Edith Bolt:  I’d like to begin by asking the official name of your food business and how the service began. 

Drake Page:  In 1996, an advocacy group was started for vegans that is called Hudson Valley Vegans. It is a not-for-profit organization. We host events, including potlucks, restaurants, discussion groups and table at health fairs and community days. When the pandemic hit, people could not go out to eat. I started the Hudson Valley Vegans’ home meal service. Each week I offer a new menu of 3-5 vegan offerings. Main dishes, salads, soups, appetizers. Sometimes all of these, sometimes fewer.

 EB:  My husband and I had been ordering for about three or four weeks and when we learned from a friend it was vegan; we were surprised.  My husband is a bit prejudiced against vegan but both of us love what you make.  It’s so tasty and creative.  I’d like to know how you attract new customers. Do you have a website? 

DP: Our list has grown by word of mouth, no promotion, no advertising, no website. Anyone interested in being added, email: hvvhomemeals@gmail.com

There  is a core group who order each week, and other who order when the spirit, or appetite moves them. Our customers give us new names to add as their friends learn about us. I prepare between 50-60 meals per week.

EB: Can you explain how it works? When is ordering and pick up? I think I was told you have two pick up locations.

DP: The menu gets made over the weekend and it is sent out via email on Sunday evening. The ordering deadline is Tuesday morning at 10 am. The food pickup is on Thursday after 5:30 in Glasco, and after 6 in Rhinebeck. Roberta Schiff , coordinator of HVV sends the menu, picks up the Rhinebeck orders and handles the money. We prefer Venmo payments, but also accept cash and checks.

EB: I’d love to know how and when you started cooking and when you began catering. 

DP: I lived in England after college in the 80’s and wound up working in a restaurant there. When I got promoted to work in the kitchen, I did all the soups and salads and the takeaway items. That was fun.  I learned a lot there.

I worked for 15-20 years at the financial industry as a hedge fund media person; in 2009 it all crashed and the woman who owned the business closed up shop. I started my own company and made chutneys and relishes. That was mostly retail. It was very successful; sales and distribution we going well.  Whole Foods and Gourmet Garage were among my customers. I was also teaching cooking, canning and chutney classes, and Indian food preparation, from that I got catering orders. My food is always all vegan. I moved up to Glasco in 2013. For the first two years I lived up here, but I was still going into the city to teach and do my chutneys. To be more successful, I would have had to invest in large equipment and hire people to work for me.

 EB: Do you work on your own, or do you have staff working for you?

DP: I really only have one person who helps me and that is my mother, Sondra Page. She does all the baking and desserts!

EB: How do you come up with recipes? You are so inventive and always present foods from all over the world. What kind of research goes into your creating and recipe planning? 

DP:  Thanks.  I do research on the internet, use many cookbooks, also, I have traveled and bring my personal experience into it.  I have friends who have introduced me to a variety of foods. Friends from all over the world give me access to international cuisine. I’ve been lucky enough to have been invited to their homes.  I also have my personal interest and have been exposed to a vast variety of foods. What is “normal” for some is “different” for others.

That is what makes cooking interesting and exciting.

EB: You started reusing plastic take out containers.  Tell me how you decided to start using the three-tiered-tiffins?

DP: From the very beginning, I knew I did not want to use single use plastics, so I did some research about plastics without BPA and those that I could wash and use five or six times. So, when CCAPP approached me and introduced the Tiffin Project, I was interested right away. Most of my client base is inclined to want to use something that lasts. The main thing about being a vegan is about animal welfare, but it is also about protecting and saving the environment, so a large percentage of my customers were interested in participating.

The great thing about the tiffins is I see how much less plastic I am using. Since I started with the Tiffins, I have hardly had to buy plastic containers. Also, they are attractive and durable.  There are problems associated with them. People have to realize how they are supposed to work. It really is an exchange program, we received 24 free tiffins to support this exchange program. Each time you pick up, you return the one from the week before. There is one at home and one here. If you usually order three dinners, you need to have six containers. So, in principle, you always need to bring one back to get one refilled. Each customer needs to keep track of that. 

I find that with the Tiffin Project it is a lot more work for me, because I have to keep track of who brought them back. It costs me about two hours per week extra. Sometimes people are surprised they are getting their food in plastic and I have to explain, if you don’t bring back the empty Tiffin containers, I can’t provide a new one until I get them here. That is the biggest challenge to get people to be responsible for their own behavior in terms of timely tiffin returns.

One thing that did happen was -- it prompted people to think more about take out containers.

For example, people bring me containers they might have gotten from other restaurants. So they want to reuse those. That is great, although it is not really how we stop using plastics. The introduction of the tiffin containers has created more awareness about single use plastics in take-out containers.

EB: I have an additional personal question:  What do you like best about having your own business?

DP: I really like that it is all vegan. My concern is animal welfare. That was my initial and primary reason for becoming vegan. Getting to know my customers and their preferences is an interesting part of doing this service.  And of course, it is healthful to eat vegan, your heart and arteries function well, circulation is good and breathing is better. Eat vegan for a month, get some lab work done and your doctor will be amazed.

I also love to create dishes and do the research. That is something I always liked to do, it is fascinating how different ethnicities put ingredients together to create interesting tastes and textures. It gives me a lot of pleasure. And a bit of danger, I have a tall tower of cookbooks which must not fall!

EB:  Thank you for a wonderful conversation. I learned something about vegan cooking and loved hearing about the development of your career, your creativity and your concerns. I think you are contributing something very important to our community. Of course, CCAPP members are delighted you are using Tiffins as your method of ‘transport.’ 

In order to get on the email list to receive menus for Drake Page’s vegan dinners, send an email to hvvhomemeals@gmail.com.