Vienna Explorations

Greetings from Vienna! I’ve been here for the past two weeks and will be staying for another week. In this post, I’ll share some highlights from my time here so far.

The first place I went to after arriving in the city—even before checking in at my Airbnb—was a farm shop. I had scheduled an interview there with Thomas, who has been fermenting beetroots using koji for a few years and also hosts monthly pop-up vegan dinners in Vienna alongside his day job at Austria’s Federal Statistical Office. We discussed food entrepreneurship, (organic) agriculture in Austria, the Styrian oil pumpkin, and creative ways to use pumpkin seeds, such as pumpkin seed tofu and pumpkin seed 'guacamole.'

Over time, I’ve realized that food is a topic I never tire of—and health is another.

I wanted to kiss this giant, round pumpkin at the farm shop! Isn't it SO cute?

Austria has the second-highest percentage of organically managed agricultural land in the world, accounting for 27.5% of its total farmland. Crops with a high share of organic cultivation include lentils, broad beans, winter spelt, buckwheat, and soy beans. Pictured is the best soy milk I've had, aside from homemade. It's made with 11% soybeans and nothing else but water. The statement on the carton, indicating that it’s made with 100% organic soybeans from Austria, conveys a sense of pride.

In the last two weeks, I’ve met and talked to some wonderful people working in food and beverage production, academia, psychotherapy, community organizing, and animal rights campaigning.

“Just go to town!” Ulrich said, after he plated samples of the various types of kimchi and fermented vegetables that he and his wife make in their shop 'Blvb', using mostly local ingredients. Not pictured is the chickpea miso, which was so delicious that I asked to take the rest of the sample jar home, as they had already sold out. The couple leads a great example of creating, living, and enjoying a life driven by their passions.

Ulrich's aunt grows organic Styrian pumpkin and produces roasted pumpkin seed oil. Here Ulrich was demonstrating to me the characteristics of high quality pumpkin seed oil: dark green color and viscous but not tough.

I also visited the Veganmania festival organized by the Vegan Society Austria and the office of the Austrian animal rights organization Verein Gegen Tierfabriken (VGT). The influence of these two organizations, which work closely together, has been instrumental in making Austria one of the most vegan and animal rights-friendly countries in the world, with strong animal welfare laws and many plant-based products and establishments throughout the country.

Lots of food stalls and great atmosphere

I was grateful that the vice president of the VGT, Georg, agreed to meet with me despite his busy schedule.

Art seen in the storage space of VGT. Long story short, in the earlier days of VGT, 12 members of the organization were arrested and charged under Austria's anti-terrorism laws. After a lengthy trial in 2011, all defendants were acquitted of all charges. The case sparked a significant debate about the misuse of anti-terrorism laws against social movements and civil liberties in Austria. Today, with 35 FTE-equivalents working in all regions of Austria to raise public support and shape policy for animal rights, VGT is funded completed by donations. Isn't that amazing?!

There are two completely vegan grocery stores in Vienna, which has been fun to explore. Having a functional kitchen has also been nice, allowing me to grocery shop regularly and cook nearly all my meals in my Airbnb.

The Austrian supermarket chain Billa, owned by the REWE Group, opened a purely plant-based store called 'Billa Pflanzilla' two years ago in Vienna. Interestingly, the term ‘vegan’ has been removed from their marketing vocabulary and replaced with ‘rein pflanzlich' ('purely plant-based’) for two reasons: first, the store aims to target the large population in Austria (up to 50%) who are interested in a flexitarian lifestyle, and second, because 'vegan' does not carry a positive enough connotation. While Billa does not plan to open more standalone Pflanzilla stores, their strategy is to focus on creating more ‘Pflanzilla worlds’ within existing Billa locations. Just a few months ago, REWE opened a 100% plant-based store in Berlin. Are there any other grocery retailer corporations that have done the same? I don't know of any!

Last week, my partner Manuel also came to visit me. In the past few months, I rarely had pictures of myself taken, but thanks to him, here are some pictures of me from our walks around the city:

Manuel has been an excellent thought partner and "unofficial" mindset coach as I navigate my Watson journey. He never seems to tire of reminding me to embrace being playful, "focus on the fun," and "just begin again."

Last Friday, we went swimming in one of Vienna's many public pools. On our way back we stopped by the Sichuan Garten—a serendipitous find!

Sichuan Restaurant in the garden. I lingered there for a while, feeling a wave of homesickness.

Truth be told, being around Manuel has been anxiety-inducing for me (not that I don’t get anxious when I’m by myself), because seeing him work on multiple projects with clear structures and goals highlights the lack of structure I have this year. While this freedom can be refreshing, it also makes me quite nervous, as the standards by which I was used to being assessed no longer exist. Some days when I do not have specific project-related activities or meetings planned, I tend to feel uncertain about how best to spend my time. I constantly remind myself that I have no idea what I will do after my Watson travel ends in 7 months and after I finish my MA thesis in 11 months. And I feel pressured to figure it out. What will I do with all my experiences and learnings from this year once it’s over? I can hardly believe I am actually "working" toward something. But then, after a while of riding that wave of insecurity generated by uncertainty, I hear another voice saying, “Don’t fight with yourself!”