Reader Michael Brown wrote:
Somewhat surprisingly, I just got the following from Companion Foods. http://www.evercompanion.com/

It seems that their sugar is vegan! I’m forwarding it to you with hope that other vegans will be helped by it too:

Dear Mr. Brown,

Our sugar is manufactured by Taiwan Sugar Corporation (http://www.taisugar.com.tw/english/index.aspx) and according to Taiwan Sugar, their sugar is made from 100% cane sugar and does not use bone char or other additives. Therefore, the sugar is completely safe for vegans and vegetarians.

We hope this message has been helpful to you. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us again any time.

Have a good day,
Emily
Companion Foods Customer Service

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

Jus Pur
1005 Rue Bernard
Outremont
Montreal, QC Canada H2V 1T9
Enjoy cold pressed juices along with acai bowls, salads, and vegan desserts including brownies, pie, carrot cupcakes, and truffles.

Try it Raw
213 E. Maple Rd.
Birmingham, MI 48009
Enjoy Chocolate Chia Pudding or Sunshine Cereal for breakfast. Try their Arugula Salad, Broccoli Slaw or Kale Salad along with an entrée such as Marc’s Noodles, El Burrito, Los Tacos, or Nori Roll. Finally, be sure to try one of their fresh juices or smoothies.

Veganized
9 Spring St.
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
They are community focused, using local, seasonal, organic, and fair trade ingredients. Start your meal with raw beet ravioli, the soup of the day, or a creative http://modafinil200mg.net salad. Enjoy one of their flatbreads or sandwiches or an entrée dish such as Mackin Cheese, Rawzagna, or Deluxe Burger. Desserts include a vegan cheesecake, Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte, Coffee Cake, and 14 Karat Cake. Weekend brunch items include pancakes, biscuits with toppings, and tofu scramble.

Whole Heart Provisions
487 Cambridge St.
Allston, MA 02135
Enjoy a wide variety of bowls including Viet Style, Seoul Style, and Miso Style.

Zend Conscious Lounge
1130 Mainland St.
Vancouver, BC V6B 2T9 Canada
For breakfast you can try 5 Spice Pear & Sweet Potato Pancakes, a Breakfast Wrap, and more. For lunch or dinner enjoy soup, salads, and sandwiches including the Spiced Beet Wrap. Shareable items include a Vegan Cheese Board, South East Asian Rice Rolls, Spiced corn and “defried” bean tacos, and more. You can end your meal with their Triple Chocolate Torte.

Pumpkins and pumpkin purée can be found in stores right now. Here’s some pumpkin recipes to enjoy during this season.

Pumpkin Custard (from Vegan Microwave Cookbook, by Chef Nancy Berkoff)
(Serves 6-8)

Mix 1 can (8 ounces) of unsweetened pumpkin purée with 1 cup of silken tofu in a medium bowl. Flavor with ¼ cup maple syrup, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon nutmeg. Mix well. Microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes or until heated through. Eat the custard on its own or with your favorite vegan gingersnaps, graham crackers, or other cookies. You can also purchase a ready-to-use graham cracker crust, pour in the pumpkin custard, and refrigerate for 1 hour for a pumpkin custard pie.

Pumpkin Bread (from Vegans Know How to Party, by Chef Nancy Berkoff)
(Makes a 9 x 5-inch or 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with 10 slices)

1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup organic sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger powder
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon clove powder
½ cup oil
4 Tablespoons silken tofu
½ cup chopped walnuts, almonds, or mixed nuts (optional)
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
Vegetable oil spray

In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients (except the oil spray) until well combined.
Spray a loaf pan with vegetable oil. Spread batter evenly in the pan.
Place an inverted shallow bowl or saucer in the center of the microwave or use a microwave baking rack. Place the loaf pan on the bowl or rack. Microwave on MEDIUM for 9 minutes. Rotate and microwave on HIGH for 2-5 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted in the center.

Note: If possible, use a loaf pan with straight, rather than sloped sides for microwave baking.

Variations:
Applesauce Bread: use 1 cup unsweetened applesauce to replace the pumpkin.
Carrot Bread: use 2 cups finely grated fresh carrots instead of the pumpkin.
Zucchini Bread: use 1½ cups finely grated fresh, unpeeled zucchini to replace the pumpkin.

Golden West Café has had many vegan options throughout their menu for quite some time. Now they’ve made it easier for vegans – simply request their new separate vegan menu. Here you’ll find dishes such as vegan French Toast, Pumpkin Curry Soup, Frito Pie, Warm Vietnamese Salad (with Un-Chicken), Apple Blueberry Salad, Aztec Burrito, Fajitas, Tacos, and much more. They also have delicious vegan cake.

Golden West Café is located at 1105 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD 21211.
See: http://www.goldenwestcafe.com/

Don’t forget to stock up on your favorite vegetarian products from The Vegetarian Site this month! For the full month of October 2015, The Vegetarian Site will give 10% of their sales to The Vegetarian Resource Group!

The Vegetarian Site sells vegan footwear, belts, wallets, bags, and other accessories, food products, books, personal care items, plus much more. They are always adding new items in their store.

Looking for a new dress belt? See: http://www.thevegetariansite.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=S&Category_Code=belts

How about buying black synthetic leather gloves with a soft lining for both men and women in time for the cooler weather? See: http://thevegetariansite.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=Vegan+Gloves+by+Vegetarian+Shoes&Category_Code=accessories

And if you’ve been trying to locate steel-toe safety work boots for men or women, see: http://thevegetariansite.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=S&Category_Code=safety

Support The Vegetarian Resource Group by shopping online at:
www.thevegetariansite.com

Are you looking for items to give away to children on Halloween that are not unhealthy? If so, here are some suggestions that have worked well for us:

-Mini bags of pretzels
-Mini bags of air-popped pop corn
-Inexpensive coloring books or activity books
-Stickers
-Small toys or party favors from places like Party City such as Hi Bounce Balls, Crazy Straws, Sunglasses, etc.

The Vegetarian Resource Group and Baltimore Vegan Drinks are sponsoring a vegan Pre-Thanksgiving potluck on Sunday, November 22, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. The event begins at 5 pm and is held at North Baltimore Mennonite Church, 4615 Roland Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21210. Admission is $4 per adult; children are admitted free. Bring a vegan dish – made without meat, fish, fowl, milk, cheese, eggs, honey, or other animal-derived ingredients – that serves four as a contribution from each member of your party. We encourage everyone to bring their own plate and utensils to reduce waste but will have some disposable ones available. Finally, we will be collecting non-perishable vegetarian canned food items to donate to the church, who will then distribute it to those in need.

For more details visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1657549214465049/

The first item handed to me when I walked into the Baltimore Convention Center for the Natural Products Expo East on September 17th, 2015 was a free cookie sample. What a pleasant start to my visit! While not open to consumers, the 2015 Natural Products Expo East trade show and conference attracted over 25,000 attendees from independent retailers to big box chains searching for products to sell to consumers. These attendees viewed over a thousand exhibiting companies representing the natural, organic and healthy living marketplace. Their website describes the Natural Products Expo East as “an event focused on innovative products, sustainability and growth opportunities in the natural products industry.”

The Vegetarian Resource Group’s booth was situated with other vegan-friendly company booths. One part of my experience at the Expo was staying at the VRG booth to offer information about our organization and about veganism to interested attendees. The people who approached the booth were curious and gladly flipped through some of our print resources. The second part of my experience at the Expo was walking around the immense showrooms. Booths of companies selling a vast variety of products (not all of which were vegan or vegetarian) packed these showrooms. Representing VRG, we visited a number of these booths and sampled some delicious and interesting vegan foods, some of which we noted for potential Veggie Bits reviews in future issues of Vegetarian Journal. Walking around the show floors, I noticed the sheer number of booths and attendees that filled the space. It was heartening to see the popularity of vegan products, ranging from cosmetics to frozen meals to snacks. I noticed some novel products such as enhanced waters, floral ingredients, and natural gum, but there were also plenty of the standard meat replacements, vegan cheeses, chips, bars, and more. The showrooms were filled with small, new and up-and-coming companies but also large, well-known companies.

I felt fortunate to witness an event in which a diverse group of people gathered into one community to share their interests in natural products, but most of all, it was extremely encouraging to see how some companies took their passion for veganism and transmitted the energy into sharing the vegan message.

Hana Takemoto is doing an internship with The Vegetarian Resource Group for her senior high school Gifted and Talented Intern/Mentor program.

For information about Vegetarian Resource Group internships, see http://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

Fargo, North Dakota hosted its first ever Fargo/Moorhead VegFest on October 18, 2015. The vegan group Fargo Moorhead Vegetarians and Vegans reached out to The Vegetarian Resource Group to exhibit at the festival, and we supported them by sending brochures and copies of Vegetarian Journal.

FMVeg organizer Alice Christensen wrote, “Thanks for helping make our first Vegfest a success. We think we had about 1,000 people stop in throughout the day. Your magazines disappeared within the first 2 hours!”

To get involved with the veg community in Fargo/Moorhead and support FMVeg’s efforts, visit http://fmvegfest.com.

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group’s outreach, contact [email protected].

The Vegetarian Resource Group is an activist non-profit organization that does veggie outreach all-year-long. We table at different events through the USA and also send literature free of charge to other groups/individuals doing educational activities in schools, hospitals, camps, restaurants, libraries, etc. around the country. Our ability to continue doing this depends on people like you! Your donations allow us to promote the vegan message whenever we’re called upon for assistance. Please consider becoming a monthly donor to The Vegetarian Resource Group. Thanks so much for your support.

You can become a monthly or quarterly donor online here:
https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565