Animal advocacy group SAFE's call for consumers to go meatless for World Vegetarian Month coincides with rising Kiwi meat prices.

The group recently released their hit list of New Zealand's top gourmet vegetarian and vegan burgers, narrowing it down to five categories of not-so-gory fast food glory.

Carol Garden and some vegan burgers

And home cooking doesn't have to suffer – SAFE rates Fry's traditional or chicken-style burgers as the best for throwing on the grill as summer approaches.

For Bay barbecuers, they can be found in supermarket freezer sections, occasionally alongside some more local veggie choices.

Tauranga's Food Garden Catering company director Carol Garden has been a vegetarian for six years, and her very favourite veggie burger is based right here in Tauranga – it's a vegan patty from the Gourmet Vegan brand, which Carol created herself.

'My favourite burgers are the ones we make! They are made from sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, vegetables, seasonings, brown rice and a bit of tofu to hold them together. These are in the freezer section at Wild Earth Organics and the Gluten Free shop.

'I'm expecting people to really get into my products once the barbecue season starts.”

Dining out can be more limited – Carol agrees with SAFE's ‘Best Value for Money' award pick, heading to Burger Fuel if she's out and about.

'Their veggie burgers are a good take-out option. Tauranga is not very vegetarian friendly, and it's really hard for vegans to eat out. Some of our top restaurants don't even offer vegetarian main options. Most vegetarian options are boring too – it often feels like a token gesture.

'A good lunch option is the café at Wild Earth Organics, on Cameron Rd. It is vegan and the food is delicious.”

Carol is positive about initiatives such as SAFE's ‘Go Veg', where omnivores challenge themselves to go meatless for 30 days.

'I became vegetarian for health reasons, so I would encourage people to try it for a month. It often surprises people how much better they feel, on a vegetarian diet.

'If your meals are loaded with plant food, you are generally getting lots of nutrients and it's all highly digestible. Healthy vegetarians rarely get constipated. For me, stomach cramps and pain stopped when I began to eat a vegetarian diet.

'Meatless Mondays have been a big trend overseas, and more and more people are open to the idea of less meat in their diets.”

For the veg-curious, Carol suggests some good old-fashioned Googling may be in order.

'Veg-curious readers will find the most yummy recipes to try if they do just a tiny bit of internet research. It's not all lettuce and lentils – vegetarian curries, bakes, pasta, and stir-fries are all delicious, and most are really easy to make.

'One advantage is not having to defrost something, to make a meal. Fresh vegetables, pasta, cheeses, eggs, garlic, herbs, spices are mostly ready to go in the fridge or the pantry. The range of vegetarian ready-made food is also growing.”

One of SAFE's campaigning platforms is animal slaughter conditions, but Carol raises another point for ‘clean, green New Zealanders'.

'Another aspect is the environmental impact. Growing feed for cattle is a major land use around the world, to meet the demand for meat. Yet if we used that land to grow food for people, we could provide significantly more food.”

SAFE promotions manager and Go Veg ambassador Amanda Sorrenson is right behind her.

'There are so many fast and amazingly mouth-watering vegetarian burger options, it is easy to keep pork [and other meats] off your fork! Going vegetarian is good for animals, the environment and your own health. And it is delicious too.”