Despite the present pandemic, The Vegetarian Resource Group continues to be very busy on a daily basis. Below are some examples of successes and activities. Your support is greatly appreciated! You can donate to VRG at
www.vrg.org/donate

Here’s a sampling of some of our accomplishments and outreach:

● Over 1,200 registered dietitians visited The Vegetarian Resource Group virtual booth at the national Food and Nutrition Conference & Expo. Many requested information for themselves or to use with clients.

● Vegetarian Resource Group Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, did an interview for Fitbit on vegan athletes, an interview with Nutrition Action Health Letter about antinutrients, and an interview with the New York Times about vegan babies and children. Reed also spoke virtually about The VRG and vegetarian children at the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Meeting.

● The Vegetarian Resource Group sent in testimony to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Committee, care of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, encouraging the committee to continue to stress the benefits of vegan and vegetarian diets, to expand the discussion about benefits of these diets, and to continue to identify these diets as healthful eating patterns. Helpful references included in the comments are here: vrg.org/blog/2020/06/19/the-vegetarian-resource-group-sends-in-testimony-concerning-the-2020-dietary-guidelines

● Reed Mangels PhD, RD supervised a vegan dietetic student in helping her to complete her internship require­ments towards her registered dietitian certification, when her hospital placement was shut down because of COVID-19. We were able to refer a dietitian to a source of information she needed on a vegan diet for a cancer patient. We found assistance for a person from Argentina who had technical questions on tempeh production. VRG researcher Jeanne Yacoubou, MS, added to our ingredient list (whether vegan, vegetarian, or non-vegetarian) Yellow Prussiate of Soda. See: vrg.org/blog/2020/07/07/yellow-prussiate-of-soda. Jeanne also researched: How Sustainable is Vegan Leather? See: vrg.org/blog/2020/06/18/how-sustainable-is-vegan-leather

● VRG donated Vegetarian Journal subscriptions to participants in a 10-Day Vegan Challenge sponsored by the Black Vegetarian Society of Maryland. We sent 50 Vegan My Plates and 50 Vegan in a Nutshell brochures for tabling at Easton, PA Vegfest and vegan information to 45 prisoners. Finally, VRG hosted 12 virtual interns over the summer and 12 High School and College interns this fall. A new batch of interns will start in January 2021. They all worked/will be working on a number of exciting projects!

This is just a small sampling of what we are doing at VRG every day. Thank you so much! We couldn’t do this without your support.

You can donate directly to VRG at www.vrg.org/donate

You can also mail donations to The Vegetarian Resource Group, PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203 or call in your donation to (410) 366-8343 Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm EST.