CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA VEG FEST, Sunday September 14, 2025

Please come by our booth and say hello to our booth coordinator Elsa. For more info see: https://www.cvillevegfest.com/

Immy Lucas’s book The Conscious Kitchen is reviewed in the latest issue of Vegan Journal. This cookbook focuses on how to reduce food waste in your kitchen. Recipes are included. Read our review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue3/2025_issue3_book_reviews.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only at www.vrg.org/member

photo from Freepik

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

It’s exciting for new vegan parents to imagine their baby starting to eat solid foods. There will be adorable photos of the baby after a meal, with more of the meal on the baby than in the baby’s stomach. There will be the thrill of the baby’s first taste of a strawberry or broccoli or another new food. How can parents know when it’s appropriate to introduce solids?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be introduced to foods other than breast milk or infant formula when they are about 6 months old and that introducing solid foods before 4 months is not recommended. Introducing solids earlier than 4 months appears to increase the risk of childhood obesity. Breast milk or infant formula meets a baby’s nutritional needs for the first 6 months and generally there is no nutritional need for solids before age 6 months. Around age 6 months is when babies typically are ready to develop the skills needed to eat solid foods. Each baby is different, of course, and it’s more important to consider signs of readiness for solids than to only look at the baby’s age.

Some signs that a baby is ready to start solid foods include:

• The baby can sit up in a high chair, a feeding seat, or an infant seat with little or no support and can control their head and neck. This means the baby can lean forward when they want food or pull back or turn away when they’re no longer hungry or interested.
• Being interested in what others are eating. They may watch others eating, reach for food and open their mouth when you try to give them food.
• When they are given food, they swallow it (or at least some of it) instead of pushing the food out of their mouth with their tongue.
• The baby tries to grasp small objects and brings objects to their mouth.

If your baby’s doctor approves starting solid foods but the baby does not seem interested, wait a few days and then try again. Breast milk or infant formula will still meet the baby’s nutritional needs as they begin to eat solid foods.

To read more about feeding vegan babies see:

Feeding Vegan Kids

Vegan Nutrition in Pregnancy and Childhood

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegan 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.

Often people stereotype vegans. In their latest Note from the Coordinators in Vegan Journal, the Vegetarian Resource Group Coordinators describe how varied vegans actually are after analyzing results from VRG’s latest national YouGov poll. Read the column here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue3/2025_issue3_note_coordinators.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only at www.vrg.org/member

Colombian Black Bean Soup 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/

Come meet dietitians from the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group and VRG members. The public is invited. You must preregister. You can pay at www.vrg.org/donate Write in names of attendees and that this is for the Networking dinner.

When: Sunday, October 12, 2025, 6 PM

Where: Sitar Indian Restaurant

Menu (subject to change):

Samosa (potato and pea turnover)
Salad
Papadum (thin and crispy lentil crackers)
Roti (whole wheat bread)
Chutney
Rice
Yellow Dal (lentils)
Chana Masala (chickpeas)
Baingan Bhurtha (eggplant)
Bhindi Masala (okra)
Vegetable Patia (fresh vegetables with sweet and sour mangoes)
Fruit
Tea and Water

Cost: $30 before September 12, 2025. $35 before October 1, 2025. Includes tax and tip. Drinks can be purchased from the restaurant separately.

PLEASE PAY AT   www.vrg.org/donate and write in the Comments: Networking Dinner with the Attendee names. Or call (410) 366-8343. Or mail payment to The Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. We look forward to seeing you there.

(Note: This replaces a previous dinner location because of a fire in the area.)

HodoThai Red Curry Tofu

In every issue of Vegan Journal, we review vegan products that we especially like. In our recent issue we review Hodo Foods Saucy Tofu that comes in three globally inspired flavors. Read the product review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue3/2025_issue3_veggie_bits.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only at www.vrg.org/member

By Amy Burger

As kids mature, they start thinking more deeply about right and wrong, figuring out who they are, and forming their own opinions. Fiction is a great way for them to explore vegan ideas, sometimes through characters who are vegan themselves, or through stories about animal rights, protecting the environment, or standing up against unfair systems. These books get readers thinking about their own choices and help them picture what the world could look like if we all acted with more compassion and stood up for what we believe in.

• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White: A beloved, classic story that emphasizes the emotional depth of animals and the concept of not eating friends.
• Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: A 19th-century classic told from a horse’s point of view, advocating for humane treatment of animals.
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate: Focuses on a captive gorilla and the ethics of animal entertainment.
• Vegan, Virgin, Valentine by Carolyn Mackler: This coming-of-age story of a close-in-age aunt and niece who are very different from each other explores the question of self-identity.
• Vegan Teenage Zombie Huntress by G.G. Silverman: This quirky horror-comedy that follows vegan teens in a zombie apocalypse is the first in the two-book Redvale Zombie Prom series.
• How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery: This nonfiction book chronicles the author’s relationships with animals. Montgomery has written several other animal-centric titles for a variety of ages.

For middle and high school readers, reading encourages thinking about and sometimes questioning what they believe in. These books offer thoughtful, age-appropriate stories that help readers reflect on important issues and grow as people.

gettyimages photo

In the latest issue of Vegan Journal, Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, answers a reader’s question about the role of soyfoods in bone health. Read her Nutrition Hotline column here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue3/2025_issue3_nutrition_hotline.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only at www.vrg.org/member

photo from www.tamingtwins.com

Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, provides a list of kid-friendly vegan snacks that are nut-free, peanut-free, vegan, and have five or less grams of added sugar per serving.

Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue3/2023_issue3_nutfree_snacks.php

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