American Vegan Society will be hosting a Vegan Dinner Cruise on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, PA on Ben Franklin Yacht Thursday October 2nd 2025. There will also be a happy hour at the American Vegan Center that afternoon.

For details, see https://americanvegan.org/events/dinner-cruise-on-the-delaware-river/

VRG interns discuss eating vegan while on a budget.

See https://youtube.com/shorts/WczFuoSKOYk

For more information, go to https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/#nutrition-meal-plans

CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA VEG FEST, Sunday September 14, 2025

Please come by our booth and say hello to our booth coordinator Elsa.

https://www.cvillevegfest.com/

RICHMOND VIRGINIA VEG FEST, Sunday, September 28, 2025
Please come by our booth and say hello to our booth coordinator Elsa.
https://veggiefest.org/

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

VRG and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Vegetarian Nutrition

Dietetic Practice Group will hold a vegan networking dinner for dietitians and local VRG members Sunday, October 12, 2025, at 6 PM in NashvIlle. Contact [email protected] for further information.

If you are attending the conference, please also come by our booth and say hello.

FOOD AS MEDICINE, SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, Friday, October 17, 2025

Please come by our booth and say hello!

https://foodasmedicinesantacruz.org/

Support The Vegetarian Resource Group outreach at vrg.org/donate

Chef Nancy Berkoff shares ideas on ways to prepare vegan dishes using fresh and dried peppers in a previous Vegan Cooking Tips column in Vegan Journal. Nancy states, “There are over 200 cultivated varieties of fresh and dried hot peppers. If you select dried peppers, you’ll want to remember that dried hot peppers are at least 10 times more potent than fresh.” Nancy also mentions, “Bell peppers: Red are sweetest, yellow the mildest, and green the strongest flavor (for a bell pepper). Bell peppers are very versatile, as they work well raw or cooked. Create a bell pepper rainbow with chopped green, red, yellow, orange, or purple peppers. Use them as in ingredient or garnish for tossed, pasta, rice, macaroni, and quinoa cold salads, or put in soups, chili, stews, sandwich fillings, and stir-fry dishes. Instead of a three-bean salad, try a three-pepper salad or use a fresh, seeded bell pepper as an edible bowl for your favorite salads (cold) or your favorite fillings (hot).”

The complete column can be found here: Quick and Easy Fresh Pepper Dishes

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

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

A recent study examined the association between a vegetarian diet, as compared to a nonvegetarian diet, and the risk of different types of cancer. This study included almost 80,000 Seventh-day Adventists living in the United States and Canada and was part of a larger study called the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2). Study subjects completed extensive questionnaires about their food choices and their health. They were followed for an average of 7.9 years. During that time, records were kept of all new cancers that were diagnosed in study participants based on state cancer registries and medical records.

The researchers used the participants’ dietary information to categorize participants as vegans (consumed any animal product less than once a month), lacto-ovo vegetarians (no flesh foods; consumed dairy and/or eggs once a month or more), pesco-vegetarians (similar to lacto-ovo vegetarians but ate fish once a month or more), semi-vegetarians (ate flesh foods less than once a week but at least once a month), and nonvegetarians. For this study, the “vegetarian” group included vegans, lacto-ovo vegetarians, and pesco-vegetarians.

Compared to similar-aged nonvegetarians, younger vegans had a lower risk of both breast cancer and prostate cancer. Both younger and older vegans had a lower risk of lymphomas (cancers of the lymphatic system).

“Vegetarians” had a lower risk of cancer in general as well as a lower risk of stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, and lymphoma compared to nonvegetarians. There was a possibility that “vegetarians” also had a reduced risk of pancreatic, lung, and ovarian cancer but the study was not large enough to make definitive conclusions about these kinds of cancer. Not every type of cancer appears to be affected by diet; cancers of the nervous system, the uterus, and myeloid leukemia did not appear to be associated with diet.

The results showing a lower risk of certain cancers in “vegetarians” and vegans are especially interesting when we note that the nonvegetarian comparison group, because they were Adventists, are relatively health conscious and consume low amounts of meat. Results might differ even more if the comparison group was eating a more typical American diet. Also interesting is that there was “no clear indication” of a higher risk of any cancer in the “vegetarian” group.

Reference

Fraser GE, Butler FM, Shavlik DJ, et al. Longitudinal associations between vegetarian dietary habits and site-specific cancers in the Adventist Health Study-2 North American cohort. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025;122(2):535-543.

Brussels Sprouts photo from Freepik

by Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD

Brussels sprouts are the cutest members of the cabbage family. The sprouts (small heads that resemble miniature cabbages) grow right from a thick stalk, starting at the base of the stem and working upward. If you’ve ever seen Brussels sprouts growing in a garden, you know they resemble a thin, tall, green tennis racquet handle that sprouted miniature cabbages. The stalk is edible, just as broccoli stalks are. If you ever get your hands on a Brussels sprouts stalk, peel it and shred it to use in coleslaws, soups, stir-fries, and cold salads.
Some are haunted by childhood memories of khaki green, bitter, mushy Brussels sprouts globs that had to be eaten or risk spending the night at the dinner table. However, fresh Brussels sprouts, properly cooked, are delicate in flavor. The fresher the sprouts, the better the flavor, so refrigerator storage should not be for more than two days. Remove any damaged or irregular outer leaves and store fresh unwashed sprouts in plastic bags in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator.
Fresh sprouts can be briefly cooked, cooled, halved, and tossed with vinaigrette and then served as a cold side dish, or mixed into pasta or green salads.
The key to cooking Brussels sprouts is in not overcooking them. The leaves cook faster than the core, so when steaming them whole, cut an X in the bottom of each stem for even cooking. If you let Brussels sprouts cook to the point where they lose their bright green color, they will develop the dreaded bitter off-taste and lose a considerable amount of nutritional value as well.
Roast Brussels sprouts in a hot oven, whole or halved, spraying lightly with vegetable oil. This will work on the grill too. If using frozen Brussel sprouts, do not defrost prior to cooking; this retains their color and texture.
If you have leftover cooked quinoa, create a fast soup with the quinoa, vegetable broth, and quartered Brussels sprouts, seasoning with garlic powder or nutritional yeast. Get creative with “long” noodles, including angel hair, spaghetti, or soba, and toss them with roasted Brussels sprouts, shredded carrots, red pepper flakes, and balsamic vinegar or soy sauce. You can also sauté halved Brussels sprouts and toss them with almonds, lemon zest, and mint or with prepared mustard, sauerkraut (two cabbages in one dish!), and white pepper.

By Whitney McVerry

Smash Foods Snack Bites (https://eatsmashfoods.com/collections/snack-bites/products/smash-bites-new-copy-1) were a hit with the kids! We tried the Cashew Butter & Blueberry Jam flavor. It’s tart, sweet, and has a perfectly chewy consistency. This is a convenient option for an on-the-go snack or even as a PB&J replacement when you’re out of bread. Gluten-free and vegan, this snack can be enjoyed by both kids and adults.

Other flavors of their Snack Bites include:

• Choc Peanut Butter Raspberry
• Sunflower Butter Strawberry
• Peanut Butter Grape

When VRG asked Smash Foods about other vegan products they offer, this was their response:

“We’re happy to share that our Snack Bites are labeled as vegan, while our Toasties are not because they contain eggs. As for our Superfood Fruit Spreads, we don’t currently include a vegan label simply because nearly all jams are vegan. The only jams that typically aren’t vegan are those made with gelatin or honey, which is rare.”

You can check out all of their products here: https://eatsmashfoods.com/collections

Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, shares ideas on how to prepare dishes with okra.

For a fast vegan okra dish, sauté onions and bell peppers until soft. Season with thyme, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and white pepper. Stir in chopped fresh or canned tomatoes, cut corn, and sliced (or small pods) of okra. Allow to simmer until okra is just done. Serve over hot, steamed rice.

You can roast whole pods of okra: clean and cap okra, spread single file on a greased baking sheet. Roast in a 400 degree oven until crispy.

If you have the barbecue on, toss some whole okra on your grill as a garnish or side dish or add to a vegetable skewer of tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions.

You can also add chopped or sliced okra to cooked grains or cornmeal or to lentil or bean stews for extra flavor and color. Chilled, cooked okra can be added to green salads, or can be the main ingredient of a cold salad, combined with diced red onions, shredded fresh spinach, and diced melon.

Read more at: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2022issue3/2022_issue3_cooking_tips.php

You may want to grab a special vegan meal at Little Havana in Baltimore City before the end of August! They have both indoor and outdoor seating. We sampled the following dishes and absolutely enjoyed our meal:

• Vegan Black Bean Soup topped with cilantro and chopped red onion.

• Thai Green Bean & Mushroom Empanadas: Flash fried empanadas filled with sautéed garlic, ginger and soy marinated greens beans and mushrooms. Served with Thai chili sauce
• Jerk Veggie Bowl: Grilled jerk marinated veggies with a mango black bean salsa and diced avocado. Served over coconut rice.

For more information on this restaurant, see: https://littlehavanas.com/

Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month runs August 1^st through 31^st, 2025. Be sure to try out all the restaurants participating this month including Harmony Bakery, Johnny Rads, Land of Kush, Oleum, and Roland Park Bagels in Baltimore City, plus many other establishments.

For more information, see: https://www.mdveganeats.com/