A post I didn't plan which I think is quite apparent.

Okay, so this has nothing to do with food. It's Monday, there's two weeks to go, I'm getting a little desparate for topics and one of my Converse All Stars has a hole in its sole which made my walk here really unenjoyable. Ah, Converse, you are so very, very comfortable when I first get you, then I walk and walk and walk and you become so very uncomfortable. I love Chuck Taylors - I know exactly what size I need and they are one of the few shoes I can walk miles in straight away. They also look okay, I reckon.



Most winters, I move out of my canvas sneakers and into synthetic boots. The winter before last I lucked on a beautiful pair at the tip shop in Happy Valley. They were awesome and I loved them. This year, they fell apart. I don't know if it's true, but vegan shoes seem way less robust than leather shoes. I kept meaning to get a new pair of boots this year but I just never got round to it, so I wore my Converse all winter and they were okay. But I had cold feet pretty much all winter and they are not the most waterproof but they did okay. So know that it's summer I have three pairs of converse all with holes in their soles. I should get them re-soled but it costs slightly more than it would to buy a new pair of converse - which is of course, well-worth it for the planet and workers' rights but man, I find it really hard to do. What I usually do is plug them up with shoe-gu for a couple of months and then buy new shoes.



Whenever I think about shoes I think about the early 90s and how Vans were first available in New Zealand. I am pretty sure people were getting them sent from America but I remember my first pair of Vans and how much I loved them.

There are quite a few vegan shoes available in New Zealand now. Oddly, Number One Shoe warehouse has heaps - I guess because maybe vinyl is cheaper than leather. Hmm. But it's really hard to find locally made or fair-trade vegan shoes. Trade Aid used to do an awesome Chuck-Taylor-esque boot but they don't stock it any more. Safe has a small but groovy range of vegan shoes. And I guess now you can get almost anything online - how great if Herbivore!

Okay, so, this was not about food, I have been trying to work out a way of bending this back into food somehow, erm, how about this, here's a picture of some vegan food pyramid:


And here's a recipe for vegan haggis - no honestly. Try and fit that in your food pyramid!

Image:
Chuck Taylor Creative Commons licensed by Flickr user Virginia Lin Photography
Food Pyramid Creative Commons licensed by Flickr user glue&glitter

Thank you again for CC licensing your picture!