Have you ever wondered if an
ingredient listed on a food label is vegan or not? The Vegetarian Resource
Group has an online guide to food ingredients that lets you now whether a
specific food ingredient is vegan, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, typically vegan,
typically vegetarian, may be non-vegetarian, or typically non-vegetarian.
Veg-curious? Vegetarian? Vegan? This program is for you! You will learn how to be a healthy vegetarian/vegan, how to deal with social situations, and how to get started as a vegetarian/vegan. We’ll also talk about being a vegetarian athlete as well as ideas for simple meals and snacks. Bring your questions to this interactive session.
Reed Mangels, PhD, RD is a Nutrition Advisor for the non-profit, educational
Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org) and the nutrition editor and a regular
columnist for Vegetarian Journal.
Registration is required to receive a link and password. Deadline to
sign-up will be 1 hour before the program begins.
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According
to their website, ASR
Group is the world’s largest refiner and marketer of cane sugar. In the United
States, ASR produces sugar under these brand names: Domino Sugar, Florida
Crystals, and C&H Sugar.
In
April and May 2021, The Vegetarian Resource Group spoke with Michael Burchell,
Senior Director, Global Corporate Quality and Daryl Sabourin, Global Director
of Sustainability, about sugar processing at ASR.
We
learned that they currently use three different methods for cane sugar
decolorization and purification:
Cow bone char
Ion exchange resin using a polystyrene bed (a non-biodegradable, fossil fuel-derived plastic)
Granular activated carbon (GAC) using coal or coconut husks
ASR
Group employs all of these methods at various refineries around the country.
Burchell
told us that all three processes yield sugar of comparable purity and quality.
Because each type of refining requires its own type of costly, specialized
equipment that has a functional life of 50+ years, changing processing methods
is not frequently done.
Baltimore’s
refinery converted completely away from bone char filtration in June 2015.
Burchell stated that concern about using animal material, especially in light
of zoonotic diseases, was one reason they made the switch.
At
the Baltimore location, Domino now uses granular activated carbon (sourced from
both coal and coconut husks) and ion exchange resin for processing.
The
Yonkers, NY refinery eliminated bone char in the ’80s. It currently uses
granulated activated carbon, as does the South Bay, FL refinery which has
always been bone char-free.
By
contrast, the ASR sugar refineries in Crockett, CA and Arabi, LA use bone char
filtration.
In
the 1990s, 90% of the cane sugar industry was using cow bone char as a filter.
Burchell points out, however, that the ASR Group was already 40% bone char-free
in the ’90s.
Burchell
estimated that today, 65% of all ASR sugar is bone char-free.
Burchell
told The VRG that consumers can tell if a particular package of Domino Sugar,
Florida Crystals or C&H Sugar is completely bone char-free if the lot
number appearing on the label begins with 1, 4, or 6.
The
carbon footprint of cane sugar
Michael
Burchell informed The Vegetarian Resource Group that methane gas was the energy
source driving the sugar processing in some refineries. And where granular
activated carbon was used, coal was one of the source materials.
Both
methane gas from fracking and coal from mining are fossil fuels. The burning of
fossil fuels is the leading cause of our climate crisis.
We
wanted to know more about how the fossil fuel (also called carbon) footprints
of the three industrial methods for cane sugar processing compare. This
information may help educate climate-conscious consumers when they are deciding
which foods and beverages to purchase.
Burchell
directed us to Daryl Sabourin, ASR Group’s Global Director of Sustainability.
Sabourin
was unable to tell us exactly how the fossil fuel footprints of the three sugar
processing methods compare. His company has not determined what they are.
Sabourin estimated that a complete assessment would cost “at least $70,000.” It
isn’t required by the government and no other companies are conducting this
type of analysis.
When
consumers want this information and believe the extra cost through raised
prices (or tax credits?) are worth it, companies may start conducting this type
of analysis. A complete environmental impact assessment, including a fossil
fuel footprint analysis, would provide essential information about the total
environmental costs of production methods. This information would allow
businesses to transition toward using only the methods which have the smallest
environmental and fossil fuel footprints and be leaders in
sound sustainability practices.
Sabourin
estimated that for the granular actived carbon (GAC) method, coal, itself a
fossil fuel, would have a higher fossil fuel footprint than coconut husks. He
also estimated that since bone char manufacture and regeneration require
extremely high temperatures for extended times, the bone char method would have
a higher carbon footprint.
The contents of this posting, our
website, and our other publications, including Vegetarian 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.
Looking for a healthy dessert? Why not try a dessert
smoothie! Ivy Grob (a former VRG intern) shared some of her recipes in a
previous issue of Vegetarian Journal including Strawberry Shortcake,
Banana Chocolate, Berry Cobbler, Peanut Butter Cup, Peach Pie, and Apple Pie
Smoothies. Read the article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2016issue3/2016_issue3_dessert_smoothies.php
Shannon Cebron
offers a number of vegan recipes you can prepare and take with you on your next
camping and/or hiking trip. Her previous Vegetarian
Journal article “Take it Outside” offers recipes for Curried Tofu Salad
Sandwiches, Roasted Garlic Everything Bagel Dip, Watermelon Herb Salad, Trail
Mix Cookies, Whole Wheat Banana Bread Muffins, and Kale & Chickpea Scramble
Burritos. Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2020issue2/2020_issue2_take_outside.php
The Vegetarian Resource Group has a graphic called Burrito on My Plate,
which shows viewers the water footprint of a vegan versus a meat-based burrito.
It takes 225 gallons of water to make a vegan burrito without tofu and 253
gallons of water to make a vegan burrito with tofu. In comparison, it takes 541
gallons of water to make a beef burrito.
Nothing beats a creative
salad dressing that’s quick to prepare and toss into your salad mixture. Chef
Nancy Berkoff has a few suggestions including Indian Curried Grapefruit
Dressing, Thai Peanut-Orange Dressing, Retro Green Goddess Dressing, Italian
Sun-dried Tomato-Rosemary Vinaigrette, Chinese Sesame-Soy Dressing, Continental
Shallot and Caper Dressing, Southwestern Chili Pepper Dressing, and more.
Create and submit a video relating what you want to tell others
about vegetarianism/veganism.
Some possible topics: food, nutrition, your feelings about
veganism/vegetarianism, water usage and vegetarianism, veganism and animal
rights, or other vegan 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.
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. Deadline to enter this year is July 15, 2021.
On May 10th, The Vegetarian Resource Group hosted a Zoom seminar with Professor Phyllis McShane’s class of University of Maryland dietetic students. These students had already earned their undergraduate nutrition degree and are currently completing a year-long internship to receive their registered dietitian certification. This conversation between these students and The VRG staff allowed a nuanced discussion of the relationship between veganism and nutrient needs, financial status, and lifestyles.
The Zoom began at 10:30 EST with Dr. Reed Mangels, a VRG nutrition advisor and registered dietitian, leading a presentation on the demographic of vegans in the United States and the common reasons individuals switch to plant-based diets. After this, current VRG interns discussed their insights on living as vegan or vegetarian and how financial situations or location can affect their diets. Following this discussion, Dr. Mangels opened the floor to anyone who had questions to pose to any VRG interns as a way for these prospective dietitians to learn how to connect with future vegan or vegetarian clients.
Next, past VRG intern, Whitney Blomquist, joined with her two vegan twin toddlers
to discuss her experience with
raising children on a
vegan diet and remaining vegan during pregnancy. Dr. Reed Mangels explained
that although individuals require different nutrients throughout their life
cycle, it is possible and healthy to follow a vegan diet at any age, including
pregnancy and childhood.
Following this conversation
on life cycles, The Vegetarian Resource Group’s Charles Stahler conducted an
ethics conversation in which he presented dietetic students with hypothetical
situations they might encounter with patients. From discussing how one might
react to a teenager switching to a vegan diet without their parent’s support to the effect a diet
change could have on familial relationships, this conversation allowed the
University of Maryland students to put to work the concepts on veganism they
had been taught.
Finally, each dietetic
student was given the opportunity to virtually share a vegan dish they cooked. Dishes such as pho-meat substitutes,
chickpea salad, and vegetable sushi were presented displaying the wide array of
flavors that vegan diets can have. After a final Q&A, the University of
Maryland students were presented the opportunity to do an internship rotation
with the VRG in the future before being dismissed, full of their newly acquired
understanding of veganism.
To read about past dietetic interns who did a rotation with VRG, see
The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on veganism and the interrelated issues of health, nutrition, ecology, ethics, and world hunger. We have been helping health professionals, food services, businesses, educators, students, vegans, and vegetarians since 1982. In addition to publishing the Vegan Journal, VRG produces and sells a number of books.
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