Going vegan in Toronto

Ever since I settled in Toronto almost 12 years ago, there was something to survive, some big crisis to overcome. There was 9/11 scare, then anthrax scare, both of which turned out to be just panic overflowing from the U.S. There was no real danger for us here. Then there was SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak, which actually happened and was to blame for several deaths in the town and the country. Following next was the big blackout mentioned previously in this blog. Soon after, the tourists could buy a t-shirt reading: "Toronto 2003, I survived..." and listing all mentioned crises. Now we have another line to add to that shirt: I survived listeriosis in Toronto 2008! Every day the media bombards us with the count of deaths caused by little mean green bacteria.

Listeria (from Wikipedia)

The Maple Leaf meat factory apparently had listeria contamination in one of its meat processing plants near Toronto, which caused serious health concerns nation wide--Maple Leaf is Canada's biggest meat producer. However, the deaths being blamed on listeriosis are the total of all the deaths in which the bacteria was present in the body, even if something else was stated as the cause of death. Until now, it could not be confirmed that the bacteria actually caused the death of all the victims, but the media decided to spread the panic anyway. To be safe, avoid meat altogether! So, here I am--going vegan in Toronto 2008!