The Vegetarian Resource Group

Whether you are interested in vegetarianism or veganism because of health, ethics, the environment, or other reasons, The Vegetarian Resource Group makes it easier for you to be vegetarian or vegan. Join us!

What Is The Vegetarian Resource Group?

The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) is a leading source of credible, practical, and scientifically based information about veganism and vegetarianism.

Since 1982, VRG has made it easier to be vegetarian and vegan by working with individuals, consumer groups, food companies, health professionals, government agencies, academic institutions, food services, professional organizations, and other relevant constituencies.

  • "VRG serves as not only a resource for providing reliable, fact-based information about vegetarianism, but also as a platform through which people can contribute their individual skills towards the common goal of promoting vegetarianism. The way in which this goal is accomplished is perhaps the greatest reason I have been with the group for so long: their commitment to respect and nonviolence extends to how they treat everyone, whether it's a co-worker or a nutritionist at McDonald's. VRG has chosen to work with organizations, government agencies, and individuals instead of against them, and the results, which have been tremendous, speak for themselves."
    -Heather, VRG Volunteer
  • "I've had young patients say they want to be vegetarian. Since I don't know how, I just told them to eat meat. Now I'll give out your materials."
    -Attendee at physicians' conference who came by our booth
  • At a non-vegetarian festival or conference, "you can see the enthusiasm as someone a hundred feet away spots our vegetarian booth. They are so excited we are there. Often people we don't know personally want to hug us."
    -VRG Volunteer
  • "The people behind The Vegetarian Resource Group were fantastic! Some of the kindest people I've ever met, and they were so good to us. They answered my many questions, gave us things to talk about, and really inspired us to be mindful and equipped when counseling vegetarian and vegan clients. The VRG provided us with tons of information to make us excited and equip us to be better RDs"
    - Non vegetarian dietetic intern
  • "This is the most useful information I'll pick up all day."
    -Attendee at health professional conference who stopped at the VRG booth
  • Natural Foods Merchandiser, the major trade industry magazine, selected us as one of 25 influential pioneers, along with the founders of Celestial Seasonings, Ben and Jerry's, and Amy's.
  • The Baltimore Sun's Environmental writer Tom Horton stated, we "are probably doing in the most basic of ways, as much as anyone in the state about the kind of pollution that is troubling the Chesapeake Bay."
  • The following pages give just a few examples of VRG's work and explain how you can become involved. For more information, visit www.vrg.org.

Assistance to Health Professionals

  • VRG dietitians helped form the Vegetarian Practice Group within the American Dietetic Association.
  • Our dietitians have written vegetarian chapters for various nutrition and medical textbooks.

Represent Vegetarian Interests to Food Companies and Restaurants

  • A food company selling vegetarian burgers to a restaurant chain asked us if it was okay to use an ingredient and if it was vegetarian. (It wasn't.)
  • A restaurant chain asked us for vegan recipes.
  • We helped to develop vegetarian brochures for several supermarkets, including Wegmans in New York and King's in New Jersey.

Market and Ingredients Research

  • How Many Vegetarians Are There? Food companies, developers of new products, restaurants, students, and media have come to us for this information. See http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faq.htm#poll.
  • VRG's Guide to Food Ingredients lists the uses, commercial sources, and definitions of 200 food ingredients often found on food labels. The guide states whether the ingredient is vegan, typically vegan, vegetarian, typically vegetarian, typically non-vegetarian, or non-vegetarian.
  • A company stated that their vitamin D3 was vegan. Upon extensive investigation, our researcher learned the source wasn't really vegan, and the company was able to change the wording of what they reported to consumers.

Education of Food Service and Restaurant Staff

  • Our food service dietitian has given vegan cooking demonstrations at the annual meetings of the American Dietetic Association, National Association of College and University Food Services, School Nutrition Association, American Culinary Federation, and elsewhere.
  • We gave out information at the annual meetings of the National Restaurant Association and Society for Nutrition Education.
  • We created a vegetarian meal plan for the National Meals on Wheels Foundation.

Kids and Teens Are Our Future

Publications

  • Vegetarian Journal, our 36-page, quarterly magazine, contains vegan recipes and meal plans, Vegetarian Action ideas, product reviews, practical tips for being vegan, and review of the scientific literature.
  • Meatless Meals for Working People with 100,000 now in print, contains over 100 quick and easy recipes and tells you how to be a vegetarian within your hectic schedule using common, convenient foods.
  • Simply Vegan with over 95,000 sold, contains 160 quick and easy vegan recipes and an extensive vegan nutrition section by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
  • Do vegetarian eat fish? Of course not. Try our book Vegan Seafood: Beyond the Fish Shtick for Vegetarians. Looking for great desserts? You need our Vegans Know How to Party by Chef Nancy Berkoff, RD.

To see our complete catalog, visit www.vrg.org/catalog

VRG's Website

Currently our website receives close to 2 million visitors each year. Visit for vegan recipes, answers to your vegetarian questions, and more.

www.vrg.org

http://www.facebook.com/thevegetarianresourcegroup

http://twitter.com/VegResourceGrp

Become Involved

To volunteer, e-mail [email protected]
Or call (410) 366-8343.

To financially support VRG, send a donation to
The Vegetarian Resource Group
P.O. Box 1463
Baltimore, MD 21203
or donate online at www.vrg.org.
Call (410) 366-8343. E-mail [email protected]

Support The Vegetarian Resource Group Outreach

___ $25 membership. Receive Vegetarian Journal and Meatless Meals book
___ $50 Supporter (Also receive the 256-page Vegan Handbook)
___ $500 Life Member
___ $1,000 Support Outreach to young people
___ $5,000 Support Outreach to health professionals
___ $10,000 Support Ingredient and Market Research and VRG representing vegetarian interests to food companies and restaurants
___ $25,000 Program Sponsor
___ I would like to donate stock.
___ I am including VRG in my will, life insurance policies, or IRAs.

Other ways to support VRG

Memorial and honorary gifts
Donate your vehicle. Visit http://www.vrg.org/support.htm
Combined Federal Charities
Matching gifts through your employer

For more information on these and other donation methods, please visit www.vrg.org/support.htm.

To donate, send your check to
The Vegetarian Resource Group
P.O. Box 1463
Baltimore, MD 21203
or donate online at www.vrg.org.
Call (410) 366-8343. E-mail [email protected]

Thank you for your support.


© The Vegetarian Resource Group 2011