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Business menu is meat-free, for free

By CHRIS KAHN
The Associated Press

SAM DEAN / AP Leo Griffiths and Vivian Porter help themselves to free vegetarian food at Cat Communications International in Roanoke, Va.

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ROANOKE, Va. — Telephone company Chief Executive Officer Norm Mason is a vegan and lifelong animal lover, so there was never any doubt what he'd offer at his company cafeteria.

Soy steaks and soy sloppy joes, veggie burgers, nachos and other meatless, eggless, butter-free delicacies are cooked daily using heavy bags of texturized vegetable protein.

If that doesn't sound so great, consider this: It's all free.

Mason says he created the "Vegeteria" out of concern for the well-being of his 200 employees at Cat Communications International. So he's giving them all the fresh vegetables, meat substitutes, cakes and drinks they could want.

"This was a way to say: 'Look, we don't feel it's right to have the flesh of an animal, an animal killed for your benefit,' " Mason said. "I see it no different than smoking. People are asked to go outside and smoke."

It also will teach them respect for animals, he said, a value symbolized by Lucille, the paralyzed dog he adopted that follows workers around on a little wheeled contraption.

Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said Mason is part of a growing number of vegetarian and vegan CEOs, including Steve Jobs of Apple Computers, Michael Eisner of Walt Disney Co., John Mackey of Whole Foods Market and Bill Ford of Ford Motor, who have made it easier for employees to eat meat-free.

"They haven't actually prohibited eating meat, but they've certainly increased exponentially the vegan offerings in their cafeterias," Friedrich said.

But Mason, a PETA member, wants to go beyond catering to current vegetarians. He sees a person's craving for meat as a nasty habit that can be broken. By providing free vegetarian lunches and stocking the room with information pamphlets about vegetarianism, Mason hopes to nudge his carnivorous employees toward a different lifestyle.
 
"We are, I think, addicted to the foods we are fed as children," he said. "It's the fat and the sugar and the salt in our food that becomes so addictive."

Mason, 60, gave up meat about 25 years ago after a period of soul-searching about the food on his plate.

Since then, he has grown increasingly serious about the vegetarian lifestyle after researching how many cows, pigs and chickens people could save in a lifetime by not eating meat, the percentages of Americans who are obese, the amount of degradation the meat industry inflicts on the environment, and more.

"It's pretty scary what we're doing to animals," he said.

Mason began offering vegetarian meals about four years ago. He also has established an Angels of Assisi office in the building that provides a discount spay and neuter service, an adoption center for cats and dogs, and a sanctuary for farm animals.

So far, however, Mason's carnivorous employees have been slow to reform.

"They have this thing called 'soyberry steak' instead of Salisbury steak," said Michaela Goodman, 19, a customer-service staff member, while delicately picking at a plate of corn and coleslaw.

"It just didn't seem right. The fake meat stuff is not for me. I tried the nachos, though, and that looked about the same. It was pretty good."

As she ate, workers filtered in and refilled soft drinks or nibbled on the cake. A few stopped in front of the platters of sloppy joes, potato soup and fried potato wedges.

Ginger Hinkley, 33, was more practical about her salad: "I'm not one of those veggies, but it's free. Where else could you work and they'd actually give you free food?"

A few disgruntled employees called a local television station to complain about not being able to bring meat into the Vegeteria. But Mason said they still can eat meat; they just have to take it into another company room. Or they could go out for lunch.

"I try to combine as much preaching with living by example," he said. "Nobody's forced to eat in the cafeteria. They can go somewhere else."

"But I hope through example, they would say, 'Hey, this is pretty good stuff.' "