After the United Nations issued a report last February advising a need for drastic changes in the human diet in order to curb climate change and cultivate sustainable existence practices, many Seattleites hear the diet-knell. However, for people realizing dietary allergies or changing their diet for ethical, environmental or health reasons, finding a place to eat in certain neighborhoods of Seattle can be difficult.
In Ballard and Fremont it's hard to find a restaurant that offers fare for diverging dietary trends. There are even fewer restaurants that cater to sensitive allergies such as Celiac Disease (gluten allergy).
There is, however, one bakery in Fremont where one can find a smorgasbord of culinary delights where worrying “what’s in that?” or “how is it made?” is a caution left at the door. Flying Apron Bakery and Café makes food easy for vegans, vegetarians and customers with food allergies.
Don’t be shy, say hello to your neighborhood gluten-free, vegan bakers.
Flying Apron is Seattle’s only totally gluten-free, vegan bakery and café. Angela Silva is co-owner of Flying Apron with her husband, Jeff, and their two partners, Erik Chelstad and Ethan Hernandez. They purchased the bakery back in 2010. Since then they have been experimenting with different grains and recipes to make the textures and flavors that’s changing the way gluten-free and vegan food is viewed.
Since taking over, they have seen business grow steadily and have opened a second location in Redmond and a commercial bakery down the street from their Fremont location. Flying Apron supplies over 100 businesses with their products and provides customers with custom orders to fit individual dietary restrictions.
Silva said that making food in this way is less so an ethical or political stance, and more about supplying people with dietary restrictions -- because of allergies or conditions -- an environment where they don’t have to worry about having a negative reaction. Angela is lactose intolerant and her husband has Crohn’s Disease, so for her it’s really just a matter of habit and a constant opportunity for creative discovery to make things that deviated from the traditional mainstream diet.
“What we do is try to provide a product base for those that have a variety of food issues and sensitivities and make things they can really enjoy. The broad base spectrum of those is dairy and egg, but we strive for the gluten free aspect and the allegory aspect that people have a reaction to as well,” said Angela Silva.
One example of how Flying Apron has honed their craft is their pumpkin pie. That and the pumpkin bars are a holiday favorite.
“This is where a the magic of vegan baking comes into play because a lot of this stuff has new inspirational ingredients in it in order to make it work.”
Silva said that normally for pumpkin pie, bakers use heavy cream, eggs and squash for the filler, but in her case it’s either coconut cream or coconut fat mixed with tofu and squash on top of gluten free, cashew based crust. To get just the right texture, consistency and flavor it has taken lots of trial and error, but it’ paid off. This reporter would venture to say any patron would have a tough time telling the difference between a tradition pie and Flying Apron's pie.
The pecan pie is another popular holiday favorite. Silva said that instead of the gelatinous texture that comes from the traditional use of corn syrup and eggs, their pecan pie is crispy, while chewing and sweet with toasted pecan consistency comparable to a pecan bar – plus bourbon.
Furthermore, a lot of their products are also sensitive to people with allergies to corn and soy.
“The way that I look at it here is that our whole theme and model is that it’s not about what you can’t eat. … It’s a broad spectrum, we can’t serve everyone’s needs but we can certainly try.”
Silva said that they developed an oatmeal cookie specifically for a customer that is allergic to rice. The cookie is made with oat flour and quinoa flour.
“We are providing people with food that they can’t get anywhere else without being very careful.”
Flying Apron audits for their products and ingredients once per quarter and the Gluten-Free Certification Organization audits the bakery annually. Flying Apron never brings animal or gluten products into their facility, preventing any potential reaction to customers.
Moreover, savory foods like pizza, macaroni and cheese (cheese substituted with nutritional yeast and backflips in gastronomy), toasted sesame seed salad and roasted vegetable pot pies are daily lunch fare offered. Even their hot sauce is made in-house and with ingredients customers can count with one hand.
“What we really want to do is provide a place and a product that those that have found dietary restrictions can consume without thinking twice about it.”
So why are people changing their diet?
According to the United Nations report, no matter the ethical stance on eating animal products, there are some land uses and consumption patterns that humans need to consider for the future.
"Recognizing that land is a finite resource, we need to become more efficient in the ways we produce, supply and consume our land-based products. We must be able to define and adhere to the boundaries within which the world can safely operate to save millions of hectares by 2050,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme.
The global population is predicted to be nine billion by 2050, and with that, animal product consumption is expected to double. Animal farming is calculated to eliminate an area of plains, forests and other wild life areas equivalent to the size of Brazil.
Currently demands for animal products have led to the meat and dairy industries using 70 percent of the world’s fresh water, 38 percent of the world’s land, and accounts for 19 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions( that’s more than the global transportation industry). More than half of the world’s crops go toward animal feed.
The report states that humans need to reduce meat consumption by 60 percent. That’s cutting back meat or animal product based meals to approximately nine times a week (based on 3 meals a day).
So far, here's how many people have made dietary changes:
According to People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 2.5 percent of the American population is vegan, which are roughly 7,500,000 people. Another five percent is vegetarian. Furthermore, statistics released in 2013 by the Vegetarian Research Group, Vegetarian Times and Harris Interactive Service Bureau, said that 22.8 percent of Americans have a “vegetarian inclined” diet. Moreover, they ranked Seattle 2nd in the “Top Vegetarian Cities” (based on number of vegetarian restaurants), falling behind Portland, but ahead of San Francisco and New York. Of their collected vegetarians, 41 percent fell into the 18 to 35 age group.
What about Gluten-free?
According to the Celiac Disease Foundation the gluten-free industry grew from a $100 million dollar industry in 1996 to a $4.2 billion industry in 2012. That’s more money than what the entire Washington State maritime industry pays annually in wages .
With growing pressure to change consumption practices, luckily customers can leave it up to places like Flying Apron to make the cuts in cuisine the UN proposes while still making delicious, healthy food.
For more information visit http://www.flyingapron.com/s
