Toronto's vegetarian culture has been flourishing in recent years. As of 2008, Toronto boasted 54 vegetarian restaurants (20 more than we had only five years ago), more than New York City (gasp!) has per capita, but still lagging behind west coast cities like Vancouver and Seattle.
Of course, fully vegetarian restaurants are not necessarily the best indicator of how veg-friendly a city is. Toronto's multicultural flair means that cuisines from countries whose diets are not so meat-intensive as North America are readily available here. Ethiopian Misir Wot stew with spongy injera on your lunch break? No problem. Szechwan garlic-chili eggplant at 1am on a Tuesday? You can have it here.
And then there's the food fair. That thousands of Torontonians, both herbivores and omnivores alike, come flocking to Harbourfront every year to sample wares from local vegetarian vendors is testament to our passion for good food, better health, cultural diversity, and less meat on our plate.
The impact of choosing a vegetarian meal echoes far beyond our individual well-being as well. TVA volunteer Steve Leckie shared some sobering statistics with me recently; it takes seven times more land to produce food for the average meat-eating Canadian than for a vegetarian (3.5 acres compared to half an acre). Typically, 360 trees will grow on one acre of land. If that's not enough environmental incentive, consider this staggering fact: livestock production accounts for 18% of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions—that's more than all of the world's motor vehicles.
In addition, skipping the meat saves farm animals from lives of intense suffering. In 2007, Canadians consumed 686 million farm animals (that's about 21 per person). Conditions in the large-scale factory farms required to meet such unsustainable consumption levels are extremely grim—animals are subjected to overcrowded conditions, painful procedures and dangerous drugs. Even for those of us that do not adopt a vegetarian diet, reducing meat consumption and using our consumer power to demand humane and sustainable farming operations has an enormous impact on animal welfare and environmental health.
A friend visiting from a mid-sized U.S. city last month commented, while we were wandering around the city, "I can't believe how much good vegetarian food you have here. You're so LUCKY!" While she's right, I think there's more to it than luck; we're making better choices all the time, Toronto, and it shows. Be sure to come down this weekend and support the food fair and all the vendors that help make these choices possible.
