Broward Palm Beach New Times got a chance to talk about the increased availability of vegan eats with Boca Raton’s 21st District congressman, Ted Deutch. Throughout his district, including Palm Beach and Broward counties, the esteemed member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee can get his eggless-egg salad fix.

Eating vegan for the last three years, Deutch attributes his switch to getting hooked on vegan “chicken” salad from Florida State University, during his time as a state senator in Tallahassee. From there, he refers to his vegan eating as “an intellectual decision” spurred by some reading and documentaries on the matter. Can someone please send him a copy of Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach?

Passing through vegetarianism, he can laugh at his own resistance to go vegan sooner. “I thought, before I started paying attention to nutrition, that [cheese] has a lot of protein, it’ll probably keep you from being hungry, and I don’t know what else they’re going to have, but there is always going to be cheese,” he told BPBNT. But after learning about the cruelty in dairy production, all animal products were off the table.

Now, as Deutch approaches his fiftieth birthday, he’s excited to go to Fort Lauderdale’s Zagat-rated Sublime restaurant, and he’s ordering something new when he gets there “When I go into a vegan restaurant I’m so excited that I can order everything on the menu, that I will go out of my way to not order the same thing twice just because I love the variety,” he said. 4th Generation in Boca is where his coveted eggless-egg salad comes from, another local favourite. He also gives his thumbs up to Darbster in West Palm Beach, Farmer’s Table in Boca Raton, and Green Bar in Fort Lauderdale. He could lead vegan food tours!

So while we hope he devotes his time to vegan education over law making, it’s encouraging to know that a member of congress is promoting the lifestyle, one vegan restaurant trip at a time. “I work on a lot of animal-rights issues. I started taking a larger interest in food policy issues. There’s no question I feel better. I think a lot more about what we eat and the impact that it has not just on our bodies, but on our environment and on our world — and that’s a direct result of my decision to become a vegan.”

Photo from Broward Palm Beach New Times