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Hogtown turns haven for vegans

CHICAGO: Hogtown has become a haven for tofu lovers, according to a new ranking of the most vegetarian friendly cities in the United States.

"Sure, Chicago was built on the slaughter industry, but we try not to let sordid pasts get in the way of bright futures," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wrote on its goveg.com website. "After all, the Windy City has come a long way since Upton Sinclair's bloody butcherfest, The Jungle."

At present, Chicago boasts more than 20 vegetarian restaurants, including the famous "Meat-Free Since '83" Chicago Diner, which PETA called "perhaps the best homestyle-vegetarian restaurant in North America."

Vegetarian options also grace scores of menus, including that of famed chef Charlie Trotter, who sparked a controversy last summer when he stopped serving foie gras because he considers it cruel.

The debate went as far as city hall where one alderman tried, and failed, to impose a city-wide ban on the goose livers that are enlarged through force-feeding.

Chicago ranked tenth on PETA's list of America's best vegetarian-friendly big cities, which was topped by Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and San Francisco.

The animal rights group said vegetarianism is a growing trend. Sales of vegetarian food have doubled since 1998, hitting $1.6 billion in 2003, and the market is expected to grow another 61 per cent by 2008, PETA said.

Nearly a quarter of college students now ask for vegan options in school cafeteria, PETA said. The American Dietetic Association has endorsed vegetarian diets because vegetarians have lower rates of heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.

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