Perks of a vegan boss are many, but not meaty

''This was a way to say: 'Look, we don't feel it's right to have the flesh of an animal, an animal killed for your benefit,' " Mason said. ''I see it no different than smoking. People are asked to go outside and smoke."

He also hopes it will teach them respect for animals, he said, a value symbolized by Lucille, the paralyzed dog he adopted who follows workers around on a little wheeled contraption.

Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said Mason is part of a growing number of vegetarian and vegan CEOs, including Steve Jobs of Apple Computers Inc., Michael Eisner from Walt Disney Co., John Mackey of Whole Foods Market Inc., and Bill Ford of Ford Motor Co., who have made it easier for employees to eat meat-free.

''They haven't actually prohibited eating meat, but they've certainly increased exponentially the vegan offerings in their cafeterias," Friedrich said.

But Mason, who is a PETA member, wants to go beyond catering to current vegetarians. He sees a person's craving for meat as a nasty habit that can be broken. By providing free vegetarian lunches and stocking the room with information pamphlets about vegetarianism, Mason hopes to nudge his carnivorous employees toward a different lifestyle.

''We are, I think, addicted to the foods we are fed as children," he said. ''It's the fat and the sugar and the salt in our food that becomes so addictive."

Mason, 60, gave up meat about 25 years ago. He said he eased into it after a period of soul-searching about the food on his plate.

Since then, he has grown increasingly serious about the vegetarian lifestyle after researching -- and he is ready with statistics, if asked -- how many cows, pigs, and chickens people could save in a lifetime by not eating meat; the percentage of Americans who are obese; and the amount of damage the meat industry inflicts on the environment.

''It's pretty scary what we're doing to animals," he said.