Elite Event: VIP Vegans @ Whole Foods

When Nique sent me a heads up on this exclusive VIP (Vegan Insider Presentation) event, I couldn’t help but say «heck yes!» There haven’t been many Vegan only events in East Bay Unilocal history. In fact this is the first one ever. Let’s hope this is the start of a bright new future.
I arrived Raidered out, ready to workout. It was bout to get real in the Whole Foods parking lot.
Unfortunately the workout portion of this event was nixed at the last minute. Wamp wamp wamp… I’m rarely one that looks forward to waking up early on the weekend, let alone actually doing any physical activity that requires leaving the cozy confines of my bed.
Jenn, a nutritionist from the Vega team, put on a fantastic, well informed presentation about living your best life. She is a well prepared, eloquent speaker. I could listen to her talk for hours. I especially enjoyed the fact that Vega doesn’t cram their product down your throat. They just present the facts, along with some useful information, then allow you to decide for yourself. It gives you the feeling that they care more about mindful, Vegan living than they do about the all mighty bottom line.
After a brief tour of the store, my babygirl blended us up a Mocha smoothie on their blender bike. So simple, almond milk, naner, and ice. Boom! Instant, delicious, nutritious treat. I love that Vega is packed with plant based protein without having to resort to the use of soy ingredients. They gave us multiple samples, with the new coconut almond being a new favorite of mine. Of course my lil’ workout warrior wasn’t gonna let me pass up the Gilman Whole Foods exclusive deal of 30% off all Vega products. We grabbed some Mixed Berry before we left.
When the event was over, we were able to get in some grocery shopping. (Field Roast on sale, HOLLA!!) This beautiful new Whole Foods on Gilman is still not too well known, making it easy to breeze through the aisles. Especially their well curated beer selection. I just hope they’re bakery department gets the word that Vegan food is the wave of the future.
Thanks Mrs. Dominique V (egan), it was a pleasure shopping with you. I saw your shopping cart, you are so close to coming over to the Vegan side, I’m sure you can taste it. I know that you know it tastes good!

This really was awesome. Not only did we get to be invited to a particularly exclusive Elite event, but it happen to exactly fit into my Sunday schedule, in one of the nicest Whole Foods in the Bay Area (and the only one I know of that bothers to properly label the food in the self-​serve). Thank you again to Nique.
We had a great talk (something of a sales pitch) by a Vega representative, talking about approaches to food, and some of their products, followed by a short tour of some of the store, and then a spin on the blender bike at the Vega pavaillion in store that day. I got a bit carried away (maybe hyped by the sample), and blended in record time.
The reason I’m giving it only 4 stars is that I have to remain objective here. I became vegan for a variety of reasons, but most importatly because nutritonal science strongly supports it, and I would be doing myself a disfavor by not trying to be critical of anyone suggesting nutritional advice, even if it’s vegan. In particular, any food pyramid that features «protein» in any segment is fundamentally flawed since it’s a macro nutrient (found in ample quantity in vegetables), and most definitely not a food group, and until we get away from that obession, the food habits in this country remain very much in question. In other words, assertions about nutrition need research and evidence, not just statements — otherwise they’re no better than the stuff we’ve been fed over the last 50 years.
Finally, I got a sugar rush from the sample I tried. I’m not sure just how much sugar was it in, but it wasn’t a great experience.
I understand what Vega are trying to do, and it’s not that I don’t think that nutritional supplments (at least ones which don’t contain pointless loads of protein) don’t have some place for athletes but I still assert that the best source of nutrients is great food.
And in all fairness, the Vega chick was really friendly, pretty knowledgable, and doing her job in a non-​confrontational way. I just won’t be buying the stuff in a hurry.

It’s a beautiful morning, ahhhh… this was the song playing in my head, even having to wake up at 7am on a Sunday morning (traditionally one of my days to sleep in). I was super pumped to be going to a Unilocal Elite Event dedicated to vegan superstars of this site.
On the car ride over, I was wondering what the workout would be like, and how intense it would be, but my curiosity fizzled when we were told the exercise portion was no longer on our schedule. Aw, mannn! I mean, I spend my entire day at work on my feet, but I tend to eat out a lot, so I was jazzed to get a chance to work up a sweat and combat those extra calories I’ve been consuming lately.
Even so, I was thoroughly engaged in the slideshow we were shown in the fancy conference room in the back of Whole Foods, one of the nicest locations I have been to yet. Improving my nutritional game is something I’ve definitely been meaning to work on, so it was a great refresher course in how to eat not just healthily, but mindfully. Our bodies are our temples, and we should treat them as such.
It was fun to rub elbows with my fellow vegan Unilocal Elite. Even though I did not get a chance to hop on the Blender Bike, the ones who did get a ride seemed to have a fun time. Shoutout to speed-​racer Peter N. for blowing us all out of the water with his skillz.
We got some free swag for the road, a Vega water canteen, maca chocolate bar, protein shake sample, and a coupon for free frozen blueberries (one of my favorite smoothie ingredients). What can I say, I like a little sweetness every now and then.
I think it’s really amazing that Nique F. and the Unilocal team decided to set this up for us. Major props to you guys and gals! We really appreciate that you took the time to hand-​select us and make sure we got a chance to have a private super-​secret, off the record event. Sadly, I made an error and left out one of the coolest Unilocalers I know; Virginia D., sorry I forgot about you! If I have any say in the matter, I will make sure you are on the list for the next one.
I sincerely hope to see more vegan events in the future, even if our tribe is small (but growing!). Remember kids… eat your vegetables! :D

What a wonderful feeling it is to be part of a small handpicked group of Unilocal Elites to attend a vegan-​friendly Unilocal Elite Event (YEE) where we got some personal attention from Whole Foods and Vega team.
Boy, was it difficult to get to Whole Foods by 9am on a Sunday morning! But knowing I was going to an exclusive vegan YEE gave me all the motivation I needed to get there on time. We all got there bright and early wearing our workout clothes so that we can be ready for a 30 minute workout. However, when we arrived we found that that plans changed and there would be no workout. No worries; my friends and I did some walking later that morning to make up for it.
We were escorted to a conference room and Jenn, a personal nutrition director from Vega, gave us a presentation on plant-​based nutrition. I could have easily fallen asleep in a dark conference room with a projector at 9am on a Sunday, but Jenn’s personality was great and she kept us engaged throughout the whole presentation. I learned some new things about nutrition and super foods and she inspired me to make my own treadmill desk for my home office.
After the presentation we were given Vega smoothie shaker bottles filled with freebies such as Vega organic maca chocolate, Vega One nutritional shake sample, and a coupon from Whole Foods for a free bag of organic frozen blueberries. We then followed Jenn around the store and she gave us a quick tour of Whole Foods Gilman. The place is huge and they have a great bulk foods selection.
Our last stop was at the Vega tent where we were given samples of the Vega protein shakes and some of us got to ride the bike powered blender. I have to give Peter N. props for powering up that bike blender with maximum power; I honestly thought the stationary bike was going to move and the blender would go up in smoke! By the way, all of the Vega products are on sale now at Whole Foods Gilman location only. So get there soon if you want to take advantage of the discount.
Many thanks to Nique, Jenn from Vega and Whole Foods for having us!

I was over the top delighted to hear about this vegan YEE and very happy that I could bring my vegan climbing partner with me. I skipped my usual morning protein shake and headed off to Whole Foods — the new Berkeley store is so sparkling clean and nice!
I got a coffee & vegan donut while I waited for my friend, and we were shown the way to the meeting room in the «Team Area» of the store.
The first part of this event was a presentation by Vega nutritionist Jenn — she presented us a very nice slide show with information about the Vegan brand and their approach to nutrition. The folks at Vega have turned the standard FDA/​USDA food pyramid on its head — in a good way!
As a long time vegan, I appreciated the new information about the Vega brand and their approach to nutrition. Overall, I think that the presentation would be most helpful to new vegan/​vegetarian folks — or even people just interested in improving their nutrition and adding more veggies. I liked the presentation a lot and am going to suggest that my company’s café manager and wellness center manager bring Jenn in for a talk and demo of the blender bicycle (I think my coworkers would love it!).
Jenn did a short walk through of the store, pointing out some of her favorite items. She had a lot of great information to share about healthy fats and how your body processes these differently — I never thought of eating coconut oil before a workout but it might go on some toast before my next morning swim!
Finally, we made our way back to the Vega stand — and were treated to samples of all the different Vega protein shake mixes, and several folks gave a spin on the blender bike (VROOM!).
Vega generously offered a 30% discount off retail of their shakes for the day (not just to attendees).