By Ivy Grob

On June 20th, 2015, my fellow intern Anne Custer and I hit the road for Richmond, Virginia for my third outreach booth and her first. We were headed for Richmond VegFest, an all vegetarian annual festival that features speakers, vendors, food, and non-profits like The VRG. We started this journey a bit shakily by hitting traffic on the way down, but we eventually reached our destination and got to work right away unpacking the books and pamphlets we brought with us to give out and sell. I was happy and excited to see a large crowd already enjoying the festival, and I was hoping for the chance to make some meaningful contacts with the festival goers. We soon met a young college student that attends the same school as Anne, and I was able to pass on information about the internships that The Vegetarian Resource Group offers, both in the office in Baltimore and long distance. We had many other interesting conversations throughout the day. One man came up to the booth and inquired about our internships and then transitioned into a lengthy query about living gluten-free and how this relates to vegetarianism and veganism. Many books were sold and many more pamphlets and Vegetarian Journals were distributed. Several attendees were impressed with the Simply Vegan and Conveniently Vegan cookbooks, and expressed their appreciation for making veganism more accessible and easy, which is at the heart of The VRG’s mission.

VRG Interns, Anne Custer (left) and Ivy Grob (right) exhibit at Richmond VegFest.

I was so pleased that our information was receptive to this audience. This was expected from a festival catering to vegetarian activism but it made the experience so much more carefree. There is still work to be done, however, and the information needs to be given to those who are not aware of the consequences of their diets and lifestyles. I look forward to contributing to this cause throughout the rest of my internship.

Overall, it was a productive and enjoyable day. Delicious vegan food was sampled from the vendors and I was happy that I was able to spend time getting to know fellow VRG intern Anne during the festival and in the car ride to and from Baltimore. At the end of the day, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of community from the people of Richmond and I’m grateful I was able to experience a VegFest during my time with The Vegetarian Resource Group.

If you would like to volunteer at VRG booths, contact Nina at [email protected].
For information about Vegetarian Resource Group internships, see:
https://www.vrg.org/student/index.php
To support VRG outreach, donate at:
http://www.vrg.org/member/donate_buttons.php