Earlier in August, The Vegetarian Resource Group
had a booth at DC VegFest at Nationals Park! Former intern Julia, volunteer
Marcy, and two new VRG volunteers, Shriya and her husband, and I all worked
together to distribute information to current vegans, the veg. curious, and
family members of vegans.
We gave away about 800 copies of the Vegetarian Journal, hundreds of vegan pamphlets,
and other resources like VRG’s I Love
Animals Coloring Books, our protein flier, and information about our
upcoming pre-Thanksgiving vegan dinner.
Throughout the day, we talked to thousands of
people, answering questions about veganism, giving cookbook recommendations,
and networking with other non-profits and activists. Many of the people that
stopped at the table were interested in information about healthy vegan recipes
and asked questions related to their specific health concerns, such as how to
increase protein in a vegan diet or how to reduce sodium intake. It was really
inspiring to see so many people taking positive steps towards a healthy life by
exploring veganism! Although I’m not a dietitian and couldn’t give nutrition
information, I was able to point people towards articles on our website www.vrg.org addressing these issues.
– What is your number one challenge you face
raising your children vegan? Some of the responses included:
When my kid finds out not everyone makes compassionate
choices.
School doesn’t provide vegan lunches.
I find it’s challenging when she goes to a friend’s house. We often send her food so she is more comfortable. She is 12 and very strict with her food choices – so getting other parents and her friends to understand and support is helpful.
My baby is 8 months and my husband is not
vegan. It’s going to be extremely hard and would love to see if anyone has any
advice on how to handle/cope.
Peer pressure/bullying about food choices.
Getting toddler to eat specific foods so I
know they are getting enough b12.
– Where to Buy Vegan Shoes for Children
-Plus more!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VRGparentsandkids/ is intended to be a group that offers support for
families raising children on vegan diets and for vegan kids. We envision it as
a place to get advice about a wide-variety of topics: pregnancy, birthday
parties, school lunches, Halloween, non-leather apparel, cruelty-free products,
summer camps, and more. Please use it as a place to share your wisdom, seek
advice, or just find a sympathetic ear. The goal is to offer support.
Consequently, any profane, defamatory, offensive,
or violent language will be removed. Feel free to disagree, but do so
respectfully. Hateful or discriminatory comments regarding race, ethnicity,
religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs will not
be tolerated. We expect that posts should relate to vegan diets and lifestyles.
The Vegetarian Resource Group reserves the right to monitor all content and ban
any user who posts in violation of the above rules, any law or regulation,
SPAM, or anything otherwise off topic.
Please share this information
with any veggie families that you know! Thanks.
In the USA right now, many people have an abundance of ripe
tomatoes in their garden and might be searching for new vegan recipes featuring
fresh tomatoes. Nava Atlas offered several suggestions in a previous Vegetarian Journal in her article titled
“Tomato Heaven”. You can prepare the following recipes: Salsa Ranchera (Raw
Tomato Salsa), Fresh Summer Tomato Sauce, Simmered Tofu with Leeks and Tomatoes,
Curried Potato-Tomato Salad, Spiced Tomato and Peach Relish, and Fresh Tomato
and Corn Soup.
Nothing beats a simple graphic to get the vegan message out!
The Vegetarian Resource Group created My Vegan Plate to display on outreach
tables at various events. If you live in the United States, you can request
copies of this handout to distribute by emailing us at [email protected]
Once again, the greater Baltimore area and a few other
locations in Maryland can enjoy Vegan Restaurant Week. For details on this
event see: https://www.mdveganeats.com/
Some of the participating restaurants in Baltimore include:
Golden West Café (Fried Chicken Mac and Cheese; Aztec Steak
Quesadilla; Waffle Monster Redux; Tofu Benedict; and more)
Greener Kitchen Kale SaladGreener Kitchen Vegan Chicken
Greener Kitchen (Vegan Cheesesteaks; Kale Salad; baked
goods; and more)
Land of Kush (vegan Mac and Cheese; Collard Greens; Vegan
Crab Cakes; Curry Chickun; Kush BBQ Ribs; and more)
Miss Shirley’s (Avocado Toast; Oh Snap! Quinoa Salad;
Gluten-Free Griddle Cakes; Apple Sage Sausage & Hash Skillet; Be More
Beyond Burger; plus more)
Roland Park Bagels Vegan Pizza Bagel
Roland Park Bagels (Vegan Pizza Bagels; Breakfast
Powerhouse; Beyond Burgers; Falafel Pita Pocket; and more)
Stall 11 (Korean BBQ Cauliflower Bites; Buddha Bowl; Funghi
Philly; Shroom Burger; Seasonal Quinoa Pancakes on weekends; plus more)
Great Sage Yasai Noodle Bowl
In Howard County Great Sage is participating (Artichoke
Spinach Dip; Chopped Salad & Tex Mex Quesadilla; Yasai Noodle Bowl; Bourbon
Street Burger; Chocolate Lava Cake; Carrot Cake; plus much more)
In Montgomery County Lion & Dove Winery is participating.
The Vegetarian Resource Group has compiled a list of
Senior Independent Living, Assisted Living, Nursing Home, and Other Senior Facilities
in the USA that will accommodate vegetarians and in some cases vegans. This is
a work in progress and if you know of any establishments that should be added
to this list, please let us know. Our goal in this project is to persuade
senior establishments to offer more vegan options on a regular basis. Sometimes
by just asking you put the thought on their radar. We were successful in doing
the same thing 15 years ago when we urged college campuses to do the same
thing.
AdventHealth Care Center Orlando North
730 Courtland Street
Orlando, FL 32804
(407) 975-3800
Nursing Home, Rehab
This facility serves vegetarian meals to all of the
residents about once a month. When a resident is vegetarian, they try their best
to accommodate. Food examples: hummus, beans, vegetable wraps, a cottage cheese
fruit plate, chef’s salad w/o meat, meatless crumble, meatless chicken nuggets,
veggie burgers, and black bean burgers. They are willing to accommodate vegans.
CherryWood Village
1417 SE 107th Ave
Portland, OR 97216
(503) 408-0404
Retirement Community
Serves three options for each meal, and one option is
always vegetarian. They can make vegan items with some substitutions, but it is
not already vegan. There is good communication between the residents and the
kitchen about what is in the food, and the residents can always ask for
ingredients that are in items. Example foods: black bean burgers (with or
without cheese), avocado toast (with or without egg), burritos, and vegan
gluten-free bread.
Tofubox in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY, offers
a wide variety of veggie Asian dishes that are highly affordable. It is a
vegetarian restaurant; however, most dishes are vegan-friendly.
Start with dim sum options including spring rolls, vegetable
dumplings, and more. Soup options featured are pumpkin soup, miso soup with
mushroom and tofu, and hot and sour soup. Also enjoy rice- or noodle-based
dishes such as Szechuan spicy noodle, Singapore style noodle, or cedar pine-nut
fried rice. Main dishes include box sets where you pick one protein (such as
hot and spicy yuba, kung pao tofu, drunken seitan, and others) along with brown
or purple rice and other toppings including veggies and beans. Finally, Tofubox
offers chef’s specials including eggplant pot, Buddha’s delight, Szechuan soy
protein, shiitake in garlic sauce, and other options. Also enjoy fresh juices
and smoothies.
Tofubox is located at 632 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY 11211.
They are open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Monday. They
also do catering and can be reached at (718) 388-4232 or by visiting www.tofuboxbrooklyn.com.
Young readers will enjoy this rhyming tale about a
ferocious lion who was pretty ordinary until the day he injures himself. He
becomes unlike other lions that can run fast to catch their prey and now must
rely on plants for food. He learns from other strong plant-eating animals and realizes
that he too can be strong without eating animals. The injury helps him to
reflect on the harm he was causing other animals. He realizes a fringe benefit
of eating plants is kindness and in the end embraces his new lifestyle. The
story teaches readers about different animals that thrive only on plants and
helps them to identify with the lion in how he showed compassion toward other
living beings. Another moral of the story that kids will also learn is that you
can turn an unfortunate situation into something positive.
An Unordinary Lion (ISBN 978-1093275704) is published
by Dragana Vucic Dekic for young readers ages appropriate for ages 4-8. This 29
page soft cover picture book retails for $9.95 and can be purchase online. For
more information about other books by the author, visit the author’s blog at https://momthemuse.com.
The Vegetarian Resource Group will host a vegan dinner at Su Xing, about a six minute walk from the Pennsylvania Convention Center, on Sunday, October 27, 2019, during the annual meeting of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Meet vegetarian dietitians from around the country. The public is invited.
MENU APPETIZER: seitan on stick with BQ sauce SOUP: (choice of): hot and sour soup or tofu and vegetable soup MAIN DISHES: chow fun (rice noodle dish) tofu with black bean sauce stir-fried spinach stir-fried string beans rice DESSERT: fruit BEVERAGES: tea and water
MUST RESERVE AND PAY IN ADVANCE Send $25 per person (includes tax and tip) with attendee names to The Vegetarian Resource Group, PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. Call (410) 366-8343. Or pay at www.vrg.org/donate and write “Philadelphia VRG Dinner” and attendee names on the “Comments” box.
My excitement for the summer peaked when I
arrived at Baltimore’s BWI Airport in the middle of June to begin my first ever
vegan job. The corners of my smile were as acute as a folded page in the Vegetarian Journal. For the weeks prior,
my family was getting annoyed at me for how excited I was to finally be around
people who share some of my views. (Oklahoma is not too kind to vegans, by the
way.) Don’t get me wrong, they were still happy for me! This is what I had been
looking forward to all semester; I was eager to begin turning my compassion
into action. At the beginning, I had doubts about whether I wanted to write for
a living, but this internship held the perfect opportunity for me to discover
where I belonged on the spectrum of vegan activism.
Google is my lifesaver. I found this internship
through a quick search: “vegan jobs near me.” The VRG internship was the first
result. Prior to this internship, I did marine biology and freshwater ecology
research. I knew I wanted a job that focused on veganism, I just did not know
where to begin! It is not every day you stumble into a vegan job market and
have options! One of the things I realized this summer is that a lot of the
people I met created opportunities for themselves.
My goals coming into this internship were to
gain exposure to vegan activism and careers, network with organizations,
interact with a developed vegan community, contribute to vegan research and
publication, as well as engage with the Baltimore community about research,
events, and how to get involved. So far, I have been able to accomplish many of
my goals, and the rest are coming to fruition as I complete the last two weeks
of this internship.
While here, I helped teach a vegan cooking class
at Christopher’s Place employment academy, aided in photographing food for the
Greener Kitchen’s menu, worked a booth at Waverly farmers market, did outreach
at Roots Vegan Fest, visited a 93-year old vegan who has been vegan for 70
years, tasted amazing vegan food, and wrote all about it. Before I leave, I
will have also attended a national animal rights conference and Vegan SoulFest.
Never in my life have I been able to interact with so many vegans. It has
helped me realize the diversity of the movement and how we can make a
difference wherever we are.
I have networked with doctors, nutritionists,
public health specialists, writers, restaurant owners, and food photographers.
I feel more secure entering the workplace after being exposed to the variety of
jobs people have veganized. It is inspiring to see people sculpt their love for
animals and environment into infrastructure that will reach many people and
save lives. Seeing the various ways vegans have positioned themselves in the
movement, and how they shaped their career to make a living while saving lives
has been the most valuable experience for me.
My experience at the VRG equipped me with the
skills and network necessary to progress my vegan career. Also, the experience
of living in a city for a summer as opposed to rural Oklahoma affected me in
life-changing ways. Seeing people living their dreams because they have
resources in the city has inspired me to not settle for anything. If you can
dream it, you can be it! This is something my small town failed to teach me.
Growing up poor and Native, you are never advised to dream big because it was
never in the cards for you. Now I am considering business, medical school, or a
PhD because I am now aware of the power I have to make myself. I could not be
more thankful for my experience at the VRG and in Baltimore. As I prepare to
leave, I am happy knowing I am fueled for a future in whatever arena I choose!
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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