Q. My family doesn’t have much money. I’d like to be vegan but I’ve heard it’s expensive to buy all the special food you need. Is this true?

A. When you decide to become a vegan, you are exchanging a diet that includes meat, dairy and animal products for a diet that consists mainly of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts. Plant proteins are generally less expensive than animal proteins. For example, a pound of ground beef averages $3 a pound and will feed approximately 4 people for one meal while a pound of dry beans averages $1 a pound and will feed approximately 4 people for 2-3 meals. That’s a savings of over 50%! Even tofu and tempeh cost less than ground beef. While some meat analogues can be a bit pricey, you don’t have to buy them.

When buying grains, try to buy in bulk. Some grocery stores have bulk sections which make buying oatmeal, rice, couscous, quinoa and other grains cost less. If your grocery store doesn’t have a bulk section, you can still buy your grains relatively inexpensive.

The cheapest way to get your produce is to grow your own. Obviously, this isn’t attainable for everyone. The next cheapest way is to buy local. Do you have a local farmers market or community supported agriculture farm (CSA)? Check out http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ to find a CSA near you. If these options aren’t available, you can choose between organic and conventional produce at your local grocery store. If organic is important to you but you can’t afford buying all your produce organic, consider buying only “the dirty dozen” http://www.foodnews.org/EWG-shoppers-guide-download-final.pdf

Beans and lentils can be purchased dried or canned. Canned beans are more expensive but they can be convenient. Dried beans cost less but take longer to cook. Nuts can be a bit pricier but they are not meant to be eaten as a meal. A few sprinkled on some oatmeal or in a homemade trail mix will make them last longer. Nut butters are also pricey, but can be eaten over several weeks.

Tips to Save:

• Plan ahead. I can’t stress this enough. If I don’t sit down every week and plan out my family’s meals, they will end up eating peanut butter and strawberry sandwiches every day! Don’t get me wrong, we all love our pb&s’s but not everyday. I try to determine how much grains and beans we will use throughout the week then get everything ready on the weekend-soak my beans Saturday night then cook the beans and rice on Sunday to keep in containers the fridge until I need them for our meals.
• Make a list and stick to it. Do a quick inventory of your kitchen to determine the food that you need. Making a list will help you shop more economically by cutting back on impulse shopping.
• Stock up on on-sale items. If you have the extra cash and something on your list is on sale, purchasing 2 or 3 of the items will you save in the future.
• Use coupons. You can save hundreds of dollars a year by matching coupons with the items on your list. If any of these items are on sale at the store, stock up and save even more.
• Buy in season. In the summer berries are a lot cheaper than they are in the winter. This is because they are in season and don’t have to be flown in from places where they are in season, saving you and reducing your carbon footprint. Find out what is in season in your area by calling your local extension service and buy those items, better yet, stock up if you can (lots of fresh produce can be frozen).
• Check the price of the store brand vs. the name brand. Store brands are often times identical in ingredients and taste as name brands. The only difference is the name brands cost significantly more.
• Carry a snack with you. Whenever we leave the house, I always pack a cooler with water bottles and snacks (fruit and a Luna bar or trail mix). You just never know when the unexpected is going to happen and trying to find a restaurant that serves something you will eat and something you will enjoy can be difficult and expensive.
• Find recipes you love. Buy a cookbook or check one out at your local library, find recipes online at http://www.vrg.org/recipes/. When you find recipes you love, it makes cooking and eating more enjoyable.

Bottom line: With a little planning, going vegan doesn’t have to be expensive and can save you money. Since you will be saving money be going vegan, you can splurge a little and treat yourself with some yummy Rice Cream-enjoy!

Written by Corey Bivins while volunteering with VRG.

The VRG is happy to announce the newest addition to our bookstore, The Everything Vegan Pregnancy Book by The VRG’s Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD. This reassuring volume is sure to be a vital resource for families, to be used at any point on one’s journey before, during, and after their vegan pregnancy. Offering insight to planning, nutrition needs, shopping, social issues, delivery, plus 150 vegan recipes, and an appendix stuffed with additional resources, this is a book that will help you embrace your vegan lifestyle and provide the tools for you to ensure you are nurturing a healthy life!

The book can be purchased through our online bookstore or by calling (410) 366-8343 or by sending a check for $16.95 (+ 6.00 for shipping and handling) to The Vegetarian Resource Group at P.O. Box 1463 Baltimore, MD 21203.

We wish you a happy, wholesome pregnancy and hope you enjoy this helpful guide!!

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

VRG Research Director

Vegetarians and vegans looking for, according to Pita Pit, “healthy food, not health food” may find it at Pita Pit. This quick service chain serving unconventional fare began in Canada in 1995. Pita Pit began United States franchising in 1999. Located throughout the US at over one hundred locations, Pita Pit offers white or wheat pita bread filled with several different all-vegetable items including hummus, falafel or a black bean patty. Pita Pit offers a Garden Pita made with your choice of a large variety of vegetables. Fork-style pita salads are also available. All pita dishes include choice of toppings, sauces, and a cheese for those who’d like one or more of them.

In June 2011, the VRG spoke with a senior staff member at the US Pita Pit corporate headquarters in Coeur d’Alene, ID who told us that currently their veggie pitas comprise approximately 10% of all pitas sold. The falafel and hummus are all-vegetable. Since May 2011, they have offered a spicy black bean burger pita without eggs in the patty. We were informed by Pita Pit that “It is a vegan product according to the box it comes in.” As of this writing, we have not yet heard from Pita Pit regarding the natural flavors in this product and in others thought suitable to vegans including the babaganoush (offered at http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.htmparticipating locations only) and the Teriyaki Sauce. There is no Ingredient Statement available on Pita Pit’s website.

Pita Pit offers feta, provolone, and cheddar cheeses as optional on all pitas or served by themselves in their own pita sandwich. During the time The VRG spoke with Pita Pit, information about the enzymes used to make the cheeses was not available.

There is a wide selection of sauces at Pita Pit. Of the ones offered as part of the standard menu, the Secret Sauce (a spicy vinaigrette) is all-vegetable. The Hot Sauce is, too. The Teriyaki Sauce appears to be all-vegetable; there are natural flavors of an undetermined source. Several different salsas are available around the country, so patrons are advised to check with the manager at specific sites.

The Tzatziki Sauce is dairy-based as is the Ancho Chipotle Sauce. The Caesar Dressing contains anchovies and the Ranch Dressing contains eggs and milk.

Pita Pit is test marketing smoothies at specific locations. Yogurt is an ingredient in the smoothies, but further information about it (i.e., if gelatin is an ingredient), was not available at the time The VRG spoke to Pita Pit.

Soups (manufactured by Knorr) are available at some Pita Pit locations. Currently, less than half of all Pita Pit restaurants in the United States offer soup. Interested readers are advised to direct their soup ingredient questions to the manager at their specific location.

We were informed by Pita Pit that all menu items arrive pre-cooked at the restaurants from Sysco food distributors. There is no raw food (such as meat) present. Pita Pit restaurants in Canada have designated grills but the United States locations do not. Thus, it is possible in the US that meat products are cooked alongside the meatless options.

However, The VRG was told that “employees are taught to ask if customers want [their meatless item] cooked separately…it could be microwaved.” In that case, a menu item is placed on a separate piece of wax paper and microwaved individually. If visiting a Pita Pit, The VRG encourages vegans and vegetarians to request separate preparation if not asked first.

Based in Canada, Pita Pit is rapidly expanding internationally into countries such as Australia, Korea, and Panama. Pita Pit serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including The 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 employees or company statements. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.

For more information on fast food and quick service chains, please visit our website at http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.htm

For more information on food ingredients and to purchase our Guide to Food Ingredients, please visit our website at http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

For updates on ingredients and other information of interest to vegetarians and vegans, please subscribe to our free enewsletter on our homepage: www.vrg.org or at; http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/

To support VRG research, you can donate at https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

We would like to extend special thanks to the following interns and volunteers who have helped us over the summer with our restaurant guide:

• Colleen Halat
• Deva Holub
• Eric Kantor
• Rita Pruzansky
• Yasmin Radbod
• Lindsey Siferd
• Sheila Vaswani
• Michelle Wade

To find restaurants in your area, please visit:
http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

If you would like to volunteer with maintaining and updating our restaurant guide, email us at [email protected].

Pratik Kothari, the developer of the Guide to Food Ingredients app for Windows Phone 7, has released a free Prabhu Vandan app for the iPhone. You can learn more about it on the app’s iTunes page.

• Natural Products Expo East – Baltimore, MD – 9/22-9/24
• VRG’s Vegan Indian Dinner – San Diego, CA – 9/25
• American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo – San Diego, CA – 9/24-9/27
• DC VegFest – Washington, D.C. – 9/24
• NY’s Capital Region Vegetarian Expo – Albany, NY – 10/1
• San Francisco VegFest – San Francisco, CA – 10/2-10/3
• View VRG’s Full Events Calendar

Q. What can I eat for lunch at school? I have to pack a lunch since the cafeteria doesn’t have much in the way of veg options.

A. A lot of schools are implementing farm-to-school programs (http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2005issue3/2005_issue3_action.php) and incorporating vegetarian products into school meals (http://www.vrg.org/fsupdate/fsu20062/fsu20062_schoollunch.htm If your school doesn’t currently do either of these, here are some quick, easy and delicious ideas to pack for your school lunch.

Sandwiches (put these on your favorite bread, whether it be a tortilla, bagel, pita or sliced bread):

• nut butter & jelly (or sliced apple, banana or strawberry)
• veggie sandwich (red peppers, cucumbers, lettuce & tomato with hummus or vegan cream cheese)
• tofu eggless salad
• tempeh bacon, lettuce & tomato with soy mayonnaise
• soy-based faux meat with lettuce, tomato & onion with soy mayonnaise, mustard or hummus
• falafel (homemade, purchase premade or purchase a mix) or with cucumbers, tomatoes & tahini sauce

Soups (packed in a thermos to keep warm and can be homemade or bought in cans or aseptic packages; cup of soup products work also if you have access to hot water):

• minestrone
• lentil
• chili
• black bean
• tomato-basil
• corn chowder

Salads:

• pasta salad (cooked pasta, broccoli & carrots with vinaigrette dressing)
• taco salad (black beans, corn, red peppers & cilantro) with tortilla chips
• sesame noodle salad (cold soba noodles with broccoli, carrots & sesame seeds in peanut sauce)
• tabouleh salad (bulgar wheat, tomatoes, lemon juice, mint & parsley)
• fruit salad (an assortment of cut up fruits drizzled with balsamic vinegar)
• raw vegetable salad (greens with a variety of your favorite veggies & dressing)

Other ideas:

• bean burrito (tortilla with beans, rice & salsa)
• brown rice with veggies & tofu
• beans and grains (any bean-black, kidney, chickpea, etc and any grain-rice, quinoa, couscous, etc)
• noodles & marinara sauce with veggies
• homemade vegan “lunchable”-faux deli meat, soy-based cheese slices and whole grain crackers
• veggie spring rolls with peanut sauce (homemade or can be found frozen in some supermarkets and natural food stores)

Add a snack and/or a sweet treat and a drink and you’ve got a complete lunch.

Snacks:

• pretzels
• whole-grain crackers
• nuts
• trail mix
• veggies with hummus

Sweets:

• fruit (fresh, dried or fruit leather)
• soy yogurt
• soy pudding
• vegan cookie or graham crackers
• Clif bar or Luna bar
• muffins or other baked items

Drinks (if you keep these in the freezer, they will serve as an ice pack while they thaw in time for lunch):

• bottled water
• juice box
• soymilk or ricemilk boxes

In the words of a childhood friend, “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “what about lunch?”” -Winnie the Pooh

Written by Corey Bivins while volunteering with VRG.

VRG Nutrition Adviser Reed Mangels PhD, RD was recently interviewed for pbs.org on vegetarian children, by Today’s Diet and Nutrition magazine on vegetarian children, and Maryland Family Magazine about vegan and vegetarian families. She also wrote a column for OneGreenPlanet.org.

For information on raising vegetarian children, see Reed’s Vegan Nutrition in Pregnancy and Childhood at http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/veganpregnancy.php

Also, you may want to subscribe to VRG’s Parent’s list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vrgparents/

To support Vegetarian Resource Group education and outreach, you can donate at https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

In July 2011, a long-time VRG member contacted us about a Source of Life vitamin supplement recently purchased by her mother. She wondered if the company’s statement about a vegan Vitamin D3 derived from mushrooms were true and asked us to look into it.

To the best of our knowledge, mushrooms are able to produce Vitamin D2, otherwise known as ergocalciferol, when exposed to ultraviolet light (1). Cholecalciferol, or Vitamin D3, is usually derived from lanolin in sheep’s wool. Except for a synthetic Vitamin D3 precursor currently given only to poultry (2), and Vitamin D3 purportedly produced by lichen (3), we have not been aware of an all-plant-based Vitamin D3. The VRG was curious to learn about the cholecalciferol that Source of Life said was produced by mushrooms.

The VRG e-mailed and called Source of Life. We spoke with a customer service representative. Our first question concerned their product called “Bone Support Vcaps” (Product No. 30729). Since it is listed as “Vitamin D3 (from organic mushroom; cholecalciferol),” which suggests that there are two sources of the Vitamin D3, we asked if there were in fact two different sources, possibly Vitamin D2 from the mushrooms and Vitamin D3 from lanolin. The consumer representative put me on hold to check with a supervisor. She came back on to say: “[The supervisor says] it’s from one source only; mushrooms.”

Our next question concerned Source of Life’s Vitamin D3 Vcaps (Product No. 30735). They are listed as “100% plant-source cholecalciferol.” We asked the consumer rep to specify the plant source. She responded by saying “Mushrooms are the plant source.”

Lastly, The VRG inquired if their mushroom-produced Vitamin D3 had been independently confirmed by a third-party laboratory. The rep said that they had been. When we requested a copy of the results, we were put through to an “Inquiry Line” and left a message stating that we’d like to see the lab results.

When we followed up and asked for more detail on how their mushrooms produced Vitamin D3 because there is no detail about this on the company website, we were put through to the Manager of Research and Development, but as of this writing, have not yet received a response. If readers have more information, please let us know. Thank you.

Endnotes:

1. http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2010issue1/2010_issue1_veggie_bits.php
2. http://www.vrg.org/blog/2010/03/29/garden-of-life-vitamin-d3-derived-from-lanolin/
3. http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=133512&fileOId=624375

The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including The 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 employees or company statements. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.

For more information on food ingredients and to purchase our Guide to Food Ingredients, please visit our website at

http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

For updates on ingredients and other information of interest to vegetarians and vegans, please subscribe to our free enewsletter at

http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/

On Sept 18th from 2-7 the Vegetarian Society of South Jersey will be celebrating their 25th Anniversary. Join them for an International Vegan Appetizer reception, a full Vegan Buffet including dessert. Lots of giveaways, auction, speakers, vendors and entertainment.

For full details visit their blog http://www.vssj.com/veggiedining/category/25th-anniversary

But you have to act fast. THE DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS, TODAY, SEPT 9th!