Fable pulled mushrooms are the plant-based meal you didn't know you needed
Why food pantry bins are so significant for curious shoppers and food waste advocates
Close your eyes. Try to picture 133 billion pounds of food being wasted — in one year. The first time I heard that stat, I was stunned to think $161 billion worth of food is being treated like hot mustard packets. (I will never understand why those are in my takeout bags, and I always hand them back to delivery people or return them to the counters.)
I started reevaluating my own grocery shopping after I found this out. As a 20-year vegetarian (and failed two-time vegan), I’m never going to have a fridge or refrigerator that is packed to capacity. I barely eat processed food, especially once I found out its link to high blood pressure. Vegan and vegetarian processed food is too often loaded with sodium, and I learned the hard way that I just cannot fill my grocery cart with it. So about half of my meals are on my counter and produce fridge drawer, along with a few random things like vegan vanilla coffee creamer.
For awhile, I tried only supporting food waste advocate companies. Too Good To Go had potential, but the surprise bags rarely if ever had food I wanted and other times way too much of other foods to the point I ended up wanting to throw away the leftovers I bought.
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And then I found out about little food pantries and a local restaurant fridge, where bakeries, grocery stores and other restaurants donate food on a daily basis that they cannot sell in stores. It’s not that the food is bad or expired or old or sketchy. Food establishments just have very strict rules about what they can sell and what they must trash by the end of the night, and they decided to do something about it.
Recommended Read: “New plant-based food brands may be missing out on a marketing opportunity ~ Free food pantries are an easy way to gain consumers, get charitable tax write-offs, reduce food waste”
While many neighborhood people flock to these neighborhood pantries, which are stocked daily, and grab all kinds of pork, beef and (a few days ago) massive whole chickens and turkeys, I patiently wait to see what’s immediately ignored — and the biggest smile crosses my face to see stuff like vegan cream cheese, roasted broccoli, dried cranberries, huge bags of almonds and pecans, ripe bananas (which make the best smoothies), and some of the most random vegan and vegetarian food that I’d bypass in a retail store while I bought the same old stuff on my grocery list.
But by not trashing food, employees coming home from work, casual strollers and homeless people have a chance to avoid billions of food going into dumpsters. It’s a win-win for everyone — including me — because I run across brands that make me want to two-step my way to the grocery store to buy more.
Fable is the MVP for omnivores, vegans and vegetarians
Every day, I have a list of 11 goals that I must do before I go to sleep. One of them is to watch a vegan cooking video. My go-tos are Yeung Man Cooking, The Nard Dog Cooks and We Cook Vegan. They’re straight to the point, focus on the food instead of rambling about everything else and (Nard Dog specifically) they’re funny. All three also give me cooking ideas so I don’t keep eating the same favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner. And Yeung Man and Nard Dog are good for incorporating a mushroom meat substitute in their meals. I didn’t even know oyster mushrooms could look as amazing as fried chicken.
I spent three of four decades despising mushrooms until I learned all the amazing variations of cooking them. Although I still haven’t figured out how to make homemade fried mushrooms as good as Harold’s Chicken, I’ve nailed a few other mushroom recipes.
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But when I saw an unfamiliar brand — Fable — in one of the fridge giveaway drawers, I ignored it at first, thinking it was meatballs. It wasn’t until a brotha standing next to me and waiting his turn asked, “Is that chicken?” that I looked a little closer. When he realized it was mushrooms, he couldn’t shut that door fast enough.
I grabbed a couple of bags, assuming I’d have to do all the seasoning, flour shaking and usual prep to make mushrooms tolerable. My gawd, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Besides a quick shake of minced garlic, red pepper and dried onions, I could’ve eaten these Fable plant-based meaty pulled mushrooms as is. They’re chewy like chicken but chunky like beef, and are easy to fry without burning. (Just spray a little olive oil in a pan and flip on occasion.) I checked the back of the package, just assuming it was loaded with massive salt. (This usually happens when plant-based food is a little too good or tastes a little too close to a meat texture.) Wrong! Only 350 mg of sodium.
Available for sale in Australia, Canada, Singapore and United Kingdom, I ate a bowl of them with butter noodles and Taylor Farms Roast Broccoli Caesar, and immediately wanted seconds. If you’re in the United States, this exact bag and brand may be tough to find. The closest grocery store to me that sells this pulled mushroom product is a 10.4-mile drive (25 minutes), and I have no idea which retailer was willing to give these up. All I can say is “thank you” to the guy walking by me who was disappointed this wasn’t chicken and to whomever left a bunch of bags of it for me (and others) to enjoy!
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the monthly post on the third Thursday.
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