Veggie dogs in ballparks

There is more happy news today. Or I should write, 'Soy Happy' news. As vegetarianism becomes increasingly mainstream, a Tuesday, April 12, Washington Times story headline tells us "Baseball menu at RFK a victory for vegetarians." You can view the front page image at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/frontpage.htm

The story opens: "Veggie dogs and chardonnay are in. Cotton candy and lemonade are out. The veggie dog and three types of wine, with more traditional baseball fare like hot dogs, soft pretzels, soda and beer, will be sold in the booths and portable stands throughout Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium for the Washington Nationals' home opener Thursday night."

It tells us: "Aramark Corp., the Philadelphia food-services company that runs the concessions at RFK Stadium, put the vegetarian item on the menu after lobbying efforts from a Berkeley, Calif., vegetarian-advocacy group called Soy Happy. Johanna McCloy, who heads the group, said she has worked with 10 other Major League Baseball (MLB) stadiums since 2000 to get the veggie dog on their menus.
Ms. McCloy said she is seeing a change in the character of stadium concessions.

There is a quote from McCloy, an animal advocate who finds that health and nutrition are her strongest selling points in her push to get veggie food items into major entertainment venues : "There is this old view that greasy fare sells and people expect it. And those items are great, but more fans are aware of nutritional content in food and they want healthier items."

I have shared, above, the sections that deal with vegetarian items -- you can read the whole article on line at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/business/20050411-114952-9586r.htm

You can learn more about the drive to get veggie dogs into ballparks, and how you can help, at: http://www.soyhappy.org/

The front page story provides a great opportunity for supportive letters. The Washington Times takes letters at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/contact-us/
(Choose letter to the editor from the pulldown menu.)

And if your ballpark is not one of the dozen on Soy Happy's list of parks that sell them, how about a letter to your local editor, during baseball season, saying how badly veggie dogs are needed? If you have any trouble finding the email address for your local paper I am always happy to help, and I am always happy to edit letters. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor.


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)