At any given moment in Memphis, perhaps hundreds of pounds of barbecued pork are chopped up ready to be served dripping with sauce. Here this is considered art. Just across the border in Mississippi, ponds have been dug filled with catfish where cotton once grew. Weekends in the surrounding countryside, sportsmen and women find the Mid South full of duck and deer in the winter and lakes full of largemouth bass once hunting season ends. And the trip to the lake requires that Southern staple- fried chicken. Not getting hungry? Read on. Believe it or not, there are vegetarians here in this carnivorous city. The interest started out quietly enough. Another silly West-coast fad, many thought, when they first heard of the phenomena. They missed science class the day we learned humans were omnivores not herbivores was another view. They eat to survive, but we eat and enjoy. But vegetarianism and the stricter veganism (which also shuns eggs and dairy) is no fad. Many of our fellow omnivores live and live well off vegetables, fruits, roots and beans that can be mild or spicy or just downright tasty. For health, religious, ethical or just for preference they are part of the population and, yes, even in the Mid South. Asking around town, one restaurant came up as a popular vegetarian spot. La Montagne at 3550 Park. A fixture in the University area since about 1980, this place had a reputation for the green- eating consumer. Stepping into the door and eying the menu, I see the things that make a vegetarian happy ... like squash and tomato bisque but they share the menu with beef, fish, chicken and lamb. Vegetarians are a part of the clientèle and meatless items are big sellers, but they want everyone to feel welcome, said John Bragg, who has owned the restaurant since June. It is a dinner restaurant, in a converted house. It is dark with candles on the table and jazz coming out of the speakers. A date kind of place. "Let’s say your date is a vegetarian and you want steak," Bragg said. "I don’t think it’s (strictly vegetarian) big enough to devote an entire restaurant to, otherwise there would be a couple already," Jeanice Blancett found a historical connection to her vegetarian-friendly business, Square Foods, a health food market and cafe she opened at 2094 Madison in May 2002 in the place once occupied by, among other things, Wink Martindale’s restaurant. But she chose to open across the street from where The Squash Blossom opened in 1979 which she credits for creating the Memphis vegetarian movement. She is a former employee (Squash Blossom moved twice to other midtown locations then was bought out by Wild Oats in 1997 and the Midtown location was closed in March of 2000 ), but she is not a vegetarian. And that goes for roughly half of her 18 employees and many of her customers. "When I first opened I didn’t have any meat at all except for some ground turkey in the freezer. But it didn’t take long before people wanted free range turkey and fresh seafood," Blancett said. The idea is, of course, to stay in business and to make money. "We’re not going to impose a diet on anyone," she said. She sees a trend in the traditionally vegetarian businesses. "The movement is not so much being vegetarian but having high quality organic products available," Blancett said. Food producers have made it easier since those early days. A diner may have liked the concept, but not the thought of spending their days relegated to eating bean sprouts. "There are certain textures, flavors and smells people just don’t want to give up," she said. "You can get the vegetarian version of most anything" she said. Yes, that includes barbecue ribs, namely Riblet from Garden Burgers. Anecdotally, Blancett believes going vegan or vegetarian is a moral decision for the older and the younger vegetarians. In the middle, late baby boomers and early Gen. X’ers she believes are generally doing it for their health. "Forty-year-olds searching for the eternal youth are starting to feel the aches and pains," Blancett said. Some of the most health conscious people in the Mid South converged on Shelby Farms one clear morning ready to push their bodies to the limit. A 400 yard swim followed by a five mile off road bike ride followed by a two and a half mile run. Certainly a lot of vegetarians here, I thought. Well, not exactly. After the race a tray of meatless pasta and a tray of pasta filled with meat waited for the hungry racers to replace those lost calories. The tray of meat pasta was empty before the meatless tray was gone. The second meat tray was nearly finished while the first meatless tray was less than on half eaten. Looking for vegetarians here was like trying to find Republicans in Berkley, California. Watching who chose what at the serving line, I asked several of the racers if they were meatless. Replies were on the order of "this is the meatless pasta?" or "no." One racer, Memphian Richard Wansley, estimates with racing and training he burns "3-4,000 calories a day everyday," he said and finds it takes more than vegetables to fill him up. He does not know any of his fellow triathletes who are strict vegetarians, he said. Deborah Camp teaches a class "Animals and Society: Compassionate Living and Moral Imperatives" in the continuing education of Rhodes College. She and her husband, Michael Correll, are both vegetarians and have come to there lifestyle because "we can not condone the killing of an animal for food," Camp said. She added it is easier to say they chose the life style for health reasons because ethical vegetarians are looked at by others as somewhat odd. "You become viewed as an eccentric.. a communist or worse yet a liberal," Correll said. However the two say they have found as many health reasons for eschewing meat as there are ethical ones. Correll is repelled by the "chemical stew we are being force fed," when it comes to meat, particularly when it comes to fast food places. They see the dangers of mad cow disease, obesity and cancer they believe is a result of a meat eating culture. Correll joked that "most of the vegetarians have been run out of town," but the two have found many opportunities for for eating their greens in the self described "Pork Barbecue Capital of the World." Asian markets for the cook at home group and Asian restaurants for those who eat out are one place where vegetarians and meat eaters seem to be treated equally they said. The Mediterranean Market at 3561 Park is a good vegetarian store and there is Wild Oats at 5022 Poplar that is the Kroger’s of the health and organic food set. As midtowners, they spend a lot of time in Square Foods. For Suburbanites and those in the country, Guava at 1890 Berryhill in Cordova is another place on their list. These places come in handy for their Saturday night tradition ... homemade vegetarian Pizza. As vegetarians they believe Memphis is lacking in vegetarian fast food for people in a hurry. There are not enough healthy snack alternatives for vegetarians they said . More prepackaged vegan foods would also be helpful at the stores. The two would like most of all to see "more education in the schools on diet and nutrition," Michael Correll said. "KFC is so unhealthy and people live off that, " Camp added. They don’t see themselves as part of some sort of "vegetarian community" apart from everyone else, rather they see themselves as individuals. "Most of our friends are meat heads," Correll said. As firm as they are in their convictions they stay tolerant of others and now and then there are exceptions such as when meat is a small part of the dish and when not many alternatives exist. "When your 78-year-old dad takes you out for catfish we don’t say no," Camp said. So it is hard to say, other than just anecdotally, how vegetarian a city is Memphis. A couple organizations have lists of the most vegetarian cities and Memphis is not one of them. It is not a category on the census, but maybe the answer is a little bit everywhere but nowhere completely. Like the menu at La Montagne to and the grocery aisles at Square Foods, to the circle of friends from the vegetarian family, local herbivores live alongside a carnivores majority. Even traditional southern home cooking has its vegetable plate with blackeyed peas, corn and greens along side the chicken fried steak. As a "meat head" who has eaten a few Memphis barbecues in his days, I wanted to see how soy measured up to swine in making good barbecue, So I purchased the Riblet from Square Foods. Standing at Tom Lee Park, the sun had just set on the Mississippi River after a day of perfect weather. I bit in and, aside from being boneless, there was no difference between this and real meat. The sauce, flavor and texture told me this was barbecue. It was vegetarianism without the sacrifice for me or, for that matter, the pig. Maybe this easy vegetarianism will catch on, I was thinking. But it won’t be anytime soon the "Great American Barbecue Contest" will end and be replaced by "The Worldwide Memphis Salad Toss."
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