5 (new) Reasons OC Residents Should Turn Veg

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Bacon tastes good. I know. Friends remind me of the savory, salty, mouth-watering flavor of the fried pork dish when we get on the topic of vegetarianism. The love-for-bacon argument is worn-out, and I imagine my friends are probably sick of hearing my hackneyed arguments for a vegetarian lifestyle. They probably have my health argument memorized (did you know that vegetarians have a lower likelihood of getting heart disease, many types of cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, food poisoning and obesity?).

And I’ll bet my friends are sick of the compassion argument too (I don’t like supporting an industry that raises animals in cramped, overcrowded spaces, artificially breeds them, separates them from their young, denies them sunlight and free air-and then trucks them to slaughter).

So forget all of my old (and really accurate) arguments. Here are five new reasons you should consider a vegetarian lifestyle:

1. Sex
Your heart and your brain aren’t the only organs getting clogged arteries due to the high cholesterol meat diet. And cholesterol has also been linked to impotence.

2. The great excuses
“I really wish I could try your ground beef pie, Aunt Gladys. But I’m a vegetarian.”

Or

“If I wasn’t a vegetarian I’d go with you to that seedy rib joint.”

3. $
A stroll around the supermarket will show you that tofu, tempeh and textured vegetable protein are cheaper than pieces of chicken and dead cow. If the taste of soy products isn’t your thing, you can still find fresh vegetables cheaper than fresh meat.

4. You can still be fat, tan, and unhealthy
Don’t worry. Not all vegetarians are skinny, pale, and sickly-looking. French fries are French fries no matter how many steaks you skip. Just because you are a vegetarian doesn’t mean that you have to skip those Real World marathons on MTV curled up with a gallon of cookies n’ cream.

5.The Local Veggie-Friendly Eateries
If you’re not committed to a vegetarian lifestyle, I’d suggest that you try to be vegetarian for one lunch or dinner in the next couple of weeks; Orange County has some really good veg-friendly joints:

Au Lac Mix Vegetarian Restaurant
16563 Brookhurst , Fountain Valley 92708
714.418.0658

Mothers Market
19970 Beach Blvd.
Huntington Beach, California 92648
714.963.6667

 

Native Foods
2937 Bristol St
Costa Mesa, California
714.751.2151

 

Taco Loco
640 S Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach, California 92651
949.497.1635

 

Rutabegorz (3 Locations)
211 North Pomona
Fullerton, CA 92832
714.738.9339

158 West Main
Tustin, CA 92780
714.731.9807

264 North Glassell
Orange, CA 92866
Phone: 714.633.3260

4 Comments

  1. Great reasons, all of them. I’ve stopped trying to convince anyone else of the wisdom of my choice, though – people get really defensive as soon as I even mention I don’t eat meat. I do wonder, though, why more people who enjoy delicious animal flesh (and I was one of those people) aren’t up in arms about the condition of their food before it’s killed. That would be enough for me to switch, if I hadn’t already.

  2. Good reminders (and I’d wholeheartedly agree with the Au Lac recommendation!)

    It’s also worth noting that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Just as a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, you can start by reducing meat intake if you don’t want to cut it out entirely – think of it more as a condiment. And your start to realize all the benefits noted above, just in part.

    Other benefits include something I heard in OrangeClouds “Forging LInks to An Alternative Food Chain”: you get more mileage from a plant-based diet than from driving a Prius. Meat production is a huge consumer of energy and resources.

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