Vegetarians

Animal-rights activism group PETA has come out with yet another inflammatory campaign. This year, they kicked their off Halloween festivities a few weeks early: On Saturday, more than 100 people gathered outside a Herald Square KFC dressed as blood-drenched zombies, holding signs that said, "I'd rather be dead than eat at KFC!"

The protest was part of the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, which addresses concerns about KFC suppliers' treatment of chickens on farms and slaughterhouses. "Even flesh-eating zombies have nothing on the Colonel's cruelty," says PETA's Dan Shannon. "We're urging consumers not to set foot inside a KFC restaurant until the company stops these abuses."

Did any of you see the protest? Do you consider it to be effective at sending an important message, or is it just another obnoxious PETA ploy?

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Animal-rights organization PETA is known for its head-turning campaigns, and its latest one is no different. PETA Asia Pacific's newest ads feature model-actress Alicia Mayer in a lingerie set holding a suggestive banana, provoking, "Eating meat got you down? Get it up! Go vegetarian." PETA states:

A man who stuffs his belly full of dead pig flesh in the kitchen might end up delivering dead wood in the bedroom. High cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, prostate cancer and inflammation, and hormonal imbalances cause the vast majority of all cases of impotence. The good news is that medical science has proved that all of these conditions can be virtually eliminated with a low-fat vegan diet.

My guess is that this campaign is part of an effort by PETA to turn more guys into vegetarians. After all, masculinity has long been associated with eating meat. While I find the ad entertaining, I'm not sure it will be enough to convert insecure men. Do you find the tagline amusing or offensive? And could you see it converting more males into vegetarians?

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Last week we introduced you to the gastrosexual, a macho man who enjoys spending time in the kitchen, and today I bring you the predicament of the male vegetarian. While masculinity is often associated with meat-eating, a recent Guardian article by vegetarian Barbara Ellen argues that being a male vegetarian requires more manliness than being a carnivore:

In this hostile, ultra-macho, morally arid climate, to stand up and be counted as a male vegetarian must require cojones of immense size, much bigger balls, in fact, than your average carnivorous wimp, who just goes along with the crowd. So pity him no longer, for it could be that the male vegetarian is suddenly looking kind of sexy again.

I think she makes a good point and it's interesting to note that a man's masculinity goes hand in hand with his eating habits. What do you think about the topic? Are male vegetarians more or less macho than their meat-eating counterparts?

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• Learn all about flavor enhancing, nutty brown butter. — Baking Bites
• How the television show Check Please has affected the restaurant scene. — Gourmet
• Recent studies prove it's bad to go to McDonald's when you're hungry. — Serious Eats
• What exactly does the term "short" mean in baking? — The Kitchn
• News to me: vegetarians who enjoy the smell of bacon! — Slate
• The majority of you grill year round, so be sure to check out these ten tips for successful grilling. —Chow
• Amy's not the only one, I too, am crazy for Spain's scrumptious conservas. — Cooking With Amy

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PETA2, PETA's answer for reaching out to the younger folks, has scoured the country for the most vegetarian friendly colleges nationwide. To see if your school or alma mater makes the top ten, read more

• Looks like Disney's cashing in on Ratatouille by launching their own branded wines and cheese platters. - Serious Eats



• Cooking hot dogs just got a little bit cuter thanks to the barking hot dog cooker. - Baking Bites
• PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has given the title of "sexiest vegetarian" to Carrie Underwood and Kevin Eubanks. - Slashfood
• I love sushi, but even I might think twice about horse meat sushi. - Chow
• If you're interested, here's a list of restaurants where this season's Top Chef contestants worked. - Zagat
• Harold McGee's amazing On Food and Cooking is now fully indexed online. - Apartment Therapy Kitchen
• Three new Chinese cookbooks will let you bring authentic recipes home. - Culinate
• If you're planning a trip and want to take your own chopsticks, here are six sets of travel chopsticks to choose from. - NotCot

Protein is essential for many bodily processes, including building and repairing tissue. You use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Plus, your hair and nails are mostly made up of protein. It is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.

Protein is made of smaller components called amino acids, 12 of which are manufactured by the human body. Another 9, called essential amino acids, must be obtained from food.

A complete protein or whole protein is a protein that contains all of the essential amino acids.

All animal proteins are complete, including red meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy. Vegetarians will be happy to know that complete proteins can also be obtained through certain plants, such as soy, spirulina, hemp seed, amaranth, buckwheat, and my fave quinoa.

Foods can be combined to make complete proteins like pairing beans with rice or corn. There are other combinations as well. Beans and seeds, beans and nuts, and beans and grains will form a complete protein. When you eat hummus and pita bread, nut butter on whole grain bread, pasta with beans, veggie burgers on bread, split pea soup with whole grain bread, and tortillas with refried beans, you are eating complete proteins.

Fit's Tips: Recent studies show that the beans and the grains don't even need to be eaten at the same meal, so if you eat beans for lunch and rice with dinner, you've got yourself a complete protein. You may spread your food combination over a 2-day period.