Veganism provides healthy LA lifestyle

“I don’t eat meat.”

For some reason, these five words can incite an array of emotions: animated nods of approval, haughty snorts of condemnation, or even the puzzled furrows of brows. Vegetarianism seems to be strange to many but finds a welcome home in Los Angeles.

So what exactly is the decision to not eat meat? Is it a practice, a religion? Perhaps it is even a health decision or a simple choice made by a finicky 3-year-old averse to all things chewy.

No matter the reason, this way of life has become a part of the LA stereotype: a trendy, quasi-progressive way to avoid calories.

Vegetarianism, however, is a legitimate movement. Zel and Reuben Allen, editors of web magazine Vegetarians in Paradise, have spent 11 years listing vegetarian, vegan and vegetarian-friendly restaurants for a public that demands to know where they can eat without meat. The pair has listed more than 165 locations boasting more than 125,000 visitors a month.

Zel credits the proximity of produce to Los Angeles as an encouragement for the veggie-friendly vibe of the city, where the Allens have lived as a couple for more than 20 years. They are in their 21st year of being vegan, and they’re still going strong, loving both their cuisine and the city they have chosen as theirs.

“We’re tolerant people,” Rueben said. “We’ll sit at a table and let others do their thing. Our philosophy is…our web magazine.”

To people like the Allens, the conscious decision to nix all animal products from their diets is a form of personal expression. Citing animal activism, a greener way of life, health and morality as reasons to become vegan, the couple also noted a more pronounced societal consciousness about the origins of food within the past decades.

Veganism has transformed from an obscure dietary restriction to a recognizable lifestyle. It’s a buzzword that has gained enough social prominence to inspire its own Top Chef Masters episode, complete with up-and-coming hipster actress Zooey Deschanel as well as its own entry in the satirical blog stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.

This lifestyle has even infiltrated the USC area in the form of local vegan soul food joint Vegisoul on Jefferson Boulevard.

From the exterior, Vegisoul looks like the kind of joint the cruise ship tour guide tells vacationers to avoid during a port stay in some Bahamian town. But the interior is cleaner than most local restaurants, offering a beautiful mural on the wall of that starkly juxtaposes against the cracked asphalt and noisy traffic outside. The small restaurant is a lovely shade of warm yellow, and smells like the clean, sticky aroma of a good grandmother’s kitchen.

Yes, there is such a thing as vegan soul food. In a cuisine known for its emphasis on bacon fat, barbecue and butter, restaurants like Vegisoul craft the wholesome into the heartwarming feeling one gets after downing a plate of fried chicken — without the carnage.

Platters offer a combination of brown rice, red beans and greens next to surprisingly fulfilling fake meat: crispy barbeque chik’un and saucy fibbs (ribs). The dishes hold their own, even when compared to the real thing; these thoughtfully crafted foodstuffs aren’t just imitations, but a good hearty meal that invokes feelings of wholesome, honest-to-goodness deliciousness.

Here at Vegisoul, abstaining from meat is not a blatant health choice or an attempt to look just like Natalie Portman. It’s part of good eating, which — despite what starved reality show girls’ figures show — creates a Los Angeles culture that forgives and encourages all sorts of eating habits and religions and practices, even if they seem contradictory.

Although many Angelenos still choose animal protein for sustenance, vegetarianism is quickly becoming a way of life that we accept and allow room for. Vegans and vegetarians are an essential part of the local culture — anything goes as long as it doesn’t stray into our lane.

Only in LA would we have our vegan cake and eat it too.

Clare Sayas is a junior majoring in public relations. Her column, “Lost & Found,” runs Thursdays.