Francois Ozon Paula Beer, Pierre Niney, Ernst Sttzner (Music Box Films) US theatrical: 17 Mar 2017 UK theatrical: 12 May 2017 2017

Here Lies Frantz Hoffmeister. Its 1919 Germany and, in the wake of World War I, a young man and woman, practically strangers, stand together by the grave of a man they both loved. Francois Ozons haunting, silky-smooth Frantz follows the bizarre, ever-distorting relationship that develops between Anna (Paula Beer), the titular vanished mans fiance, and Adrien (Pierre Niney), a Frenchman who claims to have befriended him in Paris before he fell on the battlefield. Like his best film, 2004s Swimming Pool, Frantz elevates a relatively conventional surface story with an understated but powerful sense of psychological terror.

Freely inspired by the 1932 Ernst Lubitsch film Broken Lullaby, Frantz takes place mostly in the small town of Quedlinburg, Germany, where the beautiful, broken Anna is living with her dearly departeds parents, Hans (Ernst Sttzner) and Magda (Marie Gruber), whom she holds so dear they may as well be her own. While visiting Frantzs empty grave, shes surprised to find Adrien tearfully leaving behind flowers. Anna introduces him to Magda and Hans, with the latter staunchly opposed to hosting a Frenchman in their home, considering their son died at the hands of his compatriots.

Adriens sheepish charm eventually wins them all over, and before long, theyre swooning as he regales them with stories of teaching Frantz to play violin and marveling at Manet paintings at the Louvre. Anna is flustered to find herself growing more and more attracted to their sinewy visitor: she fixes her hair in the mirror before meeting him at the door, admires his war wounds as he lays on the grass after a dip in the lake, has a laugh twirling with him at the town ball. Adriens none the wiser, however, as hes too consumed by the dark secret hes keeping from his new friends.

The true nature of Adriens relationship with Frantz propels the narrative forward in the way any good mystery should, but the real substance of the story lies in the reactions of Frantzs family and the less welcoming townsfolk to the Frenchmans presence. Each character is wrestling with their own inner conflict in the shadow of war, and with each interaction, the movie slowly develops into a deeply affecting examination of xenophobia and acceptance that feels strikingly relevant to our current political climate. While the Hoffmeisters and Anna see Adrien as the last friend Frantz ever made, their fellow denizens only see a face of the opposition. The war may be over, but their sons lives remain lost forever. Thus, the anti-French antagonism endures.

The story is far more emotionally charged than it is political, however, thanks to a couple of genuine plot surprises and Ozons focus on the progressively forbidden, delusional nature of Anna and Adriens relationship. The film is presented mostly in black and white, though some scenes transition slowly, gently into full color in a device that at first appears to be an emotional indicator but later reveals itself to serve a more specific narrative purpose. The elegance and timelessness of Ozons storytelling, both visually and structurally, makes Frantz exceptionally riveting, at least for the first hour or so. The third act, in which the film shifts into an odd, out-of-left-field procession of private investigating, is sadly quite flat, though the eerie final moments do cap the tale off nicely.

Music is used sparingly and deliberately throughout Frantz, with Ozon instead reveling in the music of natural noise. Every clunky footstep of the characters heavy shoes on the wooden floors of the Hoffmeisters cushy abode adds to the atmosphere and even, at times, creates a sense of tension and anticipation, like a slo-mo drum roll. The beautiful contrast of the black and white imagery is mirrored by the sound and music. The sound design elevates the narrative in a meaningful way, which is increasingly becoming a rarity in modern movies.

Beer and Niney, both ravishing, are endlessly watchable on screen, with each doing a fine job of building their characters inner strife layer by layer. Theyre tasked with conveying myriad conflicting emotions at once, often silently, with only their face, and they both rise to the occasion. Theres a lack of a certain electricity between them, however, that makes one wonder how the film might have been something very, very special had they found that spark. Still, Frantz is deceptively intoxicating film that further establishes Ozon as one of the most singular voices in world cinema.

Bernard Boo is a film critic, interviewer, podcaster, and proud member of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. He writes stories weekly for DenofGeek.com, WeGotThisCovered.com, WayTooIndie.com and other online publications.

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'Frantz' Unfolds Elegantly Into a Haunting Meditation on Xenophobia and Acceptance - PopMatters

March 23--There were hardly any empty seats, or dry eyes, at the Ames City Auditorium Thursday, as family, friends, co-workers, and members of the community paid their final respects to fallen Ames firefighter Steve Buser.

Buser, 51, died unexpectedly last Friday morning at Fire Station No. 2, where he had served for over 17 years. He had returned from a call the previous evening, and was found unresponsive in the station's excercise room.

Ames Fire Lt. Doug Neys served with Buser at the station, and considered him to be his "go-to guy."

"Steve was a true professional firefighter," Neys said. "If I needed something done, and I wanted it done right, I went to Steve."

Neys told the more than 800 people who crowded into the auditorium for Buser's memorial service, that Buser was a free spirit, whether he was wearing his kilt, riding a bike in freezing temperatures, or walking around in sandals to show of his painted toenails (courtesy of his daughter Braxton). He also reflected on Buser's propensity for working out and eating healthy while on shift. He said that Buser would often cook fish, and that the smell would circulate throughout the station.

"The only time we could get him away from that is when we'd cook fajitas," Neys joked. "We tried to have fajitas a lot."

Prior to the service, parts of Sixth Street were blocked off to allow the procession to pass by a Nevada fire engine flying the American flag. Once the procession finished, firefighters formed a lane as the flag and the urn carrying Buser's ashes were brought in, followed by the family as bagpipes played in the background. Once inside, a firefighter placed Buser's coat, boots and helmet at the foot of a white-cloth covered table holding his urn, a medal and a folded American flag. The table was flanked on one side by a larger picture of Buser and a flowered wreath.

Neys emphasized that the Fire Department is a family, and that everything they go through, and everything they see, is done together. He said that everything they do is for the community, and that no one seemed to exemplify that more than Buser.

"Everything he did, he did it with dedication," Neys said. "We could all learn some dedication from Steve, what he did, and the way he lived."

Ames Fire Chief Shawn Bayouth used statistics to show just how much Buser had done for the Ames Fire Department. Bayouth said that Buser had responded to over 3,000 incidents in his 17-year career with the department, and logged over 20,000 hours on duty.

In addition to speaking about Buser's accomplishments, Bayouth spoke directly to Buser's family, particularly his wife Angie, and daughter Braxton. Bayouth said the Fire Department is also feeling the loss of a brother, but is dedicated to helping Buser's family get through this difficult time.

"You both lost a loving husband and devoted father, but on that fateful day -- March 17, 2017 -- you gained 57 big brothers and big sisters," Bayouth said in reference to the number of firefighters in the department. "In Steve's far too short 17 years with the Ames Fire Department, he created lasting bonds with the brotherhood and sisterhood of the fire service that even death cannot break."

Family friend Scott Mills -- donning a kilt as Buser liked to do -- spoke about Buser outside of the department. An avid cyclist, Mills said that he and Buser completed RAGBRAI seven times, and how the latter always seemed to be the leader of the pack, and a man that made an entire group feel safe.

Buser and Mills created cycling jerseys for RAGBRAI, which were present onstage, with Buser's fire suit, helmet, and bikes. According to Mills, the jerseys had both of their names on the back, which though he admitted seemed silly at the time, have new meaning now.

"I know he always has my back," Mills said.

And rather than strictly speak about his memories with Buser, Mills at one point spoke directly to Braxton, and said that she could not have received a better father.

"You probably already know this, but on May 16, 1998, you my dear won the daddy lottery," Mills said. "Of all the dads you could have got, you got Steve Buser."

And Mills addressed the entire family, and auditorium, when he promised to never speak of Buser in the past tense.

"He's still here' he's in all of you guys," Mills said as he pointed around the auditorium. "He'll never be gone."

The service concluded with the striking of the four fives, a tradition that dates back over 150 years, which consists of four sets of five bell strikes with pauses in between, to signal to the department that a firefighter (important official or personage) has died in the line of duty.

___ (c)2017 the Ames Tribune, Iowa Visit the Ames Tribune, Iowa at http://www.amestrib.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Firefighters Remember Fallen IA Colleague - Firehouse.com (press release) (registration) (blog)

I used to be judgmental of vegetarians and vegans.

I had a friend back in middle school who was vegetarian and all I saw her eatwas pasta and protein bars. How could she give up on all the meaty goodness? I couldnt understand it.

Plus, mostof my vegan friends over the years were animal lovers. So, I thought in order to be vegetarian or vegan, I had to want to save all animals all over the world.

But one day, I came across an Eastern nutrition concept called Food Energetics, and I was hooked. The basic concept is that all foods are made up of energies, and the best way to rebalance your body is to combine foods for energy balance with the least amount of stress.

(That might sound pretty woo-woo, but I lost 40 pounds and havent had weight issues, since. So, dont knock it til youve tried it. )

Anyway, when I was learning about Food Energetics, I decided to try a meatless diet because animal products can take a much longer time for the body to digest compared to plant-based options.

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If you have any kind of digestive issues like constipation (which means your system is backed up), then the last thing you want to do is to eat foods that take a long time to process.

And I was surprised to discover that going vegan wasnt so hard, at all. Here are some of the thoughts and discoveries I had over my two years of being vegan, plus why I eventually quit.

If youre the kind of person who has eggs for breakfast, a sandwich with cold-cuts for lunch and meat for dinner, then cutting out animal products can feel like youre cutting out every possible food you know.

I remember thinking nothaving turkey in my turkey and lettuce sandwich would mean that Id just have, well, a lettuce sandwich. And the last thing I wanted to feel was that something was missing.

But there are a lot of foods I hadnt explored before being vegan, and I grew to love them. Here are some examples:

Another fear I had about being vegan was that Id never be full enough. All I could think about was how unfulfilling boring salads were, and how theyd leave me hungry afterward. I didnt know what I could possibly eat in a vegan diet that would keep me full.

But as mentioned above, once I started adding in whole grains, beans, mylksand root vegetables, my meals started to really bulk up in fiber and volume.

And the best part was that I could eat a hearty meal and not feel gross afterward, like how I used to when Id have a big steak. I felt really full, but then would feel hungry again another four hours or so later. There was never this feeling of overeating.

My body went through a dramatic change when I was doing veganism (in a way thats based on Food Energetics). I lost 40 pounds, felt a bounty of energy and felt lighter in spirit.

I was excited every day about exploring new foods, whereas I used to be scared of trying anything new back when I wanted to lose weight but was not vegan.

But after a couple years, I started to crave animal products again. And for several months, I was scared to death to touch animal products, mainly because I had spent so much time reading about the benefits of veganism that I was convinced animal products were horrible for our bodies.

But the thing is, all diets can be argued positively or negatively. And our bodies are constantly going through changes, which means what serves you now might not serve you in years to come, and thats OK.

We have to learn how to respond well to what our bodies need, and a big part of that is to stop thinking and start feeling.

So, little by little, I started to eat animal products again, and I felt really good about it.

Now, I eat a variety of everything. Im so glad food energetics and veganism opened up my world to the possibilities of so many other foods and cuisines. I follow what my body needs, and sometimes thats a juicy steak, but other times its a vegan day.

I like to think of a whole foods vegan dietas a great way to reset our bodies. Its a chance to get our digestive systems flowing properly, gain nutrients from easy to digest plants, lower inflammation and feel refreshed.

But if youre main motivation to be vegan has nothing to do with saving animals, then I dont think you have to do it all the time if your body is telling you otherwise. Use it as a tool to find what works best for your body, and adjust accordingly.

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Katheryn Gronauer, the Lifestyle Nutritionist, shows driven gals who are frustrated with their diets how to reconnect with the way they're meant to eat. She is the creator of FOODBOSS, the super unconventional online program to put you in ...

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I had a friend back in middle school who was vegetarian and all I saw her eat was pasta and protein bars. How could ... - Elite Daily

In 2016, Gavin Fernback went vegan. Like many people making the switch to a plant-based diet, the decision yielded profound resultsnot just for his health, but his worldview, too. Gavins decision, though, didnt just impact his own life. Hes the owner of The Fields Beneath, a coffee shop located in a residential neighborhood in London, serving 200-300 people every day.

The Fields Beneath had been open for nearly four years when Gavin stopped eating animals; it had a following and a mostly non-vegan menu.

[I]t was only a matter of time before I could no longer slap slices of ham and cheese down on slices of bread, he says. So, in October that year I committed myself to making the cafe vegan. If it didnt work, Id sell up/close down and find something else.

But it worked.

The caf began to serve vegan croissants, breakfast pots (porridge, granola, muesli, chia seeds etc), we make amazing hot dishes, Gavin says of the tagines, curries, even burgers. After several years, theonly thing not vegan on the menu was milka staple for many coffee drinkers. Thats all changing in a few days, when the caf will officially replace all cows milk with plant-based milks like oat, almond, and soy.

[Half of] our sales are from coffee, Gavin says, so the milk thing was always going to be the last to go for us, and the one that brought a little concern. But with signage that went viral on Instagram and earnest conversations with his customers, Gavin thinks the transition will be smooth even for his non-vegan customers.

Were talking to them as much as possible, Gavin says. Very few have challenged it, although one has gone as far as to buy his own espresso machine so he can make milky coffees himself from Sunday.

As sales of plant-based foods continue to rise and dairy and beef sales continue on a steep decline, the industry is rapidly changing. Restaurants are offering more plant-based options than ever before; Starbucks also just announced the addition ofvegan items to its menu. Supermarkets are no longer segregating out plant-based food, but finding homes for them next to meat and dairy products.

Last year, El Segundo, Calif. based Beyond Meat gave Whole Foods Market a deal it couldnt pass up: an exclusive launch on Beyond Meats pea-protein-based Beyond Burger, but only if it would merchandise it next to the meat counter. The nearly indistinguishable from beef product was a huge hit with vegans and omnivores alike. The brand got the attention of Tyson Foods, the largest producer of beef, chicken, and pork products in the world, which invested into Beyond Meat for a five percent stake in the business.

Plant-based proteins are definitely a critical part of the food system moving forward, Beyond Meat founder Ethan Brown told Organic Authority in a recent interview. We think theyre the future of protein.

Elmhurst Dairy, a 90-year-old dairy producer out of Queens, New York, has reinvented itselfnot necessarily out of a vegan ethos, but out of sheer necessity. The brand, now going by simply Elmhurst, debuted a line of vegan nut milks earlier this month at the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, Calif. It stopped producing dairy milk last year.

In the 1980s, Elmhurst, like other dairy producers in New York, took a hit after a federal court deregulated milk sales, which led to price wars throughout the region.

That was the beginning of the end, CEO Henry Schwartz, who ran the family dairy business, told the New York Times last August. Elmhurst Dairy scored a deal with Starbucks in 2003, but that ended in 2011, and from there it seemed its days were numbered as the company kept taking losses from rising production costs and declining dairy salesbut as the last dairy in New York City, it held on as long as it could. Last October, Elmhurst Dairy found new homes for its cows and prepared to shut its doors for good.

And then, a revelation. If you cant beat em, then Elmhurst was ready and raring to join emstepping into the $1.4 billion plant-based milk industry with four delicious varieties: almond, cashew, hazelnut, and the surprisingly outstanding walnut milk.

The brands sleek cartons bear its historysimple cursive lettering hardly seen on todays sans-serif-obsessed styling, and a stamp that reads Est. 1925, which is when it began selling cows milk throughout the city.

With the help of award-winning culinary innovator Cheryl Mitchell, Ph.D., Schwartz now applies his knowledge about the process of dairy-making to create creamy plant-based milks that use four times more nuts per serving in their formulation than competing brands, reports VegNews.

While the shift from cow to walnut is certainly significant from a production standpoint, the rest is second naturefor Elmhurst. Milk is milk, after all, even if the dairy industry is contesting that issue;and today many customers love to experiment with different milkseven enjoying regularly switching between cow and nondairy milks.

Theres no telling what the future holds for Elmhurt 2.0, but the brand is off to a strong start with placement in more than 1,100 Publix supermarkets across the Southeast next month, and a warm reception at the Natural Products Expo where the nondairy milk category was among the shows top trends.

For The Fields Beneath, the caf has become more than just a coffee shopits taking the opportunity to embrace veganism and talk about the state of our food industry, our health, the planet, and the plight of factory farmed animals.

I think you cant deny the logic of veganism, Gavin says, but theres a lot in between that logic and any of us making the choice to become vegan. And for the sake of a glass of milk ora steak, he says, we dont need to kill cows.

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Related on Organic Authority

The Easy Vegan Cashew Cream Youll Want to Pour On EverythingThe Meat Myth is Dead: Plant-Based Protein Builds Muscle Same as Animal Protein, Study FindsFind Out Why These 13 Celebrities Love Vegan Food

Jill Ettinger is a Los Angeles-based journalist and editor focused on the global food system and how it intersects with our cultural traditions, diet preferences, health, and politics. She is the senior editor for sister websites OrganicAuthority.com and EcoSalon.com, and works as a research associate and editor with the Cornucopia Institute, the organic industry watchdog group. Jill has been featured in The Huffington Post, MTV, Reality Sandwich, and Eat Drink Better. http://www.jillettinger.com.

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This is What Happens When Businesses Go Vegan - Organic Authority

In general, I consider myself to be a health-conscious person, but last year, I realized my diet needed a total overhaul.

I noticed my once refined diet had begun to slip away from me. I was content with eating meat for nearly every meal, snacking relentlessly while I worked and (worst of all) turning to fast food when I was too lazy to cook meals for myself.

But then, I had an epiphany. I decided it was time for me to make a major change.

Right around this time last year, I madethe switch toa plant-powered, all vegan diet.

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I wish I could say my attempt at a vegan diet was totally successful, but there were several speed bumps along the way.

Like me, maybe you know you want to be vegan, but there are some questions you need to ask yourself in order to prepare for new vegan life.

From my experience, one thing is certain: I wish I would have made a more gradual, deliberate switch to veganism.

These questions are ones I should have asked myself beforehand.

Fortunately, you can all learn by my novice dietary mistakes:

Asking yourself this pivotal question is a somewhat vague, but its an important starting point. The most typical answer the answer is yes, a vegan diet will be healthy.

But, how you choose to navigate your vegan quest is up to you.

First off, if you have any health conditions, keep them at the forefront of your mind. For a lot of people, a vegan diet will help combat illnesses.

For example,cutting out dairy and animal products, as well as gluten and processed foods, is beneficial to many people living with celiac disease.

So, a vegan diet can offer additional health benefits to some people, beyond simply being a health-conscious diet choice.

But that being said, its important to remember you should always consult your doctor before making a diet switch, especially if you are on the fence about it.

It never hurts to double-check with a physician, nutritionist and/or dietitian.

In order to make a healthy switch to a plant-powered diet, youll want to make sure you make a gradual transition.

Most people dont find success when rapid diet change happens overnight. Instead, plan to cut out animal products systematically.

Its smart to start by cutting out just red meat or pork, then gradually stop eating poultry and finally eliminating fish from your diet.

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This can also be done with dairy items by cutting them out one category at a time.

When I started a vegan diet, I took the cold turkey approach. This ultimately didnt go over well.

I had intense food cravings all the time after cutting everything out at once. If I would have been more deliberate in my approach, I likely would have had a better experience changing my diet.

While theres no hard and fast rule for this, consider taking up to a few months to transition to veganism.

Change at your own speed!

There are risks with any diet change.

An article titled The Hidden Risks of Your Restricted Dietexplained,

In avoiding these foods, people on or considering vegan diets can miss out on important nutrients such as vitamin B12, calcium, iron, and zinc. Its not uncommon for vegans or vegetarians to take supplements in order to round out their diets.

Supplementing for dietary change is a fantastic idea and will eliminate some corollary risks.

Youll want to take a multivitamin if you arent already.

Take precautions to make sure you are getting enough calorie intake, as well as enough protein, and other vitamins and minerals that are mostly found in meat.

Do you meal plan? Do you ever prep out your meals? If you dont, now you certainly need to.

One of the biggest challenges for new a new vegan is knowing what to eat and just how much of it to eat.

Its normal to feel like you dont have many culinary options.

But, try not to allow yourself to feel limited. The biggest limitation to a vegan diet is your own lack of creativity!

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A key to a successful vegan agenda involves constantly self-educating, experimenting and trying new foods.

When I started out, some of my all time favorite cruelty-free recipes were as follows:

Sweet and Sour Thai Noodle Salad

Glazed Lentil Walnut Loaf

BBQ Jackfruit Sandwich

Vegan Street Tacos

Vegan Kimchi

Italian Seitan Sausage

Chana Dal with Cauliflower

Teff Brownies

While vegan diets are more healthy in theory, there are plenty of people doing it wrong. Strive for a variety of fresh and raw foods, and stay away from the processed stuff as much as possible.

When I switched to a vegan diet, I was careful to heavily research foods that may contain hidden animal products.

Honestly, I was fairly paranoid I was going to mistakenly eat something with gelatin or dairy or fish oil.

After much research, I came up with a list of everyday foods that people dont realize contain animal products.

Be careful with sauces and salad dressings, as many have small amounts of animal products.

Worcestershire sauce and many other sauces have anchovy extract in them. Caesar dressing commonly contains eggs, and a lot of other salad dressing have at least some dairy in them.

Many foods unexpectedly contain gelatin. Of course, JELL-O has it, but so do most marshmallows, gummy bears and some chewing gum.

Strangely enough, packaged nuts may also contain gelatin. So, always check the ingredients list!

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Other foods with lurking animal ingredients are chips, cake mixes, refried beans, margarine, foods with red dye, soy and nut cheeses and certain types of sugar.

Finally, be on the lookout for drinks with small amounts of animal products.

Some brands of orange juice are boosted with omega-3s that are derived from fish.

Certain beer contains fish oil, and some wineries and breweries use a membrane called isinglass to filter their drinks. This comes from the bladders of tropical fish.

Youll want to make sure you cover all of your dietary bases. You dont want animal products to accidentally slip back into your food.

Check out PETAs Animal-Derived Ingredients List resource and the posts addition, as well as a post on TreeHugger titled 9 everyday products you didnt know had animal ingredients for more information on this.

While understanding that this may be a concern for some people, its important to remember theres no shame in a basic human function, like passing gas.

Beyond that, its also a misconception that all vegans fart more often than other people. Since vegetables and other vegan stable foods tend to be fibrous, a lot of people equate a vegan diet to farts.

Asafoetida, also known as hing, is frequently added to food as a digestive aid to help with gas and bloating.

This dried herb and its gummy secretion are used in Indian and Middle Eastern food as a flavor enhancer.

Its also a gassy vegans best friend.

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Robert Parmer is a freelance web writer, student of Boise State University and chef. Outside of writing and reading adamantly he enjoys creating and recording music, caring for his pet cat, and commuting by bicycle whenever possible.

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6 Questions You Need To Ask Yourself Before Switching To A Vegan Diet - Elite Daily

Do you want to be permanently full of joy just like the worlds happiest man?

Of course you do and luckily, theres one very simple thing you need to do to attain true happiness.

According to Matthieu Ricard, a Tibetan monk and a confidante of the Dalai Lama, its ridiculously simple: Just go vegan.

In a campaign video for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the 71-year-old Frenchman urged people to take up the diet, saying,

True happiness can only be attained when we avoid causing pain to others, so please become vegan like me.

And who are we to argue with him?

In 2012, research on Ricards brain by neuroscientist Richard Davidson produced extraordinary results.

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Excessive activity in his brains left prefrontal cortex compared to the right revealed he has an especially large capacity for happiness, researchers said.

The level of gamma waves produced by his brain had never (been) reported before in the neuroscience literature.

In the PETA video, he added,

I am extremely concerned by the fate of the 8million other species who share this world with us, and who, like us, wish to avoid suffering and live out their lives.

When you ask people if they are in favor of justice and morality, everyone will say yes.

Do you think you could then ask that its just and moral to inflict unnecessary suffering on sentient beings? Everyone will say no.

And thats exactly the case, because today this suffering is not necessary. If you love animals, watch and take action.

As well as his claims about eating meat affecting levels of happiness, Ricard, a former genetic scientist who is a scholar of Western religion, cited studies that have linked meat to health conditions. These include a possible link to heart disease, he said.

So if youre looking for the key to true happiness,you might need to ditch the meat.

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Subscribe to Elite Daily's official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don't want to miss.

Harley Tamplin is a writer for Elite Daily and British guy lost in New York City. He previously worked for Metro.co.uk in London.

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Guy's Simple Argument For Going Vegan Will Make You Want To Change Your Diet - Elite Daily

It was truly a vegan cheesesteak extravaganza last night at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. OK, we haven't heard back from Guinness yet, but it may well have been the first time ever that so many different kinds of vegan cheesesteaks were gathered in one room. Certainly these were some of the best vegan cheesesteaks available anywhere as we gathered to name 2017's Best Vegan Cheesesteak in Philly.

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Finalists Blackbird Pizzeria, Wiz Kid and Frankie's on Fairview all served samples of their popular sandwiches, as did high-placing vote-getters The Tasty and PlantPure Cafe. These latter two, plus Wiz Kid, opened within the last year, and all put in a strong showing in this year's contest and at the Ethical Society auditorium. At the event's end, attendees were also treated to vegan Tiramisu and other treats from Vegan Chef Lenka,courtesy of The Plough and The Stars.

Our fantastic judges - PMN columnist Jenice Armstrong, chef Fran Costigan, City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and architect Joel Spivak - were both eloquent and voracious, leaving only a couple crumbs on their respective plates (having been good sports about not partaking of any cheesesteak samples before they were seated). In particular, Councilman Johnson made an impromptu speech giving a shout-out to Philly's vegan businesses and citing their key role in making plant-based living and eating easier to adopt when people have a mind to do so. Frank Olivieri, Jr., proprietor of cheesesteak-originator Pat's Steaks, kept things lively, interviewing judges and humorously razzing me when I started going on about the health liabilities of nonvegan cheesesteaks.

Judges' gift bags were donated by V Marks the Shop, whose Carmella Lanni and Carlo Giardina were present, Carlo reminding vegan food-contest lovers about the upcoming 'Philly MacDown II.' Also generously providing prizes were Miss Rachel's Pantry, Wear Bare Bones vegan tees, Chef Christina Martin and Michael Cassady of Michael's Seitan.

In the end, the judges' panel awarded two #1 votes to Wiz Kid and two #1 votes to Blackbird - a dramatic tie that was broken by Blackbird's top showing as 'Fan Favorite' among Vegan Cheesesteak Fans Everywhere.

Definitely a squeaker of a win for Blackbird, but that's two in a row for the beloved pizza joint and three years out of the four total for the contest - a dominating presence, for sure!

In conversation after the win, Blackbird owner Mark Mebus turned the focus to the vegan scene in general, saying he's most excited "to see the demand for non-animal-based foods growing drastically, even among places you'd assume would have no interest in vegan food. There's now a lot of places in Philly committed to opening people's eyes, and that's being accomplished by the efforts of a lot of people. It's great to see people waking up to these topics."

For this year, Wiz Kid, whose entry had its origins in a 2016 cheesesteak custom-made for Senator Cory Booker, had to settle for second place and the "Top Newcomer" award. Frankie's on Fairview, which came in second in voting, was well received by the crowd and continues to perform impressively in the contest for a small, far-flung venue, but is taking on an always-a-bridesmaid role that the Woodlyn diner will doubtless seek to cast aside in 2018.

Despite such comic moments as my discovering the Official Vote-Card Stapler had no staples in it, the event went smoothly overall thanks to our wonderful volunteers, coordinated by event-planning mastermind Char Nolan, who also made the welcome table and judges' table into things of beauty.

Congratulations once again to Blackbird and all who participated. Here again are the top ten vote-getters from this year's contest, all worth sampling on your next vegan-cheesesteak crawl. (Happily, no asterisk - all these places' vegan offerings are on 100% vegan rolls.)

Blackbird Pizzeria, the vegan landmark, opening a location in Northern Liberties about 1 hour ago

Free cheesesteaks! It's National Cheesesteak Day about 2 hours ago

Published: March 24, 2017 2:33 PM EDT | Updated: March 24, 2017 2:50 PM EDT

Over the past year, the Inquirer, the Daily News and Philly.com have uncovered corruption in local and state public offices, shed light on hidden and dangerous environmental risks, and deeply examined the regions growing heroin epidemic. This is indispensable journalism, brought to you by the largest, most experienced newsroom in the region. Fact-based journalism of this caliber isnt cheap. We need your support to keep our talented reporters, editors and photographers holding government accountable, looking out for the public interest, and separating fact from fiction. If you already subscribe, thank you. If not, please consider doing so by clicking on the button below. Subscriptions can be home delivered in print, or digitally read on nearly any mobile device or computer, and start as low as 25 per day. We're thankful for your support in every way.

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Blackbird squeaks past challenger Wiz Kid to retain vegan cheesesteak title - Philly.com (blog)

After seven years on Sixth Street near South, vegan hotspotBlackbird Pizzeria is in expansion mode.

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Mark Mebus and crew are coming to Northern Liberties, as Blackbird will take over the space at 614 N. Second St. that last housed Same Same and previously Koo Zee Doo.

It will be a copy of the original, with the same menu.

Mebus says it should open this spring.

Joe Scarpone and Michael Hersch of MPN Realty handled the transaction.

Published: March 24, 2017 2:41 PM EDT | Updated: March 24, 2017 2:50 PM EDT

Over the past year, the Inquirer, the Daily News and Philly.com have uncovered corruption in local and state public offices, shed light on hidden and dangerous environmental risks, and deeply examined the regions growing heroin epidemic. This is indispensable journalism, brought to you by the largest, most experienced newsroom in the region. Fact-based journalism of this caliber isnt cheap. We need your support to keep our talented reporters, editors and photographers holding government accountable, looking out for the public interest, and separating fact from fiction. If you already subscribe, thank you. If not, please consider doing so by clicking on the button below. Subscriptions can be home delivered in print, or digitally read on nearly any mobile device or computer, and start as low as 25 per day. We're thankful for your support in every way.

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Blackbird Pizzeria, the vegan landmark, opening a location in Northern Liberties - Philly.com (blog)

Since the Impossible Burgers debuton the meat-centric menu of restaurateurDavid ChangsMomofuku Nishi, Impossible Foods premier producthas continued to gain momentum. Every day, hungry customerswould line up outside Momofuku Nishi waiting to get a taste of the vegan burger that bleeds.Thanks to an innovative combination of wheat and potato protein, coconut oil, andheme, an iron-rich compound, the Impossible Burger is closer to the real thing than any other burger.No matter if they were vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eater everyone wanted to experience how true to the taste and texture of a beef patty the Impossible Burger truly was.

Shortly after, the Impossible Burger was added to the menu of several high-end restaurants, each with their own interpretation of how to serve it. Most recently, Bareburger, an organic restaurant chain with 44 locations in five countries, added the Impossible Burgerat one of their NYC locations with plans to expand to other U.S. locations, offering a customizable experience and bringing the meat-free burger that tastes like the real thing even closer to mainstream consumers.Bareburger CEO and co-founder Euripides Pelekanos told Fortune that unlike other vegan burgers, the Impossible Burger is geared toward meat eaters, continuing, Its not going to live as [a]veggie burger on the menu. Its going to live side-by-side with the beef burger. At a time when more people than ever are cutting back on meat consumption, the plant-based Impossible Burger is giving consumers something that has been missing up until now: a meatless option that is practically indistinguishable from the real thing.

However, the success of the Impossible Burger at high-end restaurants was only the beginning. Rather than settle for being the sole vegan burger option, Impossible Foods CEO Patrick Brown is looking to make the burger that bleeds the new norm at every burger chain. And now, a future where even more Americans can pick up the Impossible Burger from a local restaurant is closer thanmost of us thought possible. Impossible Foods just cut the ribbon on a large-scale production facility located in Oakland, California.

As reported by The Good Food Institute, the facility will allow Impossible Foods to increase their production capacity from enough burgers to supply only eight restaurants to enough for1,000 restaurants. Thats at least one million pounds of meatless meat per month (enough to make four million burgers), which is250 percentmore than their current capacity, according to a report byYahoo! Finance. The entire game is about to change. But what makes this burger so different from the prepackaged veggie burgers were already familiar with?

While true foodies will travel cross-countryjust to try the Impossible Burger, CEO Patrick Brown is on a greater mission: In twenty years, we want to be producing more than half of the worlds supply of all of the foods were getting from animals. We need to grow on that scale because the problem were addressing [i.e., climate change] is so urgent. Brown has also not ruled out bringing the Impossible Burger to grocery stores, stating that theres no reason we cant choose to be everywhere.

Not only is the new facility a huge leap in business for the six-year-old startup, but it is also indicative of a new era of food. This era is defined by more people choosing to leave meat off their plate in favor of plant-based options that taste just as good, if not better, than the real thing and its already happening. Studies show that one-third of Americans are leaving meat off their plates more frequently, and the plant-based protein market is booming.The global plant-based meat market is projected to reach $5 billion by 2020and plant-based protein could represent one-third of overall protein by 2054.Considering these plant-based alternatives do not come with the same health and environmental concerns that meat does, its pretty clear the future of protein is, indeed, plant-based.

Unlike the many veggie burger options that can be found in the frozen foods aisle at grocery stores and increasingly, the menus of most restaurants, Impossible Foods is not targeting vegan and vegetarians; they are actively reaching out to meat-eaters and as the opening of their new facility tells us, they are succeeding.

In-text image source: The Good Food Institute

Lead image source: Impossible Foods/Facebook

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The All-Vegan Impossible Burger Will Be Everywhere Soon - One Green Planet

Time Change: Everything you need to know about the clocks going forward this weekend

Independent.ie

Spring forward; fall back. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the country will lose an hours sleep as the clocks go forward to mark the start of what is called 'British Summer Time'.

http://www.independent.ie/news/time-change-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-clocks-going-forward-this-weekend-35563392.html

http://www.independent.ie/migration_catalog/article25264569.ece/0083c/AUTOCROP/h342/sleep_thinkstock

Spring forward; fall back. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the country will lose an hours sleep as the clocks go forward to mark the start of what is called 'British Summer Time'.

At 1am on 30 March, civil time in Ireland will be fast-forwarded one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), heralding longer, lighter evenings and, hopefully, the tentative beginnings of summer. It's called 'British Summer Time'.

In todays digitalised world many people dont have to worry about adjusting the hands on a clock - but heres the reasoning behind it.

The idea of British Summer Time was first proposed in the UK by William Willett, who happens to be the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. He felt that valuable daylight was being wasted in the mornings during the summer months because people were still in bed.

In 1907 he published a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight, in which he outlined his plans to change the time of the nations clocks. But when he died in 1915 the Government still refused to back BST.

It wasnt until a year later, in May 1916, that Britain passed the Summer Time Act and started changing its clocks twice a year. Ireland followed suit.

In 1940, during the Second World War, clocks across Britain were not put back an hour at the end of British Summer Time, in order to save fuel and money.

However, in subsequent years, they continued to be put forward an hour each spring and then put back an hour each autumn until July 1945. This meant that during these summers the UK was two hours ahead of GMT.

Proponents argue that British Summer Time is good for physical and psychological health, particularly in terms of relieving the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

1. It promotes more activity in the evening - good for general fitness, and good for businesses.

2. It's good for the environment, people are using electricity less with longer daylight hours.

3. Expect the traffic not to be as bad on Monday, clocks going forward have been linked to some surprising effects on traffic safety.

4. People generally feel happier, more energetic and have lower sickness rates in the brighter days after clocks change

5. Sex drive increases, carb cravings lower and SAD disorder improves once people feel the effects of spring and the longer daylight hours.

6. The lighter evenings are also said to reduce crime.

Well, theres always the risk of turning up late for a family dinner/ football match/ church service. But, on a more serious note, critics have said that changing the clocks is economically and socially disruptive, therefore cancelling out any benefits.

There are also a number of theories that suggest putting the clocks forward has a negative impact on the human body in 2012 a University of Alabama study found the risk of a heart attack surges by 10 per cent on the Monday and Tuesday after moving the clocks forward.

Summer Time begins on Sunday, March 26.

This means you should put your clocks forward at 1am on Sunday 26 or, failing that, before you bed down for the night on Saturday.

The chills: When your body is in need of more sleep it will begin to automatically prepare itself for rest, which involves cooling itself down. So if you find your teeth chattering at work, its likely that youre in need of more sleep.

An elevated risk of physical health issues: Just half an hour of sleep debt a measure of how people are making up on lost weekday sleep at weekends- can disrupt the natural rhythm of hormones in the body and lead to a much greater risk of diabetes and obesity.

A dangerous lack of concentration: Data shows that theres a distinct rise in the rate of car accidents in the week following the change so make sure that youre feeling fully awake and ready to go before jumping behind the wheel.

Mental health: Lack of sleep is intimately linked to depression. Studies have show that suicide rates tend to rise following the changing of the clocks and this is partly attributed to mental issues that can be brought on by a disruption in circadian rhythms.

Rise in irritability can be a problem for relationships: Less sleep equals higher irritability, elevated selfishness and thus more fights with your partner. Suddenly the fact that they didn't hang up the bath mat embodies the existential failures of your entire relationship.

- And a few methods underneath that may help you get back into your sleeping pattern after the change and potentially aid with sleeping and waking behavior in the future:

As tempting as it may seem, try not to have a lie-in on Sunday: It's likely that, if you sleep in late, you'll impinge on your night's rest. It's very important to keep regularity in sleeping patterns to make sure that you never have to feel like you're catching up.

Theres no point going to sleep if youre awake: If you go to bed in the knowledge that you're not going to get to sleep any time soon, all that you're doing is lying down, thinking about how long it is until your alarm goes off and growing anxious. Stay up for a bit and read a book or listen to relaxing music, anything to take your mind off actually trying to drift off.

No tablets in bed: It can be very tempting to send off a few emails or watch a couple of programmes before going to sleep but it's important to keep the bed set aside for sex and sleep only. The human brain's natural inclination is to make association with objects so if you're on your tablet for an hour before bed, it's likely to become a habit.

Ease off the caffeine after lunch: Research has shown that caffeine consumed up to six hours before sleep is likely to have a negative effect on sleep patterns so try and keep coffees to the morning.

Independent News Service

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Time Change: Everything you need to know about the clocks going forward this weekend - Irish Independent