The Wild Cow @ Nashville Earth Day Festival!

When you’re attending the Nashville Earth Day Festival on April 17, keep a lookout for The Wild Cow.

Don't worry - we're not talking about some enraged bovine, but rather East Nashville's favorite new vegetarian and vegan-friendly all-natural restaurant that will be dishing out tasty wraps, soups and natural sodas to Festival attendees.

(If you do get a soup, expect your spoon to be made from biodegradable corn-based material!)

In case you're curious about the difference between vegetarians and vegans, vegetarians don't eat meat, but they do still chow down on animal products such as cheese and eggs. Vegans try to avoid animal products altogether.

All the dishes on The Wild Cow's menu are compatible with vegan diets. If you see cheese listed on the menu, it's actually soy-based 'vegan cheese' -- although the restaurant does give non-vegan customers the option of choosing dairy cheese from free-range Organic Valley cows.

Since The Wild Cow opened on Eastland Avenue in December 2009, Nashvillians of all persuasions have been praising everything from the Vegan Philly "Cheesesteak" (made with seitan) to the Portabella Sandwich (all dressed up to tantalize your taste buds with homemade tahini dressing and roasted red pepper). Folks with gluten allergies also have lots of options on The Wild Cow's extensive gluten-free menu.

What's the connection between The Wild Cow and Earth Day? Melanie Cochran who co-owns The Wild Cow with her husband John says that people should realize the connection between being animal-friendly and being earth-friendly. "Whether you eat meat or you're vegetarian, we'd like people to think about where they get their food and where it comes from."

Before opening The Wild Cow, Melanie worked on a documentary about the pollution caused by so-called 'factory farms' - jumbo-size operations that raise animals like chickens, pigs and cows to feed America's meat cravings. She says that factory farms are a main cause of water pollution in America and that people who live near factory farms can have respiratory problems from the air pollution that the factory farms emit.

Meat-eaters are certainly welcome at The Wild Cow. In fact, Melanie estimates that at least half of her customers are meat-eaters who just enjoy eating a healthy, vegetable-based meal from time to time. But she does point out that from an environmental perspective raising animals for food is not a very efficient use of land.

"The amount of water and land required to raise farm animals is incredible," she says. "And we don't get nearly as much food from those animals compared to the food we could get from just raising crops on the land. To feed a cow for years and then just get a few meals out of it, well it's not a very good return on the land."

As you can guess, environmentally-friendly practices are big priorities at The Wild Cow. Even all the restaurant's cleaning-products are cruelty-free, meaning they are not tested on animals.

If you've ever been curious about what vegan food tastes like, just saunter on over to The Wild Cow booth at the Nashville Earth Day Festival and give it a try. It may sound tough to be vegan, but Melanie says that it was actually easier than she expected for she and her husband to make the switch from vegetarian to vegan a couple of years ago. "If you are passionate about the reasons to eat vegan, then it becomes pretty easy," she says. "We feel like we are living in sync with our ideals."

As for The Wild Cow's participation in the Earth Day Festival, Melanie says that the restaurant is honored to be participating in the event. "We're glad that the organizers saw that vegetarian food should be considered earth-friendly," she says. "We hope to continue to participate year after year and hope that people attending the festival will appreciate having some vegan food options."

Vendor details -

The Wild Cow, 1896 Eastland Avenue, Nashville, TN 37206. 615-262-2717