This article is for vegans moving to York, or for those fabulous people who have decided to become vegan, and who already live here. We want to tell you NOT TO BE AFRAID! It's possible!!

Below we provide suggestions of where to go for food and toiletries, in a way that allows you to be as ethical, and as York-ish, as possible...

Food

For your weekly shop, you can obtain the basics from several city centre places. These include Kyi-Po on Goodramgate, Tullivers on Colliergate and Holland & Barrett on Coney Street (see links on our Buying In page). A small selection of what is on offer is below:-

• Tofu and seitan
• Alpro milk & milkshakes (we like the blue-boxed sweetened Alpro best, and it's supplemented with vitamins and calcium)
• Soya cream that doesn't curdle in coffee
• Vegan cheeses (several brands)
• Pasties that can be eaten hot or cold (e.g. Clive's pies)
• Meat substitutes such as imitation turkey roasts and sandwich fillers
• Linda McCartney frozen products (e.g. sausages & pies)
• Fry's frozen products (e.g. sausages & burgers)
• Soya ice-cream (e.g. Swedish Glace & Booja Booja)
• Vegan biscuits and chocolates (we like Nak'd raw food bars, very tasty)
• Vegan breakfast cereals
• Fry's frozen products
• Cauldron products
• Vegan baby food and pet food.
• Vegan wines (Kyi-Po only)

If you are a keen cook, you can find many basic ingredients (including suets, herbs and spices) from Tullivers Click here. They also sell health supplements for vegans, as well as Alpro, various tofus and vegan cheeses. The Tofutti cream cheese is particularly nice spread on Scottish Oatcakes, which they also sell. At Christmas, you can find vegan marzipan there, and vegan turkish delight.

Of course, with a bit of effort, you can get a good range of vegan foods from the local Supermarkets or Marks & Spencer at fairly low cost. Sainsburys usually have Cauldron and Alpro products, while Morrisons sell Pure brand cream cheese and cream slices. In addition, surprising "wow, that doesn't list any non-vegan ingredients!" highlights include:

• Jam tarts, Sainsburys' own
• Bourbon biscuits, Sainsburys' own
• Sainsburys' organic wines, with the vine leaf on them, are labeled vegan
• Many Sainsburys' "So Organic" cooking sauces
• Discovery range of mexican cooking sauces, e.g. Fajita sauce
• Sainsburys' low fat guacamole
• Morrisons' jaffa cakes (sorry, precise details sadly lost for now)
• Many M&S cooking sauces, such as the korma and satay
• Blue Dragon Thai Green Curry Style Soup
• Co-Op Doughnuts

I just want to buy a blooming sandwich for my lunch....

It's a minefield. It has been ever since Pret stopped making that humous sandwich. We now go to Boots and get either the Bugsy or the other one with tofu in. You can also find a vegan option at The Cornish Pasty Shop opposite Tullivers on Colliergate.

Toiletries

Being someone who LOVES orangutans, I LOVE Little Satsuma products Click here, which are available through Kyi-Po or online. Satsuma avoids the use of palm oil, which mostly comes from Indonesian plantations that destroy Orangutans' natural habitat. Happily, they are also excellent products. Their rich hydrating moisturiser with essential oils has lasted me months and my skin feels and smells lovely.

You can find lots of other products not tested on animals (and BUAV approved) if you are prepared to look around carefully. Here's a list of products and places we know to be OK:-

• Lush toiletries; none tested on animals and vegan items labeled
• Bulldog toiletries Click here found in Sainsburys. Great for handsome men.
• Original Source toiletries Click here, found everywhere you look, are not tested on animals
• Faith in Nature products Click here for more info
• Animal Aid's own line, available through Kyi-Po or online Click here for shop
• Daniel Field's hair care products, only available online Click here for website
• Many M&S products carry the BUAV seal of approval, including a nice lavender range
• Please note that the Body Shop is now owned by L'Oreal, who do test products on animals

Household stuff

I love a clean house. It makes me so happy. There are plenty of products out there that are good for the environment, but sometimes they are tested on animals, and sometimes they are just rubbish at cleaning.
Astonishingly, the Astonish range of cleaners is BUAV approved and so not tested on animals. I suspect it is not that great for the environment, but it does make the bathroom sparkle. I get mine from Pextons, just up Bishopthorpe Road.
Many M&S cleaning agents clearly display the BUAV logo. I love their floor wipes. With a passion.
I have read that Ecover products are tested on animals, so if you want to combine kindness to animals with kindness to the environment, then you should probably go for Faith in Nature products.
If, like me, you have a weakness for very clean clothes, then try the Co-Op's own brand of non-biological soap powder. Co-Op has been avoiding testing on animals on its cleaning products for so long, and no-one ever gives them a big old hug for their loyalty to the BUAV principles in this regard.

Cosmetics

If you are a vegan stuck in York with no internet connection, then you probably won't wear any make-up. This is because no-one sells the brand "Beauty Without Cruelty", which is the only one that I trust not to have some form of animal cruelty, or some animal, in it. You can get it online from lots of places, though, such as Animal Aid's website.
And hooray for Stella McCartney. I smell nice and pretty sophisticated since she introduced her own scents to the high street. I also smell delightfully cruelty free. If I was very rich I would buy other of her toiletries, clothes and shoes but sadly I am not.