My love and passion for animals and a just food system for all beings, started with my curious and animal loving 7-year-old self. As I ate chicken nuggets and burger patties, I began to question where exactly meat came from. I understood it came from an animal, but the process of the animal becoming food was still unclear to me. I began bombarding my parents with questions on where exactly meat came from, and after the realization of knowing I was eating an animal that I loved and didn’t want to die was all I needed to hear to vow to never eat another animal in my life. So, at the age of 7, I became a vegetarian completely on my own. Being further educated on the abuses that animals like hens and mother cows still faced in the egg and dairy industries, I became vegan at 13.

My successes within my animal and plant-based advocacy have come in significant ways compared to when I was a 9-year-old who collected funds to donate to animal sanctuaries. I lobbied on Capitol Hill to staffers of California senators and representatives on supporting bills expanding plant-based meals in K-12 schools. I was the head facilitator in groups meetings with U.S. Department of Agriculture providing them with student testimonies and limitations faced by the lack of plant-based options. In 2022 I published an op-ed in L.A. Weekly, speaking upon the importance of plant-based meals in schools. I believe one of my greatest successes in collaboration with other youth advocates was a youth started and led panel at the Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit. Myself along with three other youth leaders, orchestrated a panel titled, “How to Empower Youth in the Vegan Movement.”

After graduating from undergrad in political science, I envision myself going to law school to become a lawyer. There will never be a day where I question my veganism. I simply cannot ever envision myself feeling comfortable in taking the life of a sentient being for the justification of food. If my food choices can prevent me from being a direct supporter of abuses, then I will forever choose my plant-based life.

Support Young Veg Activists

To send support for additional scholarships and internships, donate at www.vrg.org/donate or call (410) 366-8343. You can also send a donation to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

Do you know an amazing student promoting veganism? If so, let them know about our annual scholarship contest. The deadline for high school seniors is February 20^th of each year. To see scholarship rules and past winners, visit www.vrg.org/student/scholar

Tex-Mex Pasta Salad photo by Hannah Kaminsky

Hannah Kaminsky shares several delicious black bean-based vegan recipes in a previous issue of Vegan Journal. Enjoy Colombian Black Bean Soup, Mole Enchiladas, Black Bean Chipotle Chile, Loaded Spanish Sweet Potatoes, and Tex-Mex Pasta Salad.

Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue3/2023_issue3_modern_classics.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

Be sure to follow The Vegetarian Resource Group on Instagram: @vegetarianresourcegroup

Vegan Meatballs

Olga Kouloufakos serves up a variety of Mediterranean vegan recipes in a previous issue of Vegan Journal. You can prepare Stuffed Tomatoes; Vegan Meatballs (based on mushrooms and oats); Moussaka; Pasta with Chickpea & Mushroom Pesto; and Lasagna.

Read her entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2024issue3/2024_issue3_mediterranean_mainstays.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal, visit www.vrg.org/member

During my first week in high school, I started an animal rights club. As a fourteen-year-old, I stood alone at the club fair, recruiting people older than me to join. The first project we took on was bringing more plant-based foods to the school cafeteria. By the end of my freshman year, we had started Meatless Mondays at the high school and designed lesson plans about the importance of plant-based eating that every high schooler in the district participated in. By the end of my sophomore year, we had expanded Meatless Mondays to every school in the district. We worked with a group of health teachers to revise the middle school wellness curriculum to include education about plant-based eating. By junior year, we had worked to guarantee access to full plant-based options at every school district-wide, and by senior year I had worked with the district to guarantee that a minimum of 50% of food served district-wide would be fully plant-based by 2027. I faced a vocal minority of students who opposed the expansion of plant-based options. However, I ended up collaborating with them to serve plant-based versions of the foods they already love.

During my sophomore year, I recruited students from up and down Eastern Massachusetts and as far west as Sturbridge to advocate for state-level legislation to expand access to plant-based food. We successfully established a commission to make recommendations pertaining to the availability of plant-based food in school cafeterias across the state. By junior year, I was working with a group of students who have successfully brought plant-based food to their school cafeterias, helping other students do the same. I’ve one-on-one mentored students as close as neighboring Arlington, MA, and as far away Houston, sharing the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired through my five years of plant-based advocacy.

You can see a video on Meatless Mondays produced by Ezra here: https://brooklineinteractive.org/meatless-mondays-promo

Support Young Veg Activists

To send support for additional scholarships and internships, donate at www.vrg.org/donate or call (410) 366-8343. You can send a donation to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. You can also donate via your stock donation, your IRA, or a bequest.

Do you know an amazing high school student promoting veganism? If so, let them know about our annual scholarship contest. The deadline for high school seniors is February 20^th of each year. To see scholarship rules and past winners, visit www.vrg.org/student/scholar

Green Mitzvathon Environmental Fair
​Sunday, May 4, 2025
Fair hours 11 am – 3 pm
Chevrei Tzedek Congregation @ Myerberg Center
3101 Fallstaff Road, Baltimore, MD 21209

For details, see: https://www.chevreitzedek.org/greensunday.html

VRG will be tabling at this event. Vegan food will be available.

Vegan Journal is published by The Vegetarian Resource Group. Enjoy in-depth original research, product and book reviews, scientific updates on veggie nutrition, delicious vegan recipes with gorgeous photos, plus so much more. Both long-term vegans and those new to a vegan life-style will enjoy this magazine.

To subscribe in the USA only, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/

Food is Care – Northern Westchester Hospital Northwell Health

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

We recently heard from two vegan VRG members who had positive experiences during their hospital stays and who agreed to share their stories.

A VRG member had to spend a night in Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His meal request was put in as lacto-ovo vegetarian (due to the confusion of everything going on medically speaking); however, the meals served to him were vegan with one item being an exception!

The first dinner meal consisted of Spaghetti Marinara, Steamed Rice, Zucchini Noodles, and a Wheat Dinner Roll. Breakfast the following day contained Oatmeal, Hash brown Potatoes, an English Muffin, a Banana, and the only item that was not vegan was a Greek Yogurt (however, if the meal request had been entered as vegan, perhaps vegan yogurt would have been provided). Finally, lunch consisted of Pasta and Sauce with Steamed Fresh Spinach and Beans, Oven Roasted Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables, and Diced Peaches.

Additionally, the cafeteria at Union Memorial Hospital had a separate station where one could purchase a vegan falafel bowl with many add-in items that were clearly labeled as vegan. They also sold fresh fruit, hummus, guacamole, and more.

Another VRG member spent several days at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York. According to the hospital’s website, all patients’ meals are cooked to order by Culinary Institute of America chefs with access to an onsite herb and perennial garden and locally grown, fresh produce.” The patient menu encouraged patients to call the food service to learn more about vegan dining options. They were very helpful in terms of altering menu items to make them vegan and answering questions.

Vegan-friendly breakfast items at Northern Westchester Hospital included avocado toast, tofu scramble, a mango strawberry smoothie, steel-cut oats, assorted breads, fruit, peanut butter, almond butter, roasted vegetable hash, and veggie sausage.

For lunch and dinner, tofu and chickpeas could be added to any salad. There was also a grilled garden vegetable sandwich with hummus and a Baja Veggie Bowl featuring black beans, butternut squash, zucchini, corn, a quinoa and brown rice pilaf, and avocado with seared tofu available as an add-on. A personal pan pizza with lots of vegetables was on the menu and they readily agreed to make it without cheese. Desserts included fruit and several flavors of Italian ice. Almond milk and vanilla soy milk could be ordered with every meal.

The cafeteria had the same grilled garden veggie sandwich as was on the patient menu as well as almond milk yogurt, fruit, and a hearty salad with farro, lettuce, sweet potatoes, pickled red onions, and walnuts.

We are heartened to hear of these positive experiences, while recognizing that not every hospital will be as vegan-friendly as these were. As Camryn Bell, a dietetic intern, wrote in 2020, “much like society, they [hospitals] have come a long way with accommodating and offering vegan options. It is a lot easier to get information on ingredients and being able to have vegan food in the hospital than it was even a few years ago.”

To read more about being vegan in the hospital see:

Hospital Survival Guide for Vegans

Vegetarians in the Hospital

photo from Freepik

The Vegetarian Resource Group is once again sponsoring a video contest. We will be awarding several $100 awards. The deadline for entries this year is July 15, 2025.

Create and submit a video relating what you want to tell others about veganism. Some possible topics: food, nutrition, your feelings about veganism and/or vegetarianism, 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 wining videos can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

Dietary Supplements and Life Stages Pregnancy – Health Professional Fact Sheet

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), a division of the National Institutes of Health, recently posted a new fact sheet for health professionals, Dietary Supplements and Life Stages: Pregnancy, on the ODS website. This fact sheet provides a summary of current research and recommendations for vitamins, minerals, choline, and omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy. Specifically, it addresses calcium, choline, folate/folic acid, iodine, iron, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and zinc. Sections are included on several botanicals (such as chamomile and raspberry leaf), and on nutritional considerations for twin and other multiple pregnancies, vegetarian and vegan diets, bariatric surgery, and sickle cell disease. This fact sheet could be a useful resource to share with your obstetrician or nurse midwife.

To read more about vegan diets in pregnancy see:

Vegan Nutrition In Pregnancy and Childhood

Pregnancy and the Vegan Diet

Prenatal Supplements for Vegans