Vegan cafe Bonta Vera at Minmi is proving popular

The thing is, it’s a vegan cheeseburger. That is, it’s made without any animal products.

The ingredients are based on soy and vegetable proteins. We ate this burger at Bonta Vera, a vegan cafe at Minmi.

Don’t worry, we paid for it (there’s no cash for comment at Topics). It cost $12.50. We forgot to get a tax receipt, too.

What can we say. It was delicious. And it didn’t have that greasy, fatty aftertaste that many burgers have.

The cafe was in a rustic setting in a residential street. Horses strolled in a paddock across the road.

The animal welfare organisation PETA  Australia told us about this blissful place.

PETA Australia press officer Laura Weyman-Jones said Bonta Vera was “Newcastle’s first 100 per cent vegan café”.

The place, which opened a month ago, was packed at lunchtime on Saturday. Laura said there was a “surge in interest about cruelty-free eating”.

Google Trends showed Newcastle was the fourth highest ranked city in Australia for vegan searches, behind Launceston, Hobart and the Sunshine Coast.

PETA Australia campaign co-ordinator Claire Fryer said Australia had the highest percentage of searches for the word “vegan”, outranking last year’s champion, Germany.

According to Google, searches including the word “vegan” were at an all-time high in Australia.

“The arguments for leaving animal-derived foods off our plates have never been stronger,” Claire said.

“Whether it’s to protect animals, our own health or the health of our planet, going vegan is the single most positive and impactful choice we can make.”

She added that billions of animals suffer and die in the meat, dairy and egg industries.

To back the push for a vegan diet, Claire pointed out that the United Nations warned that a global shift towards a vegan diet was necessary to combat the effects of climate change.

Diets filled with animal fats could kill people. This was made clear in a World Health Organisation report that put processed meat on the list of “cancer-causing substances”, she said.

Meateaters of the Hunter, feel free to send your responses to topics@theherald.com.au.

Topics reported last week about the car-racing ambitions of 17-year-old Charlotte Poynting, of Warners Bay.

Charlotte made her debut in the Aussie Racing Cars championship at Phillip Island last weekend, driving a Chevrolet Camaro. After competing in four races, live on Foxtel we might add, she finished 22nd overall out of 35.

“Best weekend of racing I've ever had… I won the first ever Women's Championship Trophy!”, she said on Facebook. 

Considering most girls her age are just getting their Ls or Ps, we reckon this is a herculean effort. 

Topics reported on Saturday that John, from Kilaben Bay, gave us a dressing down for using the word “Newie” or “Newy” to describe our town.

This, John asserted, was an “offensive abbreviation of our city's proud name”.

Readers Graeme and Denise emailed to say they agreed wholeheartedly with John.

The word, they pronounced, was “ridiculous and unnecessary”, adding they were “upset every time” it was used.

Dick McGuigan, of Shortland, said “Newie” was a slang word that “originated among the surfing fraternity back in the early ‘70s or possibly late ‘60s”.

“It related to Newcastle Beach, not the city of Newcastle,” Dick contended.

“Similarly, Stockton Beach was referred to as ‘Stocko’ and Catherine Hill Bay was ‘Catho’.”

Dick said he wrote to the Herald a couple of years ago, “denouncing this degrading word ‘Newie’ when referring to our city”.

“I said at the time it rhymed with spewie, dog pooie and a ‘council that’s not real cluey’. 

“Nothing has changed.”

Well, we can’t promise we won’t use the word “Newie” again, but we consider ourselves reprimanded.