Oct. 1 was World Vegetarian Day. I'm betting the farm you forgot to celebrate. Don't worry — the North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) has declared October to be Vegetarian Awareness Month, so there's still plenty of time to crack out the carrots, roll out the legumes and take a closer look at a lifestyle that will improve your health, save suffering animals and help rescue our over pooped planet.

What Is a Vegetarian? A vegetarian is a person who wears sandals and socks and rides his bicycle to work.

C'mon, lighten up. It's too soon to demoralize ourselves with descriptions of the misery and suffering of cows, pigs and chickens on their way to our dinner plates. Instead, let's confuse ourselves with definitions. A classic vegetarian is a person who doesn't eat meat, poultry or fish/seafood — they get all their nutrients, including protein, from a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

A vegan is a vegetarian who also excludes dairy and eggs. A lacto-vegetarian eats dairy but no eggs, an ovo vegetarian eats eggs but no dairy, and an ovo-lacto vegetarian (still with me?) eats both eggs and dairy.

A new term that's crept into the very vexing vegetarian vocabulary is flexitarian, which is what I am — a mostly vegetarian who hasn't eaten red meat in more than 35 years. Under social pressure, my manners sometimes overrule my mindfulness, and I eat a little chicken or fish, but the more I understand about the toxic and corrupt food chain, the more I just say no ... thank you.

Is Vegetarianism a Growing Trend? Just a tiny bit, which is astonishing given the enormous health benefits of a plant-based diet. The latest Vegetarian Times study estimated that about 3.2 percent of U.S. adults (7.3 million) are vegetarian, 0.5 percent (1 million) are vegans, and 10 percent (22.8 million) say they follow a "vegetarian-inclined diet."

It's true that in certain ways veggie-eating is going more mainstream. Cut-up carrots and bagged salads are found in most groceries, and the number of farmer's markets has risen to 6,000 and growing. But another truth, as depressing as the taste of a factory-farmed tomato, is that we're moving backward in veggie consumption!

This year's "Eating Patterns in America" report noted a serious downward slide in salad-eating, for instance. In short, the 20-year government campaign to get Americans to eat their veggies — at least 4.5 cups a day — is a dismal failure.

Why Eat More Vegetables? I'll give you three big reasons, although logic and science don't amount to a hill of beans when it comes to our food choices.

First, a plant-based diet has huge health benefits, including lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Second, eating less meat saves animals from the pain and terror of slaughter. Third, eating a vegetarian diet lessens greenhouse gasses; animal farts, aka methane emissions, are choking our planet.

So, are you convinced? Of course not. It takes more than common sense to get people to stop eating chicken nuggets and fish sticks. It takes shock or fear, it takes an "aha!" moment, it takes an experience that penetrates your denial and shifts your thinking.

That's why I want all carnivores to experience a mind-altering book called "The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food" by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. He describes the feces-loaded cesspools cows live in, the extreme suffering of pigs and cows separated from their offspring, the torture of caged calves robbed of light and movement, so that we can dine on tender veal scallopini. Read it, and weep.

How Else Can You Celebrate Vegetarian Awareness Month? I think "Meatless Mondays" is a great place to start. See www.MeatlessMondays.com for information, inspiration and 10 good things to do with lentils and cauliflower. You can also visit the official www.worldvegetarianday.org website, run by NAVS, and take the 2010 Vegetarian Awareness Month pledge to eat no milk, fish or fowl for some part of October, making you eligible for cash prizes up to $1,000.