Last week, Washington was overwhelmed by what many claim to be the greatest culinary innovation ever to come out of American kitchens: barbeque. This celebration of the grill—and all other things carnivorous—was part of the annual D.C. Meat Week. But after a week’s worth of fatty protein, D.C.’s vegetarian and vegan community is striking back, combatting some of that high cholesterol with the second annual D.C. Meat-Free Week.
Running until Feb. 13, this year’s schedule is packed with a variety of events designed to showcase the best of D.C. meat-free living. There are numerous opportunities to sample dishes and learn more about vegetarian cooking, from a meet-and-greet on Friday with Kim O’Donnell, author of The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook, to a special vegetarian food truck bonanza on Thursday, to lunch with Lindsay Nixon, author of The Happy Herbivore, at Café Green on Saturday afternoon. After filling up on more tofu than many will see in their lifetimes, participants can continue the experience by submitting their photos to the D.C. Vegan blog for the chance to win the vegetarian version of a prized ham—a large box of organic fruits and vegetables from Washington’s Green Grocer.
If you’re unsure about whether or not you can give up Five Guys and chicken finger Thursdays, Amber McDonald, the founder of Meat-Free Week, suggests that you “challenge yourself.”
“You’ll be surprised,” she said. “You can win friends with salad.”
McDonald gave some further moral incentive to all Washingtonians—whether carnivores, omnivores, pescatarians, vegetarians, or vegans—to participate in the celebration.
“At the same time that you improve your own health, you’ll benefit the planet, lessen animal suffering, and enjoy some of D.C.’s very best restaurants,” she said.
In addition to providing the chance to expand your restaurant repertoire beyond Wisey’s and Tuscany, special Meat-Free Week events also benefit the D.C.-based nonprofit, “Compassion Over Killing,” which works to end animal abuse, particularly in agriculture.
From supporting animal rights to trying a new variation on vegetarian cuisine, D.C.’s Meat-Free Week offers a fresh take on the non-carnivorous life. It’s a challenge, for sure, but D.C. residents are proving that vegetarianism is not only possible, but enjoyable. Meat, meet your match.
