Eric Brightwell writes: “As of 2017, there were 18,975 dedicated vegetarian restaurants in the US. The state with the most vegetarian and vegan restaurants is, not surprisingly, California, which suggests that although America isn’t a very vegetarian country, California is a very vegetarian state and Southern California is likely the nation’s most vegetarian region.”

His research into vegetarianism in Los Angeles and the region turns up “mystical Victorian-era fruitarian cults; grain-obsessed white supremacists; post-war Yoga-practicing proto-hippies; mock meat-loving Taiwanese immigrants; and many other colorful communities and individuals.”