[Kuala Lumpur, September 2. Image via Getty]

An activist from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) promotes vegetarianism while clad in full lenght gown made of lettuce leaves in front of a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on September 2, 2009. AFP PHOTO / Saeed Khan (Photo credit should read SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

[Tokyo, August 3. Image via Getty]

Members from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia-Pacific wear outfits made out with real lettuce leaves and hold signs that read 'Save the Planet, Go Vegetarian,' as they greet passersby in downtown Tokyo on August 3, 2009. PETA said that switching to a vegetarian diet is the most effective way that anyone can do to fight climate change and reduce environmental destruction. AFP PHOTO/Kazuhiro NOGI (Photo credit should read KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)

Wyntergrace, whose dad is TV personality Montel Williams, writes:

I'm a big fan of yours. It seems that we have a few things in common. We all love dogs, live on the East Coast, have fantastic moms and maternal grand moms and both of our dads are quite famous. In our household we also eat healthy foods and I am working on a school project to get healthier foods in schools across the country. I would love for you to join my campaign and sign my petition and encourage other students and families to follow our own and respective families' lead.

Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has been working with Wyntergrace, lobbying for change. He says: "President Obama's daughters attend a private school that offers healthy vegetarian options that all students should have access to. But most schools only provide meatless meals if Congress pushes them to do so." Wyntergrace went vegetarian four years ago, but claims she never liked meat. According to US News & World Report, "Even at Thanksgiving, when her parents would urge her to eat traditional turkey, she'd balk, saying that turkeys shouldn't have to die to celebrate Thanksgiving."

You can read Wyntergrace's full letter here. The White House has no comment. But can you blame them? Malia is 11. Sasha is turning 8. Though their father has been elected to public office, the girls are technically private citizens. Should they really be expected to take a public position on any cause, even something as positive as healthy lunch?

One thing is for sure: If media-savvy Wyntergrace intended to get some attention for her campaign by using the girls' names, she succeeded.

Malia and Sasha Obama Urged To Join Veggie Campaign [US News & World Report]

Related: Healthy School Lunches [Official Site]
Related, sorta: How To Raise A Foodie [Strollerderby]

"Vegetarianism is an eating disorder," Coren writes, "It's a better eating disorder than many others, because at least it doesn't make you fat, and in general it doesn't cause you to wither away and die. But it does make you pale, and flaky, and unbelievably tedious to be around." First of all, no. Vegetarianism is not an eating disorder. Yes, it is true that many people with eating disorders will claim vegetarianism as a means to cut out several foods from their diets and excuse themselves from meat-laden meals, but to lump vegetarianism, a CHOICE, in with anorexia and bulimia, which are full-blown mental illnesses, is a bit offensive and ultimately ridiculous.

If Coren's argument was that vegetarianism, in certain cases, can be a symptom of an underlying eating disorder, I'd say he was right. But Coren argues that all vegetarians are simply attempting to adhere to a vegetarian lifestyle as a means of putting up a giant finger to the world: "It's why so many vegetarians have tattoos and exotic piercings (you know it's true). It's why anarchists, squatters, G20 protesters and art students are usually vegetarians. Frustrated that they cannot, and never will, control the world, or anything else of any significance, they starve themselves and carve holes in their bodies." Coren also notes that most vegetarians are girls, "because vegetarianism is a way of controlling one's food intake without drawing attention to one's vanity."

Coren argues that vegetarianism (as well as food allergies) is just a means of drawing attention to one's self, and states that maybe we'd all be better off if we stopped making a big deal about what we were eating, and just had a little meat now and then. He also pulls out the extremely tired (and debatable) "Hitler was a vegetarian, and he was crazy!" argument as a means to tie not eating meat with being a sociopath of sorts. "Meat tastes good. It carries vitamins and minerals with a unique efficiency that is critical to the maintenance of a healthy life. And it gives pigs, quite literally, a reason to live."

Perhaps Coren has never met a vegetarian who is sane, eats a proper amount of food, and maintains a healthy, meat-free lifestyle. Or maybe he didn't bother asking any vegetarians why they don't eat meat, as many people don't eat meat for religious reasons, or because of their stance on animal rights. The moral, spiritual, and ethical reasoning behind vegetarianism goes far beyond Coren's view that all vegetarians are attention-seeking tattooed anorexic anarchists who would rather ruin society than eat meat. Albert Einstein, on the other hand, once said, "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

I think I'll go with Einstein on this one. Thanks anyway, Giles.

Do A Pig A Favour! Ban Vegetarianism Now! [TimesOnline]

Times writer Kara Jesella notes that many '70s feminists even used the phrase "I don't want to be a piece of meat. I'm not going to eat a piece of meat," as a rallying cry.

But, if vegan activists are speaking out about not eating meat for environmental reasons, should they be happy that more alpha males are eschewing steak because they see scantily clad women promoting that lifestyle? Despite their beliefs about sexual objectification? The question boils down to: do the means justify the ends? And speaking of ends, the appeal of veganism to the heterosexual bore might not be very strong in the first place: Johnny Diablo has already put his Gentleman's club up for sale because of poor attendance.

The Carrot Some Vegans Deplore [New York Times]

Earlier: Can Female Vegetarians And Male Carnivores Ever Find True Foodie Love?

Maybe it's just me — and I'm already anticipating the hate comments I will get about this — but something about a man refusing to eat meat seems sort of...sissy-like. I realize it's probably cultural brainwashing, but when I hear the phrase "male vegetarian", I picture a dude with matted dreads and a patchouli stink who cries when a tree is felled. In short: I picture a hippie, and I cannot hold with hippies. Take the male vegetarian and Florida real estate agent quoted in the Times, Ben Abdalla, 42, who says he prefers to date fellow vegetarians because meat eaters smell bad and have low energy." Anyone using the word "energy"? Definitely a hippie.

To be fair, these are not entirely fair assumptions about men who shun meat. But they are real. An (admittedly old) study commissioned by the Vegetarian Times conducted way back in 1992 found that "of the 12.4 million people who call themselves vegetarian, 68 percent are female while only 32 percent are male." (We're looking for more recent statistics.) And the women at Feministing, in fact, have an fascinating post about a set of new Maxim-like PETA ads which assert that (in their words) "it's okay to buck the stereotype of Real Men Eat Red Meat, because here are some naked ladies to reassure you that you're still a superhetero manly man!" (Plus, there's an entire book called The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol Adams, which apparently intertwines feminism and vegetarianism. Go figure!)

I also polled the other Jezebels, and honestly, most are a little prejudiced against the idea of a male vegetarian. Moe admits that she's "prejudiced against sissies but would date a vegetarian... only if he wasn't a sissy about it though. Like, no freaking out about chicken boullion or whatever." Tracie says she converted a vegan to a full blown flesh-eater: "My ex was a vegan for 10 years when we met and I used to use eggs and chicken stock in recipes after a while and not tell him. Then I got him to eat fish and now he eats steak like every day. I changed him for the better." And Jennifer? She says, she's only gone out with one vegetarian in her lifetime. "I met him at yoga class," she says. "He was a sissy. Hence the reason we only went on three dates. That and he was a really bad kisser."

Then you have someone like my brother, who only ate meat and potatoes growing up, and is now married to a vegetarian. She won't cook meat herself, but she is never judgmental about it when my brother orders a burger, proving that love can conquer carnivorous instincts. Question is, how much of a dealbreaker is a person's issues with food? And how often do people put aside major dietary differences for true romance?

I Love You, But You Love Meat [New York Times]

Related: The Sexual Politics Of No Meat [Feministing]
The Gender Gap: If You're A Vegetarian, Odds Are You're A Woman. Why? [Find Articles]

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