By Shannon Borgoyn, VRG Intern

Back in spring 2017, I was considering volunteer opportunities close to home. I was a dietetics student at the University of Maryland, College Park. While it isn’t a requirement for dietetic majors to acquire volunteer experience, it is highly recommended. Experiences in the three fields of community, clinical, and food service makes us well-rounded professionals, broadens our horizons and knowledge, and helps us decide what to pursue in the professional domain.

The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) was an organization I considered because of its focus on veganism and vegan nutrition. I am interested in this because I’m vegan. My first encounter with VRG had been at their booth at Vegtoberfest in fall 2011. At Vegtoberfest, I discussed my interest in nutrition with a volunteer dietitian at VRG’s booth. At the time, I was majoring in pre-dietetics at my local community college. This was the start of my experience with VRG. Throughout that summer, I acted as a volunteer intern and assisted with and created various materials: blog posts, research for articles in Vegetarian Journal, reviewing new food products, and updating VRG’s online restaurant listings. So, I inquired if I could complete my elective rotation with VRG, and they directed me to VRG Nutrition Advisor and dietitian Reed Mangels. Reed has acted as preceptor for many VRG interns before me, so I knew that I was in experienced hands.

Even though my rotation only lasted a week, Reed taught me much. She worked patiently with me every step throughout my week at VRG. First, she provided me with helpful constructive criticism on my projects. Second, she made me critically think about the material in my projects by asking detailed questions. Third, Reed gave me informative articles to read in order to broaden my knowledge and to assist me with my projects. Fourth, she had me create an outline of my projects at VRG. This outline helped me to be organized when working on my projects.

Before I began my rotation with VRG, I was assigned to look through VRG’s website and resources and Vegetarian Journal. I wrote a short paper explaining any topics of interest I found; explaining anything I was curious about; and mentioning anything I would like to learn. The topics I was interested in were the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’s (AND) stance on vegetarian diets; VRG’s many resources; and the Scientific Update section of Vegetarian Journal. For each topic, I discussed their importance and why they were interesting. The subjects I wanted to learn more about were self-labels (like “vegan” vs. “plant-based”) and the rates of veganism in different countries.

The topic I was curious about was vegan flavorings. In my last year of college, I wrote a paper for a project about natural flavors vs. artificial flavors. In my research for that project, I discovered that the FDA had vague legal definitions for its flavors. The FDA was going to address this issue by gathering input from the public to clarify the definitions and their meanings. Unfortunately, this action never came to pass and the definitions remain ambiguous. Artificial flavors are no concern because they are made in a lab, making them vegan. However, specification for natural flavor synthesis is unknown. As it is, flavor ingredients are not specified, but allergens in flavors are required to be on food labels. As per the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, allergens are defined as fish, soy, milk, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and crustacean shellfish. This list of allergens doesn’t cover possible meat-based flavors and is concerning for vegans and vegetarians. Based on my curiosity about vegan flavorings, Reed encouraged me to draft a persuasive letter to the Executive Committee of the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group (VN DPG) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND).

While at VRG, two projects I worked on were handouts on beans and calcium. In my time at VRG, I have learned many lessons. First, I learned how to tailor informative materials to the vegetarian audience and to the general public. Second, I learned organization for a short period of time. Third, I learned to critically think about everything in my work, including grammar; foods most commonly found in supermarkets; and the connotation of certain foods and words. Fourth, I learned some graphic design skills through the use of Canva (a graphic design tool website) in creating handouts.

Even though this was a short experience, I really enjoyed it. It was nice to return to a place where I enjoyed the special challenge of the work. I am grateful to Reed and staff members for their generosity to host me as an intern. I recommend VRG as a volunteer internship or a rotation for a dietetic internship. Veganism and vegetarianism have become more mainstream, but many dietetic students and interns may not fully understand the needs of this population. Vegan and vegetarian diets are supported by the Academy of Nutrition an Dietetics and were briefly touched on in my dietetics courses. However, future dietitians will need to be ready to help a diverse population, vegans and vegetarians included.

One of the takeaways from my dietetics courses was that the American population consumes too much animal protein and not enough fruits and vegetables. Some people may not be able to consume animal products for a variety of reasons (aside from choice): medical conditions (such as kidney dialysis); allergies (to dairy, fish, shellfish, and meat); and lactose-intolerance being a few. Scientific research sent to me in AND’s email newsletters indicates over and over that plant-based diets have more advantages than disadvantages regarding health. Future dietitians need to be prepared to cater to these populations by being aware of numerous alternatives to animal products. Not everybody can consume animal products.

As for me, I will strive to keep learning: about different diets, cultures, mindsets, and scientific studies. Being open to anything and everything will only strengthen me as a dietitian.

For information about The Vegetarian Resource Group internships, see https://www.vrg.org/student/index.php