Air India announced that it has cut meat out of economy-class meals on domestic flights “to reduce wastage, reduce cost and improve catering service.”
For more information see:

http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/10/news/india/air-india-flights-meat-vegetarian-food/index.html

By Julia Schoenberg

It might seem stressful to host non-vegan guests. What can you serve them? What will they like? The answer is simpler than you think. Many non-vegan consumers eat vegan products everyday without knowing it. Being non-vegan myself, participating in a vegan meal seemed daunting at first. In reality, however, vegan products are all around us and make up some of our favorite dishes.
   
Ethnic food seems to be the common denominator when it comes to bridging the gap between omnivores and vegans. Many cuisines, like Mexican, are primarily vegan to begin with. For example, try vegetable fajitas, refried beans (without lard), and taco shells. The great part is that it isn’t “vegan Mexican,” it’s just food that happens to fit the vegan diet.

Another great option is Indian food. Indian cuisine includes a wide variety of meatless dishes and wholesome vegetables. In addition to curried tofu and chickpea flour-based breads, Indian cuisine offers dozens of vegetable based soups and rice dishes.

For a third option, look no further than your own refrigerator. The food you always keep around the house might be vegan! Hummus, carrots, many crackers, and even potato chips. Hors d’oeuvres will be a piece of (vegan) cake.

I spoke with some non-vegans and asked them what vegan foods they would consider eating. Initially, of course, their faces scrunched at the idea, picturing “tofu” and other stereotypical vegan foods. However, after explaining some other, more common options, I got a different response. Almost everyone was open to the idea of a vegetable-based meal. In fact, I spoke with a strict carnivore from Philadelphia who, after having one meal at a new vegan restaurant, now has “Meatless Mondays,” claiming that vegan food is a hidden gem.

Although you may think you have to serve food that is made specifically for vegans, serving any food that fits the criteria works too! The goal is to make your guests forget that what they’re eating is vegan at all. For more suggestions, visit www.vrg.org for vegan recipes and restaurants ideas.

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

With the recent announcements by both Reebok and Adidas for their biodegradable shoes to be released sometime in 2017-2018, The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) wondered if the shoes would be 100% vegan. Our short answer based on information we received from these companies: We don’t know. Here’s what we’ve learned thus far:

Adidas
Their new product (still in development) is partially constructed of a synthetic biopolymer, Biosteel®, invented by German company AMSilk®. The fiber is a “nature-based biopolymer” that mimics spider silk protein. It is, according to the company’s website, “100% vegan and biodegradable.” https://www.amsilk.com/industries/biosteel-fibers/#c156

Read more about it at www.adidas.com: http://news.adidas.com/us/Latest-News/adidas-unveils-world-s-first-performance-shoe–made-from-biosteel–fiber/s/88ed218c-68a0-43ba-9ce2-4e87bce30652

In this news release it states that “The Adidas Futurecraft Biofabric prototype shoe features an upper made from 100% Biosteel® fiber…”

We wondered if the rest of the shoe, including the glue, would also be biodegradable and/or vegan. In response to our question we received this email reply from Julia Zellner in Corporate Communications at Adidas in May 2017:

“With our partners, we are actively working on developing materials and processes to help us intercept potential waste and bring it back into the creation loop.
At the moment, the use of biodegradable fibres in our product is at a development stage and the hope is that within the next year we will be in a position to release a product that consumers will be able to purchase.

So far only prototypes have been produced and we cannot confirm details for future products containing 100% biodegradable fibers.

In order for us to label a product as ‘vegan,’ every material used need to be certified so. Currently, we offer a vast number of products for which we do not use animal products or animal by-products. For instance, certain textiles and synthetic leather used by Adidas are animal-free. However, as we want to allow our local suppliers to be able to locally source commodity products (such as glue used in footwear), we do not have a mandate for these products to be certified vegan, as we cannot guarantee local availability of vegan products for all suppliers. Therefore, we do not label our products as vegan even though some may not contain any animal products or animal by-products.”

Does Adidas Have a Coding System for Local Suppliers?

The VRG responded to Julia with another question. We wanted to know if Adidas had a coding system which would permit a consumer to know which local supplier produced a certain shoe component such as the glue. (We know that product coding is practiced by food companies such as Domino® Sugar allowing them to track their foods and know where it was produced. We wondered if shoe companies had a similar system in place.) http://www.vrg.org/blog/2013/01/29/bone-char-free-sugar-from-florida-crystals%C2%AE-and-domino%C2%AE-sugar/

If so, someone who purchased an Adidas product could follow up with the local supplier whose materials were used to manufacture their particular pair of shoes in order to determine if their shoes were vegan.

The VRG received a reply from André Mendes, Senior Manager in Sustainability Communications for Adidas in June 2017. He relayed to us:
“This is information that, at the moment, is not possible for us to share. We keep track of our suppliers but the communication mechanisms between supplier and customer are not in place. We would need to know the supplier and exact purchase order and speak directly to the supplier. Even then, the supplier might not keep records of which locally sourced materials were used.”

Adidas Mid-Sole: Biodegradable?
Here is our question to Adidas: Will the sole of your new shoe be biodegradable as well as the Biosteel fabric on its upper part? If not, what will the sole be made of?

André of Adidas replied:
“The material we use for the midsole of the Futurecraft prototype is BOOST. At the moment this technology is not entirely sustainable but, being a prototype, we constantly innovate and are looking into midsole eco-innovations, such as 3D-printed with ocean plastic. We want to innovate in creating new ideas within an energy intense process in order to use the resources in a responsible way. And this is what we have started to achieve with the upper part of this specific shoe.

Nevertheless, the BOOST manufacturing process (at supplier level) is based on renewable resources, in accordance with Adidas and BASF’s guiding principles of using resources responsibly. We create the best for the athlete, while optimizing our environmental impact. We are committed to steadily increasing the use of more sustainable materials in our production, products and stores.”

We again followed up with more questions to André about his response. Here is the Q&A:

Q: Is BOOST a trademarked name for an Adidas product?
A: BOOST is a trademarked Adidas technology that is used in multiple products.

Q: Are there any petrochemicals involved in manufacturing BOOST? If so, approximately what percentage of the midsole is petrochemical?
A: Yes, Boost is made of TPU which is a plastic (all plastics, unless bio-based, are made from oil – petrochemicals).
[VRG Note: TPU is an acronym for thermoplastic polyurethane. Learn more: https://polyurethane.americanchemistry.com/polyurethanes/Introduction-to-Polyurethanes/Applications/Thermoplastic-Polyurethane/]

Q: You mentioned ocean plastic as a component of your shoes. Can you provide a general estimate of the percentage of any one pair of shoes that is derived from ocean plastic?
A: The upper of the Parley shoes is made of Parley Ocean PlasticTM, which is plastic diverted from the ocean/collected on shorelines. The percentage varies greatly depending on the shoe.

Q: Will the biodegradable shoe which you’re developing now contain ocean plastic? If so, approximately what percentage of it will consist of ocean plastic?
A: No, it will not contain Parley Ocean PlasticTM.

Reebok
In March 2017, Reebok announced its Cotton + Corn® initiative which is based on Susterra® a Dupont Tate & Lyle® invention.

https://www.reebok.com/en-US/Blog/2017-03/Cotton-and-Corn/

http://www.synbioproject.org/cpi/applications/susterra/

Corn glucose-derived 1,3-propanediol is the chemical produced using a genetically engineered microbial catalyst in an industrial fermentation process.
Traditionally, 1,3-propanediol is manufactured from fossil fuels in a procedure that consumes 40% more energy and produces 20% more greenhouse gas emissions than it does to produce it from corn according to a press release by DuPont Tate & Lyle: http://www.duponttateandlyle.com/news_112706

At this point in its development, the top of the shoe is derived from cotton and the sole, from corn. Unlike the current Adidas prototype as of this writing, the Reebok shoe appears to be entirely biodegradable.

We asked Reebok’s Head of Corporate Communications Dan Sarro about the Cotton + Corn shoe. He relayed the following:

“I spoke to the person who heads up our Cotton + Corn initiative… The shoes will be available sometime in late 2017. Here is his response to your question [about vegan materials including the glue]:

‘This is still to be determined. Some of our samples have vegetable tanned leather trim pieces – but we’re not sure if the finished product will have those pieces. We should know in the next few months what the final product will be.’”

NOTE: This is a developing story. Stay tuned to this blog for future updates from The VRG about Reebok and Adidas shoes.

And for those looking for vegan running shoes who can’t wait: http://runnerclick.com/best-vegan-running-shoes-reviewed/ 

According to the author of this article, he considered glue ingredients before ranking his selections. http://runnerclick.com/best-vegan-running-shoes-reviewed/#the-criteria-used-when-selecting-the-best-vegan-running-shoes

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.

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group research, join at: http://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php
For more information on nonleather shoes, see:
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.php

By Davin Cheyenne

Food is one of the few items that connects humans together. It feeds the soul and nourishes the body. When a person lacks that source of energy, discouragement and pain soon follow. To not know where your next meal is coming from or when it will be served is fear in itself. However, I do believe it goes deeper than this. Lack of food is a cut into one’s soul. Without the proper nourishment, one feels deprived deep within. Unfortunately this is not just the case for one or two people in the city of Baltimore.

One in four Baltimoreans are living in poverty according to the U.S. Census. Poverty in Baltimore has increased a whopping 20% since 1981. However with an increase of poverty and homelessness, a helping hand has been there to touch the lives of Baltimore’s most neglected. Since 1981, Our Daily Bread has existed as an employment center which provides help to thousands of people every single day, from hunger, homelessness, and unemployment. It is the place people of Baltimore seek for help and support.

I was very excited to find out that The Vegetarian Resource Group would be giving us interns the opportunity to help prepare and donate vegan casseroles to Our Daily Bread. For many people the idea of donating means to give money, which in many ways is a helpful contribution. However, I feel as though to really connect with those who you’re helping is to visit, and volunteer, and to take a few moments out of our day to prepare food or goodies for those in need.

For me, buying the ingredients, and preparing the casserole in my own home, made me appreciate being able to buy these ingredients because there are those who don’t have a dollar to their name. Preparing the casserole on my table, in my home, made an even meaningful impact on my heart because I know that there are many who eat outside near a trash can with fire in it trying to stay warm. As I finished wrapping the casserole and opened the freezer to let it freeze, the chill made me think of those who had to survive the summer’s humidity. The physical experience of making this casserole was only 30 minutes, but it was more than making food for those in need, it was feeding souls, of humans just like me while feeding my soul as well.
Casey and I chose to make the creamy bean and potato casserole!

As our group of interns stepped into Our Daily Bread the morning of June 27th, we had the pleasure of knowing that many of the staff that provide the food are volunteers, and that over 700 mouths are fed every day! Another thing that caught me off guard was that Our Daily Bread served many vegetarian meals, which included a source of protein, 2 sides of veggies, and one side of fruit, and a dessert.

The Our Daily Bread Employment Center is a lifeline for those in need. To know that I helped contribute to an organization that helps serve meals to Maryland’s hungry, assists homeless men to make the transition to employment, stable housing, and self-sufficiency through the Christopher Place Employment Academy makes me a lifelong supporter, and advocate to encourage all of us to help donate vegan casseroles to Our Daily Bread, or any food center in your community.

If you are in the Baltimore area and would like to volunteer, or even cater vegan casseroles to our Daily Bread, the location is 725 Fallsway, Baltimore, MD, 21202, and they can be reached by telephone at (443) 986-9000. You can also visit their website for vegan recipe options (last three) (created by VRG’s Foodservice Advisor Nancy Berkoff) at http://www.catholiccharities-md.org/our-daily-bread/odb-food-service/favorite-casserole-recipes.html

I hope that by reading this you are encouraged to donate, volunteer, or spend a few moments at Our Daily Bread to really know why making these casseroles really is a life changing experience. If you don’t live in Maryland, please prepare and donate these casseroles to your local nonprofit, which feeds the needy.

Davin Cheyenne and Casey Brown, VRG interns.

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Below are some recent additions. The entire guide can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at:
www.vrg.org/donate
Chef Tanya’s Kitchen
706 S. Eugene Rd.
Palm Springs, CA 92264
Chef Tanya’s Kitchen offers a selection of incredibly affordable deli sandwiches, including the Daily Grinder and the Bahn Mi and You. You can add soups and salads to your sandwich order, or enjoy them on their own. The Tasty Thai Tofu salad is a local favorite.

Crash Cuisine
630 E. 29th St.
Loveland, CO 80538
Crash Cuisine offers breakfast burritos daily. They make all their own vegan meats and cheeses, including herbed feta and mozzarella. Crash Cuisine also has sandwiches. The pastrami sandwich is a favorite menu item for many patrons.

Recipe Oak Cliff
1831 S. Ewing Ave.
Dallas, TX 75216
Recipe Oak Cliff is a juice and tea bar as well as a deli and grocer. They have a rotating menu, offering different organic juice, smoothies, teas and plant based milks, soups, salads, and sandwiches. Delicious and homemade, Recipe aims to highlight ethnic “soul” food in the food desert of 75216.

Starry Lane Bakery
3925 4th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Starry Lane Bakery is a vegan, allergy-conscious, bakery. Serving everything from cookies and cupcakes to bread, brownies, and bars. Transparency is key there, which is why the ingredients for each item are located on their website at the bottom of the menu page. They even sell raw cookie dough and muffin batters so you can make these treats at home!

Sweet Hart Kitchen
68 Wales Ave.
Toronto, ON M5T 1J3 Canada
Located inside Kensington Market, Sweet Hart kitchen offers a wide variety of vegan baked goods and sweets. Menu items are classified as bite-sized, squares, cake cups, and cake. The cookie dough cake cup and the chocolate frosted brownie square are popular.

The Cinnamon Snail
City Acres Market
70 Pine Street
New York, NY 10005
This second location in the Wall Street section of NYC is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Enjoy Blue Corn Pancakes, Chipotle Seitan Breakfast Burritos, Cambodian Crispy Tofu, French Lentil Burger, various Fries, and much more.

Vitality Juice & Smoothie Bar
22 S. High St.
Dublin, OH 43017
This vegan juice bar serves fresh and nutritious drinks. They offer a variety of cold pressed juices with flavors including Apple Pie, Vanilla Dream, and Supreme Green. In addition to juice, they offer multiple smoothies such as PB & J, a Green Tea Cooler, Crazy Monkey (a coffee flavor), and multiple fruit options. Their drinks are all vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free.

Congratulations to the JAINA Eco-Vegan Group that had a wonderful pro-vegan display at the Jaina Convention recently held in Edison, New Jersey. Most Jains are vegetarian; however, they are often hesitant to become vegan. This display shared all the reasons to give up dairy products (Jains that are vegetarian do not consume eggs). Vegan alternatives were also shown.

The Vegetarian Resource Group also exhibited at this meeting and provided free vegan handouts including this article that was well received by attendees:
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2009issue4/2009_issue4_calcium_indian.php

The Vegetarian Resource Group now has a separate Facebook Group for Veggie Parents and Kids. Recent topics brought up include:

Vegan Cookbooks for Kids
Support with Raising a Vegan Infant
Advice on Environmentally-Friendly Diapers for Newborn
Recommendations for an Air Fryer
Veggie-Friendly Summer Camps
Vegan Art Supplies
Where to Buy Vegan Ballet and Tap Shoes

To join The VRG Parents and Kids Group on Facebook, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VRGparentsandkids/

Doshi backpack

Today many people use backpacks for work and leisure. You can now purchase a wide range of creatively designed vegan backpacks. Here’s a few examples of what’s available:

https://doshi.shop/
Doshi offers stylish business backpacks for men and women that you would feel comfortable carrying into a formal office. They are made out of vegan Microfiber PU leather.

https://www.gunasthebrand.com/collections/backpacks
Gunas offers backpacks in various colors for women.

http://mattandnat.com/shop/handbags/backpacks?___SID=U
Matt and Natt offers a wide range of colorful backpacks for men and women. Of note: they are committed to using linings only made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles.

https://www.queenbee-creations.com/collections/backpacks
Queen Bee backpacks for women are stylish and have a unique design.

http://www.slappa.com/catalog/backpacks/?mytabsmenu=1
Slappa offers laptop backpacks.

http://www.spire-bags.com/laptop_backpacks.php
Spire offers laptop backpacks.

http://thevegetariansite.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store _Code=S&Product_Code=Hempmania+Backpack&Category_Code=accessoriesThe Vegetarian Site offers a hemp backpack.

If you are attending Artscape (an incredible 3-day free event with music, movies, art, theater, and more in Baltimore City), you may want to check out these two events featuring vegan food!

Vegan Art-Stravaganza will display art by vegan artists at the Thrive community center in the Charles North neighborhood of Baltimore, and have vegan food available for purchase. See:
www.facebook.com/thrivebaltimore
Friday-Sunday (July 21-23), 12-6pm
6 E. Lafayette Avenue, Baltimore, MD

Red Emma’s is also having vegan food specials on Friday, July 21:
Join the Red Emma’s coop for Happy Hour from 5-8PM, featuring $1 off all responsibly-sourced beer, wine, and craft cocktails! Plus vegan food specials, and a chance to see the “I Love Being Black” art demonstration by Baltimore photographer SHAN.
www.redemmas.org
Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse is located at 30 W. North Avenue, Baltimore, MD

For details on Artscape, see:
http://www.artscape.org/

By Casey Brown, VRG Intern

Catholic Charities of Baltimore offers beneficial programs to individuals in need throughout Maryland. Our Daily Bread Employment Center is one of their programs, which provides assistance to individuals living in poverty. This center assists individuals by providing them with hot meals, job training, job placement, and other services to help them transition to a more stable lifestyle. The Hot Meal Program serves over 700 people per day, and the center relies on donations and volunteers to make this possible.

VRG’s Food Service Advisor Chef Nancy Berkoff created three vegan casserole recipes to include on Our Daily Bread’s site, so others could prepare and donate these options. The recipes include a Sweet Potato and Black Bean Casserole, a Brunswick Stew, and a Creamy Bean and Potato Casserole with Carrots. During each of my visits to Our Daily Bread, the volunteers have expressed the need for more vegetarian options. They stated that around ⅓ of the individuals who come to the center prefer the vegetarian casseroles. This past week during my visit, the volunteer mentioned that macaroni is the most common vegetarian dish that is donated. She said that they don’t often have enough of the other vegetarian casseroles to serve, although they would like to be able to. She stated that the Sweet Potato and Black Bean Casserole is well-liked, however it is not frequently donated.

As an intern with The VRG, I visited Our Daily Bread twice last summer to donate casseroles. I was excited to have the opportunity to visit again this year and be able to prepare another casserole. This year, another intern and I both prepared the Creamy Bean and Potato Casserole with Carrots. This only took me about 10 minutes to prepare and an additional 20 minutes to cook! All of the ingredients were canned, so it was easy to make and there was minimal mess to clean up afterwards. It was also a low cost option. To prepare the dish, I simply opened all of the cans and drained the appropriate ones (all except for the tomatoes). Then I layered them in the casserole pan, topped it with pepper, and put the dish in the oven. It is that simple! This is such an easy dish to prepare, so I encourage everyone to try it out! I plan to prepare some of the Sweet Potato and Black Bean Casseroles next time since I now know that they’re a popular dish.

Our Daily Bread is always looking for more volunteers to join their Hot Meal Program. They need individuals to help serve the meals in the center and prepare casseroles to donate. If you would like to get involved with this organization, visit Catholic Charities website here. If you, your church, synagogue, animal rights group, or another organization is looking for a way to get involved and help the community, then this is a great opportunity! You can commit to cooking vegetarian casseroles for them on a regular basis, so they are able to offer more of these dishes. If you are not located in the Baltimore area, then you can contact your local soup kitchen to see if you can prepare one of the vegetarian casserole recipes for them.

The recipes can all be found here: http://www.catholiccharities-md.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/casserolerecipes.pdf  The last three options were developed by VRG Foodservice Advisor Chef Nancy Berkoff RD, and are vegan).

If you are not in Maryland, we encourage you to donate the vegan casseroles to your local hot meals program.

To support VRG outreach, please donate at:
vrg.org/donate