Veggie attytood, kid-style: A 13-year-old is part of the vegetarian vanguard

KELSEY O'CALLAGHAN wants to be a chef when she grows up - but not just any chef. Instead of having her sights set on attending the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, this 13-year-old from Bensalem is intent on making her mark at the Natural Gourmet School in Manhattan, an all-vegetarian academy.

Miffed that "there isn't even a vegetarian chef on the Food Network," O'Callaghan figured she'd get a jump on her career, and The Veggie Chef (www.theveggiechef.net) was born.

"I sort of made my own show," said the eighth-grader at Calvary Christian Academy. What started as a blog and Web site for healthy veggie eaters and cooks became a cooking "show" on YouTube, recipe demos starring, produced and edited by O'Callaghan, a two-day process she does in her room at home.

Typically, she'll take a recipe she finds online or in a cookbook and tweak it to substitute plant-based ingredients for animal-based.

"Like, if it says you need one large egg, you can mix two tablespoons of arrowroot and one tablespoon of water to substitute. And I use Earth Balance nondairy spread for butter," she said, adding, "My family lets me experiment on them."

The Veggie Chef hasn't always eschewed meat.

"I tried hamburger when I was 7 and completely hated it. But I did eat fish and chicken up until about nine months ago."

After viewing some disturbing PETA videos, O'Callaghan found herself thinking, really thinking, about where meat comes from. While not completely vegan, O'Callaghan has fully embraced vegetarianism. The difference between the two is that vegetarians don't eat meat, fish or fowl, while a vegan is a vegetarian who does not use other animal products, such as dairy and eggs.

"I just didn't feel comfortable eating food that was killed for meat," said the Veggie Chef, whose stance and subsequent spots online earned her PETA's "Compassionate Kid Award."

Not everybody is so thrilled with her choices.

"Especially when I'm with my friends going out to places or parties, everybody eats burgers and hot dogs," O'Callaghan said, admitting that it's also hard for her to stand by when others - including her stepdad, eat meat. "It's just so much more healthy not to."