BALTIMORE - Vegans are no longer on the fringe, the Washington Post reports. The diet that consists of no animal products ?" no meat, cheese, eggs or honey ?" has moved from the outside to mainstream.

"It??s definitely more diverse. It??s not what you would picture 20 years ago, which is kind of hippie, crunchy," said Isa Chandra Moskowitz, vegan cookbook author. She said the local produce movement has made cooking vegan easier. "It??s not just steamed vegetables anymore and brown rice and lentils," said Moskowitz.

While the number of practicing vegans is hard to pin down, a 2009 survey by the Vegetarian Resource Group put the number at around 1 percent of Americans. Veganism has gotten a boost with celebrity endorsements. Celebrities touting a vegan diet include actresses Alicia Silverstone, who wrote The Kind Diet, Emily Deschanel and Lea Michele.

More Americans are concerned about where their meat comes from ?" think Michael Pollan??s The Omnivore??s Dilemma. Even restaurants are jumping on the vegan train, with more than half of the 1,500 chefs polled by the National Restaurant Association??s "What??s Hot in 2011" listing vegan entrees as a hot trend.

One blogger, Roseann Marulli Rodriguez on her SuperVegan, said she can find more foods to eat these days. "It??s definitely widening in scope," she said. "I think that??s why more people are doing it, because it??s getting easier."