Charitable Views of Vegetables
Dr. Andy's uninvited thoughts on alligator meat
Discovering new cultures is one of the best reasons to travel. In his travel narrative, The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain says “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
I love Twain’s use of the word “vegetate” here, especially in light of a conversation that my wife Kate had with a New Orleans shopkeeper this past weekend. When Kate wondered what mementos she should bring home to her kids, the proprietor recommended some Cajun alligator jerky.
When Kate revealed that (two thirds of) her kids are vegetarian, the vendor’s face soured. “Good luck with that,” she said with a smirk. Kate didn’t appreciate the uninvited derision, as if her family’s vegetarianism was a purposeful rebellion against Kate or anyone who chose not to consume alligator meat.
A study reveals that in 2020, Louisiana had 16 vegan or vegetarian restaurants, or about three such restaurants for every million people in the state, tied with Alaska and Oklahoma. By contrast, California has 18 such restaurants for every million people in the state, for a total of 697 vegetarian restaurants.
As someone who has been a vegetarian for almost 45 years (an early teenage surprise for my mom and dad), I frankly doubt that California, with its more than 300,000 restaurants total, has 697 vegetarian-only restaurants. Rather, I suspect that many of those are “vegetarian-friendly” rather than exclusively vegetarian.
In the early 1980s, finding a “vegetarian-friendly” restaurant was sometimes challenging, even though, as of 2020, my hometown of Washington, D.C. had more vegetarian restaurants per thousand people (54) than any state in the union. When we ventured from DC to central Pennsylvania to visit my grandmother, we had much more trouble dining out. Steak houses expect its customers to eat steak.
If I were to tell that New Orleans shopkeeper that I don’t eat fast food, she might be equally dismissive. I’m grateful for the vegetarian friendly eateries in my hometown of Davis, including at Sudwerk, where I get an Impossible Burger with avocado and the delicious scarlet citrus salad. We Californians are lucky to live in the “Salad Bowl of the World,” and I will continue to take full advantage of all the agricultural and cultural advantages of home. To use Twain’s verb, this Californian doesn’t have to “vegetate” in one little corner of the culinary world—there’s always something fresh to discover.
I run a pub quiz every Wednesday night in Davis, and I make my questions available to patrons via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster. I invite you to subscribe if you would like to support that project.
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Three questions from last week:
1. Moana. Starting with the letter P, what is the ancient setting for the 2016 film Moana?
2. Pop Culture – Music. Speaking of Moana and its music, Lin-Manuel Miranda has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning five, but he is not an EGOT. Which award does he need to become an EGOT?
3. Sports. What is the sport of American Lindsey Vonn?