Not just a business, it’s a lifestyle

Peggy Raisglid is a business owner who walks her talk – genuinely and passionately believing in the "outstanding vegetarian options" at her Lovin’ Spoonfuls eatery, 2990 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ.

"As a research chemist dealing with environmental issues, I used to teach medical personnel how to use our company products and I kept getting questions about what tests had been performed on animals," she recalled. "I’m so emotionally, ethically, and morally opposed to animal experimentation, it didn’t take long for me to realize I was in the wrong career field. The final straw was attending a lecture on vivisection. When we broke for lunch, this cheeseburger-lover did a 360-degree turn and ordered myself a vegan meal, slamming one door and opening another in a heartbeat. This wasn’t a result of long-term contemplation, it was an instant personal decision based on my intrinsic beliefs. I’ve never regretted it and I’ve never looked back."

Chemical engineering was a way for Raisglid to make a living but it wasn’t her passion.

"When I was a little girl growing up, I used to hide in my mother’s spice cabinet and mix things together to come up with unusual combinations," she said. "When my folks would leave the house, my brother and I would head to the kitchen to create our own dishes. I’ve been some kind of a foodie all my life."

The interest became a necessity when her dietary decisions changed.

"When I became a vegan in 1989, nobody knew what the word meant. It was impossible to eat out because there was nothing on the menu. Back then, I had no idea how to cook vegan, so my new challenge was to create all my old favorite dishes using a new set of ingredients," Raisglid said. "Part of what led me here was the success I had cooking vegetarian/vegan style. Invariably people would say, ‘This is delicious. You ought to open up a restaurant.’ I think that definitely played a part in working on my subconscious, planting the seeds to do something like this. When I think about it, every single thing I’ve done in my life has all lead to this point, seemingly like destiny really is pre-ordained."

"One of the main reasons I wanted to do this in the first place was to be able to promote vegetarianism. The thing that’s personally gratifying for me is knowing that more than half of my customers are not vegetarian, so to some extent, my dream goal of promoting a different way of eating is being met. I always used to wonder if I’d ever find my true niche in life. Well, now, the answer is astoundingly, yes. This is what I was intended to do."

Read More About Peggy and Lovin’ Spoonfuls at Complete Article by Lee Allen

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