PETA praises S.L. as a veggie-friendly city

The world was surprised in 2002 that it could buy a beer in Salt Lake City. And now comes this news: Our cup also runneth over with Tofutti soft serve and baba ghanoush.

According to the animal activist group PETA, Salt Lake City ranks as the third most vegetarian-friendly small city in America, behind such tofu enclaves as Boulder, Colo., and Santa Cruz, Calif. Salt Lake City even outranked Norfolk, Va., PETA's hometown, as well as college towns such as Madison, Wis., and Athens, Ga. In the large city category, the top three were hardly a surprise: Portland, Ore., Seattle and San Francisco.

The survey results are listed at GoVeg.com, accompanied by a drawing of the Statue of Liberty holding what is perhaps a root vegetable. A parsnip maybe, says PETA spokeswoman Reannon Peterson, who adds that picking the top vegetarian and vegan-friendly U.S. cities is "not an exact science."

Factored into the selection were the number of vegetarian restaurants, nonvegetarian restaurants with vegetarian selections, vegetarian and vegan product sales, and other perks such as vegan-only doughnut shops. Salt Lake City apparently doesn't have anything to offer in this category, Peterson says, but is home to a vegan erotica Web site, where one can find leather alternatives.

Utah is home to 890,000 head of cattle, 690,000 hogs and pigs, and the world's first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. But "most vegetarians know that Utah has a pretty sizable vegan population," she says.

The survey listed Salt Lake restaurants such as Squirrel Brothers Ice Cream, Oasis Cafe, Evergreen House Cafe and Coffee Under the Bridge as particularly friendly to vegetarians and vegans. Unlike vegetarians, vegans do not eat dairy products or eggs.

The nation as a whole is moving toward mock meat and vegan cheesecake, says PETA's Peterson. Even Wal-Mart carries soy burgers these days, she notes. Vegetarian food sales have doubled in the United States since 1998, reaching $1.6 billion in 2003, she says, and the market is expected to grow another 61 percent by 2008. In addition, 24 percent of college students ask for vegan options in school cafeterias, she says.

At Sage's Cafe, a vegan restaurant on 300 South, manager Nathan Steele wasn't surprised that Salt Lake City was rated third in the country veggie-wise. "There are lots of vegans and vegetarians in Salt Lake City and it creates a demand." Steele has lived in vegan mecca Portland and says, per capita, "we're definitely as good."

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