What is the one thing we all crave, need, and can never get enough of… food of course! And this month’s hero, Ms. Rosalind McCallard has what you need. Rosalind and her husband Clayton serve up Edgy Vegan Fare and people can’t get enough.
Since February of 2014 their company Snackrilege has been making gourmet vegan sandwiches and Vegan Meeats the old fashioned way. Small batch, baby! We’re talking handmade steak, sausage, bacon, chicken wings, voluptuous sandwiches and so much more.
What started as a vending machine idea has now become a national brand.
Beginning as a local Portland endeavor, delivering samples to a few of her favorite local vegan shops, has now turned into a nationally recognized product line shipped all over the USA.
In 1987, at the tender age of 11, Rosalind became vegetarian. At such a young age, she already understood the concept of animal exploitation; her dad was a cattle hand on his families ranch, so she grew up with meat on the menu. But when a neighbor stopped by with some Elk meat and bragged about his hunting experience everything changed for her.
Her mom exclaimed, “Where do you think meat comes from?” At that moment, Rosalind knew she would never eat animal flesh again.
As a young adult she studied marketing. However when it came time to seek employment she followed her passion and chose to work in the food service business. Eventually, even serving non-vegan food was too much to handle so she tried her hand at Bartending.
“At least I was serving up alcohol and not meat.”
In 1993 Rosalind made the decision to go vegan. Plugged into the Punk Rock Music scene as the lead singer of Obliterated and fan of the genre, she was influenced by other Punk bands such as British Extreme Metal Band Carcass’ whose debut Reek of Putrefaction showcased dead animal bodies on their album cover.
Inspired by cookbooks like Soy not Oi! By author Joel Olsen, a classic vegan cookbook as well as Mississippi Vegan, recipes and stories from a southern boy’s heart by Timothy Pakron she polished her vegan cooking skills.
In the late 90’s she attended a genetic modification of animals protest in Minneapolis, amongst others coordinated by The Liberation Collective. An organization founded in 1996 in Portland, OR by Craig Rosebraugh, another Obliterated band member.
Over the next 14 years she would randomly roll back to vegetarianism and enjoy dairy, but that was about to change.
Spontaneous Combustion
In 2007, while traveling, she found herself at a restaurant in Portland International Airport. This one particular young man caught her eye; they exchanged vegetarian histories, their love of punk and puns and it was love at first site; fast friends became soul mates. They married soon thereafter.
“Rosalind represents everything that inspires me, our first words that we exchanged with each other were about heavy metal and vegetarian sandwiches. Choosing to build a life together and pursuing a path that some would consider snackrilegious has felt like I happened to choose a chapter in life that was absolutely right. This is everything I stand for and I am extremely fortunate to get to do it with my beautiful wife.”
Nine months into their relationship they were watching TV while sharing a Domino’s cheese pizza. While gazing at a Mercy For Animals video which focused on a dying dairy cow, they simultaneously looked at one another and said “We are done!” They both decided they could never again in good conscience consume dairy.
She incorporated Snackrilege in August of 2013 and on February 20 of 2014 they completed their first delivery.
Veganism had now become the most important thing to her and having studied business and professional kitchens, she was going to turn Snackrilege into something EXTRA.
“It was the best way I knew how to make an impact”
Put It On Ice
When a customer froze one of their sandwiches and discovered it was amazing even when defrosted, all bets were off and they started shipping their sandwiches all over the country.
Now they are available in over 65 small chain stores as well as nationally distributed at GTFO It’s Vegan and No Pig Neva who both carry their line in all their locations.
Spoiler Alert: Snackrilege is working on something with Natural Grocers, who has over 180 locations. You will soon see them working the vegan food festival circuit again as well.
“It is organically exploding very quickly”
The Snackrilege brand is made up of her talent in the kitchen, edgy style, gushing enthusiasm combined with her passion for the animals.
The food is incredible. Yes, I’ve tried it and I stand by my critique.
FARM’s very own Executive Director, Eric Lindstrom, a well-known foodie and “The Skeptical Vegan” himself recently tried one of their sandwiches.
“It was the best Vegan Sandwich I have ever had!”
Rosalind sees sandwiches as the perfect Grab-N-Go. They are affordable, convenient, friendly and nourishing. She aims to make Snackrilege more marketable to a wider audience.
Investing in the Community
As a member of The Main Street Alliance, which focuses on small business values she learned about a Goldman Sachs program. This was a call to action!
Question ~ “What was the biggest hurdle we struggled with when we were getting started?”
Answer ~ “A clean, affordable, professional vegan kitchen space.
So what does a successful entrepreneur with a big heart do? She invests in a clean, affordable, professional vegan commissary to help foster other vegan food startups of course.
Companies like Thrilling Foods, Creole Me Up, Sweet Creatures, Mundas Foods and others can now utilize her commissary for a nominal fee. And it doesn’t stop there. Not only does she provide a clean and professional workspace for them, she has also extended her customer base and introduced them to the vendors that she sells to in order to assist them with building their business. So now as more customers buy Snackrilege they also have access to Thrilling Food’s Bakon, Delicious Creole Food, as well as Amazing Ice Cream.
The Snackrilege Commissary Kitchen, as it is affectionately known, is located in the casual yet eccentric Inner South East area of Portland.
Snackrilege has a vast philanthropic history as well.
Not only did they work with Inspirational Souls to feed over 200 vegan healthcare workers during the height of the pandemic in Portland and sponsor FARM’s 2021 MeatOut Gift Giveaway Challenge, they have also donated food to many fundraising events including Farm Sanctuary, Lighthouse Sanctuary, Lewis & Clark School, The Pixie Project and Wildwood Farm Sanctuary.
FUN FACT: Rosalind provided all the food for the Grand Opening of FARM’s Portland satellite space, which consequently was her very first donation.
Rosalind has her sights on growing this business even further. We’d say she is on track to do just that. She envisions a vegan Grab-N-Go section in every rest station, gas station and convenience store nationwide. Vegan soups, drinkable vegan yogurts and gourmet on the go sandwiches that are not only fun to eat while traveling but also satiate our craving for delicious food.
“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” ~ Luciano Pavoratti
Her vision for the future is a vegan world.
“We should have too many options to not be vegan.”
“Each creature has the right to live and murdering anyone is neither natural or necessary.”
In her very little spare time Rosalind is getting her pilot’s license. She says, “I love to fly.” I suspect Rosalind loves flying because she is the epitome of uplifting. Her charisma and genuine kindness is inspiring to both witness and experience.
Rosalind and Clayton live with their fur babies Seamus and Jefferson in a beautiful floating home on Portland’s Columbia River.
Hungry? Snackrilege.com
If you would like a tour of The Snackrilege Commissary Kitchen
Retail locations that carry Snackrilege
If you have questions about going vegan, being vegan, talking to loved ones about veganism or any advice on how to prepare plant-based foods Rosalind can be reached at [email protected].
