Minneapolis a top Vegetarian city

SURVEY RANKS MINNEAPOLIS AMONG THE MOST VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY CITIES IN AMERICA

Minneapolis — Pizza Lucé, Ecopolitan, Triple Rock, and Café Brenda—these popular, vegetarian-friendly Minneapolis-area eateries have helped to establish Minneapolis as one of the most vegetarian-friendly cities in the United States. PETA’s national survey of vegetarian-friendly cities took into account the number of vegetarian restaurants, nonvegetarian restaurants with vegetarian selections, top vegetarian and vegan product sales, and extensive retail selections, and Minneapolis got high scores in each category.

A good place to start is Pizza Lucé, which has three locations in the Twin Cities and offers vegan cheese, sausage, and pepperoni as well as an awesome variety of vegetarian sandwiches, including its Special Spicy Mock Sausage Hoagie. The all-vegan Ecopolitan sells upscale raw and organic foods and cruelty-free, nontoxic home and body products. For something with a bit more edge, visit Triple Rock, a grungy, greasy-spoon punk bar that welcomes everyone while offering vegan White Russians, sloppy joes, and chili fries, plus fantastic vegan pancakes and French toast on weekend mornings. Café Brenda serves up the unique taste of mock duck in the Southwestern Mock Duck Taco and Ginger-Glazed Mock Duck Salad. Loaf around at the French Meadow Bakery and Café, where the bread is completely vegan and fresh-baked daily. And for some amazing Indian food, head to the all-vegetarian, award-winning Udupi Café in Columbia Heights.

Vegetarian food sales have doubled since 1998, hitting $1.6 billion in 2003, and the market is expected to grow another 61 percent by 2008. Twenty-four percent of college students ask for vegan options in school cafeterias, an indication that vegetarian diets are growing in popularity among young people. The American Dietetic Association has endorsed vegetarian diets, noting that vegetarians have lower rates of heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.

PETA took population into account and determined a per capita ratio of vegetarian restaurants. Cities with vegetarian organizations and food fairs received bonus points. Portland, Ore., was voted number one, Seattle was the first runner-up, and San Francisco captured third place. Rounding out the top 10 were New York; Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; and Chicago.

"Minneapolis is a mecca for people seeking healthy and delicious vegetarian food," says PETA Director of Vegan Campaigns Bruce Friedrich. "More and more people are making the switch to a vegetarian diet, and Minneapolis restaurants and other businesses are responding by offering more delicious vegetarian fare that appeals to everyone."

For more detailed information about the survey, please visit GoVeg.com
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Of course, I would add places like Galactic Pizza, Sawatdee , and several Vietnamese restaurants to the list of pro-veggie restaurants. But then the article might seem a bit long. All major grocery stores also include many veggie products and meat-alternatives in the Twin Cities. ( In the Uptown Rainbow the vegeterian Bush's Baked beans takes up twice the space of regular Bush's beans!)

But this is a slow evolution to a very vegetarian friendly city. But if prices for meats goes up dramatically , due to grain competition and lack of immigrant workers , this could be a catalyst for swifter change.