Lindsey Stull | Meat-free in a city of vegetarian delights

Growing up in Oklahoma, I had a neighbor who raised a few cows a year in a pasture adjacent to his house. At the tender age of six, I asked him the names of his two new calves.

"Hamburger One and Hamburger Two," he answered. That night, I asked my parents what steak was made of, received their honest answer, and became a lifelong vegetarian. Looking back, I appreciate that they never showed me the Veggie Tales cartoons.

In the fourteen years since that life-changing event, I've learned all the other good reasons to forgo eating meat: it's better for the environment, better for increased worldwide food production, and better for my body, not just less cruel to animals.

But when I tell people that I don't eat meat, the usual reaction is not, "Wow, you're helping the environment, individual animals, people worldwide, and yourself! All at the same time!"

No, there are about three typical reactions, and none of them sound like that. I don't really mind the common indifference. The frat boy, "Why not eat animals? They're made of meat!" is a trap I seldom fall into anymore. (But in case you were wondering, the response "So are you" is most effective when wielding a bread knife in a threatening manner.)

The most common answer, though, seems to be a surprised "I could never do that." Because vegetarians eat nothing but raw tofu and leaves, with maybe an occasional Boca Burger.

Not. In reality, sticking to a vegetarian diet at Penn is almost embarrassingly easy. Like the gummy bears at Naked Chocolate Cafe, meat dishes often tempt me less than the amazing meat-free options surrounding them.

Although it can prove difficult to avoid meat in the dining halls, it's certainly possible to eat vegetarian meals more often than not by taking advantage of the ever-present cheese pizza, the salad bar, and veggie sandwiches.

More importantly (and tastily), one can now find a plethora of ready-made vegan meals to choose from in Houston Hall and other retail dining locations on campus. Mostly noodle-based, they're healthy and usually contain protein-laden meat substitutes.

And without even leaving Penn, anyone can eat well at the Magic Carpet food trucks, or even at Hemo's. The lunchtime lines stretching up the block from Magic Carpet tells of just how delicious the community finds completely meat-free Mediterranean food to be; grab an egg and cheese with mushrooms and spinach from Hemo's and you'll be full for hours.

Off campus, West Philly is a vegetarian's paradise. A lot of us must live in the area, because many local restaurants seem to cater to the meatless diet. Vientiane Cafe, a Vietnamese/Laotian eatery at 47th and Baltimore, serves tofu satay and a variety of vegetarian salads, as well as offering a tofu substitute for almost all of their entrees.

Fu Wah, a bit farther east on Baltimore, is the home of tofu hoagies from heaven that I'm pretty sure are marinated in stars and rainbows and served on a sunshine bun. They're that good.

And even Koch's Deli will cook you up a scrumptious vegetarian cheesesteak.

Last semester, rising college senior Helen Byelyakova invited a vegetarian friend from Waco, Texas to spend a weekend in Philadelphia. They found many options.

"There were a lot of vegetarian restaurants," she said, and "a lot of options that weren't greasy, deep-fried vegetables . I haven't been to a restaurant yet where I couldn't find a good, or least decent, vegetarian option." She also mentioned the utility of grocery stores such as Trader Joe's, which carries "things with whole wheat and protein, and substitutes. That's refreshing - when you see that even in grocery stores, you're not limited to salads."

Center City offers even more for the adventurous palate, from the classic stand-bys (Govinda's Gourmet Vegetarian and Horizons Cafe) to Chinatown's diverse array of eateries featuring meat substitutes in place of the usual beef and chicken dishes. At 11th and Arch, Kingdom of Vegetarians makes a fake sesame chicken that's to die for.

Being a vegetarian in Philadelphia is about as difficult as being a Bush-hater in France. Even if you just want to try eating less meat, this city's the place to do it. Try the tofu occasionally; eat more green stuff; think a bit harder about what's going in your mouth.

And if you get stuck, it's always nice to remember that the main staples of a college student's diet are all vegetarian. Cookies and liquor: timeless, priceless, meatless.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.