B e - V e g e t a r i a n !
by Wayne Weber

 


B
e

V
e
g
e
t
a
r
i
a
n



B
e

V
e
g
e
t
a
r
i
a
n


Excuse Me		 When I was in college (in the early 70’s), I had to almost apologize for my vegetarian ways. People thought it was a weird hippy thing. Nowadays when I tell people I am vegetarian, they appear apologetic and usually say something like "I don’t eat that much meat."

Recently I had a conversation with a chef at a "pricey" restaurant in San Jose. He said that vegetarian dishes currently are the fastest growing category being offered by restaurants.

There has definitely been a shift. And that is good for those of us who are also shifting to a vegetarian lifestyle. Support can be found everywhere. From magazines, books, classes, and products, to the Internet itself, support abounds.

What Is cooking? I just walked into my kitchen and noticed about 25 vegetarian cookbooks… and this is only a sampling of what is available. There are vegetarian cookbooks covering all types of ethnic cooking literally from A-Z including American traditional, Chinese, Ethiopian, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Mexican, Tibetan, Thai, and Zen.

There are vegetarian cookbooks for pregnant women, for and by kids, for working people (quick and easy), for the microwave, for holidays, for dieting, and for those recovering from heart disease. There are vegetarian cookbooks for cooking with soy beans, tofu, tempeh, seitan, and TVP. There are vegetarian cookbooks by famous people from Lindsay Wagner (Bionic Woman) to Linda McCartney (married to Paul).

If you can get a good cookbook or two, it can make a big difference in helping you to enjoy your vegetarian lifestyle… and it can help create converts when others taste your dishes. One of my favorite cookbooks is the "New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook." It is especially useful for those changing over to a vegetarian diet. It has vegetarian versions of many dishes that we, as westerners, grew up with.

Getting Support There are several magazines dedicated to vegetarianism. The oldest and probably most read is Vegetarian Times. Other excellent vegetarian magazines include Vegan Journal and Veggie Life.

The advertisements in the Vegetarian Times are themselves excellent resources. We have found non-leather alternatives, vegetarian cat food, and cookbooks through them. Vegetarian magazines and cookbooks are available in most health food stores and large book stores.

Another excellent resource for vegetarians are cooking classes at health food stores or community colleges. We didn’t think we had any in our area until we started a little research.

If you have one in your area, joining a vegetarian club or potluck is an excellent way to sample a wide range of dishes with little effort on your part. These are often sponsored by animal rights or environmental groups.
If you can get on the Internet, a whole world of support awaits you. There are Usenet newsgroups dedicated to vegetarianism and vegetarian cooking. There also seems to be a nearly unlimited number of Web sites dedicated to vegetarianism. Even CNN has information on finding alternatives to leather.

Why Be Vegetarian So why "Be Vegetarian". To summarize my feelings, my research has shown me that vegetarianism is the healthiest way to go. I also believe it ain't nice to raise animals for slaughter. It takes 15 pounds of vegetable stuff to make 1 pound of animal stuff and this isn't a very efficient use of our resources.

I think if we had been designed to eat animals, we would have fangs like cats and dogs. And we wouldn't be plugging our arteries with fat. Cats and dogs don't get heart attacks from eating meat.

Go natural. Be Vegetarian!