Where's the beef? As if to avoid at least one of the three
certainties in life (death, taxes and cholesterol), today's
teens are turning into vegetarians. But the dietary switch seems
less a pursuit of better health than a desire for a better
world.
"Most young people become vegetarians out of concern for
animals and the environment," says Sally Clinton, coordinator
of How on Earth!, a youth-produced ecology magazine.
"They realize that a vegetarian diet is much more
earth-friendly."
"Today's teenagers are a pretty savvy group of
kids," echoes Jennie Collura, president of the North American
Vegetarian Society. "And they know a lot more about the
environment and ecology issues than people did several generations
ago."
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Although green-eating teens remain an elusive group to track,
the Northbrook, Illinois-based marketing firm Teenage Research
Unlimited reports that 35 percent of girls and nearly 20 percent of
boys think being vegetarian is "in."
But what happens if carrots lose their cool? Or if corn becomes,
well, corny? Will these youngsters remain evergreen as they get
older?
Clinton thinks so. "I feel they will continue [with
vegetarianism] because it's based in ethics for them-it's
not just a fad."
Pass the broccoli, please.
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