Recently VRG was visited by 10 dietetic interns from the University of Maryland Dietetic Internship Program. Below is one student’s report about the day. Thanks for visiting with us – we enjoyed having you all here at the office!

A Class Day to Remember
By: Lauren Morgan

We all walked out the door excited about what just happened. We quickly walked towards the cars smiling at each other after this unique class day. You see, we spent some of the afternoon at the Vegetarian Resource Group located in Baltimore, MD. We all sat in a circle and discussed vegetarianism, veganism, and so much more than I had ever thought of (which was obvious by my overwhelmingly large number of questions). Why do people become vegans or vegetarians? What products out there are truly good, authentic vegetarian products?

Consider this: If you’re a Registered Dietitian and you personally are a vegetarian, would you work for a large steak producing company who wants YOU to promote and sell their new line of veggie burgers?

Would you promote a soy milk from a company that is owned by someone in the dairy industry?

Oh… my mind was racing! Would I?

We heard personal stories from 3 interns working at the group. It was so interesting to hear how each of them came to be a vegetarian or vegan. One is a vegan bodybuilder; I never knew such a thing existed. One struggled with becoming a vegetarian because in her family and her culture it is not common. She told stories of not seeing eye-to-eye with her mom, and then how they compromised and now everyone supports her. Another told the story of how she worked with her college dining services to make their food choices more appealing to vegetarians- the process of this sounded pretty involved.

Charles Stahler, the man behind the Vegetarian Resource Group, was fantastic! One of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and he was so good to us. He answered my many questions, gave us things to talk about, and really inspired us to be mindful and equipped when counseling vegetarian and vegan clients. Charles provided us with tons of information to make us excited and equip us to be better RDs.

Thank you to Charles and the staff at the VRG!! We are appreciative of the time you spent with us and the investment you made in us!

If you would like to support Vegetarian Resource Group projects, such as education of dietetic interns, please donate at https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565