We were floored to read a KHOU report about a small, but growing, sect of Americans who actually choose not to eat meat — and some of them are right here in Houston. "Vegetarians here?" we sputtered into our mid-afternoon cured meat snack plate. "The hell you say!" But it seems to be true: In a story headlined "Gone veggie: Trend to stop eating meat hits Houston," Channel 11 reports that almost 3 percent of Americans are now vegetarians. That means nearly one and a half people out of every 50 we encounter may not be eating meat, and we might never have known it without TV news.
In its report, KHOU highlighted Baba Yega, the venerable Montrose restaurant that features a vegetarian section on its menu. Waitress Rachel Smith, who became a vegetarian two years ago, said the meat-free lifestyle has made her feel better: "I have a ton more energy," she told Channel 11. "It's actually really amazing. It's not just your body — it's like your soul, everything about you just glows." Channel 11 also pointed to a section of Whole Foods Market that's "full of fruits, vegetables, soy products and other alternatives." Hang on — isn't that the produce section?
Yeah, we know, it's tough sometimes to fill a day's worth of TV news programming with murders, police chases and whatnot; occasionally, the news has to turn to lifestyle stories, too. But we couldn't help laughing at the gee-whiz tone of the story — sure, Houston's still a meat-lovin' town, but we thought the vegetarian thing had been going fairly well in these parts for a while. If you're curious, check out one of the restaurants with vegetarian options (here's a partial list) and read Tracy Manford's Meatless in Houston at chron.Commons. You might become one of those 1.5 people, too.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
As someone who is both a vegetarian and a lover of anything that harpoons local media, I say, "Bravo, sir! Bravo!" :)