Beyond wheatgrass: vegan junk food is all the rage
 

LOS ANGELES: Vegan diets are considered by most as healthy and environmentally responsible, with celebrity poster children touting benefits like weight loss, clear skin and increased energy.

But even vegans -- who eschew all animal products like meat, eggs and dairy -- crave junk food.

As the movement becomes more and more popular, temptations including donuts, pizza and mock hamburgers allow vegans to eat just as badly as everybody else.

"There are a lot of unhealthy options. It´s hard to resist at first," Jessica McCully, 28, said at a vegan food festival in the Los Angeles area, a fake chicken taco in her hand.

McCully is a new convert to "mock meat" thanks to her girlfriend, and says that in just two months of adopting a vegan diet, she feels happier and "more energetic."

According to a Harris Interactive study, between seven and eight million Americans identify as vegan, especially in the US epicenter of clean eating, California.

Today´s animal product-free diet goes beyond the stereotypical lentils and gra**la, with restaurants offering gourmet vegan dishes like watermelon salad with almond cheese and toasted pistachios, or zucchini flowers stuffed with macadamia ricotta.

Of course, the diet is **t all haute cuisine -- there are also plenty of restaurants serving "comfort" vegan food, including tofu or mock meat that has been breaded and fried.

Los Angeles even holds an annual "Vegan Oktoberfest" -- allowing vegans to imbibe while sampling from an assortment of indulgent snacks.

- **t just carrots and celery -

At the vegan food fair in Anaheim, a suburb of LA, bowls of qui**a are hard to find.

Lori Whitaker, a long-limbed blonde with a golden complexion, stood in line at one stand to buy a pizza.

"I like my junk food; I won´t lie," the 54-year-old said. Today, she said, "you can get a vegan pizza, a vegan taco -- I think this is great because a lot of people think vegans eat only celery and carrots."

In LA´s hipster Silver Lake neighborhood, Donut Farm sells sugary, fried confections just like every other donut shop -- but their treats in trendy flavors like green tea and salted caramel are vegan.

"I think a vegan option is still going to be a bit more healthier," said sales person Chris Boss, who said the bakery´s recipes call for organic flours and sugar, and ingredients like coconut milk.

The treats do have less cholesterol and ** trans-fats, he added.

But at the end of the day, "it´s a ball of fried dough with lots of calories," Boss said.

- ´Horror and compassion´ -

Many converts to veganism cite health reasons, but support for animal rights remains a key motivation.

"Usually it´s with horror at how our factory farming works," said Annie Jubb, a vegan lifestyle consultant. "It´s motivated by horror and compassion."

But Jubb admits that **t all vegans are healthy.

"They could be eating chips and fried food," she said. "Eating soy burgers, soy bacon three times a day... soy is **t a health food."

The orthodox vegan, who counts Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio as one of her past clients, allows herself the occasional indulgence, ordering in a comfort food staple -- vegan mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy.

"We´re in this business to provide people healthy, **urishing food," said Ryland Engelhart, co-owner of Cafe Gratitude, a California chain of "plant-based" restaurants serving dishes like faux chorizo sandwiches and chocolate-pollen smoothies.

"But you can´t expect people to jump overnight to a diet of kelp **odle salad with bean sprouts and sauteed tempeh," he said.

Still, Engelhart said, vegans need to be careful to maintain a balanced diet just like everyone else.

"It can get to a point where we´re **t just transitioning people, but maintaining them into being satiated by **n-meat junk food," he said. "It is still junk food."

The Cafe Gratitude team, though, leans medicinal: at its sister restaurant, the Mexican-themed Gracias Madre, cocktails include ingredients like essential oil of cannabis.

"We are all about plants, right?" said Engelhart with a smile.

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