Welcome to I Heart Veg™ Cake and Eats, our vegan bakery!
If you have been a previous visitor, you’ll notice we’ve made a big change from a simple blog discussing all things veggie to a full-fledged dedicated vegan bakery.
This endeavor was no easy task and over a decade in the making. Speaking of no easy tasks, we moved from Illinois to North Carolina to open our shop.
This dream began twelve years ago, when we initially envisioned remodeling our barn into a bakery. Our beloved barn and two acres, while a great learning and playground for our gardening, canning, and pets, was an hour away from a large city, and once we and our products were vegan, we didn’t have easy access to the products or customer base we knew we needed.
Over the years, we considered many new locales and fell on Asheville and Black Mountain as a potential relocation spot quite by accident. After visiting the area a few times, we were enamored. It’s easy to say that we fell in love with the beauty of the area, but we fell harder for the spirit of entrepreneurship that resides in these mountains. We specifically moved here to start a small business and become a part of a community that supports those endeavors.
As a native southerner, I’m thrilled to be home in the south, and Loren is enjoying the plentiful winter days that are warm and sunny.
We’ve dedicated our time and lives to supporting improvements in animal welfare and rights, animal rescue, and progressive animal legislation. We’ve been volunteers for numerous animal and environmental organizations and served as directors for a local humane society. We’ve rescued eight of our own beloved companion animals over the years, and we are blessed to still have our seventeen year old German Shepherd mix Grandbury and six year old Winni, the Calico cat, with us. You may know us from our pet online retail and educational hub at 24Paws.com. If not, stop by and check out our sweethearts. They are digging their new digs, too! *Update: we said goodbye to our sweet man, Grandbury on March 24, 2012. Just five weeks from turning 18, he was one amazing dog. We are, quite honestly, lost without him. Winni misses her brother terribly. We are thankful Grandbury was able to enjoy the mountains and touch so many lives that he encountered. Love them; they always love you.
Our vegan items fulfill a niche on a dietary, nutritional, and ethical level, and combined with our quality ingredients and the high level of customization and aesthetic appeal of our creations, vegans and non-vegans alike enjoy our products. We are so excited to be given the opportunity to provide you and your family with customizable delicious vegan treats that put the exclamation on your memorable occasions.
Making you happy gives us a sugar high. We are known for our exceptional customer service and attention to detail. Got a suggestion? Some blue ribbon praise? Yes, we’ll even take that criticism. Go ahead and send them our way! veggie at iheartveg.com
Vegan Owned & Operated!
Jeannie & Loren Striegel
I Heart Veg™— Affordable, beautiful, delicious, and dedicated vegan.
We don’t claim to have all the answers, and we aren’t medical experts. We believe that the goal of becoming our best selves can only be accomplished with a lifestyle that is led by the nutrition, ethics, and truth that a vegan diet can supply.
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