My new china pattern

For the Converted, and a Few Others
By BRENDAN I. KOERNER

SOME vegetarians exhibit a missionary impulse, forever trying to convince their friends that eating meat is cruel, unhealthy or wasteful. When spoken words — or a copy of “The Jungle” — fail to persuade, these herbivores may start using disturbing visual aids: photographs of caged calves or documentaries on the short, brutish lives of confined chickens.

Vegetarians who prefer a more whimsical approach, however, can now choose the four-plate Food for Thought dishware set. Three of the plates are decorated with clinical schematics of commonly eaten animals, showing exactly where bacon is hacked off a pig, or loin chops removed from a lamb — potentially unpleasant reminders of meat’s back story. And, as a macabre twist, one of the plates features a similarly diagrammed dog, implicitly asking what separates an Angus bull from a beloved family pet. (More at the link above)