By Rebecca Kaplan, VRG Intern

Vegetarians and vegans showed up in full force on Sunday May 27, 2012 for the fifth annual NYC Veggie Pride Parade. Hundreds of proud vegetarians marched from Greenwich Village to Union Square park to show their support for vegetarianism.

According to the parade’s press release, the parade was a venue for people who are vegetarians to come together with one united voice, whatever their individual reasons are for choosing not to eat meat. To whit, a variety of organizations were represented at the parade, from a group of Seventh day Adventists, who choose not to eat meat for religious reasons, to Mercy for Animals, an animal-rights organization. The Vegetarian Resource Group was there with plenty of information about the vegan and vegetarian lifestyle for any passersby who were curious, or vegetarians who wanted to learn more.

VRG volunteer Dorothy Kenney, who has been with the organization for two years, came out to represent the organization and answer questions. For a man who dabbled with a vegan diet but was unable to find food that would fill him up, she recommended VRG’s vegan food pyramid (http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/MyVeganPlate.pdf). Several grandparents of vegan and vegetarian children were grateful to receive information packets with guides for vegetarian children (http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/veganpregnancy.php). And for people who had a limited understanding of vegetarian, such as one man who asked, “Do vegetarians eat fish?” there was Vegetarianism in a Nutshell (http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/nutshell.htm).

The event drew a great crowd, and vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike lined up to sample the delicious free vegan fare that some booths were giving away. All of these aspects, as well as the people wearing bright Pea and Carrot costumes (give peas a chance!) drew attention from the general New York crowd, which helped accomplish the parade’s goal: to “see vegans and vegetarians come out of the shadows once and for all,” Pamela Rice, the organizer of the parade, said in a press release. To volunteer at VRG outreach booths, please contact Mary at [email protected].

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

For information on VRG internships, see http://www.vrg.org/student/.