From Positive Influence Issue 3, 1988

For #flashbackfriday I’ve got something different for you! We are going way, way back to 1989 for this peek at my old zine called Positive Influence. I’ve been working with shininglifepress on an anthology of this 6 issue hard core punk zine that focused on the emerging straight edge /posi-core scene. Vegetarianism was becoming pretty prevalent in the scene at that time, and as I had already been meat-free for several years, I often wrote about the topic. 

Issue 3 featured a column called “What Do You Eat” in which I explained, “We eat the same stuff as everyone else, minus the meat!” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Crazy to think that 32 years ago I was saying much the same thing to confused meat eaters as I am today. Of course back then, I had to go to the “health food store” to find plant based meat substitutes. I listed all the “vegetarian fast food items” that “can easily guide a person from a carnivorous diet to a veg one” like Tofu Pups and Burgers, ‘Turkey’ Slices, ‘Fish’ Filets, luncheon slices, Chili Man brand chili and more before giving people one of my own chili recipe. I will reprint it here for you in case you want to try it!

“A Very Simple Homemade Chili”

1 small can tomato sauce
1/2 package chili seasoning
1/2 onion, diced
1 small tomato, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small can “Mexican Style Corn”
1 reg size can pinto beans
1 reg size can kidney beans
1 cup grated cheese (or tofu cheese)

Optional 
Bottle Birell non-alcoholic beer
Corn chips

Throw sauce, seasoning, and onion in pot and stir well over med/low heat, add in beans & vegetables and cook until bubbling. (Add 1/2 bottle of Birell for extra flavor) Add cheese right before serving & corn chips are good, too. Takes about 10 mins.

I think the two vegan chili recipes in my latest book, Happy Healthy Vegan Cookbook, are much better than this vintage one but it’s fun to see where I started with publishing recipes. You can get both of my cookbooks on our webstore, Apple Books or Amazon Kindle. No release date yet on the Positive Influence anthology but I’ll be sure to keep you posted!