In the heart of Morgantown, Indiana, two inspiring women, Dustie Condon and Stacy Jenkins, have transformed their small town into a hub of veganism and sustainability. Dustie, the owner of Tasty Plate Cafe, and Stacy, who runs Jenkins Forever Farm, an animal sanctuary, share a unique bond that has not only changed their lives but also the community around them.
Dustie’s journey into veganism began somewhat unexpectedly. Working in a Nashville, Indiana restaurant, she was encouraged by a local foodie to introduce vegan options. The success of these dishes surprised her, and she began to explore plant-based cooking more deeply. Despite not being vegan at the time, Dustie was passionate about good food and respect for the ingredients she used. However, it wasn’t until she decided to open her own restaurant, Tasty Plate Cafe, that the full transformation began. “If I wasn’t gonna eat it, I wasn’t gonna make money off of it,” she recalls.
Enter Stacy Jenkins, a committed vegan for four years at the time, who quickly became a regular at Dustie’s cafe. Stacy’s own path to veganism was driven by her deep love for animals. After moving to a farm with her husband and starting Jenkins Forever Farm, an animal sanctuary, the connection between rescuing animals and not eating them became undeniable for her. “It just clicked in my head that it’s not right or normal for me to be rescuing them and eating them at the same time,” Stacy explains.
Their collaboration has turned Tasty Plate Cafe into a 100% vegan establishment, a rarity in such a small town. Despite initial concerns about losing customers, the community has embraced the change. “60 to 70 percent of our business comes from locals who are omnivores,” Stacy notes, highlighting how even those who don’t follow a plant-based diet are enjoying the delicious, thoughtfully prepared meals.
Together, Dustie and Stacy are not just running a restaurant and an animal sanctuary; they are building a movement. Their commitment to sustainability is evident in every aspect of their work, from using local ingredients to recycling kitchen scraps for the sanctuary animals. As they continue to grow their businesses and support their community, they hope to inspire others to consider a plant-based lifestyle, showing that veganism isn’t just for big cities—it can thrive anywhere, even in the smallest of towns.
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DISCLAIMER: Please understand that the transcript below was provided by a transcription service. It is undoubtedly full of the errors that invariably take place in voice transcriptions. To understand the interview more completely and accurately, please watch it here: Dustie Condon and Stacy Jenkins, Small Town Vegans
Glen Merzer: Welcome to the Glen Merzer Show. You can find us across all your favorite podcast platforms. You could find us on YouTube, and please remember to subscribe. And you could find us at RealMenEatPlants .com. I have two special guests today, and they're friends and they work together. We have Dustie Condon, who is the proprietor of the Tasty Plate Cafe in the town of Morgantown, Indiana, and Stacy Jenkins, who's the owner of the Jenkins Forever Farm, which is an animal sanctuary. So Dustie and Stacy, welcome to the show.
Dustie Condon: Thank you for having us.
Glen Merzer: What is your story? How did you get to know each other and and elaborate.
Dustie Condon: Well, I started at a restaurant in Nashville. I helped to build out a brand new restaurant and I was encouraged by a local to introduce no meat, no dairy options. So we had closed down for a couple weeks and I did a menu that duplicated the new menu I was launching. Only added five ingredients to my line. but it drove the business about 50 % roughly. And I started tracking what was selling, chef's specials to desserts, to appetizers and stuff, and really started to get to know this side of the food business. Myself at the time, I wasn't vegan. I have had issues over my life eating meat. So the transition has been easier than most, I'm sure. So in that process, one of the local foodies brought Stacy in to that particular restaurant and she would travel from Edinburgh to eat with eat with us every week or so and would take home a substantial amount of to go food. And that I got really upset one day at that at that restaurant. And I decided I if I was going to work this hard, it was going to be for myself.
Glen Merzer: Well, what should I ask what you got upset about?
Dustie Condon: I was getting a lot of kickback from the front of house staff. They would say things to me like, well, we don't want to be known for a vegan restaurant. And I'm like, well, we're really not known for anything now. And vegans, plant based foodies, or even just healthy minded folks that wanted a cleaner way to eat. That's what we were becoming known for.
Glen Merzer: And you weren't even vegan at the time, right?
Dustie Condon: No, well, my mother -in -law is Okinawan, so I've been cooking with her for about 24 years. And so they're a Blue Zone. And so I respect food. I respect the hands that prepare the food. And so I launched, I walked out of that restaurant, launched the Tasty Plate the next day. I still felt the need to feed omnivores. And once I went vegan, I decided that if I wasn't gonna eat it, I wasn't gonna make money off of it.And then Stacy said to me, if I took the tasty plate 100 percent vegan, she would jump in and help however she could.
Glen Merzer: OK, so Stacy, how long had you been vegan?
Stacy Jenkins: So at that point, I had been vegan probably four years. This was about two years ago, a over two years ago. So I've been vegan six years now. So I lived in the middle of Edinburgh, which is a farming community. So to get vegan food for me, I had to drive to Indianapolis or a major city 45 minutes away. So when I heard Dustie putting food out, was still 45 minutes from me, but I had to go that distance no matter what. And there was a better variety and a little more whole food plant based. So I was looking to be a little healthier, too. And so it made sense for me to go there. And and then here we are.
Glen Merzer: Well, Stacy, what turned you vegan six years ago?
Stacy Jenkins: It would be the animal sanctuary. So my husband and I moved out to a little farm about seven years ago. We started adopting a couple goats and alpacas, but the first animal that we brought in that I would have typically eaten, which was a pig, immediately it just clicked in my head that it's not right or normal for me to be rescuing them and eating them at the same time.
Glen Merzer: Wait a minute. You started an animal sanctuary before you were vegan?
Stacy Jenkins: I did. Yes.
Glen Merzer: Nobody does that.
Stacy Jenkins: I know.
Glen Merzer: So I'm guessing you started this animal sanctuary and you said to yourself, Hey, I started an animal sanctuary. Maybe I should be vegan.
Stacy Jenkins: You got it.
Glen Merzer: What caused you before you were vegan to start an animal sanctuary?
Stacy Jenkins: I think I've always had a really deep love for animals. And I don't think I realized the piece I was missing was not eating them. When we moved out, honestly, we moved out where we moved to be away from people because I've always been closer to animals than I have humans. And I should say non -human animals. But when I saw the need for animal sanctuary outside of companion animals or what we consider, most people consider companion animal, cat and dog, I just, I felt like the need to go there. so we, like I said, we started with alpacas and goats and at that time it didn't really click to me because I didn't eat alpaca and goats. So I just didn't make that connection.
Glen Merzer: I never had alpaca in my life.
Stacy Jenkins: Yeah. And most people haven't, I don't think, you know, not least from the U .S. So but like I said, as soon as I brought an animal on the property that was someone I would have eaten before, just
Glen Merzer: a pig.
Stacy Jenkins: Yes.
Glen Merzer: So it was a pig that did it for
Stacy Jenkins: the pig that did it for me.
Glen Merzer: What was the pig's
Stacy Jenkins: Wilbur. Same as a lot of pigs.
Glen Merzer: Wilbur the pig. Wilbur is like the Smith of pigs.
Stacy Jenkins: Right. Everybody has a Wilbur. We actually have a second Wilbur now. So, yeah.
Glen Merzer: OK, so. So Wilbur the pig turned you vegan.
Stacy Jenkins: He did.
Glen Merzer: And what about your husband?
Stacy Jenkins: So he did not go vegan, but when I pulled meat and dairy, he cut out his. We haven't had like cow's milk or non -vegan butter in the house for a long time. And now he's to the point he's not 100 percent vegan. like yesterday, he begged me to make tofu scramble for breakfast. And he prefers, you know, deviled potatoes over deviled eggs and. He still hasn't had non -vegan butter or milk in almost well over six years. And so he's slowly getting there.
Glen Merzer: OK, so one more question about the founding of the sanctuary. OK, you loved animals. You just started to found the sanctuary and your husband just went along with that idea.
Stacy Jenkins: He did. Yep. If you ever met us, I'm fairly headstrong. So when I want to do something, I just do it. So we talked about it, but he helps me on the weekends with bigger projects. as far as the day to day care, the fundraising, all that, I handle that 100 percent.
Glen Merzer: Well, I've learned to say yes, dear to my wife. But I think if she said, let's start an animal sanctuary, I might say, could we at least talk about.
Dustie Condon: Well, her parents, are her biggest fans.
Stacy Jenkins: Yeah, we've got a lot of support.
Dustie Condon: Yeah. Her parents have been and they're eating more of the food that I prepare here. And so there's also what your mom said. Hey, I think it's time to go vegetarian. small steps. Yeah. OK.
Glen Merzer: So so, Dustie, did you you met Stacy when she came into your cafe in Nashville, Indiana?
Dustie Condon: Yes. Well, and another issue with that particular restaurant was that I love going to tables. You know, I try to build my staff in the back of house to where, you know, if we get an order, they can build it. It's going to look great. It's going to be like I was there. So I would travel from table to table. And one of my staff or one of the staff members at this restaurant said, can you please not come out and talk to patrons anymore? And I was, no, I'm not. That's the only way that you're going to grow and learn what people are looking for. And so, you know, I would get into some pretty lengthy conversations about her sanctuary and and so I said well I'd love to sponsor an animal pick one out for me and so she picked Rudy out who I guess is a very independent strong honoree little critter this is Rudy and he's about what a thousand nine hundred
Stacy Jenkins: yeah about a thousand pounds
Glen Merzer: yes so one of the things that I do here as well is we save all the scraps
Dustie Condon: She takes them to the sanctuary and it usually, I think now he recognizes the green bucket that the food comes in. And so I try to do zero waste in the kitchen and recycle as well. So we're trying to be less of a footprint as possible.
Glen Merzer: So Dustie, your cafe is in the town of Morgantown, Indiana, which I believe is the sister city to Paris, France. Is that right?
Stacy Jenkins: Close.
Dustie Condon: Yeah, off a few miles, but that's
Glen Merzer: OK. And is it, know, some people say that the most vegan cities in the world are Berlin, Warsaw, maybe London, New York. Would Morgantown be on that list?
Dustie Condon: Well, considering there's not a lot of restaurants here and we have a tremendous support from the community, we're hoping to turn it into a destination location. We actually have people this last weekend that traveled from Illinois and from farther northern Indiana. And they said, well, we're just going to have to make this a vacation spot. And I was like, Morgantown, Indiana.
Glen Merzer: But what are the things to do in Morgantown besides going to the Tasty Plate Cafe?
Dustie Condon: You know, this is one of those small towns. So we are not far from Nashville, which is a destination location for fall.
Glen Merzer: Now, to be clear, that's Nashville, Indiana, not Nashville, Tennessee.
Dustie Condon: And so there literally is one stop sign in Morgantown. And they you just drive. I mean, it's just one of those towns you just drive through and really don't recognize. But there are locals here who are repurchasing properties, putting money into it. The state plans on redoing our main drive here and taking it little more old feeling to get it back to its original state. There's a lot of wonderful community things going on, unfortunately not necessarily for tourists. There is a homeschool group that I wanna do a cafeteria experience here for them once a I want to be able to have a mock service for them here so they can get some experience working. The local church does yoga and I mean, there's things, but it takes, think, and people that are wanting to invest back into the community. But this has also been something that's been a cost -effective decision for me. I could have gone to Nashville, Indiana and opened a restaurant. My rent, it wouldn't have been sustainable, we'll just say.
Glen Merzer: For those who don't know in the audience, Nashville, Indiana is a kind of touristy place with a lot of art galleries and boutiques and gets a lot of tourist traffic.
Dustie Condon: there are are owners here that are from what I understand, there's going to be an art gallery opening. We have a Bridal store that's here. So, I mean, it just takes time.
Glen Merzer: OK. Now, what has been the reaction of the people in Morgantown, Indiana, to having a vegan restaurant, because there are a lot of towns 10 times that size that don't have a vegan restaurant.
Dustie Condon: Well, Stacy handles the front of house and she has often said, I wish we had a camera to capture the face of people who go, well, what did I just eat? And it's like, well, it's jackfruit. And they're like, that wasn't beef. And it's like, no, that happens daily.
Stacy Jenkins: Frequently. Yeah. Yeah. I would say. 60, 70, maybe even more percent of our business comes from locals who are omnivores, definitely not vegans. Some people eat here, don't even realize it's vegan.
Glen Merzer: Is the word vegan used anywhere in the signage or anything?
Stacy Jenkins: No, we have like a V with the leaf, but not, it doesn't scream vegan. So we did that on purpose because of our location. But the people who come here who are vegan almost always say, I had to double check that and say, okay, there's a vegan restaurant in Morgantown. right and they still come in and I'm helping them and they're like is that vegan is that being and I'm like yes everything it's all being in.
Dustie Condon: Yeah and I was even mindful to you know I don't want to use leather I didn't you know just to make sure when when vegans walk in here it's an inclusive environment and they're not going to go my gosh is that leather or is this that the other and so but no I intentionally didn't want plant -based whole base vegan anywhere put in the restaurant because. My approach has been I'd rather be a whisper than a shout. Because there's a lot in your face all over the place nowadays. And that's not the approach I wanted to take.
Glen Merzer: So many people come in who are not vegan, don't even realize that it's a vegan restaurant. And what kind of things do they order on the menu? Tell us some of the dishes you have on the menu now.
Stacy Jenkins: Tell them about your new menu.
Dustie Condon: Well, so to back up a little I, when I started this adventure, decided to start with prepared meals and my private parties. The prepared meals I was doing out of the One World Share kitchen in Bloomington, Indiana. It grew the business enough that another vegan company decided to sell their food trailer. So I purchased that and we started hitting the beat different farmers markets and events with that. And then when the opportunity for the food trailer came up or the cafe, it was an easy decision to But on the food trailer and even in the cafe nachos and tacos definitely are hands down some of the best sellers We are seasonal menu here. I am trying to use local as much as possible I go to local gardens and pick a lot of the veggies and stuff myself now. We have a reach in cooler So, you know trying to be able to offer a menu where people can actually purchase some of the items here has been important to me smash burgers, French toast, we're getting ready to kick off with many waffles.
Glen Merzer: What are smash burgers?
Dustie Condon: It's made out of a walnut, black beans, a brand cereal, onions, herbs and spices. And that's all my secret. That sounds very good.
Glen Merzer: Do people know when they're ordering a smash burger, what a smash burger is?
Dustie Condon: The description is on the menu or we try to answer as many questions as possible. And we get a lot of those. But on the back of the menu is A description of we basically it explains the products that we use in house.
Glen Merzer: Well, do customers ever order the smash burger expecting beef?
Dustie Condon: No, no, I don't think so.
Stacy Jenkins: I mean, we've definitely had some customers order items. The one that sticks out to me is in March we had Irish stew on the list and we had an older gentleman who thought he was sneaking one past his wife because he's not supposed to have red meat and he thought. He got one pastor and then we said, well, that was actually jackfruit.
Glen Merzer: So it's always the wife who sneaked one past the husband.
Dustie Condon: He was like, whoa, I was worried about the cholesterol. Yeah, I'm worried about that.
Glen Merzer: So how did he like the Irish stew?
Stacy Jenkins: He ate every bit of it and loved it.
Dustie Condon: Yeah. She made soda bread to go with it, too. So was a nice little compliment.
Glen Merzer: Yeah. Now, do you know of any any Comparable restaurants that are vegan in a little town like Morgantown. Have you met any colleagues who have done a similar thing?
Dustie Condon: Well, no, I don't know.
Stacy Jenkins: You got Lucky Lemon, think, up in Kokomo.
Dustie Condon: But see, we're unique because we're Stacy also does some of the desserts and those dessert cells go to her sanctuary, 100 percent. So we're trying to continue to attach the animal face to the food that goes out. I don't think there's another restaurant or sanctuary that are working together like we are.
Glen Merzer: Now, Dustie, when you went into the restaurant business in Nashville, Indiana, you were not yet vegan.
Stacy Jenkins: No.
Glen Merzer: You aren't vegan today. Was it was it Stacy who turned you vegan
Dustie Condon: no, it was, it was like I said, trying to feel the commitment to feed a whole base, the omnivores, the vegetarians, the vegans. I just, I was so used to feeding people omnivores. You know, I hadn't, I didn't see what I needed to see at the moment. And so once, you, like I said, once I decided I was done with meat, I was done with meat.
Glen Merzer: But why did you decide you were done with
Dustie Condon: Well, I was exposed to some things children shouldn't see as a child of how animals are slaughtered. And that's always hung with me every time I would order something. So I would often order tofu instead of animal protein when I went to a restaurant. And like I said, I just decided if I wasn't gonna consume meat and dairy, I'm not gonna make a profit off of what the animals suffer. So that's, and when this started all getting serious and Stacy was like, if you convert the tasty plate to 100 % vegan, I'm in. The next day it was me. I was worried we were gonna lose some followers and foodies, but even all my omnivores still order prepared dishes. They still come in and dine. So it's been very interesting. This is all so new and unexpected. This is my second career in a sense. I stumbled into food. don't have a culinary professional background, other than working with a lot of wonderful women that love to cook and had the patience to teach me some of their skills.
Glen Merzer: Now, what was your first career?
Dustie Condon: I was in optics. I was going to go to school to be an ophthalmologist or an optometrist. And I decided that the sales auditing inventory side of an optical store was more my way. So I was I worked for one of the largest optical chains in the country. I enjoyed it. It offered me the retirement of 401Ks and everything like that. But that business changed as well. And it wasn't fulfilling anymore.
Glen Merzer: there's nothing better than the 401K from a vegan store, vegan cafe in Morgantown.
Dustie Condon: A lot of our people actually work for food. So that's awesome.
Glen Merzer: Now, Dustie, is there also an element of your business involving employing people on the spectrum?
Dustie Condon: Yes, that has been a passion of mine. In 2020, I helped to reopen one of the larger restaurants in Nashville. And I got a phone call from one of my son's friend's mothers that said she had a sister that was high functioning autistic and had a lot of restaurant experience. I was told that she's non -communicative, but you give her a task, she'll follow it. Long story short, four years later, relationship with this woman, she initiates conversation, she takes ownership. She's currently working for the school system and on break, but filling in for me this summer, but I need her, so I'm getting ready to approach the parents about what we can do to bring her on board, benefits do I need to try to provide for her? And DSI out of Bloomington actually reached out to me to employ some folks through their program as well. that is, it's an important factor for people who don't have opportunities. But when I started a program in Nashville, Indiana, I was with the high school special needs teacher and we were teaching the employability skills for the state of Indiana, basically building a resume. I don't want the tasty plate to be a forever home for people because they not everybody is going to love the restaurant business. But we can build resumes and try to put people in a place to where they're fulfilled. a business owner will have a lifetime employee if they you know, got to treat everybody right, but especially have more patience with some folks on the spectrum.
Glen Merzer: Okay. So currently, do you have anyone on the spectrum working for you right now?
Dustie Condon: I have two. One, her name is Katherine and she is phenomenal. She is when it comes to baked goods. Actually, she's just phenomenal at everything. I wouldn't be here without her. And then I have another young lady that just graduated from high school who is working her way into being more comfortable with being around people. So she was she was bullied in high school and things like that. So I just want to provide a safe environment for her.
Glen Merzer: Well, that's a beautiful thing you're doing.
Dustie Condon: Thank you.
Glen Merzer: Stacy, do you and your husband run the animal sanctuary by yourselves? That's a lot of animals to feed.
Stacy Jenkins: We do. We have a little bit of help from a neighbor who comes once a day, Monday through Friday to give everybody fresh water, which takes about an hour and a half. But otherwise, yes. And we also both work full time. So it's a volunteer position for us. The only paid position is the little bit that we give our neighbor to help us. But as of right now, yes, it's it's just us.
Glen Merzer: you have over 100 animals. Is that right?
Stacy Jenkins: We do. Yes. Fifteen different species.
Glen Merzer: OK, let's go over the species. got alpaca?
Stacy Jenkins: So we have alpacas, sheep, goats, pigs. Let's see, what else do we have? Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, cats, iguanas, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs. Did I say iguanas already? We have a muntjac.
Glen Merzer: What?
Stacy Jenkins: Munt Jack, he's a Reeves Munt Jack. They're a miniature deer species from southeastern Asia. shouldn't be here. But yeah, he probably was brought here on like some sort of exotic pet black market. And I feel like I'm forgetting someone. That's close.
Glen Merzer: You're going to have an angry animal.
Stacy Jenkins: We have too many cows. Yeah, yeah. Cows.
Glen Merzer: where did you get them?
Stacy Jenkins: They've come from a variety of places. We don't do a lot of owner surrender, meaning if someone just doesn't want their animal anymore, we don't usually take them on. We usually reserve our space for animals who are either old, have some health issues, maybe some behavioral issues, because we do run as a sanctuary, so they're going to live their life out with us. We don't do adoptions. So if we come across a really young animal that's an easily adoptable animal, we'll usually get with a partner sanctuary to have them adopted out. but most of ours come from hoarding cases through, local, the local like shelters, animal control, stuff like that. Hmm.
Glen Merzer: So how did the alpaca find you?
Stacy Jenkins: So our very first alpacas we took in, we actually got them from a retired, a breeding group that was shutting down and getting rid of all their animals. So we took in some quote unquote retired And then they've come from, have some that have been abandoned on properties. The biggest alpaca situation we took on was two years ago. There was a woman who had an alpaca farm in Southern Indiana and she was breeding alpacas but not feeding them or giving them water. So when they finally seized the property, there were 20, I think 26 deceased animals on the property with seven alpacas alive. And they came to my farm that night and two of them passed away within the two weeks. And then the rest have survived and are living a wonderful life. But that was probably the most traumatic and difficult situation I've been through. because I got a call that morning saying, can you take seven alpacas tonight? Because they got this secure order. yeah, things usually don't, they move quickly. There's not a lot of planning involved. And so luckily we were in a position to take them. But so, yeah, they've all kind of come to us in a variety of ways.
Glen Merzer: Now, I think what everybody wants to know is how do alpacas get along with geese?
Stacy Jenkins: Well, we don't know much because we try to keep them separate. So, okay, hooved animals and feathered animals are best kept apart. get along.
Glen Merzer: What was that, Dustie?
Dustie Condon: get along with the cows.
Stacy Jenkins: Yeah, the alpacas are out with the cows so that they get along with them. Yeah.
Glen Merzer: So which animals are the best friends?
Stacy Jenkins: Well really any herd animals. So like the goats and alpacas and cows will all tend to kind of hang together. Sheeps kind of stay together by themselves and then all of what I call water birds, geese and ducks all tend to stay together. But we try to keep the species somewhat separated. Just because for a lot of reasons, the minerals they need, the feed they need, some of their requirements are just different. And like, for instance, ducks and geese get watered really dirty really quickly. And for goats and alpacas, it's important for them to have really clean water. So when you have them together, that's next to impossible. So we used to have everybody kind of all together because it looked cute and everybody thought it was really neat that everybody got along, but it really isn't the ideal husbandry. So we've been working to split everybody ouT get them in the right spot.
Dustie Condon: She also recently has purchased an additional piece of property that's to a house over from hers that she is fundraising to develop. She had an eclipse event there. I was the only food trailer and my gosh, it was so big. It was the best day we've ever had. And for people to come to an eclipse event like that, to be able to be hands on with the animals and vegan food is the only option. It was a wonderful time. So we look forward to continue fundraising to develop this property with her for her.
Glen Merzer: And if people want to donate to your 501 C3, where do they go?
Stacy Jenkins: They go to Facebook, to our Facebook page or website, Jenkins Forever Farm dot org.
Glen Merzer: Jenkins Forever Farm dot org. OK, and. Are you planning to bring in more animals? Especially if you get this other property?
Stacy Jenkins: Not really. So the expansion property is really to provide the amount of space, pasture space that the current residents we have right now really need.
Dustie Condon: Well, I'm sorry. Also, she wants to, from what I understand, which I thought was I didn't even realize was a thing, was to be able to move her cows or whomever she puts on this property to a piece of grass, let them handle that, them to another piece of grass so then that way the ground's not overworked.
Stacy Jenkins: Yeah, you can kind of rotate them. Yeah, right now we're having to provide hay pretty much year round to the animals, which is okay, but not ideal. And because we just don't have enough pasture space. when we move over there, like Dustie said, there'll be enough pasture space in everyone's individual pastures that we can rotate them and can hopefully, other than winter time be able to provide them with natural grass instead of hay that's from the previous season. So hopefully that helps. Now also as animals pass away, we would take new animals in, but we're probably about at our max total number of animals.
Glen Merzer: Now, what are your sources of food besides hay and grass?
Stacy Jenkins: So almost everybody gets grains, some sort of grain that's specific to their species. And then depending on which animal, like all of our rabbits get fresh greens every night, our iguanas get fresh greens. So during the winter, we have to purchase those from the grocery store. During the summer, I have a vegetable garden, so I'm feeding them from that right now.
Glen Merzer: Your vegetable garden is a vision for all these animals?
Stacy Jenkins: Yeah, for myself and for the animals.
Glen Merzer: So yeah, that's a big vegetable garden.
Stacy Jenkins: Yeah, it's about 50 to 60 % romaine collard greens and red leaf lettuce.
Glen Merzer: Dr. Esselstyn would approve of that. Let's take a brief commercial break and we'll be right back with Dustie and Stacy.
Glen Merzer: OK, now, Dustie, at the cafe, I imagine you're trying to keep this a very sustainable place. So what sustainable measures do you take?
Dustie Condon: Well, my husband actually does an environmental engineering kind of job. He travels around and cleans up toxins in the earth and things like that. So even in our home life, we try to be full circle with using local as much as possible recycling here in the restaurant. I try to do compostable containers as much as possible with bamboo utensils. When we get the food truck out there, we're also using those types of products versus I don't have any styrofoam in the restaurant nor on the food trailer. We do have a reach -in refrigerator here that's grab -and -go for people. And I use recycled plastics for that. And I put stickers on it that say, please recycle me. So I would hope that people either reuse them or do recycle them. I do, you know, if we if we do even a large event, I try to accommodate for that as well.
Glen Merzer: OK. How big do the events get in Morgantown, Indiana?
Dustie Condon: I've actually recently had somebody reach out about catering a party of three hundred.
Glen Merzer: A party of three hundred in Morgantown?
Dustie Condon: Well.I don't think it was necessarily here. I think the occasion would have happened in Bloomington actually. But we don't have refrigeration. I said, well, unfortunately, I'm going have to pass on that opportunity. Well, the bride that's vegan is going to be really disappointed. I said, well, that's not to say I can't feed the bride and other vegans and vegetarians that caterer would work with me. But 300 is a lot. We're just not equipped do a big setup and breakdown like that. But we can offer catering here, pick up to go as well.
Glen Merzer: And you will you also have a trailer, right, Dustin?
Dustie Condon: Yes, there is a there was another vegan company, a little a little organization, and he shut down and we got wind of the food trailer being for sale and how awesome it was to be able to pick up something that was previously vegan. We didn't have to worry about being too crazy contaminated, I guess you could say. And it's a hookup to the back of my pickup truck type of thing. It's an old vintage looking. It's a pretty awesome little thing. And once I get things stabilized here, we have a good repeat business. I want to use that trailer to possibly convert it to a dessert trailer. Because if I'm going to try to convert more people to a vegan lifestyle, I think unfortunately sugar and sweet treats is that path. Nobody argues when they look at the desserts, they're not even thinking that it does. And then they eat it and go, wait, there was no milk or eggs in this. And it's like, no, there wasn't. And so I would love to be able to take that trailer out and offer things that like Oreos, people are shocked that Oreos are vegan. And I actually do have a candy table here in the restaurant with all accidentally vegan items, because I want kids in the community to be able to walk i associate Oreos as no meat or no dairy, things like that, and be able to say, oh, I got a piece of candy at the tasty plate for 10 cents. You know, I mean, those are those are the kinds of things. So I think that as far as the food trailer, if somebody wants us to bring it to an event, it's available for that. But down the road, we have we tried to sell it. It just it didn't sell. Maybe the price was too high or maybe it just wasn't meant to be. But I don't even think any other vegan restaurants around it have a food trailer. So we just decided it's best to hold on to.
Glen Merzer: it may become a vegan dessert trailer.
Dustie Condon: Yeah, like build your own cupcakes.
Glen Merzer: Well, let me make a suggestion then. Can I make a suggestion?
Dustie Condon: I bet you're going to say food trick Friday.
Glen Merzer: OK. recipes. I'm sure my friend Chef AJ would be delighted to have you use some of her recipes from our upcoming book, Sweet Indulgence. And the difference here is that these are healthy vegan recipes without sugar, without gluten, without oil. Healthy vegan recipes. people, know, dessert doesn't have to be the unhealthiest part of the meal. If you use these healthy vegan recipes, then you're spreading health with your dessert. Because the Oreos, I don't care if they're vegan. They're not good for you.
Dustie Condon: They're not. They're not. But I also look at this as an opportunity. I could definitely go fine dining. I could do all different avenues.
Glen Merzer: Fine dining with a trailer?
Dustie Condon: Well, no, no. Here in the cafe. OK. But I look at this as we have an opportunity to be a transition type of restaurant where I could absolutely do everything, full base, clean, forks over knives, clean, clean, clean. But I also sometimes will offer like Dr. Prager burgers because I want people to know that they can purchase those things at the grocery store. So I think that that has been like people go, my gosh, I didn't realize I could get that. So forks over knives, have the, we have magazines here that people can read. I use some of their recipes or real close to them so I can say, look at Forks Over Knives. You can get their queso through that. So I'm trying. We just don't really advertise all that detailed information. But when people are serious like you about your health, you reach out. We do have several foodies that we'll reach out about what's in something. We have a significant amount of people who are either in cancer treatment, post -cancer treatment, they have all sorts of health issues. So we try to modify as best we can ahead of time and keep things aside that I haven't added sugar, haven't added salt. I try not to overspice things. We have a sauce station here. So we try to be as accommodating as possible because A lot of this is how I eat. So I'm 51 now and I don't take any medications. I'm in pretty good shape. And so I think proof is in the pudding that if you live the lifestyle that it's sustainable. But it is a commitment. You have to commit to it.
Glen Merzer: Well, I'm older than you and I don't take any medication.
Dustie Condon: yay for you. Look at that.
Glen Merzer: The goal is to never take them.
Dustie Condon: That's the goal.
Glen Merzer: I'm lucky I can't even swallow a pill if I wanted to. couldn't take one. Well, how do people do that? Swallowed pill. I put the pill in my mouth and then I put my head back and I take a swig of water and the pill doesn't go down.
Dustie Condon: No,
Glen Merzer: I know that was only when I tried when I was a kid to take a vitamin. I haven't even tried.
Dustie Condon: Well, you treated your body well, so it's just rejecting something that's not normal, I would imagine. So keep it up.
Glen Merzer: Now, what do you serve in the way of drinks at the tasty plate cafe? And people all around the country listening, if you're in Morgantown, Indiana or anywhere nearby, please stop at the Tasty Plate Cafe. What kind of drinks do you have?
Dustie Condon: Well, we're keeping it simple. As we grow, we'll add things. We just have unsweetened tea. We have water that has lemon in it. I keep some seltzer drinks. We have iced coffee. We did come up with a mocktail drink list , and it changes every three months along with our regular menu. But down the road, I'd love to be able to offer smoothies and more customized things. But I'm trying to evolve in this and grow slowly versus being in debt and having just this heavy load. I'm looking for natural growth without a ton of overwhelming promotion and staffing issues and things like that. And this has worked out really good.
Glen Merzer: Well, is business building?
Dustie Condon: It is. It is. We're doing it. We're only open Friday nights, Saturday and Sundays. The prepared meal business does pretty well. We're able to pay the bills and pay down what little debt we have and pay the staff that we have. So to me, that's a win. I don't have to work for anybody else. And that was the ultimate goal for this cafe or even just to have the tasty plate was I I didn't want somebody else telling me what to do. mean, who, you're a creative individual and you have limits, then that shuts down your creativity. this also allows me to have other people be creative in the restaurant as well, cooking desserts or coming up with drinks, things like that.
Glen Merzer: Stacy, when you help out in the cafe, what do you do?
Stacy Jenkins: I do a combo. So I do some things behind the scenes. My background is business management, taxes and accounting. So I do that piece of it. And then when I'm in the cafe, I just run for on a house. I take orders, I answer questions, bus tables, whatever I need to do to expose people to what we're doing.
Glen Merzer: OK, so right now you're just open on weekends, right? Any thoughts of expanding that?
Dustie Condon: I need to be honest with you, Morgantown, the state plans to tear up the front of this main road here. Late next year, from what I understand, they're going to invest some money into the community. So as long as what we're doing right now is slow growth and we're headed in the direction that we want to head, I think once all of this happens within the state, then maybe we'll look into or in the community, maybe we'll look into opening more. It really boils down to staffing. COVID changed the whole face of the restaurant business. so, mean, at most, what I could see is if we do open, it would be just for sandwiches and drinks. We have a couch in the cafe that people can come in and sit and relax. We have board games, card games. I want this to be an environment where people can just come in chill out without even feeling obligated to buy anything. This is a safe space for the local kids to come into. So we'll open as the business justifies it.
Glen Merzer: And do you know how many have you met other vegans who live in Morgantown?
Dustie Condon: Yeah.
Glen Merzer: How many?
Stacy Jenkins: Not many. mean, mean,
Dustie Condon: probably five or six. mean, it's a town of like 400 people.
Glen Merzer: The town is 400, five or six. That would be good.
Dustie Condon: But we have like we keep frozen soups in the freezer. So we have a lot of like the yogis that come over from church yoga and they'll pick up frozen soups and things like that. But we have there seems to be a lot of healthy minded people in this community that have really wanted somewhere to go that they could get a fresh salad or, you even though we don't offer a lot of salads, believe it or not, they can grab a dessert or we also sell like local fresh mushrooms, lion's mane, they can come in, because our only grocery store here closed down. And so there is not even a grocery store in this town. So we're a location where there are people that come in on the weekends to pick up just some small supplies.
Glen Merzer: And so you're supplying the food from some local farmers, right? How many different farm operations do you deal with?
Dustie Condon: Four.
Glen Merzer: All right.
Dustie Condon: Yep.
Glen Merzer: So you're helping four local farms. You're helping people on the spectrum. You're helping people get healthy. And Stacy's helping the animals. So it strikes me as a good thing you're both doing.
Dustie Condon: When you lay down, I know when I go to sleep at night, it's just a wonderful feeling knowing that I'm gonna come in and work with people that are like -minded. Maybe we are different in why we're choosing the way that we take care of our bodies, the earth, the planet, animals. But we are definitely pretty unique group of people that have pulled together. we have eight employees and most of them are here for their own issue, our own growth. We have a woman that works in an elementary school. She's the chef and does food at a local school. And she accidentally ate here one day and said, hey, can I come work there? want to introduce more of this food to my kids because we have a lot of them with allergies. And if I could prepare food this way, then that would cut out a lot of these allergens. And so she works here when we need her. And she's taking some of what we're doing back to her own job, which is priceless. So that's awesome.
Glen Merzer: Well, that's great. And. Dustie, is your husband vegan?
Dustie Condon: No.
Glen Merzer: No. Would you like me to talk to him?
Dustie Condon: He's half Japanese, so he's grown up eating a lot of... He doesn't eat a lot of beef. He eats more chicken and fish and things like that. He eats a lot of tofu. He's not really a veggie eater. But, you know, at the end of the day, if I don't even really cook at home anymore. He'll come in here to eat. That'
Glen Merzer: so then he's vegan when he's eating there.
Dustie Condon: Well, when he wants what or we eat out a lot, which is Indian and Thai. I've got some of my favorite restaurants that I go to.
Glen Merzer: So are there Indian and Thai restaurants in Morgantown?
Dustie Condon: No, no, no, no. We go to Bloomington or to Whiteland or to Greenwood. he'll be he's he's slowly like her husband kind of coming around. And I don't push it on him. I just like I took home some desserts yesterday and was like, hey, I brought you some goodies. And he was like, no, that's awesome.
Glen Merzer: So all right. So we have to bring the husbands around.
Glen Merzer: All right. Well, we've been talking with Dustie Condon, the owner of the Tasty Plate in Morgantown, Indiana, and Stacy Jenkins, the owner of the Jenkins Forever Farm. And I've got to say, think, Dustie, you have probably the record for the vegan restaurant in the smallest town in America and maybe in the free world, a town of with a vegan restaurant. So congratulations to you on that. And Stacy, keep doing the good work for the animals. We will have to reconvene in a year. And if your husbands are not yet vegan, you'll have to bring them on with you and I will have a talk with them. How's that?
Dustie Condon: That's a date.
Glen Merzer: OK. Thank you so much for joining us. And we'll see you soon.
Stacy Jenkins: Thank you.
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