By Lindsey Siferd

My internship this summer at The Vegetarian Resource Group has been such a rewarding learning experience for me. I can’t believe that I have been here since the end of May– and that two and a half months has gone by so quickly. I am amazed at what I was able to accomplish over this time, and all that I have learned and encountered at the VRG. I was a committed vegetarian before interning, but my commitment has been strengthened, along with a new understanding of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles.

My first day involved a tour of the office, in which I met Charles, Debra, Sonja, John, and Mary, the other staff members that I would work with over the next two months. I got to see the extensive library and learn about the important role that each person plays in the office. Over time, I was also able to meet the other two summer interns, Jessica and Yasmin, both of whom it was great to work with, and Eric, a volunteer who was often in the office. All of these people proved to be important to me over my time at the VRG.

During my first week here, I worked on writing and sending out a press release about the two most recent high school scholarship winners. As an English major, I was excited to jump into writing for the VRG. I was immediately impressed by the dedication that several high school students have shown to activism and promoting a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I also learned how much time it takes to effectively find the email contacts of every top newspaper and local flier in two US cities.

Throughout my time interning at the VRG, I worked on several different projects, both with Jessica, and by myself. Some articles I worked on during my internship were:

• A Vegan Easter and Lent— This article involved a lot of research into the VRG’s extensive recipe database, as well as thinking about all of the meals and traditions that are a part of Easter and Lent, and how they could be modified for a vegan lifestyle.
• Vegan Food at College Campuses— In this article, Jessica and I compiled a list of vegan options at several college campuses in Maryland. We learned about variety of ways in which college campuses interpret “vegan options,” some of which are for the better and some which are for the worse.
• Vegan at College 101— As a follow-up to our previous article, Jessica and I interviewed 13 vegan college students at campuses around the country and asked them questions about their lifestyle at school, along with their advice for other students.
• A Vegetarian Action on Tina Fox and Vegetarian for Life— This article was a piece to be featured in the Vegetarian Journal. Charles helped me get in touch with Tina Fox, the head of the UK group Vegetarian for Life, which works with vegetarian senior citizens. It was exciting to interview someone from “across the pond” and I can’t wait to see my article in print.
• Veggie Bits— This was one of the more fun aspects of my internship– reviewing vegan food for the Journal. For these I worked with Keryl, the editor of the Journal, and she helped me send requests to two different companies, which then sent me delicious samples to try. Look for my reviews of Mareblu Naturals and Helen’s Kitchen in a future issue of the Journal!

Besides working on writing, I was also able to explore some of my side interests in art and design. One of the projects that I am most proud of from my internship is a coloring page and full-color design page of the My Vegan Plate. My design was based off the new MyPlate, which the USDA created to replace the food pyramid. I made a vegan version with the help of Reed Mangels, PhD, RD and I definitely put my Photoshop skills to the test. Another project I worked on was designing a t-shirt and other products for the VRG to sell online. Hopefully soon people will be able to sport a “Vegetarians Have Good Hearts” t-shirt!

One of the most rewarding aspects of my internship was working at various VRG outreach booths around Maryland. Through this, I got to meet Dorothy, another dedicated VRG volunteer, and work with both Mary and the other two interns to share VRG materials with members of the community. I was lucky enough to be able to work three booths during my time here:

• The Federal Hill Jazz and Blues Festival in Baltimore– This booth was my first one, but I had Mary and Dorothy to show me the ropes. I really enjoyed talking to members of the Baltimore community about their experiences with vegetarianism and answering their questions.
• The 32nd Street Farmers Market in Baltimore– For this booth, Mary and I braved some nasty weather to talk to farmers market patrons about vegetarianism. Luckily, we got some delicious Ethiopian food out of it.
• The SHIP Conference in Towson– Working this booth with Jessica and Yasmin was really rewarding. We spoke with health professionals within the school system, experienced a professional conference, and were able to spend time getting to know each other better.

Along with the articles, designs, and booths, I also worked on several other projects in the office. These included:

• Converting articles into HTML for the website and blog– Thank you so much to Heather for her great HTML pointers.
• Aiding Sonja with the Restaurant Guide— This was one of my favorite things to do; my mouth would water at the delicious food on a restaurant’s website, only to find out they were across the country. I’m up for some traveling, though!
• Starting to compile responses to a survey of students’ top 5 favorite vegan foods on campus– Jessica and I spent a countless amount of time searching for the emails of student veg groups across the country.
• Researching and learning about grant proposals– I learned about unique new grant options such as Kickstarter.com, and even attended a free class on fund-raising at the Baltimore Public Library.
• Composing a direct mail letter that was sent out in the July issue of the email newsletter
• Being interviewed by US News & World Report about how my school is vegetarian-friendly
• Participating in a VRG promotional video– I even roped my boyfriend into this one; I can’t wait to see how everyone’s acting debuts turn out.

My internship at the VRG this summer over these past two months has been invaluable, and everyone I worked with made it so much more memorable. I am thankful for all of the opportunities I was allowed at this internship, and working with a non-profit has helped me learn so much. I know that my experiences from this summer will help me in my future work, wherever I end up going.

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

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group projects, go to:
https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

VRG is participating in the California State Employees Charitable Campaign. If you are a California state employee, please support Vegetarian Resource Group outreach.

Please also remember VRG in other workplace fund drives, matching gifts, etc.! Federal government employees can support The Vegetarian Resource Group through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). Look for us under Health & Medical Research Charities of America.

Are you getting enough iodine in your diet? Do you know how much iodine is “enough”? What is this iodine stuff, anyway? For the answers to these questions and more, read this recent article by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, VRG nutrition advisor, and author of the nutrition section of Simply Vegan.

Iodine in a Vegan Diet
published at One Green Planet.

For more information on a healthy vegan diet, see the Nutrition section of our website.

Join The VRG with $25 via our donation form,
and receive the Vegetarian Journal for one year and a copy of Meatless Meals for Working People: Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes!

Meatless Meals for Working People by Debra Wasserman shows you how to be a vegetarian within your hectic schedule. This book features 100 quick and easy recipes, convenient frozen food ideas, and a chapter on fast packaged foods. A vegetarian spice chart, vegan meal plan, and seasonal party ideas for twelve assist the reader who wants to do more.

Fast meals include Rigatoni Combination and Easy Tostadas. Just a few of the lunch ideas are Mock "Tuna" Salad, Rice Burgers, and Corn Fritters. For dessert try Coconut Clusters, Rice Pudding, Fresh Fruit Salad with Peanut Creme, and Spicy Date Nut Spread.

By Lindsey Siferd

VRG Interns Jessica, Lindsey, and Yasmin staffing the VRG booth at the School Health Interdisciplinary Program conference in Towson, Maryland.

This past Monday, August 1, two other VRG summer interns and I staffed an outreach booth at the School Health Interdisciplinary Program (SHIP) conference in Towson, Maryland. Considering that the last two booths I worked at were an outdoor festival and a farmer’s market in Baltimore, this conference was a very different experience.

SHIP was taking place at the Sheraton North Hotel, and I arrived bright and early on Monday morning. The VRG had a table with a tablecloth and comfortable chairs already set up, and I received a nametag as well. Since SHIP is a conference catering to health professionals, teachers, and anyone involved with the school system, we had packed a lot of materials that were directed towards children. I set up our booth with these materials, which included the “I Love Animals and Broccoli Coloring Book” and lesson plans, my new “My Vegan Plate” coloring page, the vegetarian chapter from the Pediatric Manual of Clinical Dietetics, handouts on veganism in pregnancy and childhood, being a vegan teenager, and many more. We also had all of our books on display and a colorful VRG sign.

Soon after I set up, the other VRG interns, Jessica and Yasmin, arrived. It was great to do a booth with just interns, because we were able to talk to each other about our experiences with interning this summer, and also share different points of view with the people stopping by our table. Yasmin is a vegan who is head of UMBC’s veg club on campus, Jessica is a nutrition major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and I am a vegetarian English major from St. Mary’s College of MD, a small liberal arts school. All of these different backgrounds came together in an unique way, and we had many people ask us about why we chose to intern at the VRG and about our experiences with a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.

Several visitors to the booth were interested in materials for their students, and they were pleased to see materials that dealt with nutrition for children. One woman took a sample of all of our materials, and said she wanted to show these to her contacts in the school system in order to help convince them to serve healthier school lunches. Several also said they wanted to check out our website’s section on teens, family, and kids.

We were also surprised by the number of people that wanted materials for themselves, or their children or relatives. In this aspect, the SHIP booth was like the other two booths that I worked– people were personally interested in a meatless lifestyle, and wanted the tools to maintain one. One woman had even subscribed to our journal for several years, and was interested in buying our “Vegans Know How to Party” book for an event she was having later that month.

I think it was important for the VRG to have a table at the SHIP conference– we were able to reach a group of professionals who work within the school system, many of whom advocate for a healthier lifestyle for their students. Many people expressed their excitement at our presence at the conference, and were glad that we had free Vegetarian Journals and a variety of handouts for them to take. For the interns, it was also a way for us to experience tabling at a professional event, something which we all learned from. I hope that the VRG can continue to table at events like SHIP, and further help those in the school system aid students in pursuing a healthier lifestyle.

If you are interested in volunteering at a booth like the one above, please e-mail [email protected]. For a list of other ways to volunteer and get involved with the VRG, please visit http://www.vrg.org/getinvolved.php.
Donations from individuals like you help the VRG continue to sponsor outreach booths like the one mentioned above. To donate, please go to https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565.

California Pizza Kitchen [ http://cpk.com/ ] is a casual eatery with restaurant locations across the United States. Their menu of pizza, pasta, salads, sandwiches, and more includes both vegetarian and vegan items. Additionally, CPK’s website features ‘Vegetarian & Vegan Information,’ a 3-page pdf that defines the different types of vegetarians. It also provides guidelines for each type as well as menu items that are acceptable or can be modified (and how to modify them). The document was last updated June 1, 2011 and can be viewed here: http://cpk.com/menu/pdfs/vegetarian.pdf

For more restaurant information, please check out the following:

Fast Food Information:
http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.htm

Top Restaurant Chains for Vegetarians & Vegans:
http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/top_restaurant_chains.php

A Sample Vegan Meal Plan If You Are Eating at Restaurant Chains:
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2009issue3/2009_issue3_sample_chain_vegan_mealplan.php

I’m spending a month this summer working on a trail crew. I said I’d help plan meals. What are some cheap, easy vegan foods that work for camping?

Vegan marshmallows roasting over the fire are a picture-perfect camping treat. But are you looking for more filling, less pricey alternatives for your next camping trip? The foods below helped sustain me and nine other hungry trail workers this summer, on a budget of less than $5 per person per day.

Oatmeal: If you’re only planning for a few days, oatmeal packets are convenient because they come in a variety of flavors. For a longer trip or more people, though, buying instant oatmeal in bulk saves money. Try adding peanut butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and/or dried fruit.

Soy milk: Since most soy milk only needs refrigeration after it’s been opened, two or three people should be able to finish a carton before it goes bad. You may also want to try powdered soy milk, which is fine as an ingredient but tastes grainy and watery to me if I just add water.

Bread: My trail crew baked sandwich bread each night for the next day’s lunch. If you have time and a small oven-box that sits on your camp stove, this is a fun way to save money. We used a simple yeast bread recipe—just yeast, sugar, water, flour, and salt—and sometimes mixed in ingredients like cinnamon and raisins for pizzazz. Of course, store-bought sandwich bread is an option as well.

Gorp: A camping classic, gorp technically stands for “good old raisins and peanuts,” but often refers to a delicious mixture of nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, and anything else you’d like to add.

Fruits and vegetables: Some types of produce, like apples, citruses, onions, potatoes, and carrots, seem to hold up better than others. My group also ate blueberries, cherries, watermelon, celery, broccoli, corn, and bell peppers. Canned and dried fruits and veggies are great, too.

Peanut butter: Peanut butter is a staple of any camping trip because you can put it on almost anything for more nourishment and flavor—sandwiches, of course, but also apples, tortillas, hot or cold cereal, celery, carrots, chocolate, pasta…

Gado-gado: Although I can’t attest to the authenticity of this dish, the peanutty pasta that we called gado-gado was one of my favorite dinners. To make it, cook pasta in one pot and sauté vegetables (like onions, carrots, broccoli, and peppers) in a pan. Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, and hot water until you have a sauce with your desired taste and consistency. Drain the pasta, and add the veggies and sauce, plus crumbled tofu if you’d like.

Burritos: When you’re camping, almost anything is fair game to roll up in a tortilla, but I’d recommend rice, beans, salsa, and sautéed veggies such as onions, carrots, corn, canned tomatoes, and/or bell peppers. If you have leftover tortillas, try making breakfast or dessert quesadillas by heating a tortilla with some combination of peanut butter, fruit, and chocolate chips folded inside.

One of the main challenges of camp cooking is the lack of refrigeration. In my experience, some foods that I would refrigerate at home lasted for several days or more at room temperature. However, if you have any concern at all about the safety of a food item, don’t eat it.

Written by Sarah Alper, a VRG volunteer and lifelong vegan

This article originally appeared in Vegetarian Journal Issue 1, 2009, in the article A Relaxing Weekend Brunch by Peggy Rynk. To subscribe, either: join VRG online with $25, call us at (410) 366-8343 and order by phone with your Mastercard® or Visa®, or complete this form.

Strawberry Pancakes

(Makes approximately 16 pancakes)

These tasty pancakes don’t even need syrup, but they are good with syrup, too.

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• ¹⁄₄ cup cornstarch
• 2 Tablespoons granulated vegan sweetener
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
• 2¹⁄₂cups soymilk
• 2 Tablespoons canola oil
• Additional canola oil to prepare griddle

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, blend together the dry ingredients. Add the strawberries and stir until coated with the flour mixture.

Make a well in the center and add the soymilk and oil. Stir to blend well, but do not beat.

Brush a griddle lightly with additional oil. Heat the griddle to medium heat and ladle on the batter, using enough batter to make 4-inch pancakes. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned on the bottom. Flip each pancake over and cook on the other side until lightly browned as well. Remove from griddle and repeat process with more oil and batter until all of the batter has been used. Keep pancakes in a warm oven until all are finished.

This study of vegan toddlers is being conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University. Children residing in the U.S. or Canada should be generally healthy, vegan, age 1.5 to 2.5 years, and not currently breastfeeding.

To learn more about the study, go to https://myllu.llu.edu/apps/public_health/veganchildrenstudy/. For specific inquiries, send email to [email protected].

Vegans looking for a source of calcium should know that many brands of frozen concentrate orange juice are calcium-fortified but don’t list vitamin D on the label. This is in contrast to most cartons of ready-to-serve orange juice which contain both calcium and vitamin D. The vitamin D in cartons of orange juice is typically vitamin D3 (derived from sheep’s wool).

Here are some brands of frozen orange juice concentrate that contain calcium, but don’t list vitamin D:
Giant 100% Pure Orange Juice – Frozen Concentrate with Calcium

Minute Maid Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice with Calcium

Stop and Shop Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice with Calcium

ShopRite Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate with Calcium

Old http://rtetracyclineuse.com Orchard 100% Juice with Calcium

If you find other brands, please let us know. You may notice that some brands of frozen orange juice contain calcium lactate.This is not a dairy-based ingredient.

Since vitamin D promotes calcium absorption, be sure your diet has vegan sources of vitamin D like fortified plant milks (most use D2) or vitamin D supplements.At least 10 to 15 minutes of summer sun exposure two or three times a week is another way to get the vitamin D that you need. Don’t forget the sunscreen once those 10-15 minutes are up!

For more information on ingredients, see
http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php
To support Vegetarian Resource Group research and education , you can donate at https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

The contents of this posting 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 judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.