Actually, it’s less graphic than I thought it would be. For a more up-close-and-personal look at the subject, I recommend Supersize Me.

But still, yikes.

I’m not sure why this article, which is over a year old, showed up in my RSS reader today, but what kind of vegetarian would I be if I didn’t remind people that eating your veggies is good for you and the planet?

Production and consumption of meat worldwide has more than tripled since 1961 and could double from now until 2050 as standards of living increase and the population doubles.

As a result, vast swaths of forest are being cleared for pastures, robbing the planet of trees, which absorb carbon dioxide. Cattle and sheep also release vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. A recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations produced startling findings: The animals’ burps, the nitrous oxide gases from their decomposing manure and other factors, including the energy needed to store and transport meat, were responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions – more than the entire transportation sector.

Meat producers say they already have made significant changes to reduce the impact of their industry – in part by ensuring that cattle, sheep and pigs spend less time on farms before they are slaughtered.

That’s a year-old article, but the link between meat-eating and greenhouse gases is still causing concern.

The cows and pigs dotting these flat green plains in the southern Netherlands create a bucolic landscape. But looked at through the lens of greenhouse gas accounting, they are living smokestacks, spewing methane emissions into the air.

That is why a group of farmers-turned-environmentalists here at a smelly but impeccably clean research farm have a new take on making a silk purse from a sow’s ear: They cook manure from their 3,000 pigs to capture the methane trapped within it, and then use the gas to make electricity for the local power grid.

Rising in the fields of the environmentally conscious Netherlands, the Sterksel project is a rare example of fledgling efforts to mitigate the heavy emissions from livestock. But much more needs to be done, scientists say, as more and more people are eating more meat around the world.

What to do about farm emissions is one of the main issues being discussed this week and next, as the environment ministers from 187 nations gather in Poznan, Poland, for talks on a new treaty to combat global warming. In releasing its latest figure on emissions last month, United Nations climate officials cited agriculture and transportation as the two sectors that remained most “problematic.”

Interesting solution, and maybe one we should consider here in the U.S. since our emissions went up in 2007.

We’ll have to wait a while, I think, before “poop power” catches on in the U.S. So I recommend giving Tofurky a try.

I’m contemplating making one, since my family is staying put for the holidays this year, instead of traveling. And Meat eaters I’ve spoken to who have tried it have liked it. Plus it’s much less messy, with no innards you nave to dispose of.

Or, if that’s not your cup of tea, I recommend the stuffed acorn squash recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook.

Besides, how can you be sure your “bird” isn’t one of these poor creatures?

Right. See ya at the grocery story. In the frozen foods aisle. By the Tofurky. (If you get there first, save me one?)

Cameras could be placed in about 800 U.S. slaughterhouses to watch for improper procedures and inhumane handling of cattle, a federal official said Thursday.

A Senate committee recommended installing the cameras three years ago, but the proposal is getting new consideration in the wake of a massive recall of beef last month, Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Raymond told a House committee Thursday.

“It is really the inhumane handling issue,” Raymond told CNN. “I can’t see putting these in a plant that makes jerky, in a processing plant.”

Raymond said that logistical issues still exist, including figuring out who would watch the cameras and how they would be controlled.

“Those are the considerations we would have to take under advisement before we make a decision up or down on the camera issue,” he said.

Oh boy. Wasn’t it video that made this whole story explode?

Now, undercover video has been such a problem for the meat industry, with animal welfare activists sneaking cameras in to factory farms and slaughterhouses. And slaughterhouses typically do not want cameras inside, because the footage almost never shows them in a good light.

Given how effectively the food industry has undermined safety and labeling standards in the past, I can’t imagine they’ll let this notion see the light of day. and if they do it will be with enough loopholes to ensure that they — the slaugherhouses and not the government agency — will have control over the cameras (where they are placed, when they are on, etc.). My guess? If it happens under the Bush administration, the industry will control the cameras, watch them, retain control of the footage, and voluntarily report their findings to the government.

That might not be so bad. I can imagine that some clever animal welfare activists could probably figure out how to hack into those cameras and expose the footage that the industry doesn’t want the government or anyone else to see

So I was sitting in my undisclosed location a few days ago, cleaning out my aggregator and listening to the radio, when I heard a commercial — for what I cannot recall — that contained, give or take a word or two, the following pronouncement:

I’m a vegetarian. A man once offered me $50 to eat a buffalo wing. I decided that my morality was worth more than that.

It seems to me that this woman, by refusing to take the money, is actually declaring that her morality is worth less than $50, and indeed worth zero.

Interesting question. Of course, Kip has more.

First, an important premise: The buffalo wing in question must already exist, have been prepared, must be eaten immediately, etc. It must be, in economic terms, a sunk cost. By eating the buffalo wing, our vegetarian would therefore not be expanding the market for buffalo wings and would not cause any additional buffalos to be killed or go wingless.* The choice is binary: (1) eat the wing and get $50, or (2) someone else eats the wing (or the wing goes into the garbage, etc.). There is no “(3) save a buffalo.”

If that is the choice, then wouldn’t the moral course of action be to eat the buffalo wing, take the $50 — and donate it to some pro-vegetarian or anti-meat cause (or, for that matter, to any noble cause as determined by the vegetarian’s subjective tastes and preferences)? By forgoing $50 — or even $0.01 — that could have furthered her morality without any offsetting cost (remember the premise), isn’t the vegetarian in fact declaring that her morality is worthless?

The only true cost is opportunity cost. The opportunity cost of not eating the buffalo wing may have been $50 — but that’s the wrong opportunity cost to measure. Since the opportunity cost of indeed eating the buffalo wing was not $50 but zero, the value of the vegetarian’s morality must also be zero. Q.E.D.

Good grief. How about this? I wouldn’t eat the wing because I don’t want to. I even when I was a meat eater — some 16 years or so ago — I didn’t eat buffalo wings. So, why start now?

That said, the morality question is interesting. If, by eating the wing (for that matter you could make it a hamburger), according to Kip’s logic I would not be contributing to the system (factory farming, etc.) that produced it, because the wing had already been produced, prepared, paid for, etc.

On, then, to the question of morality. I’ve long since thrown up my hands over the morality issue. Perhaps it has something to do with being married to a meat-eater.

Sharing meals has always been an important courtship ritual and a metaphor for love. But in an age when many people define themselves by what they will eat and what they won’t, dietary differences can put a strain on a romantic relationship. The culinary camps have become so balkanized that some factions consider interdietary dating taboo.

No-holds-barred carnivores, for example, may share the view of Anthony Bourdain, who wrote in his book “Kitchen Confidential” that “vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans … are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.”

Returning the compliment, many vegetarians say they cannot date anyone who eats meat. Vegans, who avoid eating not just animals but animal-derived products, take it further, shivering at the thought of kissing someone who has even sipped honey-sweetened tea.

“Honey-sweetened tea?” Oh please. I’ve kissed my husband after he’s just finished off an entire steak. Everyone needs to just calm the hell down a little.

And, yes, I know what’s at stake— or at steak, depending on how you want to look at it.

A SEA change in the consumption of a resource that Americans take for granted may be in store — something cheap, plentiful, widely enjoyed and a part of daily life. And it isn’t oil.

The two commodities share a great deal: Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally — like oil — meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible.

Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.

I’ve seen Earthlings, Meet Your Meat, 45 days, Frankensteer, and Fast Food Nation. I also read Fast Food Nation, My Year of Meats (fun read, by the way), and Mad Cowboy. I also know that grocery shopping is like walking through a minefield, and unfortunately being a vegetarian won’t protect me.

So I try, at least, not to be a self-righteous vegetarian. Maybe that’s because my initial reason was, as Kip put it, “selfish.”

I realize that there are people who are vegetarians strictly for (“selfish”) health considerations and not out of (“selfless”) moral concerns. For the purposes of this blogpost, however, you do not exist. Sorry.

Initially, I became a vegetarian for health reasons. I thought it would be better for me in the long run. At the time, heart disease and high cholesterol were cutting a swath through my family, and I decided that I would do something to avoid it if I could. (That was when I assumed vegetarian meant “healthy.” It does not, necessarily. After all, one can be a vegetarian and eat nothing but ice cream and potato chips.)

It wasn’t until I became interested in Buddhism that my vegetarianism took on a moral aspect. I decided that, in addition to health reasons, I did not want to be part of or contribute to a system that caused unecessary suffering to living beings. (Unnecessary for me, at least, because I discovered I could live without meat.) But I came up against some moral conflicts there. My years as an HIV/AIDS educator and activist made me realize that I couldn’t stand against any and all animal testing, for example. Perhaps it’s selfish, but if it means a medicine or treatment that will keep someone I love alive and healthy…well, I want that.

It was that conflict and my continued study of Buddhism that brought me around to tempering any moralizing about being vegetarian.

It wasn’t until I came across a book called “Wake up and Cook : Kitchen Buddhism in Words and Recipes.” I picked it up just as I was starting to study Buddhism on my own. It contained a discussion of Buddhism and vegetarianism that helped me put the two in the context. I’d begun to see — and to some extent still do — my own vegetarianism as an expression of the first precept; avoiding the taking of life. In that sense, it would be easy to be judgmental towards people who do eat meat, but this book argued for a more balanced view.

The book is packed away in a box right now, with most of my other books, so I can’t reproduce it’s argument here. But it basically boiled down to the reality that all meals, particularly in the modern world, involve the taking of life; sometimes on a massive scale. This link to UrbanDharma.Org sums it up pretty well.

The issue of meat eating raises difficult ethical questions. Isn’t the meat in a supermarket or restaurant killed “for” us? Doesn’t meat eating entail killing by proxy?

Few of us are in a position to judge meat eaters or anyone else for “killing by proxy.” Being part of the world economy entails “killing by proxy” in every act of consumption. The electricity that runs our computers comes from facilities that harm the environment. Books of Buddhist scriptures are printed on paper produced by an industry that destroys wildlife habitat. Worms, insects, rodents and other animals are routinely killed en masse in the course of producing the staples of a vegetarian diet. Welcome to samsara. It is impossible for most of us to free ourselves from this web; we can only strive to be mindful of entanglement in it. One way to do so is to reflect on how the suffering and death of sentient beings contributes to our comfort. This may help us to be less inclined to consume out of mere greed.

All of that having been said, it cannot be denied that the economic machine which produces meat also creates fear and suffering for a large number of animals. It is useful to bear this in mind even if one consumes meat, to resist developing a habit of callousness. Many Buddhists (especially Mahayanists) practice vegetarianism as a means of cultivating compassion.

…So, every meal we take, whether it includes meat or not, is basically death on a plate.

Besides, given the working conditions in China and other places where the goods we buy are made, I’m not just “eating suffering.” I’m wearing suffering. I’m carrying it around, attached to my hip. It’s an inescapable part of just being in the world we live in. (Or should I say, the world we’ve made for ourselves?) At best, I can be aware of it and, when I can, avoid consciously contributing to it. But the reality is that I contribute to it every day, without even trying. Just like everyone else. And it doesn’t matter what I eat.

It’s a moral choice, sure. But it’s one that I contradict in countless ways everyday; probably several times an hour, at least, inevitably. It’s something I have to put into perspective. The perspective I choose is, “I do what I can.” Emphasis on “I” and “can”.

So, the morality doesn’t really come down to eating meat. At least, not for me. It’s more about taking money to do something with my body that I don’t want to do or wouldn’t do anyway. Sounds a little like prostitution, I guess. But, then, I think prostitution should be legal anyway, for those who want to pursue that line of work.

So, no, I wouldn’t eat the buffalo wing. First, because I don’t want to. I never liked them anyway. Second, it’s not something I want to do to my body, especially given how my body might react after not eating meat for 16-plus years.

As for the $50. It’s $50 I didn’t have anyway. Maybe I would just take the offer as a reminder to make a donation to the animal welfare organization of my choice, in the amount of $50.

Tofurky hit store shelves in 1995, and the meatless dish has become a cultural phenomenon, even showing up on the TV shows ” Jeopardy” and “The O.C.” Tibbott’s company, Turtle Island Foods of Hood, Ore., has annual revenue of $11 million. Tofurky sales have grown 37 percent this year from 2006. He expects to sell 270,000 Tofurkys by the end of the holiday season, which translates to 438,000 pounds of tofu, wheat protein, canola oil and spices.
The concept was born of Tibbott’s vegetarian frustrations. After attending Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, he left for college in Ohio in 1969 and returned home having sworn off meat. Thanksgiving was particularly tough, he said, recalling a nasty bout with a stuffed pumpkin and a rock-hard gluten roast.

“We were looking for something for an answer and we figured there’s probably other people out there,” he said.

A 2006 poll conducted by Harris Interactive for the nonprofit Vegetarian Resource Group found that about 2 percent of adults are vegetarian, meaning they do not eat meat, poultry or seafood. The total was up from about 1 percent from a similar study the group conducted in 1994. The percentage of adults who do not eat poultry in particular grew to 6 percent from 3 percent.

The market, meanwhile, has been helped by omnivores who seek alternatives to meat for health reasons. They helped turn vegetarian foods into a $1.2 billion industry last year, up 44 percent from 2001, the consumer research firm Mintel said. The report found that 23 percent of non-vegetarians eat meat alternatives, though consumers still say the products cannot match the real thing.

Well, there might be one more health-related reason to lay off the meat this year. There’s a new additive that’s apparently all the rage. Carbon monoxide.

The Agriculture Department in 2004 gave the green light to using carbon monoxide gas to keep older cuts of meat looking red and fresh, even though scientists at the two companies promoting the technology had questioned the validity of their own safety tests, congressional investigators revealed yesterday.

The tests, conducted by Cargill and Hormel Foods, both of Minnesota, were part of a joint effort to persuade federal regulators to allow use of the gas without going through a public approval process. Inexplicably, however, the tests found that microbial counts on meat that had been left under-refrigerated went down over time instead of up, as expected, even as other indicators of spoilage increased, suggesting the possibility of some kind of error.

“Believe me, we are also puzzled by the data,” a Hormel employee wrote in a May 2004 e-mail, marked CONFIDENTIAL, to a colleague at Cargill. “Please let me know if you see any other funny data . . .” he wrote later. “Quite honestly, this test seemed to raise more questions than what it answered.”

Yet Agriculture Department scientists did not question the data when they reviewed them a few weeks later, and then relied upon them to reverse the agency’s earlier decision to oppose the technology, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said at a hearing. In July 2004, acting on USDA’s recommendation, the Food and Drug Administration gave the technology final approval.

Now, I haven’t eaten meat in over 15 years, and Tofurky tastes fine to me. Granted I probably don’t remember what actual turkey (or beef, or chicken, or pork) tastes like any more, but — as someone from the first article pointed out — just because it doesn’t taste exactly like turkey doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good.

John Cunningham, consumer research manager at the Vegetarian Resource Group, which has received donations from Tibbott’s company, acknowledged that Tofurky does not taste like turkey. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good, with a firm texture and a salty, savory flavor. It just tastes different.
ad_icon

Hey, it beats that smokey, carbon monoxide, car-exhaust flavor. At least as far as I’m concerned.

So I wasn’t surprised when he told me about Sunflower Restaurant, which was totally vegetarian and has locations in Falls Church and Vienna, VA. Initially, I thought maybe Cafe Sunflower, where Katharine and I had dinner once, had branched out of Atlanta. That would have been fine by me, but when I checked out the menu online I was even more intrigued. We made plans to visit for dinner

We chose the Falls Church location because — and I kid you not — I thought the building looked nicer than the Vienna location, which was the same distance from our place. If the food at the Vienna location is as good as what we had, it’ll be well worth the travel time.

The sign outside said “Grand Opening” and the interior looked freshly painted, so I think it’s a new place. New or not, the staff knew what they were doing. When they brought water to our table, they asked if we wanted a smaller cup for Parker, and when we said yes, they brought him a cute little mug with a Sunflower on it. That got the thumbs up from Parker.

The hubby and I chimed in on our approval when they brought out our appetizer, the “Japanese Style BBQ Kabobs.” First, the sauce. I’ll admit up front that I’m a complete wimp when it comes to hot, spicy foods. It’s not the spiciness I object to, but the heat. I’d like to start a minor gourmet revolution to divorce the words “hot” and “spicy” from each other, because the two have become synonymous in a way I think they shouldn’t be. Spicy, to me, doesn’t necessary mean “hot,” but that the combination of spices used create an intense flavor that might be sweet or savory, but not subtle and not necessarily spicy. In fact, I think too often heat is a substitute for spiciness, or an intensity or complexity of flavor that requires you to bring something to the experience of the meal besides a glass of water. Heat, to often overwhelms flavor or becomes a stand-in for it. (The “hot & spicy” dishes on the Sunflower restaurant menu can be adjusted to taste.)

But back to the “Japanese Style BBQ Kabobs.” The sauce was the right kind of spiciness as far as I’m concerned. Intense and complex, leaving an aftertaste that made us want more of it. It was enhanced by the perfectly grilled vegetables and soy protein, which was charred just enough to give everything a pleasant smokey flavor. And the vegetables were perfectly cooked as well, grilled just enough make them tender and to almost caramelize their natural sugars. The hubby and I both remarked that a few more kabobs, served on a bed of fried bean thread noodles, would have turned the appetizer into a satisfying entree.

Japanese Style BBQ Kabobs
Grilled fresh white mushroom, fresh shiitake mushroom,yummy soy protein, asparagus & zucchini. Garnished w. fried bean thread noodles & organic mixed green.

But then our actual entrees came. I had the “Golden Nugget” entree, and the hubby ordered the “Orange Imagination” special. Parker — and this is probably my only criticism of Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant, that there’s no children’s menu — sampled from our entrees. (On the other hand, children’s menus, half the time, mean that you pay for more food than the kid is going to eat in the first place. So perhaps it’s just as well that Parker sampled from our entrees.

Golden Nugget
Marinated yuba (bean curd skin) wrapped with shredded shiitake mushrooms, soy protein and bamboo shoots in house brown sauce. Garnished with sauteed napa cabbage, broccoli, bean thread noodles and carrots.

The “Golden Nugget” entree, like the appetizer, was perfectly seasoned. It wasn’t as intensely flavored as the appetizer, but no less pleasing with a sauce that was a subtle blend of savory and sweet, again perfectly sauteed, crisp vegetables, and a centerpiece of shredded shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and soy protein wrapped in marinated bean curd skins. The only thing I didn’t care for so much were the bean thread noodles, which were boiled this time, and I think that’s because the texture. That’s neither here nor there in terms of the excellence of the dish.

The hubby’s “Orange Imagination” special, which I think he ordered because it might also appeal to Parker, was equally good. The sauce was slightly sweeter than the sauce on my entree, and the garnish of pine nuts and Thai basil again provided complexity of flavor without overwhelming with heat.

Parker finished off the meal with the organic pumpkin tofu pie, which he referred to as “pumpkin cake.” I never cared for pumpkin pie. I think it’s because it looks so much like sweet potato pie, one of my favorites. It doesn’t taste like sweet potato pie, something I didn’t realize until I bit into my first slice of pumpkin pie, which also turned out to be my last. Never the less, it got the thumbs up from Parker (no surprise there) and the hubby.

One of the thing I love about restaurants like Sunflower Vegetarian is that I can choose from the entire, rather than just two or three items. And any dish I choose is going to be well and thoughtfully prepared, rather than the afterthought that you used to get when you tried to order a vegetarian dish in a restaurant. You know? The sauteed vegetables on a bed of pasta?

I can’t remember the last time I had that. And I don’t foresee having it again in the near future. I do foresee having several more dinners at

Now, that’s something I can get behind. It’s particularly cool that the contestants are everyday people, rather than celebrities. I’ve already case my vote, but here are my picks from among the guys. (Sorry, I didn’t cast a vote for any of the women. I can appreciate a beautiful women, of course, but sexiness isn’t something I think about when it comes to women.)

Jose

He’s the guy I actually voted for, and if we’re talking physical appearance alone, then he’s my pick. Compassion, if you ask me, is very sexy in a man. So he gets extra points for coming to the aid of chained dogs.

Drew

Working in a slaughter house turned him into a vegetarian? I can believe that. Ditto on the compassion thing above. Plus Drew is closer to my age, which makes him sexier in my view.

Jonathan

Well, that picture says a lot, at least to me. I’m sure working as a landscaper helps keep him looking like he does. Good enough for me.

Adrian

The name is sexy enough. There’s something about a guy with an androgynous name. Not to mention the tattoos. But I appreciate his work on educating people about the treatment of circus animals, and connecting it to “the mental framework that creates” racism. The only thing sexier in a man than compassion is intelligence. Combine the two and … well, you get the idea.

I didn’t think this post would be complete without my picks for the sexiest vegetarian celebs, tho. These guys, as far as I know are (or were at some point) vegetarians.

Orlando Bloom

Very nearly cause me to develop a “thing” for elves in the Lord of the Rings movies.

Lenny Kravitz

I so totally wanna “go his way.”

Ziggy Marley

Love is his religion? Where can I get baptized?

Joaquin Phoenix

I’d “walk the line” for him any day.

Jude Law

I’ll “obey the law” without fail. Unless is more fun the other way.

Those are my picks? Care to share yours?

Being in the habit of posting regularly is a hard habit to break. Half the time, as is the case now, I’ve got four or five posts in mind that I want to write at some point, and I spend a good bit of time thinking about what I want to write while actually doing something else. I won’t have time to write the posts that are percolating in my brain until sometime later. But in the interest of not letting things lie fallow for too long here. I thought I’d post something I’ve been meaning to write for a while.

It’s the answer to a question I often get from people who are about to visit the area. Where are the best places to go for vegetarian food in D.C.?

I’ve been a vegetarian for something like 15 years, and I’ve lived in DC for almost 13 years. Still, I don’t know every place to get good vegetarian food in D.C. (Besides my own kitchen; that is, when I’m in the mood to cook and have the time.) But in the time that I’ve been here, I’ve eaten in many area restaurants — some vegetarian, some vegetarian friendly (which I define as having at least a couple of vegetarian dishes that are more interesting than sauteed vegetables over pasta) — that I have recommended to others. Here they are, in no particular order, with my impressions.

Java Green

I discovered Java Green just last year, when our company moved into temporary office space just across the street from it. My co-workers told me about it, and I made my first trip there soon afterwards. i would return every week. The menu features sandwiches, salads, and noodle dishes, many of which feature vegetarian “meat substitutes,” but not all. (Some people don’t care for those, but if you’re one of them you’ll still find plenty to enjoy at Java Green.) My favorites are the Veggie Max panini, the Turkey Club sandwich, and the Smoked Turkey wrap are my favorites. Their specials are pretty good too (my fave: the “Chicken” Deluxe).

They also have some pretty good deserts, including some vegan cakes in the refrigerated bin with the drinks. My favorite there is the “Orange Dreamsicle” cake.

It’s a pretty busy lunch spot during the week, and open on Saturday’s too. My only criticism is that it’s a small place and gets crowded quickly. But that’s probably because the food is good.

Nirvana

This place was on the same block as our temporary office space. I walked past it several times without going in, though I chuckled at the thought that our offices were right between Nirvana and Karma. I love Indian food, so I’m not sure why it took me so long to find my way to Nirvana, but I’m glad I did. They have a constantly changing menu for their lunch buffet. The times that I went, my favorite Indian dish (matag paneer) wasn’t being served, but I only missed it for a minute.

Soul Vegetarian

Soul Vegetarian had long been on my list of places to check out, and I finally had the chance last year when our former babysitting co-op had a “Parents’ Night Out” dinner. (I think it used to be called “Mom’s Night Out,” but since four gay couples — two lesbian couples and another male couple besides us — joined, and all the couples alternated attendance anyway the name changed.) When we met at the Georgia Avenue location, I had the Tofu Nuggets and a side order of vegan macaroni and cheese, and some sweet potato pie for desert. The prices were more than reasonable, the atmosphere very casual, and the food good.

Juice Joint

Juice Joint is not entirely vegetarian, but has a lot of vegetarian lunch options. I found the place several years ago and made it a regular lunchtime destination. They’re open for breakfast and lunch, though I’ve only been for lunch. My favorite is the Roasted Portobello and Red Pepper wrap, with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

Straits of Malaya

Straits of Malaya is the only one of the restaurants in this post where I’ve not only eaten but also waited tables. It’s not exclusively vegetarian, but very vegetarian friendly. When I worked there new employees had to sample all the dishes on the menu, though veggie were exempted from trying the meat dishes. What I did try was very good, though a bit spicy for my tastes. (I’m a wimp when it comes to spicy foods.) But I regularly took home some Nasi Goreng for dinner after my shift. If it’s still the same as when I went there, the service is family style, so order stuff to share with the rest of the table.

Thyme Square

Now we’re in Maryland. Bethesda, actually. Thyme Square is one of the first restaurants the hubby and I went to back when we were dating. It’s still a favorite of ours because the menu is almost evenly split between veg and non-veg fare. Not only that, but they’re committed to using organic ingredients. They almost always have some great seasonal specials, and their special holiday menus have kept us coming back every year. (Yes, for Thanksgiving we made reservations.) My favorites are the Wild Mushroom Lasagna and the Portabello and Pesto Pizza.

Great Sage

One of the many things I love about my non-veg husband is that even though he’s not vegetarian he’s always on the lookout for vegetarian restaurants that we haven’t been to. (When Parker was born, and we were waiting for papers to be signed so we could return to D.C. with him, the hubby found a gourmet vegetarian restaurant near where we were staying.) He’s always telling me about one he heard about or saw advertised, and we always check them out. His best find so far has been Great Sage, out in Clarksville.

It’s a ways out, but we’ve made a few special trips out there for dinner that have been well worth it. And I’m not talking about just the gourmet vegetarian fare, but also that it’s situated in this great little shopping center which features an organic market where we sometimes wander the aisle while we wait for the dinner hour.

I’d recommend something from the menu, but it’s really all good! (Parker particularly likes their PB & J sandwich)

Vegetable Garden

I discovered the Vegetable Garden several years ago, when I was out driving down Rockville Pike with a friend, looking for somewhere to have dinner. We kept passing by the usual suspects: Ruby Tuesdays, TGI Fridays, Applebee’s, etc. I kept suggesting we keep going until we saw something interesting. From the corner of my eye I saw “Vegetable Garden” flashing in neon, and said “Pull in there.” He did, and I’ve never regretted it.

This is probably one restaurant I’m always in the mood to visit. It’s Asian vegetarian cuisine that’s healthy and hearty. Again, I can’t just recommend one thing from the menu, because I haven’t had anything there that I didn’t like. I will recommend one appetizer though. Take my advice and try the Crispy Black Mushroom appetizer. If you like something that’s sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy all at the same time, you’ll like this.

That’s enough for now, I think. I know there are others that I could add to the list. But there’s still a lot of restaurants I haven’t visited. If you know of some, by all means let me know! Meanwhile, you can check out lots more at this listing from VegDC.Com and this article from Satya.

It’s official – vegetarians really are smarter. But it is not because of what they eat. Bright children are more likely to reject meat and opt to become vegetarians when they grow up, a study has shown. Clever veggies are born not made.

The finding helps explain how a team of vegetarians won the BBC Test the Nation competition in September, when they beat off competition from six other teams including butchers, public school pupils and footballers’ wives to achieve the highest overall IQ score.

… Researchers from the University of Southampton who conducted the study agree. They suggest that vegetarians are more thoughtful about what they eat. But they say it is unclear whether bright children choose to become vegetarians for the health benefits or for other reasons, such as a concern for animals, or as a lifestyle choice.

The scientists began investigating the link between IQ and vegetarianism because people with higher intelligence have a lower risk of heart disease, which has long puzzled doctors.

There are a few other interesting bits of information, including a finding that vegetarians are likely to be better educated and of “higher social class.” If you ask me, I think that makes sense in part because those two factors make more likely to be able to spend much time thinking about what you eat, and to put more effort in buying particular kinds of foods. You probably have a grocery store in your neighborhood, maybe even a Whole Foods, and/or transportation to get you there and back home.

But, it’s easier to eat healthy if you live in the suburbs, where there are grocery stores and health food stores, and have the money to spend. In other words, it’s easier to make healthier choices when healthier choices are readily available. When they’re not, it’s not.

The United States may be the land of plenty, but in many parts of the country–particularly the low-income neighborhoods–fresh fruits and vegetables are hard-to-find luxury items. Grocery chains resist opening stores where sales of high-markup gourmet products can’t be guaranteed, and they often close existing supermarkets in poor areas. For residents of these neighborhoods, the choice comes down to traveling long distances to buy groceries or shopping at expensive corner stores that sell high-fat, high-sugar convenience food and little or no fresh produce. The consequences are the wages of poverty: diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Or when you can’t afford to make them.

“It’s a question of money,” Drewnowski said. “The reason healthier diets are beyond the reach of many people is that such diets cost more. On a per calorie basis, diets composed of whole grains, fish, and fresh vegetables and fruit are far more expensive than refined grains, added sugars and added fats. It’s not a question of being sensible or silly when it comes to food choices, it’s about being limited to those foods that you can afford.”

… Many strategies for health promotion over the years have presumed that good nutrition was simply a matter of making the right choices. Drewnowski noted that access to healthier diets could be sharply limited in low-income neighborhoods simply because of the food environment and the nature of the available food supply.

“It is the opposite of choice,” Drewnowski said. “People are not poor by choice and they become obese primarily because they are poor.”

So, while I was a bit tickled by the “vegetarians are smarter” story line, I wanted to acknowledge there is a little more to the story. People make smarter choices not just because they’re smarter, but because those choices are within reach.

The relation between sexual orientation and penile dimensions in a large sample of men was studied. Subjects were 5,122 men interviewed by the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction from 1938 to 1963. They were dichotomously classified as either homosexual (n = 935) or heterosexual (n = 4187). Penile dimensions were assessed using five measures of penile length and circumference from Kinsey’s original protocol. On all five measures, homosexual men reported larger penises than did heterosexual men. Explanations for these differences are discussed, including the possibility that these findings provide additional evidence that variations in prenatal hormonal levels (or other biological mechanisms affecting reproductive structures) affect sexual orientation development.

Proving once again that with guys it all comes down to “Who’s Got the Biggest.” Or at least thinks he does. Maybe that’s the root of the concern expressed by the WorldNetDaily columnist. In which case I suggest he try the tofu hot dog challenge.

It’s from Alfred Kinsey, though. So the nutters will disregard it anyway.

Via Andrew Sullivan.