Meatless in the Midwest: A Tale of Survival.

[FYI. For Your Interest.]

During a recent visit to the Ranchito Tex-Mex Cafe in Hugoton, Kan., a small community encircled by feedlots packed with cattle and the plants that process them, I inquired if the beans at the restaurant were prepared with meat.

“There’s no meat,” the waitress replied helpfully. “It’s just pinto beans smashed up with lard.”

Lard, of course, is rendered pork fat.

A day later and a day hungrier, a waitress at the Down-Town Restaurant in nearby Ulysses was more understanding and forthcoming about ingredients. The beans had lard. The rice had chicken stock. And on it went.

“You want a salad,” she finally declared.

This, for the record, is one of the great misconceptions of vegetarians. Most do not, in fact want a salad. We want something with a bit more substance.

But a salad it was. And yes, iceberg lettuce. Thankfully, no bacon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/dining/a-vegetarians-struggle-for...