Are you searching for non-leather vegan shoes, belts, wallets, purses, and other items in the USA, Europe, Canada, and other places? If so, you might want to check out VRG’s Guide to Leather Alternatives: https://www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.php

Noelle became a vegetarian in sixth grade. By ninth grade, she co-founded PETA2 Los Angeles County, while she was the only vegan in the club. For her AP capstone projects, she created a college-level research project on “How does an increased awareness of factory farming impact youth perceptions of meat-eating, concerns for animal welfare, and openness to change?” Noelle spearheaded an event at Santa Monica Pier for Thanksgiving, partnering with Tofurky and others to give out dozens of whole vegan turkeys as well as hundreds of samples and recipe leaflets. Her club coordinated with the school district’s superintendent and nutrition department to introduce daily vegan lunch options. The menu plan included a veggie burger, bean burrito bowl, and pasta with red sauce and plant-based sausage. This spring her club is collaborating with the Plant-Based Treaty to organize a plant-based event in Calabasas. Noelle is also a Girl Scout. As her troop only had Thin Mints as the vegan option, she would only sell that flavor since becoming vegan in eighth grade. But by working extra hard, she still always managed to meet her quota.

In college Noelle hopes to continue her research about perceptions of factory farming while expanding her understanding of human-animal relationships, and to dive into strategies for social change or nutrition. In five years she hopes to have a Masters in Social Work.  

The deadline for the VRG scholarship contest for high school seniors is February 20^th of each year. For details, and to see other winners, go to  https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

To support VRG’s outreach to young people, donate at vrg.org/donate.

Join in the USA at https://www.vrg.org/member/

The Vegetarian Resource Group is once again sponsoring a video contest. We will be awarding several monetary awards. The deadline for entries this year is July 15, 2026 and the contest is open to all ages.

Create and submit a video relating what you want to tell others about veganism. Some possible topics: food, nutrition, your feelings about veganism, water usage and veganism, veganism and animal rights, or other veggie topics which appeal to you. Humor and feelings are appreciated. All videos should be positive, not be critical of anyone, and not include any footage of animal cruelty. You may submit a video you have already made. Please do not enter videos made completely using AI.

Aspects of judging include accuracy and judges wanting to share the video with others. Entrants give permission to The Vegetarian Resource Group to post and share the video, to link to and from the video, and share the video with the media.

To see the video contest rules, visit: http://www.vrg.org/videoscholarship.php

Previous winning videos can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

photo from Freepik

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Pregnancy and the first two years after birth are important times for a child’s growth and development and good nutrition plays an important role. A recent study examined the growth of infants from vegan, “vegetarian,” and nonvegetarian families (1).

What is the study?

This study, from Israel, used data collected over a 10-year period during which almost 1.2 million infants were studied for the first 2 years after birth. The infants were measured and weighed at birth, in early infancy, and at 2 years. Each infant’s caregiver was asked if the family diet was vegan, “vegetarian” (including lacto-ovo vegetarian and those who ate fish), or nonvegetarian. Approximately 98.5% of infants were from nonvegetarian households, 1.2% from “vegetarian” households, and 0.3% from vegan households. Information was not collected on what the infants ate or on supplement use.

What did this study find?

The main finding of this study was that, overall, there were minimal differences in average growth among the different households. The growth of infants from vegan, “vegetarian,” and nonvegetarian families was generally similar.

Infants from vegan households had a slightly lower birth weight (about 3-1/2 ounces less on average) than did infants from nonvegetarian families. Infants from “vegetarian” families were in between. This difference between the groups is not considered to be clinically meaningful. About 6.1% of infants from vegan families were low-birth weight (less than 5-1/2 pounds at birth) compared to 4.6% of infants from nonvegetarian families. In contrast, high-birth weight (more than 8.8 pounds) was more common in infants from nonvegetarian families than in infants from vegan families.

Mothers in the vegan group were more likely to fully breastfeed their infants for the first 6 months and to continue breastfeeding for 12 or more months than mothers whose family was “vegetarian” or nonvegetarian. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first 6 months with partial breastfeeding continuing for up to two years or beyond, as long as mutually desired by the mother and the child.

When the infants were measured and weighed at ages 2 months and 2 years, there was little difference between the three groups. Infants from vegan families were more likely to be classified as underweight at age 2 months but by age 2 years there were minimal differences between the groups.

Since this study classified infants based on their family’s reported dietary pattern, we can’t say for certain that the infants were vegan/”vegetarian”/nonvegetarian. Infants’ diets commonly are similar to their family’s dietary pattern, however.

The results of this study suggest that infants from vegan families grow similarly to infants from “vegetarian” and nonvegetarian families.

Reference:

1. Avital K, Fliss-Isakov N, Shahar DR, et al. Growth trajectories in infants from families with plant-based or omnivorous dietary patterns. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9:e2557798..

To read more about vegan diets for infants and young children see:

Feeding Vegan Kids

Vegan Nutrition in Pregnancy and Childhood

Baby-led Weaning for Vegan Families

Vegan Babies: Starting Solid Foods

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

photo by YourHS

Emily said, “How could schools justify requiring medical notes for dietary accommodations when many low-income families in my community lack access to healthcare? The simple solution was home-packed lunches, but how could that be realistic for those like myself, whose parents’ time and money was a luxury? Frustrated, I searched for inclusive solutions and discovered plant-based meals could address nearly every barrier I noticed, yet they weren’t offered at school. That moment pushed me to contact my district’s nutrition director to advocate for vegetarian and vegan lunch options. Over several months, we met regularly as I presented the testimonies I gathered supporting accessible plant-based meals for students. My proudest success was the following school year where my relentless advocacy campaign led to new daily vegetarian/vegan entrée options on our campus and as well as the six schools within my district. Examples of new meals include vegan buffalo nuggets, plant-based meatballs, and veggie dumplings. … Soymilk has been introduced in my school’s lunch line. After my school’s rollout of soymilk, it will then soon be introduced to the rest of the sites in my district … Coming from a school predominantly composed of students of color whose demographics experience higher rates of lactose intolerance, I am absolutely thrilled from this success (Soymilk is highly popular at my school, with chocolate soymilk being the first to run out.) … Additionally, I was a student speaker at California’s School Nutrition Annual Conference, where I presented at the Nutritious and Delicious Plant-Powered Meals session to nutrition directors and school staff … I was so happy when audience members … said to me my experience encouraged them to try introducing veggie meals within their own community … To promote plant-based meals to ensure they remain for years to come, I founded a District Dietary Council, a youth-led coalition featuring student representatives from all six schools in my district.

I discovered this scholarship through previous winners Nancy Zhang and Ava Cuevas, both amazing advocates who I met through Plant Powered School Meals Coalition. Ava especially has been an incredible role model to me. She was my youth mentor. … In five years, my dream is to graduate with a degree relating to public health and public policy.”

The deadline for the VRG scholarship contest for high school seniors is February 20^th of each year. For details, and to see other winners, go to  https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

To support VRG’s outreach to young people, donate at vrg.org/donate.

Join at https://www.vrg.org/member/

In honor of Earth Day, if you are not familiar with veganic agriculture, you may want to read Jeanne Yacoubou’s article Veganic Agriculture as A Climate Crisis Solution.

Find the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue1/2025_issue1_veganic_agriculture.php Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: https://www.vrg.org/member/

Subscribe to Vegan Journal and support all the vegan outreach VRG does on a daily basis! Subscribe for 2 years and receive a free copy of Vegans Know How to Party. This cookbook contains over 465 vegan recipes!

Offer is good in the USA only. Visit: www.vrg.org/member

Freepik photo

Cierra Peterlin shares vegan recipes utilizing foods that would otherwise go to waste. She says, “These ideas are meant to provide a quick view of what it could look like to eat in a way that is conscious of food waste each day.” Some of the recipes include Stale Bread French Toast, Celery Leaf Salad, Potato Soup, Wrinkly Pepper Fajitas, Banana Peel Tacos, and more. See: https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/vegan-zero-waste-recipe-ideas.pdf

photo from Freepik

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for calcium for adults age 19-50 years and men 51-70 years is 1,000 milligrams per day. The RDA for women over 51 years and for men over 70 is 1,200 milligrams per day. Did you ever wonder if you’re getting enough calcium?

You could look up the amount of calcium in all the foods you eat and add it up every day. There is an easier way – the list of vegan foods below all have about 100 milligrams of calcium in a serving.

By choosing 8 servings a day if you’re a 19-70 year old man or a 19-50 year old woman), you’ll be getting about 800 milligrams of calcium. It’s likely that you’ll get the remaining 200 milligrams from foods not on the list that have lower amounts of calcium.

If you’re a man over age 70 or a woman over 51 years, you’ll choose 10 servings of foods from the list. This equals about 1000 milligrams of calcium. Again, it’s likely that you’ll get the remaining 200 milligrams from foods not on the list that have lower amounts of calcium.

Eight or ten servings may sound like a lot of food but there are many instances where you’ll eat several servings at a time. For example, if you eat a cup of cooked collards, that’s 3 calcium servings. Same with a cup of calcium-fortified plant milk.

If you consistently struggle with getting the recommended amount of calcium from foods, consider a low-dose calcium supplement in addition to calcium-rich foods.

Choose 8 (for 19-70 year old men or a 19-50 year old women) or 10 servings (for men over 70 and women over 51 years) a day of any combination of these foods:

• ½ cup of cooked bok choy or napa cabbage
• 1½ cups of cooked broccoli
• 1½ cups of cooked Brussels sprouts
• 1 cup of cooked Chinese broccoli
• 1/3 cup of cooked collards
• 1/3 cup of cooked kale
• 1½ cups of raw kale
• Rounded ½ cup of cooked mustard greens
• ¾ cup of cooked okra
• 8 dried figs
• 6 fresh figs
• 1½ medium oranges
• ¾ cup of cooked or canned great northern beans
• ¾ cup of cooked or canned navy beans
• 1 cup of cooked or canned black beans
• 1 cup of cooked edamame
• 1 cup of hummus made with tahini
• 1½ Tablespoons of tahini
• 2 rounded Tablespoons of almond butter
• ¼ cup of almonds
• ½ cup of tempeh
• 1-3 ounces of tofu processed with calcium sulfate (see note)
• 5 or more ounces of tofu processed with nigari (see note)
• 1/3 cup of calcium-fortified plant milk
• ½ cup of calcium-fortified plant yogurt
• 1 rounded Tablespoon of calcium-fortified plant cheese shreds
• 1 slice of calcium-fortified plant-cheese slices
• 4 corn tortillas
• 1 English muffin
• 1 Tablespoon of chia seeds
• 1½ teaspoons blackstrap molasses

Note: To calculate how much calcium is in the tofu you buy, look at the label. Calcium content will be listed as percent of the Daily Value. Since the current Daily Value for calcium is 1,000 milligrams, multiply the percent Daily Value by 10 to get the amount of calcium (in milligrams) in one serving. For example, tofu with 10% Daily Value for calcium would have 100 milligrams of calcium in one serving.

As an example, here’s one way to get 10 servings of calcium-rich foods:

Breakfast (4 servings of calcium-rich foods):

Oatmeal with 1 Tablespoon of chia seeds and 1½ Tablespoons of almond butter

2/3 cup of calcium-fortified plant milk

Lunch (3 servings of calcium-rich foods):

2 corn tortillas with ½ cup of black beans

1/3 cup of steamed kale

1½ oranges

Dinner (3 servings of calcium-rich foods):

3 ounces of tofu processed with calcium sulfate (package indicates 10% of the DV for calcium per 3 ounce serving)

1 cup of cooked bok choy

To read more about calcium for vegans see:

Calcium in the Vegan Diet

Latin American Foods High in Calcium

Calcium Content of Popular Indian Vegetarian Dishes and Ingredients

Calcium Supplements

Lower Risk of Hip Fractures in Vegan Women Using Calcium and Vitamin D Supplements

Freepik photo

Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, says you can use spinach anywhere you normally use lettuce — on sandwiches, chopped in wraps or tacos, or in salads. Fresh spinach is a hearty base for entrée salads. Toss fresh spinach with finely diced pineapple, sliced strawberries, chopped pistachios, sunflower seeds or soy nuts, and nutritional yeast. Create a dressing with balsamic vinegar, pineapple juice, and touch of mustard.

To quickly (and we mean quickly) cook spinach, spray a frying pan with vegetable oil, sprinkle in some chopped fresh or dried garlic, and get the pan hot. Toss in the spinach and flash sauté, turning constantly. This should take one or two minutes, tops.

Use your stove-sautéed spinach as a hot or cold vegetable with your entrée, as part of a sandwich filling, to top pizza, or added to a tofu scramble. If you would like to make “creamed” spinach, whisk crumbled silken tofu or vegan sour cream into the sautéed greens, just as you are removing them from the stove. If you have leftover cooked spinach, you can purée it and add it to hummus, salad dressings, or soups.

To learn more interesting spinach facts, see: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2020issue2/2020_issue2_cooking_tips.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal: www.vrg.org/member