Did you know that the new Boy Scout handbook tells Scouts to try tofu, instead of meat, in campfire stews? Or that baseball stadiums around the country have added veggie dogs to their menus? Or that hip celebs like Roswell’s Shiri Appleby, and David Duchovny are vegetarian? Even stars who aren’t all-the-way veg are singing the praises of meat-free fare: Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar took a Rolling Stone reporter to L.A.’s Newsroom Café, which, she says, “has the best veggie burgers that you will ever eat.”

What’s the coolest veg food in the veggie universe? Soy milk! One of the best-selling brands, Silk, can be found in more than 80 percent of supermarkets. Other soy sightings: In an episode of the WB’s Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore buys a soy latte for her friend. Many coffee shops stock soy milk: Ask for it!

Pop princess Christina Aguilera has soy cheese catered in her dressing room while she’s on tour.

When asked her favorite flavor of ice cream, Madonna replied, “chocolate Tofutti.”

What’s going on? It’s no X-file: Going veg is the coolest trend in the universe! Here’s proof: Teen Research Unlimited found that 25 percent of teens nationwide say vegetarianism is “in.” According to Girl About Town magazine, animal suffering in the food industry is the number one reason people stop eating corpse cuisine.

Josie & The Pussycats’ Rachael Leigh Cook told In Style magazine: “I’m a vegetarian. One day six years ago, I realized that I hadn’t eaten meat for two weeks, and I kept going and found that I didn’t miss it.”

In his author bio in Quidditch Through the Ages—a book Harry Potter studies at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—Quidditch expert Kennilworthy Whisp (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling) says that one of his hobbies is “vegetarian cookery.”

When a California newspaper polled people on their favorite “comfort foods,” answers ranged from vegan hot dogs and soy milk to garbanzo beans and tofu.

Skins Aren’t In
Drew Barrymore, Moby, Prince, and other trend-setting celebs shun leather, and you can, too. Skin-free shopping is a cinch these days—dozens of hip designers and brands, including Unlisted, Delia’s, and Alloy, offer fashionable (and affordable) alternatives to the “real thing.”

The in/out list on Steve Madden’s Web site tells readers that faux fur is “cool” and real fur is “not cool.”

Brad Pitt recently confessed to Details magazine that someday he might “design a line of clothes like Puff Daddy, but all in synthetic fur.”

A card in the pocket of Mudd Jeans touts “veggie leather—’cuz animals are our friends!”

Fur was thoroughly dissed in a gURL.com “Dig or Dis” poll! At last check, only 195 respondents said they dig fur, while nearly 1,000 girls dissed it!