If you get the feeling that everywhere you go you’re meeting new vegetarians, that’s because people all over the US are increasingly turning to vegetarian foods to benefit their health, the animals and the planet. Which means that restaurants everywhere are also catching on—especially in Baltimore!

While Baltimore’s small-town charm (despite being Maryland’s largest city) lends it the nickname “Smalltimore,” this city’s restaurants and restaurant-goers are BIG into vegetarian food. You’ll find dozens of eclectic cafes and popular eateries dishing out delicious meat-free fare to keep up with the increasing demand.

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of attending a cooking class taught by the one-of-a-kind entertainer and educator Chef AJ and fitness guru John Pierre. Not only was I treated to many tasty samples and three original songs by “Chef AJ and the Kalettes” about the importance of eating veggies, Chef AJ showed off with a head stand demonstrating that yes, you can have this much energy eating plant-based foods.

In The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food from an
Ordinary Dude,
YouTube cooking sensation Brian Patton shares
100 vegan recipes that are failure-proof, flavor-filled, and most of all, fun: “My
book is the ‘fun uncle’ of vegan cookbooks.

Mixed news on the “ag gag” front: this week, the Missouri House passed ag-gag bill HR 1860, meant to shut down whistleblowing investigations of factory farms.

April 20 Update: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sunday’s “Vegan Day” at Bread & Brew has unfortunately been cancelled. However, stop by ANY day during VegWeek to order anything off their vegan menu and 20% of your bill will still be donated to COK’s work for farmed animals!

While a growing number of restaurants are eager to tout more sustainable business practices, such as serving local foods or buying organic produce, perhaps the most important step that businesses can take to demonstrate their commitment to helping protect the planet is simply offering meat-, egg-, and dairy-free meals.

On Monday night, Takoma Park Mayor Bruce Williams signed
a Proclamation officially dedicating April 23-29 as VegWeek 2012 (read the Proclamation), which
also encourages residents to “choose vegetarian foods as way to help protect the
planet, their health, and animals.” To further show the city’s support for this
effort, Mayor Williams along with 4 other councilmembers—Kay Daniels-Cohen, Seth Grimes, Terry Seamens, and Fred Schultz—are
taking a 7-Day Veg Ple