Notes from The VRG Scientific Department
The Vegetarian Resource Group in the News
Vegetarian Resource Group Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, was interviewed on the Dr. Don Radio Show for a two-part series about vegetarian children. Vegetarian Resource Group Coordinator Charles Stahler was interviewed by Unity Online Radio about the details of the VRG Harris Poll on the number of vegetarians and vegans in the country and the data on reasons for vegetarianism and trends in vegetarianism. He also gave background to Prepared Foods Magazine concerning vegan ingredient questions. The publication goes to thousands of food company staff members. Charles was also interviewed by the Baltimore Business Journal about VRG’s history.
VEGAN Outreach
Reed Mangels, PhD, RD spoke about vegetarian diets in pregnancy and lactation at the New Hampshire Dietetic Association Meeting. A webinar she hosted entitled ‘Vegetarian Diets for Older Adults’ for members of the Healthy Aging Dietetic Practice Group was attended by more than 200 people.
VRG Food Service Advisor Nancy Berkoff, RD, EdD, CCE, assisted with the Los Angeles Vegan Festival in Long Beach, CA; it had more than 500 people in attendance. She is working with senior citizens groups in Los Angeles County to ensure that vegan and vegetarian seniors are accommodated with delivered or congregant site meals.
Elsa Spencer, PhD, had a VRG booth at the Richmond, VA, Vegetarian Festival; Heather Francis coordinated a booth at the Hamilton Street Festival in Baltimore. Heather Francis, Casey Brown, Alicia Hueckmann, and Samuel Stahler gave a presentation and did vegan food sampling at TuTTie’s Place, which runs Get Kids Cooking Summer Camp in West Baltimore. TuTTie’s Place says the challenges facing the community are vast and complex, but they believe the most productive way to confront and rise above challenges is to be mentally and physically balanced.
We supplied information for a company wanting to import vegan foods to Egypt and an Israeli business wanting to export vegan foods to the United States. During the summer, we were honored to host two college interns and one high school intern in our office, all of whom hope eventually to be vegan registered dietitians. During the spring we enjoyed having Maria Pittarelli, who did one of her optional two-week rotations with us, while undertaking her year-long internship to become a (vegan) registered dietitian.
