A similar petition in the UK, which we are ashamed to say we had no knowledge of, failed to reach the required numbers to be debated in parliament.  It can't be too long before another attempt could be made at this and achieved surely?

Regardless and in the meantime, we fully intend to immerse ourselves into the wonders of natural and vegan Portugal over the coming weeks.  Normal service will resume once we return, if we can drag ourselves away that is.  

Cornwall Vegan Spring Festival 2018

You know the Vegan Spring has arrived when the Cornwall Vegan Festival appears on the Cornish daffodil-hazed horizon.  I unfortunately had to miss it last year but Phil reported back to me what an amazing event it was, and with this year’s event, taking place on Saturday 7th April, promising to be even bigger and better, I am actually struggling to contain my excitement.

Cornwall has really put itself on the vegan map in more recent years.  Gone are the days when you have to travel up country to get your vegan kicks.  Cornwall is now packed full of amazing vegan offerings; many of which are showcased at the festival.  The festival has also attracted the attention of vegan businesses from outside of Cornwall, such as Seitan’s Grill, Sharaf Natural Foods and Ethica, proving that it isn’t just our amazing coastline and countryside that make the journey to Cornwall well worth going the extra mile for!

The festival is free to get in and all are welcome, including naturally your canine family members.  There are a wealth of tasty food stalls (everything from seitan burgers, kebabs, and pizzas to dosas, falafel and decadent raw cakes and desserts are all on offer) for a well earned lunchtime pause and plenty of savoury snacks, sweet treats, and refreshing (or stimulating) drinks to fill in all the gaps in between.

Vegan business, information and charity stalls will be offering tasters, samples and information to stimulate taste buds and minds alike, with the latter being even more sated by the two stages of talks, demonstrations and workshops running throughout the day.  This year also sees the return of the ‘Veganers Question time’, a popular, entertaining and informative event from last year’s festival.

Further entertainment is invited and provided by an open acoustic ‘no-mike’ and meeting area (bring along your musical instruments).  Kids are naturally drawn to music (I’ve seen many a non-self-conscious little one strut their stuff at the front during music events at the Eco Park) but if that isn’t their thing, there are also children’s activities available with I Love Nature.

All this excitement is taking place at Mount Pleasant Eco Park at Porthtowan, perched wonderfully overlooking the beautiful North Cornwall coast.  It kicks off at 11am until 5pm.  For further details check out the Festival Facebook Events page or the main Cornwall Vegan Festival page.