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Rather than go cold turkey (oops, Tofurky) by cutting out meat completely, some people prefer dabbling in vegetarianism.  A “flexitarian” is someone who actively integrates meatless meals into his or her diet when possible but isn’t a full-time vegetarian, according to The Humane Society of the United States. Some vegetarian leaders are in favor of the diet.

“Helping animals and the planet isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition requiring dramatic overnight changes. Simply by eating fewer animals, we can each take positive steps that prevent cruelty,” said Paul Shapiro, Senior Director of the Humane Society of the United States’ (HSUS) Factory Farming Campaign.

Compass Group, the largest food service company in the world, worked with HSUS to develop an initiative called “Be a Flexitarian,” to immediately expand and promote meatless meal options. Their Facebook page has nearly 4,000 fans.

Bryan Pease, Esq., Chairman of the Board at Animal Protection & Rescue League (APRL) and one of San Diego’s vegetarian leaders, also supports the diet.

“Anything that causes people to reduce and eventually eliminate consumption of animal products is a very good thing. There are huge social pressures that make it difficult to declare that everything everyone is doing around you is wrong and that you are a vegetarian. If large numbers of people accept the benefits of eating vegetarian some of the time, a logical progression will be for many more people to become completely vegetarian and vegan. Additionally, it may be easier to convince two people to cut their meat intake in half than to convince one person to go completely vegetarian, so this path could be a faster way to weaken and dismantle the meat industry,” Pease said.

Along with APRL, which helps people make dietary transitions involving more vegan and vegetarian cuisine, there is a new meetup group for flexitarians in San Diego.  Amazon.com also offers folks living all over the world several cookbooks on the flexitarian diet.

Thankful for Tofurky

This year with vegetarian and vegan cuisine in the limelight, even a holiday strongly tied to a traditional turkey meal is being looked at through new lenses by Martha Stewart and NBC. With vegan recipes now widely accessible on the Internet and vegetarian cookbooks sprouting up all over, Thanksgiving has surprisingly turned into a rather enjoyable holiday for veggie people.

In San Diego we are very fortunate to have a wonderful vegan Thanksgiving event put on each year by Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL). Yesterday the Fifth Annual Turkey-Free Thanksgiving Potluck was bursting at the seams with over 200 enthusiastic people bearing delicious vegan dishes.

For dinner we feasted on not only the stuffing, salads, stir-fries, and such brought by attendees but also gobbled up vegan dishes donated by Tofurky (a great turkey alternative),  Pokez, Rebecca’s Coffee House,  zpizza, and other local businesses.

The minute the event volunteers brought out the dessert, a long line of excited people formed.  Thanksgiving favorites like apple, pecan and pumpkin pies were joined by many treats including muffins, Uncle Eddie’s Cookies, baklava, and raw, vegan ice cream donated by Tomberlies.

While eating, the crowd heard updates from Bryan Pease, who announced APRL’s plans to work more closely with Compassion Over Killing. Pease said this year people are more receptive to vegan ways, caring about cruelty to animals raised in factory farms, and that politicians are seeing issues they can no longer ignore.

The event also had entertainment, with Bob Green playing piano and Harmony Cohen-Wolff performing sacred belly fusion and firedance to songs that pay homage to animals.

My only complaint about the evening was that it went by much too fast!

Let Them Eat Veggies

Kath Rogers and Annie

Kath Rogers became a vegetarian at age 9, when as an only child very bonded to her dog, she felt like animals were meant to be friends.  At 13, she looked up “animal rights” on the Internet, realized eggs and dairy involved cruelty to animals, and became a vegan.

“Once you know (about cruelty), then it’s a conscious choice,” said Rogers, 24.

In 2003, at just 19, she co-founded a non-profit, Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL), with her husband Bryan Pease as Pro Bono Attorney. Now volunteering at APRL, Rogers is also a full-time student finishing her Bachelor’s degree.

Today, APRL is powered by seven employees and about 50 active volunteers.  Through APRL, five California cities passed resolutions regarding foie gras. Pease spearheaded the passing of a state law allowing the seals to stay at the Children’s Pool in La Jolla, and APRL urged the City of San Diego to install hundreds of educational signs about feeding squirrels leading to unnecessary poisoning. Rogers and company led one of the largest signature-gathering efforts to support Proposition 2, setting more humane standards for confining farm animals. Persistence was the key to making a big impact.

In early 2009, Rogers was one of the activists featured in VegNews article “20 Under 30.”

“If you have confidence, you can make change. In the coming generations, we’ll see a vegan world. Most social movements have seen that a small percentage leads the rest of society to do the right thing,” Rogers said.

To fuel her body for her busy life, Rogers mainly eats fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains – from teff and quinoa to amaranth and millet. Another daily boost is her smoothie with frozen mangos/berries/spinach, spirulina, acai, hemp, soymilk, and cocoa. A favorite meal is blended cashew cream over rice noodles with tempeh bacon.

She suggests people wanting to become vegetarian or vegan try new foods at the grocery store, and explore cookbooks like How it all Vegan and recipes at vegcooking.com.