I cannot begin to tell you how much that story pisses me off. Arthur clearly did not do research before writing this commentary, and rather he chose to cater to the worst stereotypes about the Midwest. I’ve lived in the Kansas City area for 15 years and can tell you there’s a large community of vegetarians, vegans and even raw food vegans here. Kansas City isn’t exactly a small town in the middle of nowhere, I’m confused as to how he’s having trouble finding the many restaurants, grocery stores and farmer’s markets who celebrate vegetables and healthy eating. In fact, the Kansas side of Kansas City is even known for its vegetable “truck farming” past. Perhaps Arthur would find some vegetarian companions in the nearby college town of Lawrence, known for its embrace of liberalism and vegetarianism, or the growing population of Hindus in the Kansas City area.

I agree to a point, although I think he mostly succeeded avoiding big stereotypes unlike that dope in Iowa (though I think he fell for one in saying that Iceberg is all there is and bacon is unavoidable in salads; that’s not even true outside the big city). And I think his focus was not so much on being able to find fresh produce at markets but the overall restaurant scene, especially outside the metro area. He mentioned a few places, are there a lot more that he is missing?.I think he was partly saying that just your average restaurant in KC, but especially outside metro areas, doesn’t offer much. As for Lawrence, that’s true, but he’s not going to drive there for lunch. Maybe he should have gone there to get a fuller picture of Kansas City, though.

I think that the focus on the restaurant scene is part of the problem. People in the Midwest don’t typically eat out at restaurants for every single meal. Perhaps they do on the coasts, I don’t know. But here in Kansas, that’s not how we live. I did eat out more when I lived closer to KC, but now that I live in a small town I think my husband and I eat out once a month. We try to buy healthier options from our local grocery store and farmer’s markets. That’s what this guy just doesn’t understand.

Cute story and sure to get lots of hits due to name recognition factor, but why not headline it better as just “NYT Kansas City Bureau Chief turned his Midwest quest for vegetarian food into a story”? No need to push the family name there, is there? Yuck! That;s pandering, julie!

”NYT Kansas City Bureau Chief turns quest for vegetarian food into a story” is better than….

”NYT Kansas City Bureau Chief Arthur G. Sulzberger turned his Midwest quest for vegetarian food into a story”…..no?

Jenniferwriter in coments at NYO noted: ”I live in Kansas City and I remember cringing when I read the memo announcing A.G. was moving here and that he was a vegetarian and how, oh how, would he find anything to eat!. All of this is beeswax. Kansas City is a metro area of 2 million people, there are plenty of vegetarians here and trust me, they eat more than iceberg lettuce. There are dozens and dozens of farmers markets in Kansas City, the largest and oldest of which (100 years plus) is surrounded by restaurants (and ethnic grocers) offering meatless fare – thai, japanese, greek, italian, chinese, locovore, including Farmhouse which has the best fried green tomato sandwich ever, et al.
One of the most revered locovore restaurants in the U.S., Justus, a Drugstore, is in the Kansas City area and all of its abundant offerings come from within 200 miles of Kansas City, most of it much closer and much of it meatless.
This whole article in the NYT is all about taking a stereotype and stomping on it. I would hope that A.G., encountering stereotypes as a vegetarian, would know better… ”