By Casey Brown

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to volunteer with The VRG at DC Vegfest. This is an annual event that is organized by Compassion Over Killing. Every year it includes various speakers, restaurants, non-profit organizations, and commercial businesses. This year the event featured speaker and vegan body-builder, Torre Washington, a cooking demonstration by Land of Kush, a Kids Zone with games, yoga, and a child nutritionist, and over 150 vendors like Vegan Treats and Dr. Bronner’s. It is a very popular event with over 15,000 estimated visitors throughout the day!

Many people at the event were either vegans/vegetarians or they were interested in making the transition, and they were all excited to receive many of The Vegetarian Resource Group’s resources. Our Vegetarian Journal was very popular since everyone was interested in receiving more information and vegan recipes that they could try! Our journals are packed with product and book reviews, delicious recipes, health information from our vegan dietitian, and much more! VRG’s “My Vegan Plate” handout and “Heart Healthy Eating Tips” were also popular among the crowd. These resources are great for both vegans and aspiring vegans hoping to improve their diet. The guides provide practical tips to help people learn how to cook, shop, and plan their diets better, so they can eat healthier. Our “Vegan Diets in a Nutshell” brochures are always popular since they provide detailed information for aspiring vegans and they simplify the information, making the transition easier for everyone! These brochures describe the typical foods that vegans eat and the common nutrients that people are concerned about when making the transition. Among the children, our coloring books were very popular, and many kids walked away from our booth with a huge smile on their face and they couldn’t wait to get home so they could color! The Kids Zone also had copies of our coloring books for the kids to use while they were there.

DC Vegfest is always a huge festival, and it was really exciting to walk around and see so many people at the event with VRG’s resources and reading copies of our Vegetarian Journal while they were waiting in long lines for food! I am looking forward to the event next year and to The Vegetarian Resource Group’s annual Pre-Thanksgiving potluck this coming Sunday. Information for the potluck can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/VeganThanksgivingPoster2016.htm!

To volunteer to help at VRG booths, contact Brigette at [email protected]

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group outreach, donate at www.vrg.org/donate

or join at http://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php