The Vegetarian Resource Group Activities

VRG-NEWS December 2009 Insert

Congratulations to Vegetarian Resource Group Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, who is co-author of The American Dietetic Association position paper on vegetarianism. This was a very intensive and time consuming project. However, the effort spent on accuracy and documentation was worth it as evidenced by the following note sent from one of our nutrition interns.

The other day my boyfriend, who is an MD/PhD student at UPenn, received an "Educational Announcement" email from his school about how the American Dietetic Association is positive about vegetarian diets. He pointed out to me how you were quoted in the article and it made me really excited! What made me even more excited was that the school is educating their medical students about the benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet!!! Steps in the right direction :)

A Vegetarian Resource Group member was also looking through the newest edition of the Pediatric Nutrition Handbook, which is published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and sent free to all member pediatricians. We were told the chapter on vegetarianism is pretty positive and uses VRG survey information as well as meal plans that were co-authored by Reed Mangels. The chapter also quotes the ADA position paper.

THANK YOU for your support which enables VRG staff and volunteers to continue positive outreach to dietitians, doctors, nutrition interns, and other health professionals!

Also thank you to our donors who support our scholarships and internships, for example the Eleanor Wolff Needs Based Internship.

Eleanor Miltimore Wolff became a committed vegan late in life. Once she learned and understood that dietary choices affected not only one's personal health, but also the health of the planet and the well being of the animals, there was no looking back. Leather shoes and purses, along with non-vegan food products went out the door. Her children and grandchildren were showered with vegan reading material. When she exercised she would sport a T-shirt proclaiming: "I think, therefore I am -- a vegetarian." Eleanor was a military censor during World War II, but there was no censoring her commitment to a plant based diet and lifestyle.

In honor of Eleanor, our donors set up the Eleanor Wolff Needs Based Internship. The recipient couldn't do this internship without sponsorship, and has potential in the future to be an important contributor to the vegetarian movement and a better world. Three of our student awardees have been the first in their families to go to college. We are so proud of the difficult hurdles they have overcome, while committing to helping others. If you are ever depressed about war, violence, and injustice in the world, the commitment of our donors and student recipients can give you hope.

Thank you also to VRG volunteers around the country who give of their time to educate others about vegetarianism, health, and compassion. To share with you a little glimpse of this outreach, one of our booth volunteers stated, "And kids beamed after being offered a coloring book while their parents happily chuckled at the I Love Animals and Broccoli title."

"Many people took coloring books for their nieces, nephews, and others too. Numerous attendees appreciated the opportunity to share stories and information and to get some of their questions answered."

"At one booth, we started with 14 boxes of materials and left with just a few boxes. It's always fun when someone comes up to our Booth telling us they are a VRG member and are so happy to see us. Often people we don't know personally want to hug us. They are so excited we are there. At a non-vegetarian festival or conference, you can see the enthusiasm as someone a hundred feet away spots a vegetarian booth. Gratifying to us, sometimes it's the non-vegetarian friend bringing over the vegetarian to a booth filled with welcoming and colorful non-threatening books and literature."

VEGETARIAN MYTHS: With your support, on a daily basis, we also continue to dispel vegetarian myths.

Recently, a "natural foods company" asked us about including omega 3s from fish in their products for vegetarians. Hopefully our input discouraged them from doing this.

Reed said: "I had a nice conversation with a USA Today reporter yesterday. She told me the headlines in some papers said "Vegetarians have lower bone density" when the actual study (which I read) said the difference in bone density between vegetarians and nonvegetarians WAS NOT clinically significant. Who makes up these headlines?"

Again, thank you to our donors, supporters, volunteers, and staff for helping to correct myths, plant seeds, fund needy youth, and nurture people's interest in vegetarianism. If you would like to continue to make a difference and support vegetarian outreach, please make a donation here

If you prefer, mail in the form below.

_____ Enclosed is $25 for membership, which includes Vegetarian Journal and Meatless Meals for Working People (192 pages).

_____ Enclosed is $50 to support outreach towards young people.

_____ Enclosed is $100 to send Vegetarian Journal subscriptions to 5 health professionals.

_____ Enclosed is ___ $500 life membership ___ additional contribution.

_____ Enclosed is $1,000 towards continued outreach to dietitians, doctors, other health professionals, and students.

_____ Enclosed is $5,000 toward support of VRG representing the vegetarian point of view to decision makers in food companies, government, and restaurants.

_____ $10,000 VRG Patron.

_____ $25,000 Program Sponsor.

_____ I would like to donate $____ per month. Go to: https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

_____ I have named VRG in my will, life insurance policies, trust, or IRA's.

_____ Please send information about Pooled Income Trusts.

_____ I would like to donate stock to VRG.

On-line: https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

Or: Please make check payable to The Vegetarian Resource Group and mail to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. Call (410) 366-8343 Monday to Friday 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Eastern Time if you want to charge your donation over the phone with a Visa/Mastercard. Or go to www.vrg.org and click on donate.

The Vegetarian Resource Group is a non-profit educational organization and publisher of Vegetarian Journal. Donations above the value of benefits (subscriptions, books) you receive are tax deductible.