Here in the Bay Area, Oakland is leading the charge with its own Oakland Veg Week. There are vegetarian-inspired events every day from Monday to Sunday: cooking classes and happy hours and an animal sanctuary field trip. The culmination of your week of meat-free living is the Oakland Veg Week Celebration on Sunday, April 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Lake Merritt Sailboat House. Check out the full schedule of veg events on the Oakland Veg Week website.

Oakland Veg Week also has its own pledge with variations from the national version. You can pledge to go meat-free on Mondays, try out veganism for seven days, or just indicate your interest in learning more.

Participating restaurants are also giving discounts for Veg Week or preparing special menus. Bellanico Restaurant and Wine Bar will offer a $34 four-course vegetarian tasting menu. Two Momma's Vegan Kitchen will give anyone who brings a non-vegan friend a 10% discount. (Don't ask how they'll enforce that.) And, all Loving Hut locations will offer a 10% discount throughout the week. Check out Oakland Veg Week's full list of Oakland restaurant specials or the U.S. Veg Week's Bay Area list of participating restaurants.

According to The Vegetarian Times a 2008 study found that 7.3 million Americans are vegetarians (just over 3%), with about 1 million of those being vegans. More recent polls have had different results, with a 2012 Gallup poll finding that 7% of people identify as vegetarian or vegan and a 2013 Public Policy Polling survey finding 13% of the population was vegetarian or vegan. The varying statistics might be due to the range of self-definitions that constitute identifying as a vegetarian or vegan. But, there's no denying that numbers have been on the rise in recent years and particularly in places like the Bay Area. If U.S. Veg Week has its way those numbers will continue to skyrocket as more people embrace a vegetarian diet.

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Celebrate Veg Week in the Bay Area