We received the following email:

Hi, we recently came across your website and found it interesting. We would like to register our community café there which is India’s first eco-friendly vegan community café based in Kolkata. Here is our FB page: www.facebook.com/ubuntucommunity3/

Website is still under development, but you can check here: www.ubuntucommunity.co

From their website:

Wondering about the meaning of our name, Ubuntu? 

There was once an anthropologist who had been studying the habits and culture of a remote African tribe. One day, he put together a gift basket filled with delicious fruits from around the region and called the children together for a small race.

The man drew a line on the ground, looked at the children and said, “When I tell you to start, run to the tree. Whoever gets there first, will win the fruit basket.” As soon as the race began, the children held each other’s hands and ran to the tree together. 

They then sat under the tree and enjoyed the fruits together. Shocked, the anthropologist asked the children, “Why did you go together when one of you could have the entire fruit basket?”

A young girl looked up at him and said, “How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?” and this is called spirit of UBUNTU which means “I am because We are”.

If you’ve never tried vegan Ethiopian Cuisine, you might want to give it a try! Not far from The Vegetarian Resource Group office, there are several Ethiopian restaurants offering vegan options.

Dukem in Baltimore City has several veggie sampler options on their menu offering items such as spicy red lentils, yellow split peas, collard greens, potato/carrot/cabbage stew, tomato salad, and more. This is served with injera, Ethiopian bread.

Tigi’s Ethiopian Restaurant in Ellicott City, Maryland, offers a special vegan menu, as well as a small listing of vegan combo platters. Options include sambusas, fava beans cooked with onions and garlic simmered in a berbere sauce, simmered brown lentils in mild sauce, crumbled tofu with sautéed onions and tomatoes, purée of roasted flax seed cooked in spicy sauce, and more served with injera.

Look for an Ethiopian restaurant in your area and see if they have vegan options. If you can’t find an Ethiopian restaurant nearby, you can prepare some of these dishes at home. Teff Love is a vegan Ethiopian cookbook. See: https://www.vrg.org/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=102&zenid=680a0c94f1e69df73abb8120523348ad

The Staford Inn offers vegan cooking classes and more for families in California. See: https://stanfordinn.com/mendocino-oceanview-resort-cooking-classes/

For other resorts and bed and breakfast locations, see: https://www.vrg.org/links/vacation.htm#main

By Patricia Welty

It was spring 2016 and Pat and I were driving 625 miles to Springer Mountain in Georgia. We loaded the car and pulled away from my building on a rainy morning in Washington, DC as the rush hour traffic was bulging on Connecticut Avenue. It would take us at least 11 hours to reach Amicalola State Park Lodge near the Appalachian Trail southern terminus. Luckily the weather cleared and so did the traffic as we left DC behind.

Early the next morning I cased the room for hikers. I spotted two, both loaded down with gear, having breakfast with family members. After I filled my water bottle, as we left the dining room we both stopped short and gazed upward toward the ceiling. There we saw an elongated relief map of the AT stretching from Georgia through 14 states to Maine and covering the space on the wall from above the store to two stories above. Inside the lodge store I spied a familiar figure, Grandma Gatewood, infamous for being the first woman to thru-hike the AT in 1955 at age 67 wearing a pair of Keds.

I stuffed my backpack making last minute decisions on what to exclude and handed the remainders to Pat. We were off. But first we made the voluntary stop at the ranger station to register. A scale beckoned from the porch and I took the bait and hung my pack — 37 pounds. Inside a young ranger told me she thru-hiked the AT as a SOBO (south bounder) the year before, She was eager to share her advice. “You only need to carry one liter of water. Bring your heavy jacket because you’ll need it in the Smokies.” She was right. At the trailhead Pat and I hugged goodbye and I turned north toward Maine. 

Being away for six months requires planning. Being vegan on the AT makes planning a necessity. Thru-hiking had been on my mind ever since I signed up for the Konnarock Trail Crew and met several thru-hikers. I didn’t get serious about taking this on until 2015, the year before I left. I started by attending REI lectures on hiking the AT, talking to the instructors, and researching gear. In the fall of 2015 I hiked the 41-mile Maryland Section to try out pitching a tent, cooking on a small stove, and navigating blazes. In February before I left I got serious about planning where and when to get resupplies. I sent out an email to friends in DC and asked if they could help by sending four or five boxes to locations along the trail. The board of A Vegan Life nonprofit helped research vegan companies with light-weight, shelf-stable, and easy to prepare products. Some companies like Gorilly Goods, Vega, and Elianni donated food. I purchased cases of Road’s End Mac & Cheese because it only requires adding water. I planned to resupply every 40 or so miles and carry four days’ worth of food. A typical day would be hot oatmeal for breakfast, snacks (trail mix, bars) during the day, and Mac & Cheese for dinner. About 15 people offered to mail food packages. I plugged their names into the spread sheet and delivered filled USPS boxes before I left. The boxes were addressed to me with the notation “please hold for NOBO (north-bound) thru-hiker ETA …”           

My niece Lizi researched vegan recipes and mailed the dehydrated version to me in individually wrapped brown paper bags with instructions and ingredients. Her Thai curry soup and grits with kale and sesame seeds hit the spot. Lizi and Mike, her boyfriend, met me in along the trail in Shenandoah National Park with more delicious foods, snacks, and homemade cherry and vanilla ice cream made with almond milk that I ate at one of the rest stops where we met.

One recurring question I got besides “how old are you” was “where do you get your protein?” I couldn’t help but notice that many of the thru-hikers were young but had very poor diets. When they got to small towns they filled up on pizza, fast food, and junk. Even though I could not hike as fast as they could, I relied on my healthy diet to keep me going without injury. I wanted to be a model for what is possible on a healthy vegan diet at age 69. Besides I had to live up to my trail name Iron Butterfly.

I made it to Katahdin October 15, registered at the Baxter State Park Ranger Station, paid my fee, and along with my hiking friend, Swiss Miss, headed to the campsite designated for thru-hikers. That night we had a good dinner, I had saved a little of the Thai curry soup for this occasion, set the alarm for 5:30 am and crawled into the sleeping bag knowing we had made it. After breakfast in the dark the morning of October 16 we packed up our gear and headed for the ranger station. We left our large packs on the porch and stuffed a day pack with snacks and water and headed out for the Hunt Trail and the northern terminus of the trail.

It takes a day to hike up and down Katahdin. It starts out easy but half way up it is very difficult and requires holding onto rebar and hoisting almost straight up. Closer to the summit and above the tree line we walked along the path that had been roped off with signs that the area was home to an endangered butterfly. Along the way we met some young guys who hiked with us. There was no need to hurry now because we knew we had made it. At the summit we took the requisite photos before heading down to try and beat the rain. That night we celebrated with vegan food at a restaurant in Millinocket.

For more information on hiking and camping, see:
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2013issue2/2013_issue2_vegan_backpacking.php
https://www.vrg.org/blog/2019/07/09/are-you-looking-for-vegan-hiking-boots-heres-some-online-stores-selling-them/
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001may/2001_may_backpack.php
https://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/02/18/vegan-camping-foods-for-the-winter/

On Sunday, November 24th, 2019 The Vegetarian Resource Group hosted our 38th Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Vegan Potluck Dinner at the North Baltimore Mennonite Church on Roland Avenue in Baltimore, MD.

Imagine all of the camaraderie and food associated with the holiday without the turkey and fixin’s. Imagine all that food – and it was all wonderfully VEGAN. Was this what vegan heaven looks like? It’s certainly represents a step toward heaven. You should have been there! Make plans to join us next year, you owe it to yourself – and to the turkeys.

Save the date: VRG’s pre-Thanksgiving potluck in Baltimore, MD is on the Sunday before Thanksgiving each year!

We encourage you to hold a similar event in your home town. Of course the internet has loads of vegan recipes but here are a few more https://www.vrg.org/recipes/vegan_thanksgiving.php

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Duckweeds (also known as water lentils) are plants that grow on lakes and ponds and that are eaten by ducks, geese, and swans. Some species of duckweed have been traditionally eaten by people in Asian countries. For example, in Thailand, duckweed is used in salads and vegetable curries and is found in vegetable markets where it may be called khai nam, kai-pum, or kai nhae (1). 

Duckweed has been recently investigated as a source of nutrients including protein (1). Questions have arisen about duckweed’s vitamin B12 content. So far, only one peer-reviewed study has examined this. Researchers reported that a dish made from Mankai duckweed contained vitamin B12 (2). No details were provided of the method used to analyze vitamin B12 which is concerning since some methods measure inactive vitamin B12 analogs (3, 4).

When questioned about their methodology (3), the researchers said that they used a method that does not distinguish between active vitamin B12 and vitamin B12 analogs (5). They also said that they did another kind of test that found that there was some active vitamin B12 in the duckweed although no details were provided about how much active vitamin B12 was present (5).

Unless a food has consistently been shown to improve vitamin B12 status in humans, as measured by reducing blood levels of methylmalonic acid, it cannot be considered a reliable source of vitamin B12 (4). There are no published reports in peer-reviewed scientific literature of duckweed improving human vitamin B12 status.

The bottom line: More research needs to be conducted and subjected to peer review, before duckweed (or water lentils) can be considered a reliable source of vitamin B12 for humans.

For more information about vitamin B12, including vegan sources of vitamin B12, see Vitamin B12 in the Vegan Diet.

References

1. Appenroth KJ, Sree KS, Bog M, et al. Nutritional value of the duckweed species of the genus Wolffia (Lemnaceae) as human food. Front Chem. 2018 Oct 29;6:483

2. Kaplan A, Zelicha H, Tsaban G, et al. Protein bioavailability of Wolffia globosa duckweed, a novel aquatic plant – A randomized controlled trial. Clin Nutr. 2019 Dec;38(6):2576-2582. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2018.12.009.

3. Jahreis G, Appenroth KJ, Sree KS, Dawczynski C. Letter to original article by Kaplan et al. 2018 – Protein bioavailability of Wolffia globosa duckweed, a novel aquatic plant, A randomized controlled trial. Clin Nutr. 2019 Oct;38(5):2463. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.07.007.        

4. Norris J. Vitamin B12. Vegan Health website. https://veganhealth.org/vitamin-b12/

5. Kaplan A, Lapidot M, Sela I, Shai I. RE: Protein bioavailability of Wolffia globosa duckweed, a novel aquatic plant, a randomized controlled trial. Clin Nutr. 2019 Oct;38(5):2464. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.08.007

The contents of this posting, 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.

Study Nonviolence and Jainism in India. International Summer School for Jain Studies (ISSJS) is currently accepting applications for three, four, and six week study programs in India. See: www.isjs.in

For other travel opportunities, see: https://www.vrg.org/links/vacation.htm

Loving Hut is an international vegan chain with over 200 restaurants in 35 countries. We recently visited the Loving Hut Falls Church, Virginia (USA) location. The service was excellent and the food was delicious.

We ordered Tofu & Brussel Sprouts, Spicy Sweet Potato Curry, Super Kale, and a vegan Brownie with vegan Ice Cream for dessert. Each dish had its own unique flavor and we greatly enjoyed our meal.

Info for the Loving Hut Fall Church, VA location here: https://lovinghut.us/fallschurch/

Loving Hut locations in the USA can be found here:
http://lovinghut.us

You can also search for veggie restaurants on The Vegetarian Resource Group’s online guide for the USA and Canada here: https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

By Marcy Schveibinz

Odd Robert by Will Lowrey is a story about two curious young boys who lived in a small village surrounded by a great forest called Elkin Forest. They love to go on adventures in the forest to discover new things. They rescue a creature that is mysterious to them and the villagers. All they know is that the creature was injured and needed to be taken care of just like any other living being. The readers eventually will learn the identity of Odd Robert and see the desperation and passion for his welfare by those who lost him and those who found him. Due to this passion on both sides, there are several parts of the story that have graphic descriptions of violent images.

The animal rights theme is conveyed throughout the story in an unconventional, obscure way. Lowry’s use of the written word makes it easy for the reader to imagine being right there with the boys on their adventures through Elkin Forest.

Odd Robert by Will Lowry is a 139-page paperback book. It is published by Lomack Publishing and is available for retail on Amazon in paperback and kindle editions. This book may be suitable for ages 16 to adult.

According to engadget, the Impossible Sausage will be tested at 139 Burger King restaurants in five test regions: Savannah, Georgia; Lansing, Michigan; Springfield, Illinois; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Montgomery, Alabama. See: ImpossibleSausageinBurgerKing’sbreakfastcroissants.

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.