What should vegetarians do to make vegetarianism more mainstream?

1 I think this is going to become less and less of a problem.

Many restaurants were entirely out of the question when I was a kid, and even fifteen years ago, things weren't so hot.

Now, even steak houses will put a vegetarian main dish on the menu. (Though those can be problematic; qv #2.) But I'm seeing a lot more notations on menus that the restaurant uses such-and-such oil to cook its food, running into a lot more waitresses who'll steer me away from a chicken-stock-flavoured rice before I even ask, and so on. I don't really enjoy requiring special attention here and there in restaurants, but it beats dragging a group of omnivores to the House of Soy, and I suspect the restaurants agree.

I think vegetarians should be as polite as possible in mainstream restaurants, and I think they should go to mainstream restaurants. There're restaurateurs out there who figure I'll just go to a vegetarian restaurant. Not so; it's almost always a normal place with good vegetarian options. If the menu is lacking, it's not unreasonable to take a look at what's on the menu, and ask for substitutions. Politely. Enough of that minor hassle, and they'll just stick stuff on the menu.

Speaking of menus, a lot of places now have little symbols next to their vegetarian options. That should be great, but I usually end up ignoring it -- rare is the restaurant that's done a decent job of it. Rather inexplicable. It shows up next to dishes with fish in them -- hardly ever a seafood dish, but things with, say, oyster sauce, as though a small amount couldn't hurt -- and is never next to _every_ vegetarian option. I mean, lots of vegetarians still like junk food -- fried zucchini should get the symbol, but often doesn't.

2 Education is badly needed.

A respectable vegetarian society (read: not PETA) would busy itself educating people about the differences between vegans and vegetarians, for one. Going back to the menu problem here, not all vegetarians like tofu, and not all will eat veggie burgers, etc. I think of 'Tofu Pups' with the same distaste I have for hot dogs. It makes a lousy 'vegetarian option' if it's the only one. Arfiticial chicken flavour is also not palatable to a number of vegetarians.

One of the more useful things I've seen come out of vegetarian groups is the labelling of some food products as "suitable for vegetarians," which is usually "as certified by the Such-and-such Society." Labels are a good thing here; vegetarians certainly do not eat fish, but they are also not egg-and-dairy-avoiding vegans.

That said, I think it -- vegtarianism -- needs less emphasis on health and more on good food. "Vegetarian" does not necessarily mean healthy or low-fat. I've just polished off a cheese and pickle-laden ploughman's lunch. What's really missing in a lot of vegetarian cuisine is heartiness, which is probably why so many meat-and-potato types sneer at it, often quite reasonably. One can only eat so many curried lentils.

Restaurants need to focus more on the quality of their produce for that "real fruits and vegetables can taste good all by themselves" to catch on. There's nothing good to be said about a plate of wilted white iceberg lettuce. A plate of good-quality marinated and roasted vegetables has a lot to be said about it, though.

3 Beardo the Weirdo is the biggest problem.

There's a surprising number of militant, and aggressively ill-informed, vegetarian and vegan types just on Yahoo! Answers. Look at all the questions involving "vegetarians" who eat fish, with a number of answers claiming "ya they eat fish ok," and a token "labelling is, like, bad." Would you tell your ER doctor you didn't want your blood type "labelled"? These are extremely useful divisions, and you don't see the low-carb crowd objecting to low-carb labels. (Or at least I hope you don't.)

Vegetarianism gets a bad rap because all the respectable vegetarians keep their mouths shut. It's so common that I suspect most everybody is at least peripherally acquainted with a vegetarian, but nobody knows about it unless that vegetarian is one of the 'militant' ones. (There's an interesting corollary here with gay culture, too.) There isn't any reason for me or any of the other vegetarians I know to bring it up in most situations. I do not, and should not, have any interest in what other people eat.

Animal rights pests -- I mean, activists -- are free to protest, but, largely thanks to PETA, are not doing a good job of converting anybody. I suspect a lot of the thirteen-year-olds turning vegan right now are going to be pretty angry in a few years when they figure out how brainwashed and mislead they've been by PETA's child-manipulation arm. Out of curiosity, I ordered their "Vegetarian Starter Kit." It left me feeling humiliated. It deliberately blurred the important distinctions between vegetarianism and veganism, and diet and animal rights. There were no suggestions given for less harmful food production/consumption practices; instead, it was a nasty harangue. It seemed curiously designed for young teen-agers, as though they'd already figured out they hadn't a hope with reasonably well-educated adults.

Would that Beardo the Weirdo and his friends were looked at as "animal rights activists," and not "vegetarians" -- !

Which leaves mainstream vegetarians in an awkward place; there's the responsibility to shut up about one's diet and be polite, and the responsibility to educate (no fish, please, but pass the cheese...), and to distance from the PETA types. It should always be emphasised that people are vegetarians for a variety of reasons, many of which have nothing to do with caring about animals. Bully for those who do care and who don't eat meat to do something about that; it's just not something to be forced on others.

Edited to add:

A few other things hit me while grocery shopping last night:

There are still a pile of products on store shelves I'll never go near because they have traces of meat in them. Entirely unnecessary. I'm talking about the ones that have beef tallow, lard, chicken fat, what-have-you, way down near the end of the ingredients list. Why on earth...?? So small an amount can't be adding to the flavour; it could easily be replaced with a vegetable oil.

And people wonder why it takes me so long to grocery shop. I have no idea what it's like to buy something without first spending a while squinting at its label.

On one hand, I'm inclined to write letters, and have done so since I was a kid. On the other hand, these days, I'm more inclined to write letters of thanks to companies whose products are noticeably vegetarian-friendly -- the ones who use vegetable broth, fat, etc, and don't wreck their products for vegetarians. If they're good with that, and they make good stuff to boot, I write a quick note of thanks, mentioning that I'm telling other vegetarians to check out their products.

But I wish the "suitable for vegetarians" labelling would catch on more in Canada.

On a related note, I don't bother reading the ingredients if certain products are described as "hearty."

Because "hearty" almost always means "meaty." (Particularly according to the Campbell's soup people, who are the absolute worst offenders when it comes to throwing in a token amount of meat in as many foods as possible.)

That's bad. It's indicative of some very serious shortcomings in the entire ouevre of vegetarian cuisine. People obviously do think of 'rabbit food' when they think of vegetarian food. Shame on Beardo for perpetuating that myth, too.

I'm with you...I'm not a full-blown vegetarian, I will eat meat on occasion, but I really don't care much for the taste, it's just if it's all there is and you're hungry....

I think I know that guy from grad school's sister. She constantly tells me I'm an idiot for disagreeing with her about any and everything, including my tendency to eat what's there.

I think folks as intelligent as you seem to be, need to be more vocal. Your points are good, and you'd make people listen to you. It's the people like my friend Beardo's Sister who make enemies for a very sensible way of eating. Can you write for publication as well as you do here? Send a few things to your newspaper. (letters to the editor, food page, recipes at holiday time) And talk to the people at the restaurants you favor. If they know they'll get your business, they might be willing to bend a little. I'd go to the websites and do the contact us thing. I'll do that myself today, as my piece of the action!

I think number 3 is your biggest problem. Morningstar Farms has loads of meatless products that even meat eaters enjoy. And loads of restaurants offer veggie alternatives that don't involve Tofu.

It's the "how can you eat a cow after looking him in the eye?" people that are the real problem.

That and the fact that Hitler was a vegetarian. That certainly doesn't help the cause.

I completely agree with adding more choices to restaurant menus for vegetarian's. I'm a vegetarian myself :-)

Yes, real fruits and vegetables do taste good all by themselves, but tofu is often added for protein.

Misskate1,

I actually read that Hitler was only a vegetarian for part of his life and because his doctor made him because of health reasons and supposedly he LOVED to eat meat. also Nazis did much animal testing, Hitler was not by any means animal compassionate. Sorry this has nothing to do with the question.

Why do you think that Vegetarianism SHOULD be more mainstream? Do you feel it is a better way of life?

1.Restaurants put on their menu what is going to sell the most. They dont make much money off of veg meals.

2.Yuck tofu

3.I have met a couple of vegetarians that are cool but that is a common stereotype that I still feel is representative of a lot of vegetarians.

There is a Fourth Factor: Will it taste good?

There has to be something beyond the red-beans-and-rice zone, and meat substitutes need to taste like meat and not meat substitutes.

The other factors mentioned are important as well.

Make more NOISE!!!

We write to supermarkets, restaurants, anywhere demanding more vegetarian and vegan choices! Talk to a lot of people and get them more used to the idea that we exist :)

Oh, and scrap tofu and spread SEITAN!!!

I am a vegetarian and I do not have that problem in D.C. area. More and more resturants seem to be putting more and more things on the menu's here. Good Luck

Stop trying to tell people that eat meat they are morally wrong for doing so. Then maybe their will be less resistance for people wanting to try a vegitarian diet. However, hostily telling meat eaters they are wrong is no way to promote your dietary habits effectively. (I am not saying you do this, but there are those who do)

I think vegetarians (particularly vegans) need to be more tolerant and understanding that other people still choose to eat meat. If many vegetarians were less confrontational and militant, meat-eaters would be less hostile toward them.