It??s not easy being green. A strict vegetarian, Brent, 40, founder of the vegetarian Web site . said he ??did a lot of online dating?? trying to find the perfect mate. And for him, that perfect mate had to be a vegetarian. ??I feel like I reached a point where the idea of finding a perfect soul mate might happen to someone with good luck,?? he said. ??Finding someone with a common base was what I was looking for.?? Then he found Diana Hsieh (now Brent). Not only was she a vegetarian, but she lo  more...

It??s not easy being green. A strict vegetarian, Brent, 40, founder of the vegetarian Web site . said he ??did a lot of online dating?? trying to find the perfect mate. And for him, that perfect mate had to be a vegetarian. ??I feel like I reached a point where the idea of finding a perfect soul mate might happen to someone with good luck,?? he said. ??Finding someone with a common base was what I was looking for.?? Then he found Diana Hsieh (now Brent). Not only was she a vegetarian, but she loved to travel and was an animal rights advocate. Within a year, they were married. ??It??s such a blessing,?? said Diana Brent, 30, who now works with her husband in Los Angeles. ??I can??t imagine living in a household with a person who??s cooking meat.??The vegetarian population is quite small, about 1 to 5 percent of the population. Finding love among these strict vegetarian singles, the so-called "ecosexuals," can be difficult.
??If you have compassion for animals and your soul mate is eating one, you??re going to diverge,?? said Chris Beckley, head of the Vegetarian Society of Colorado in Denver. As a result, Beckley says, the vegetarian population is full of ??available, nice single people who are single for a long time." And if a vegetarian is a vegan--someone who doesn??t eat or use any animal products, like eggs, milk or wool--that dating pool can get even smaller. It is estimated that about 5 percent of vegetarians are vegan. Lovelorn vegetarians have inspired several Web sites. dating sites, members create profiles of their personal characteristics, likes and dislikes. They then search through the profiles that match their own, looking for that special someone. Because being vegetarian narrows the playing field, some are forced to date nonvegetarians. ??If you??re a vegetarian for health, it might not be a big deal,?? said creator Steve Urow, making the distinction between vegetarians who don??t eat meat because they believe it is good for their health, compared with vegetarians who don??t eat meat for ethical reasons.