By Emily Carter

My excitement for the summer peaked when I arrived at Baltimore’s BWI Airport in the middle of June to begin my first ever vegan job. The corners of my smile were as acute as a folded page in the Vegetarian Journal. For the weeks prior, my family was getting annoyed at me for how excited I was to finally be around people who share some of my views. (Oklahoma is not too kind to vegans, by the way.) Don’t get me wrong, they were still happy for me! This is what I had been looking forward to all semester; I was eager to begin turning my compassion into action. At the beginning, I had doubts about whether I wanted to write for a living, but this internship held the perfect opportunity for me to discover where I belonged on the spectrum of vegan activism. 

Google is my lifesaver. I found this internship through a quick search: “vegan jobs near me.” The VRG internship was the first result. Prior to this internship, I did marine biology and freshwater ecology research. I knew I wanted a job that focused on veganism, I just did not know where to begin! It is not every day you stumble into a vegan job market and have options! One of the things I realized this summer is that a lot of the people I met created opportunities for themselves. 

My goals coming into this internship were to gain exposure to vegan activism and careers, network with organizations, interact with a developed vegan community, contribute to vegan research and publication, as well as engage with the Baltimore community about research, events, and how to get involved. So far, I have been able to accomplish many of my goals, and the rest are coming to fruition as I complete the last two weeks of this internship. 

While here, I helped teach a vegan cooking class at Christopher’s Place employment academy, aided in photographing food for the Greener Kitchen’s menu, worked a booth at Waverly farmers market, did outreach at Roots Vegan Fest, visited a 93-year old vegan who has been vegan for 70 years, tasted amazing vegan food, and wrote all about it. Before I leave, I will have also attended a national animal rights conference and Vegan SoulFest. Never in my life have I been able to interact with so many vegans. It has helped me realize the diversity of the movement and how we can make a difference wherever we are. 

I have networked with doctors, nutritionists, public health specialists, writers, restaurant owners, and food photographers. I feel more secure entering the workplace after being exposed to the variety of jobs people have veganized. It is inspiring to see people sculpt their love for animals and environment into infrastructure that will reach many people and save lives. Seeing the various ways vegans have positioned themselves in the movement, and how they shaped their career to make a living while saving lives has been the most valuable experience for me. 

My experience at the VRG equipped me with the skills and network necessary to progress my vegan career. Also, the experience of living in a city for a summer as opposed to rural Oklahoma affected me in life-changing ways. Seeing people living their dreams because they have resources in the city has inspired me to not settle for anything. If you can dream it, you can be it! This is something my small town failed to teach me. Growing up poor and Native, you are never advised to dream big because it was never in the cards for you. Now I am considering business, medical school, or a PhD because I am now aware of the power I have to make myself. I could not be more thankful for my experience at the VRG and in Baltimore. As I prepare to leave, I am happy knowing I am fueled for a future in whatever arena I choose!

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

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group internships and vegan education, donate at www.vrg.org/donate

A reader sent us this Kraft Shareholder proposal and Kraft’s response. If you are a Kraft shareholder, you may want to take a close look when you vote.

SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS In accordance with SEC rules, we are including the following shareholder proposals (Proposals 4 and 5), along with the supporting statement of the shareholder proponents. Kraft Heinz is not responsible for any inaccuracies in the shareholder proposal and supporting statement. The Board recommends that you vote AGAINST such proposals for the reasons set forth in the Kraft Heinz’s Statements in Opposition, which follows each of the Proposals 4 and 5 below. In accordance with Rule 14a-8(l)(1), the names, addresses and shareholdings of the filers of these proposals will be supplied upon request. ************************************************************************PROPOSAL 4. SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL – PROTEIN DIVERSIFICATION WHEREAS: Consumers are eating less meat and demanding more plant proteins—many out of concern for the environment, animal welfare, and/or their own health. Companies with limited exposure to sustainable protein options may face a number of business risks including reputational damage due to changing consumer expectations and a loss of market share to competitors who have more rapidly adapted to an evolving market. Consider that: • In 2018, sales of plant-based meat alternatives increased 24% over the prior year, resulting in $3.3 billion in sales. Conversely, sales of animal-protein products increased only 2% during the same time frame. • Segment growth for plant-based products is expected to increase by 7.7% annually over next 5 years ii and is projected to make up one third of the protein market by 2054.iii • 70% of omnivores are substituting a non-meat protein in meals at least once per week.iv Kraft Heinz notes in its 10-K that “The food and beverage industry is highly competitive across all of our product offerings… We may also need to increase or reallocate spending on marketing, retail trade incentives, materials, advertising, and new product innovation to maintain or increase market share.” Given the competitive marketplace, many competitors are increasingly incorporating plant-based acquisitions and product reformulation within growth strategies. Unilever has a public strategy to offer more plant-based options, highlighted by the reformulation of iconic products such as Hellman’s mayonnaise and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Campbell’s has joined the Plant Based Foods Association, a group that works to expand the market for plant-based foods, and CEO Mark Clouse specifically cited plant-based products within the strategy for growth, noting that “Our engagement with consumers inspired us to evolve some of our traditional recipes, and we’ve crafted new products that deliver more whole grains, vegetables, lean protein and plant-based options.” Currently, Kraft Heinz mentions plant-based protein once within its publicly available materials as a component of the company’s push towards “Better Nutrition”. This page of the sustainability report simply i https://plantbasedfoods.org/consumer-access/nielsen-data-release-2018/ ii https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/press-release/globalmeat-substitute-market.html iii https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/02/24/920807/0/en/Alternative-Proteins-to-Claim-aThird-of- the-Market-by-2054.html iv https://chicagohealthonline.com/shining-light-plant-proteins/ 27 has pictures of products Kraft Heinz produces that fall under the category of plant-based without discussion of the Company’s broader goals and strategies. Kraft Heinz’s portfolio is largely reliant on products with animal-protein bases and has yet to reformulate to offer plant-based alternatives, positioning the firm behind some competitors. By increasing disclosure regarding Kraft Heinz’s approach toward protein diversification, investors would be better positioned to evaluate the Company’s direction within a rapidly evolving market. RESOLVED: Shareholders of Kraft Heinz request the Board to issue a report at reasonable cost, omitting confidential information, detailing the Company’s long-term strategy towards protein diversification within its product catalogue. SUPPORTING STATEMENT: Although we defer to management for the precise contents, investors believe that meaningful disclosure within the report could include: • Quantitative metrics detailing the sales of alternative protein products; • Details regarding capital allocation for research and development; and • How these considerations inform the growth strategy of the Company, including quantitative company-wide goals to diversify protein sources and reformulate existing product offerings. KRAFT HEINZ’S STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO PROPOSAL 4 At The Kraft Heinz Company, we believe in living our Vision – To Be the Best Food Company, Growing a Better World. From our quality controls to the relationships we have with our growers and suppliers, we are committed to responsible business practices extending to every facet of our business, and continuous evaluation to identify better and more sustainable ways to operate. We believe in making the foods people love even better. Finding ways to improve our products is something we do every day, because consumers should feel good about eating our products and serving them to their families. We remain committed to improving the nutrition and wellness profiles of our products to support consumers’ wants and needs through product renovation, innovation and nutrition resources. Some of our efforts include: • Kraft Heinz follows guidelines for nutrition & wellness that focus on ingredients to limit, and will expand these nutrition guidelines globally with a target to achieve 70 percent compliance by 2023. We are also focused on increasing beneficial nutrients/food groups/ingredients and other wellness attributes to give consumers options that support a healthier lifestyle. • Kraft Heinz is committed to simplifying our ingredient lines by offering products with no artificial dyes, flavors and/or preservatives, including: Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Capri Sun Juice Drinks, Polly-O String Cheese, Oscar Mayer Natural Deli Meats, Jell-O Simply Good, and SmartMade meals. • We offer a variety of low or reduced-calorie products, including Capri Sun Roarin’ Waters, SugarFree Jell-O Desserts, Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese, Kraft Fat-Free Mayonnaise, Fat-Free Miracle Whip, Kraft 2% Milk Cheeses, Kraft Lite and Fat-Free Salad Dressings and lean meat options including Oscar Mayer Lean Beef Hot Dogs and Deli Fresh Honey Smoked Turkey Breast. Additionally, our Smart Ones and SmartMade meals offer balanced options to help manage calories.

With respect to sustainable protein supply chains, we are aware of increasing consumer demand for plantbased protein options, and we continue to invest in and innovate our plant-based protein offerings. One example is through our BOCA brand. Founded in 1979 and acquired by us in 2000, BOCA products have a soy protein base and help consumers who desire meatless alternatives get protein, fiber and other nutrients from a competitively-priced brand. We have helped grow the BOCA business through innovation, redesigned packaging, improved formulas and increased consumer marketing. As a result, we have expanded the line of products from BOCA Meatless Burgers to a diverse family of products, including BOCA Veggie Ground Crumbles, BOCA Chik’n Patties, BOCA Chik’n Nuggets, BOCA Falafel Bites, BOCA Skillet Meals and other various vegan and non-GMO soy options.

Beyond our investment in the BOCA business, we are supporting disruptive innovation to add more convenience, variety, flavor to our portfolio. For example, Springboard, a platform we launched in 2016 to nurture, scale and accelerate growth of disruptive brands, recently graduated its second incubator program class, which includes brands like BRAMI, a freshly marinated Italian lupini bean snack, KA POP!, ancient grain popped chips and Tiny Giants, a plant-based yogurt. We believe such efforts, as well as those further described in the Kraft Heinz CSR Report published in December 2017, reflect our commitment to improve and diversify our product categories to satisfy a broad spectrum of consumer preferences. Given our public statements, track record and current programs related to diversification of our products, we believe the additional report requested by this stockholder proposal is unnecessary, not in our stockholders’ best interests and redundant to our current practices and initiatives. For the foregoing reasons, the Board unanimously recommends that you vote AGAINST this proposal 

VRG will be having a booth at the DC VegFest being held in Washington, DC at Nationals Park on August 11^th, 2019. Be sure to stop by our booth and say hello!

Details on this event can be found here: https://dcvegfest.com/

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate

Here are some new additions to VRG’s guide:

Batter & Crumbs

1401 Reed St.

Philadelphia, PA 19146

Batter & Crumbs is a café and bakery, offering bagels, sandwiches, and other snacks, in addition to the cake and coffee one would expect. They make custom cakes for birthdays and weddings as well, just plan well ahead.

Delicious Raw

821 5th Ave. South

Naples, FL 34102

And

Pavilion Plaza

8925 Tamiami Trail N.

Naples, FL 34108

And

Pine Ridge Crossings

2338 Pine Ridge Rd.

Naples, FL 34109

And

Coconut Point Mall

23127 Fashion Dr.

Estero, FL 33928

And

Tower Shops Plaza

2276 South University Dr.

Davie, FL 33324

And

Sunset Harbor

1828 Bay Rd.

Miami Beach, FL 33139

Delicious Raw serves up healthy, nourishing smoothies and juices at all their Florida locations. Some locations also offer snacks, bowls and sandwiches, so check the online menu before you head out! This is the place to go for food prepared with fresh, nutrition-rich ingredients. Try one of their fusion or superfood bowls if you are feeling hungry, or opt for a cold-pressed juice for a light pick-me-up. Their raw and vegan desserts are very popular too!

Derive Bistro

1224 Washington Ave.

Golden, CO 80401

Derive is an American bistro with hot, satisfying sandwiches, salads and sides. Get a Reuben with house-made seitan, and add a side of green chili fries. Or maybe get a Cobb salad instead, paired with a cocktail or craft beer from their full bar. There are plenty of filling options to choose from, so check them out!

Galaxy Rune

3601 Fremont Ave. N.

Seattle, WA 98103

Galaxy Rune is an all-American vegan restaurant, serving up all the classics like burgers, pulled “pork,” brats, and even milkshakes! What makes this burger joint stand out are their meat substitutes–which are soy-based and made in-house. They offer sides like fries, chili and coleslaw, and add-ons including vegan cheeses and bacon. Plus you can choose from a variety of craft sodas and beer for refreshment. Come for the food, stay for the hip atmosphere!

Hug Life

14241 Euclid St., Ste. C115

Garden Grove, CA 92627

And

2707 E. 4th St.

Long Beach, CA 90814

And

3505 Chapman Ave., Ste. G

Orange, CA 92869

All the ice cream is made in-house, and there’s a great variety of flavors to choose from including the classics like chocolate, vanilla, and rocky road, to more unique flavors such as taro, Thai tea, and honeydew. Get it in a bowl, on a cone, by the pint, on a brownie, in a milkshake, in a float, or smashed between two cookies.

Rawlicious

1101 3rd St. SE

Cedar Rapids, IA 52401

Located in the popular NewBo market area, Rawlicious brings a diverse menu to downtown Cedar Rapids. Favorites include any menu item that includes their cashew sour cream, and the best vegan cheesecake you’ll ever try. As an added bonus, Rawlicious offers cooking classes and vegan recipe options, so you can boost your cooking skills while sipping on one of their popular smoothies or cold pressed juices.

Secret Society Pizza

7201 NE Glisan St.

Portland, OR 97213

Secret Society Pizza has won over the hearts and stomachs of vegans and omnivores alike. Yelp reviewers rave about this place having the best pizza in Portland. Their specialty crust is thick and filling, topped with house-made cashew cheeses and toppings of choice. One of SSP’s most popular pizza pies is the Chalupa Batman, which is topped with fresh tomato sauce, taco tofu, chipotle pesto, chipotle crème, po’Fredo, and fresh cilantro. They have several robust salads filled with delicious plant protein, including BBQ Cobb salad, Epic Taco salad, and a Caesar salad. Randomly, they sell a bowl of Cap’n crunch with almond milk if you are craving a crunchy sweet treat after you eat the pizza of your vegan dreams.

The Park Side Café

1909 Harrison Ave. NW

Olympia, WA 98502

The Park Side Café offers a fresh take on plant-based foods! Their all-vegan, organic, and local menu is continually rotating to accommodate local farms’ offerings. Dishes change regularly due to what is in season or readily available. Some staple items include breakfast burritos, pasta salads, savory pies, and soups. They also serve a variety of cakes, cookies, and pies. Items are appropriately marked with allergens so you can feel safe indulging!

Vegan Bliss

6410 N. Durango Dr.

Las Vegas, NV 89149

Vegan Bliss is an American diner offering loaded plant-based burgers stacked tall with condiments: vegan mayo and cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, all that is needed to build the perfect burger. There are different patty options, including Dr. Praeger’s Patty, the Beyond Patty, and a Veggie Patty. If you are in the mood for a different kind of sandwich, then Vegan Bliss has other meat alternative choices such as “no-bacon,” “no-pork,” “no-beef,” and “no-bratwurst.” Although this restaurant is known for its burgers, fries, and shakes, they have a variety of breakfast options to create a filling no sausage meal to start your day.

Vegan Canteen

1337 Rue de La Sapinière, Unit 3

Val-David, QC J0T 2N0 Canada

Vegan Canteen serves tacos and burritos with fillings like mole jackfruit, king oyster, refried black beans, and more! They also sell their house-made vegan meats and cheeses directly to customers.

Veggie Grub

12 St. Marks Place

New York, NY 10003

Veggie Grub, operating out of the St. Marks Vegan Food Court, offers up feel-good, down-home vegan food, including gluten-free options. When was the last time you had vegan “oxtails,” or “shrimp” and okra gumbo? Or see how their award-winning vegan mac and cheese won those awards. Why not try it today?

The Zucchini Bar

547 Central Ave.

Newark, NJ 07107

The Zucchini Bar is the perfect place for a vegan treat! They have milkshakes, cookies, cheesecake, donuts, and more decadent creations. They use all organic and high-quality ingredients to craft their baked goods. In addition to sweet treats, they have pizza, salads, and empanadas. Grab a cup of herbal tea or try their mushroom coffee and enjoy this vegan cafe!

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Freeda Vitamins recently contacted The Vegetarian Resource Group to let us know that they had changed the formulation of their Prenatal One Daily supplement so that it supplies 150 micrograms of iodine. This change in formulation was due to a letter from VRG encouraging them to add iodine to their prenatal products because of the important role that iodine plays in pregnancy. Even a mild iodine deficiency can result in neurologic and psychological deficits in infants and young children. The American Thyroid Association recommends that pregnant women (whether or not they are vegan or vegetarian), should supplement their diet with a daily oral supplement that contains 150 micrograms of iodine in the form of potassium iodide.

Readers should be aware that Freeda’s Mini-Prenatals do not contain iodine. Pregnant women choosing this product will need to use a separate supplement that provides 150 micrograms of iodine daily.

Freeda’s products are marketed to vegetarians and vegans. The addition of iodine makes Freeda’s Prenatal One Daily a better choice for pregnant women than similar supplements without iodine. According to the company, all Freeda products are Gluten Free and Kosher, and with the exception of their vitamin D3 tablets, all other Freeda products are 100% vegan. 

The contents of this article, our website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

References about iodine and pregnancy:

1. Alexander EK, Pearce EN, Brent GA, et al.  2017 guidelines of the American Thyroid Association for the diagnosis and management of thyroid disease during pregnancy and the postpartum. Thyroid. 2017;27(3):315-389.

2. Leung AM, Pearce EN, Braverman LE. Iodine nutrition in pregnancy and lactation. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2011; 40:765–777.

3. Leung AM, Lamar A, He X, Braverman LE, Pearce EN. Iodine status and thyroid function of Boston-area vegetarians and vegans. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Aug;96(8):E1303-1307.
4. Lee SY, Stagnaro-Green A, MacKay D, Wong AW, Pearce EN. Iodine contents in prenatal vitamins in the United States.Thyroid. 2017 Aug;27(8):1101-1102.

Freeda’s contact info for their products is www.freedahealth.com, or call (973) 882-0002.

By Emily Carter, VRG Intern (on right in photo above)

As an intern for The Vegetarian Resource Group, I worked at our booth during AR2019, as well as attended sessions.

Walking into my first animal rights conference gave me an exhilarating feeling I will never forget. I had never been to anything so special; immediately, I felt this overwhelming sense of community and belonging. Opening the lobby doors of the Alexandria, Virginia Hilton Mark Center and seeing the room filled with vegan activists made me feel like a normal person. All I could think was, FINALLY! Finally I am surrounded by people who think rationally about animal cruelty. Finally I can imagine myself in this movement doing what I love. Finally I have hope. 

Since 1981, the Animal Rights National Conference (ARNC) has been bringing together individuals, families, food vendors, and exhibitors that cover the spectrum of animal rights and all things vegan. This year there were 100 presenters from more than 60 organizations, over 100 exhibitors, film premiers, nightly networking sessions, and an awards banquet.

I attended several presentations; one about vegan business featuring Seth Tibett, founder of Tofurky and Jill Carnegie, co-founder of NUMU, which is a new vegan cheese company specializing in pizza cheese. Yes I got to try, and yes it was incredible! I attended a group discussion titled: “Is killing ever justified?” which sparked some interesting conversations about circumstantial ethics, like the fact that Impossible Meats tested their product on rats. It was refreshing to have a well-rounded conversation with people who have developed opinions about the animal rights movement. 

I also visited a talk called “How to Win Arguments Against Experiments on Animals” with Michael Budkie and Alka Chandna. This one was my favorite because I learned a lot about the inefficiencies of animal experimentation and ways to communicate the uselessness of animal testing. It was pretty morbid, but incredible work is being done to help the helpless. The passion and hurt in Alka’s voice when she described horrid living conditions, painful testing, and meaningless death made me feel for this line of work. 

Seeing everyone’s passion, dedication, and hard work for animals revived my own. It is important to bring together this community, maybe more so than others since the animal rights community is so dispersed. A huge reason people abandon veganism is because it is isolating, so I think it is extremely necessary to get involved in activities like this to remind ourselves that our community exists and that it is bigger than we may think. Over 2000 people showed up at ARNC, which was the most amount of vegans I had ever been around at that time (now maybe more since I attended Baltimore’s Vegan Soulfest this past weekend). 

Perhaps one of the coolest things that happened to me was meeting a new friend who bought me a super cute vegan shirt that I had been eyeing, and also bought my ticket to the awards banquet! The banquet featured a three course meal: a hearty salad with NUMU cheese (my favorite), jackfruit ‘crab’ cakes with risotto and asparagus, and vegan cheesecake wrapped in white chocolate with colorful print.

To intern for The Vegetarian Resource Group, see https://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

Testimonial from Vegetarian Resource Group intern Emily Carter on the joy of cooking with the participants of Catholic Charities’ Christopher Place Employment Academy. See: https://www.catholiccharities-md.org/uncategorized/weekly-vegetarian-cooking-classes-with-the-men-of-christopher-place-employment-academy/?fbclid=IwAR3UEhgCf0jOGqfWZSz2KVzJcPMf_LKxi_PfbGal2AoZiscVn2j0icy-vnc

By Emily Carter, Vegetarian Resource Group Intern

I grew up in the rural South/Midwest. I went to high school in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, which is where I first heard the word vegan. The way ‘vegan’ was first described to me was uninformed. I was in a Family and Consumer Sciences class, in which my teacher was talking about various diets people undertake. When she was talking about vegan and vegetarian diets, she said “I understand why people choose to go vegetarian, but why vegan? Animals are not getting hurt.” At that time, I agreed. It was only after I started exercising vegan morals that they truly started to make sense. It’s like a muscle you never knew about until you stretched it past the comfort of its idle existence. 

Many people, especially people in the South and Midwest, truly believe that taking milk from cows and eggs from chickens has absolutely no negative impact on those animals. In fact some people think it is good for the animals to take their milk and eggs (many think that cows always automatically produce milk and need to be milked even if they weren’t producing milk for their calf after becoming pregnant.) Dealing with this information gap is one of the hardest parts about being vegan in an agricultural area, but there is room to educate. Back home, relaying how I feel about animal treatment to a non-vegan audience sometimes results in angry reactions. However, when I moved to the Northeast, the reactions I got were completely different; always along the lines of “it makes sense, but I could never do it.” Back home, it just does not make sense to people at all. Urban areas in the south are more receptive to vegan philosophy. 

My area is rural and densely populated with farm animals, mostly cows. There are chicken processing plants within a small radius of both my mom’s house and my dad’s house. I saw these animals all the time growing up, but I really saw them when I became interested in animal rights. The truckloads full of chickens brings tears to my eyes every time. I pray for them while I watch their feathers fall onto the sides of the road. I want to protest and I want people to mourn with me, but there is no one. I joined vegan Facebook groups for Oklahoma and Arkansas, but they are pretty inactive. It is hard being a vegan in the rural south, but since no one really knows why people are vegan, it is a good place to educate. It can be tiring to explain all the time and get the same reaction, but don’t let it get you down. 

I have noticed that in my small town, people are afraid of change, which is why they have stayed their whole life. Also, it is the Bible Belt, so many people think the only reason animals exist is for human purposes. I find it best to just mention why I live vegan and what it does for me, and then move on. I think it is better to plant a seed than to get someone feeling insecure and attacked about their diet, because it could result in them eating a bacon sandwich in front of me and talking about how good the pig tastes. People will make fun of us, but at least we can live at peace knowing we are doing what is best for our bodies, the planet, and all of those beautiful farm animals.

For other articles about surviving as a vegetarian, see: https://www.vrg.org/teen/#friends

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

Vegetarian Journal is available on Kindle in the USA and UK. The newest edition features: Wild Blueberries (learn how to make vegan dishes with featuring blueberries); Keep Your Cool (Refreshing No-Bake Vegan Dessert Recipes); Scientific Updates; Comparative Guide to Soymilks; Vegan Product Reviews; A Deluxe Vegan Wedding; How Many People are Vegan? (Harris Poll done in USA); Vegan Book Reviews; Quick and Easy Ideas for Figs; Vegan Action (Wildman Steve Brill); plus more.

In the USA, visit:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544727482&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K

In the United Kingdom, visit:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544731957&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K

By Amy Dell

During my first semester of college, I, along with every other freshman and transfer student, had to take a ‘college-prep’ class about how to make the most out of the college experience. One of our guest speakers for that class was someone who worked at the Career Center. Of the many questions she asked the group, there’s only one that stuck with me: “Have any of you guys worked at a job or had an internship that’s in your field of study?” This question stuck out to me in particular, not because it was out of the ordinary, but because I was the only one in the class that raised my hand. It was in that moment that I was able to more fully appreciate how lucky I was to have my first summer internship with The Vegetarian Resource Group. 

In my write-up from last year, I mentioned how much this internship can be tailored to each individual. For me, that meant lots of writing with a little bit of environmental science thrown in the mix. At the time, my career goal was journalism, so the idea of being published in the Vegetarian Journal and on our VRG Blog was exciting. Throughout the school year, however, my interests changed slightly, as did my aspirations. When VRG co-coordinator Charles Stahler contacted me about doing another internship this summer, I knew that all I would have to do was tell him my new goals and he would align this year’s tasks with what would help me reach them. 

My summer 2019 internship included more long-term assignments and outreach events. For example, I worked closely with VRG volunteer Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD to create a vegan menu for those receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). I had helped with the menu portion of the project last summer, but this summer I coordinated the pricing portion. This step was to ensure that our menu fit within the benefits of the program, and also served to highlight the price differences across stores and geographic locations. I worked with other interns and volunteers to find the prices of our menu ingredients at various stores across Maryland and Iowa. I then calculated the final price of the ingredients based on the quantity needed for each recipe. I loved this project because it was a great way for me to develop my communication skills and help show people that vegan diets are achievable at any price-point. 

This summer, I was also able to “run point” or coordinate the VRG booth at several outreach events across the Maryland/D.C. area. In addition to tabling at the 32nd Street Farmers Market again, I was also able to run the VRG table at: Roots Vegan Fest in Clarksville, The (three day!) Animal Rights National Conference in D.C., and D.C. Veg Fest. I also helped at the VRG booth for Vegan Soulfest in Baltimore and taught a vegan cooking class at Christopher Place Employment Center alongside VRG volunteer and Health and Wellness Coach Marcy Schveibinz. 

Throughout the entire summer, I was able to build on my experiences from last summer while exploring new topics and projects that interested me. I can’t wait to use what I learned this year in the future!

For information about VRG internships, see https://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group outreach, donate at www.vrg.org/donate