I was really in the mood for breakfast. That's what my son and I usually do on Saturday morning.

He had another idea, however.

Sushi X.

This kid really knows how to pick them.

He assured me there would vegetarian fare among the incredible number of dishes and types of sushi that this amazing little West Haven restaurant makes. He was right about that too.

The waitress, Chloe, also made a point of pointing out salads, soups, appetizers and other items that contained no meat.

And these turned out to be little bits of veggie heaven. The sweet potato appetizer was sweet and crunchy, the seaweed salad was a heap of green goodness, the soup was loaded with fresh veggies and the avocado and cucumber rolls tasted so fresh one could imagine Sushi X has a garden out back.

I am not one much for promoting products - it can be fraught with pitfalls - but in this case I am going give a thumbs up to Sushi X.

I realize it serves a lot of fish - which I would never eat - but this Capt. Thomas Boulevard eatery also readily serves up a menu full of animal free offerings.

The one warning I must give is that Sushi X's menu is an all-you-can-eat deal - and if you go be prepared to make sure you don't order more than you can eat. They don't like waste, and that's a credo I like too.

Everyone is talking about Steve Jobs this week, and while I am not really grooving on the name of the new Apple product, (I am not alone - Google it) it turns out Steve is a vegetarian. Now, I know his real job is coming up with products we all have to have, but it's nice that since he has that job it gives the vegetarian lifestyle a high profile plug.

Read about it here

There is something about being a vegetarian that both sets you apart from some people and connects you to others.

Maybe because I so often feel set apart from people who eat meat that the immediate connection to other vegetarians is so clear.

I was at a social gathering recently and while being a vegetarian had nothing to do with the reason for the party, the host did make a point of making sure there were veggie-only foods there and he even made homemade potato soup that was out of this world.
While I chatted with people at the party, however, it somehow came up with one woman that I am a vegetarian and she is a vegan.

Was this the reason we hit it off so well? I am not sure.

But we became friendly enough that we chatted about how hard it is to find veggie restaurants - and how interesting it can be that we are so often the subject of apparently good natured ribbing by everyone from friends to co-workers. We touched on the fact that we wonder why so many people who do eat meat seem to bring up the subject of our veggie-ism so often - and we never came to a real conclusion. Neither of us criticize meat eaters - but some meat eaters seem to enjoy taking the vegetarian lifestyle to task.

We had both experienced it.

The bond grew strong enough in a short time that we made plans to try out a vegetarian/vegan restaurant together. I hope we do it one day, and I hope our husbands join us - they are two meat eaters who don’t feel the need to try to convince us to go back to the dark side.

One year and counting, one man's commitment to a humane way of life

By Joel Marks

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think you want to torture and kill an animal, or see anybody else do it, or have anybody else do it for you.
You are also informed enough to know that the food you eat is likely the result of extreme cruelty to animals.
That last sentence presumes that you are not a vegan, given how few vegans there are. So it looks like you are caught up in some kind of contradiction, does it not?
Believe me, I know what it’s like. For most of my 60 years on this planet I have known that there are slaughterhouses, and yet I continued to eat various animal products.
It is only relatively recently, however, that I learned that during the course of my lifetime, animal agriculture has become completely mechanized.
Hardly any meat, milk, cheese or egg that you can eat today comes from an animal that has lived a normal life. Most likely the animal has never even been outside. And in any case the animal is killed in the prime of his or her life.
Enough of that. You have read about it, seen it on television … and filed it under "Forget." It seems like one of those overwhelming phenomena that fill the front pages but over which you personally can exercise very little control: tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wars, famines, poverty, plagues, you name it.
But this is not so. You can simply stop eating animal foods.
"Simply?" you say. It is not so simple. Even if one resolves to abstain, it is a real question whether one can stick to it. Our food must appeal to our taste buds. Furthermore, we must consider our nutritional needs.
Here is what you need to know. First, there are countless appetizing dishes that are entirely free of animal ingredients, and most of them are a cinch to prepare.
Second, in a press release last summer the American Dietetic Association stated that "appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases including heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes.
Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes."
I myself decided to take the plunge a year ago. It was my new year’s resolution. I did not exactly go cold turkey, so to speak, because I had abstained from eating mammals for decades.
But my original motivation had been health and humanitarian. I had read about the cholesterol advantages of avoiding meat, and also about the inefficient production of protein by feeding grains to animals in a world where millions of people were starving.
Only much more recently did I learn about factory farming, and also that by far the most numerous abused creatures on this planet are poultry and fish. T
here was nothing for it, then, but to give up eating all animals as well as dairy and eggs.
I am very happy to report that I have been able to stick to my resolve. Indeed, at this point it would be difficult for me to return to a non-vegan diet, so satisfied have I become with my new way of eating.
I have discovered from my own experience that there are additional unanticipated benefits. For one thing, a vegan diet costs less. For another, it consumes less of my time to prepare meals. Most surprising and delightful of all: both my mind and my body feel more energetic.
My thinking is more alert; I feel motivated to take on new projects; my sleeping is more restful.
When you consider also that animal agriculture is a leading cause of environmental degradation, including global warming, the conclusion seems inescapable: Let your New Year’s resolution be to go vegan.

Joel Marks is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of New Haven and a resident of Milford. He can be contacted through his Web site at http://www.theeasyvegan.com/.

Editor's note: One year ago this week, Joel Marks debuted his resolve to go vegan, here on Vegging Out. Well, he did it and this column is reprinted here with the permission of the Milford-Orange Bulletin and with our thanks to Editor Bridget Albert.