Vegan CEO Offers Meat-Free Cafeteria

[theoceansnerves]

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) -- For telephone company CEO Norm Mason, a vegan and lifelong animal lover, there was never any doubt what he'd offer at his company cafeteria. Soy steaks and soy sloppy joes, veggie burgers, nachos and other meatless, eggless, butter-free delicacies are cooked daily using heavy bags of texturized vegetable protein. If that doesn't sound so great, consider this: It's all free.

Mason says he created the "Vegeteria" out of concern for the well-being of his 200 employees of Cat Communications International. So he's giving them all the fresh vegetables, meat substitutes, cakes and drinks they could ever want.

"This was a way to say: 'Look, we don't feel it's right to have the flesh of an animal, an animal killed for your benefit,'" Mason said. "I see it no different than smoking. People are asked to go outside and smoke."

It also will hopefully teach them respect for animals, he says, a value symbolized by Lucille, the paralyzed dog he adopted that follows workers around on a little wheeled contraption.

...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FIT_VEGETERIA?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[rednek_Liberal]

1. Hrggmgmgm Me make Fire Cook Meat...

texturized vegetable protein...mmmmm no I'd rather eat roadkill.
besides if we dont eat the animals, they will overpopulate, become intelligent and eat us.Its either us or them man, their either with us or against us.

[glitch]

2. I don't know this guy

but I love him.
:loveya:

[madrchsod]

3. anything is better than lunch room

mystery meat....

[Dogmudgeon]

4. "If you work for me ... "

" ... you'll live the lifestyle I mandate. For I am the Boss."

--bkl

[theoceansnerves]

5. he's not mandating anything.

you can eat your meat shit in another room besides the cafeteria.
and the cafeteria is completely free. geez.

"I try to combine as much preaching with living by example," Mason said. "That's why the cafeteria is free. Nobody's forced to eat in the cafeteria. They can go somewhere else. If they want to spend their money, that is their right.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. "... that is their right."

Sounds like another version of "Freedom of the Press belongs to those who own the Press" with its invariable Libertarian refrain, "...and rightly so!"

Sorry, but some of us fear the politicization of eating habits with the same dread as politicization of sexual and romantic preferences. And I have "gone vedge" for two periods in my life totaling about six years, so I'm not exactly without experience in food ideologies.

This isn't about meat or the lack thereof. It's about a moral crusade over food. Such crusades will bring us nothing but grief. Whether over obesity, meat, processed foods, carbohydrate content or whatever else, that way lies destruction.

We spent 2500 years crusading against "wicked" sexuality. Spending the next 2500 years crusading over food would bring similar misery.

--bkl

[theoceansnerves]

7. right, he owns the cafeteria.

how many places have you worked that even had a cafeteria, let alone a free one? if he didn't have a cafeteria they'd be buying crap at burger king or mcdonalds. the cafeteria is FREE and provides healthy food. he didn't politicize foods, the meat industry and global conglomerates did. i cannot believe you have a problem with him providing free vegan food to his workers.

[govegan]

10. grow up.

I think it is about brains or a lack thereof.

Why argue over such an obviously innocent endeavor?

Do you fear the freedom of others?

[LastDemocratInSC]

8. A few years ago my mother was in a Seventh Day Adventist hospital ...

The Seventh Day Adventists are strict vegetarians and I LOVED the food in the hospital cafeteria. If I had someone who knew how to cook like that, or if I could do so, I wouldn't be the omnivore I currently am. They had the best food.

They had "stroganoff" (yes, generically labeled) made from soy and noodles and sauce that was as good as any I've had in a good Italian restaurant. They had "chicken with rice" that was pure soy (with rice) and as good as Mom ever made.

The Adventists have advanced vegetarian cooking to an art.

They forbid caffeine in their hospital, of course, so my sister and I went wandering around trying to find a real coffee maker. We ran into a lab tech and told her of our quest ... she took us deep into the recesses of the clinical lab on the basement floor and there we found the fount of consciousness.

They make great food but lousy coffee. Hey, one out of two ain't bad.

[Kolesar]

12. That's a great story!

You made me smile. You made me hungry, too.

[Nihil]

9. Nice idea!

I'm an omnivore but I like the occasional vegetarian meal if it's done
properly so something like this sounds like a great thing to do ...
not only providing free food but - by the sound of it - doing a good
job of introducing vegetarian food to people who have probably only
encountered the "deep-fried nut cutlet" level before.

If it's not to your taste, don't have it (same as people who choose to
avoid pork for religious grounds or vegetarians who choose not to have
meat for whatever reason). As long as it's not forced on people but
given as a chance to try something different then I can't see a problem
with this at all.

Nihil

[AzureWaves]

11. I think thats great!

I am only a recent vegetarian (only for the past couple years) and I've never felt better since I've gone this way. The only dairy I even eat is cheese (though starting to eat vegan cheese), so I'm nearly a vegan, and everything I eat is delicious! I'm lucky here in California that every restraunt I've ever gone to has vegetarian options, and I think that having an all veggie caferia would be great!

[Canavar]

13. Great initiative!

www.veganoutreach.org

[planetwarming]

14. Vegetarianism and Global Warming

Becoming vegetarian is one of the best way to reduce your impact on global warming. Check it out:
http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/food.htm

[Canavar]

15. So you're an environmentalist... Why are you still eating meat?

That's the name of another great article pointing out the environmental benefits of vegan and vegetarian diets.

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?142