Ah, life in a rural area. I was doing a search for something else, and here is what Google helpfully provided:
Okay, so we have:
1. Coffee. (Check!)
2. A cattle ranch that sells hay. I can’t decide if this is “You’re a vegetarian? Perhaps you would like to buy some delicious hay!” or “Cows are vegetarian.”
3. Jesus freaks.
Welcome to Skagit County!
(I’m actually kind of curious about “Adventist Book Center and Vegetarian Foods.” I guess my question is, are they running a vegetarian cafe in their book store? And how would that be different from any other book store cafe, because it’s not like you can walk into a coffee shop and order a Philly Cheesesteak.
Or is it a book store with a small selection of vegetarian foods you can buy? Like Triscuits and canned peaches? And how could you sell “vegetarian foods” with a straight face like that? It’s just across the street from Haggen, for pity’s sake.)
There are exactly ZERO vegetarian establishments in my county. There are farmers’ markets and there are co-ops and there are community farms, but if you want to go out to eat you are pretty much confined to burgers and chicken and steak and Friday fish fries unless you leave the county.
Not that there is anything wrong with that…
Strict 7th Day Adventists were among the first American vegetarians. They have religious reasons for not eating meat or animal fats.
Their bookstores often also have a grocery section with packaged foods that are 100% free of animal products so that Adventists can have an alternative to perusing every label at the regular grocery store.
Oh okay, so this is like a real thing, not just some odd bookstore with a wacky idea for a new revenue stream! Sometimes it is hard to tell out here.
The Adventists I’ve known have not been proselytizers (did I even come close in that spelling?). So even though you might be surrounded by Adventist philosphy, you wouldn’t get it from your waitress.
I am seriously considering some delicious hay for dinner now. Or perhaps a light snack? ROTFL.
What other folks said about the Adventists. My parents have friends who are Adventists. They do not (AFAIK) proselytize, and there are a number of vegetarian products produced for/by them.
(In my parents’ town, some of the larger groceries sell some of the products – Loma Linda is one brand). Not sure how good the products are, they looked like typical canned food things (I think one product was a vegetarian tamale?), but at least they’re available.
Yup. There was a Seventh Day Adventist hospital near where grew up. They had a reputation for having great (vegetarian) food. I don’t know about the quality of medical care.
Of course, I see the map and my brain goes “Oh, wait, Erika lives nearby? I thought she was across the country…”
I live near Mount Vernon (George Washington’s home), and work in Washington, DC – so “Mount Vernon, WA” didn’t register as far away until the second cup of coffee.
*Sigh!*
this blog has been a fascinating source of unusual information on all sorts of topics.
Now I know more about Seventh Day Adventists. Thanks guys!
Ok, so I got curious and looked them up and saw what they have. Let me say – Not tasty looking. I’m not vegetarian but I eat a lot of vegetarian meals and products and these looked more like the sort of canned goods you would try to steer clear of. “Stake”, “Skallops” and Fried Chik’n in a can. Who knows though they might be one of those surprising looks bad tastes great things.
http://www.vegefood.com/store/
“Skallops” made me LOL. That mock fried chicken in a can is downright disturbing, though.
“I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see one. And look, here’s Magnetbox and Sorny!”