NORTH HILLS : Group Plants Seeds of Vegetarianism With Tofu Tacos

If you think a tofu-filled taco would be anathema to those fond of the traditional meat-filled staple, think again.

“It was very good,” said Rosario Palomares, who had her first taste at a home cooking class sponsored by the Vegetarian Society.

In gatherings reminiscent of neighborhood Tupperware parties, the Vegetarian Society is attempting to deliver its meatless message to the Valley’s Latino community. Although the society has staged food booths at Latino events in Los Angeles County for many years, it has only recently begun to host cooking classes in predominantly Latino communities.

In February, the society held its first cooking class in a North Hills apartment complex where the majority of the residents are Mexican and Salvadoran.

Eight people showed up, said host Victor Forsythe, executive director of the group since 1990.

“We’re reaching out to the most marginal sectors of the community here in the Valley to help them reduce their daily food cost and to better their nutrition,” Forsythe said.

The classes, conducted in Spanish, teach participants how to make tacos and enchiladas using soy products as meat substitutes.

Since the meeting, several of the attendees told Forsythe that they had given up red meat and were showing their families the benefits of a vegetarian diet.

Forsythe kicked off his campaign last fall at the Granada Hills Branch Library with an hourlong slide presentation critical of the meat industry and a discussion of the history of vegetarianism.

This week, Forsythe and volunteers are cooking vegetarian tacos in support of a march from Delano to Sacramento by members of the United Farm Workers union. UFW founder Cesar Chavez was a longtime member of the Vegetarian Society. “We’re trying to tie into the struggle of that famous vegetarian,” Forsythe said.