Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, The Vegetarian Resource Group each year will award $20,000 in college scholarship money to graduating U.S. high school students who have promoted veganism/vegetarianism in their schools and/or communities. Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or fowl. Vegans are vegetarians who do not use other animal products such as dairy or eggs.

One award of $10,000 and two awards of $5,000 will be given. Entries may only be sent by students graduating from high school in spring 2019. Deadline is February 20, 2019. We will accept applications postmarked on or before February 20, 2019. Early submission is encouraged.

Applicants will be judged on having shown compassion, courage, and a strong commitment to promoting a peaceful world through a vegan/vegetarian diet/lifestyle. Payment will be made to the student’s college (U.S. based only). Winners of the scholarships give permission to release their names to the media. Applications and essays become property of The Vegetarian Resource Group. We may ask finalists for more information. Scholarship winners are contacted by e-mail or telephone. Please look at your e-mail.

For details on the contest, see: http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

With cooler temperatures, we often look forward to home-cooked hot meals. Why not try a vegan casserole? This Vegetarian Journal article by Debra Daniels-Zeller features a number of creative casserole dishes including:

Country Shepherd’s Pie
Green Soybeans with Roasted Red Peppers
Garbanzo Lasagna with Roasted Eggplant
Wild Rice and Mushroom Casserole
Spicy Baked Pasta, Peas, and Buckwheat
Barbecue Black-Eyed Pea, Yam, and Corn Casserole
Scalloped Potatoes and Tempeh

Read the entire article here:
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2003issue1/2003_issue1_creative_casserole.php

Subscribe to Vegetarian Journal:
https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

Hi, my name is Marcy Schveibinz and I am a Vegetarian Resource Group member and volunteer in the Baltimore area. I will be in the San Diego, CA area in January and would like to arrange a casual gathering of VRG members for lunch. The purpose is to connect with each other and share our vegan volunteer experiences as well as exchange ideas about the various ways in which we are each living a vegan lifestyle.

We will meet at Flower Child, a restaurant with many vegan options at 2690 Via de la Valle, Del Mar, CA 92014 on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. I have made a reservation for 15. Expect the meal to cost approximately between $15 and $30.

Please RSVP via email at [email protected] by January 18th so I know to expect you. If you plan to come please let me know if you have any food allergies.

I hope you can attend and I am really looking forward to meeting you!

Marcy

This Valentine’s, vegans and vegetarians in 20 cities across North America will be looking for love, thanks to a growing Canadian business, Find Veg Love (https://findveglove.com/). The brainchild of Ottawa vegans Karine Charbonneau and Andy Brighten, Find Veg Love launched in 2017 with a mission to help veg singles meet in person. So why speed dating? “We’ve been hearing consistently that our customers are tired of swiping – they want to meet other vegetarians and vegans in the real world,” explains Andy Brighten. “A structured event, run by a trained host, is the best way to make that happen.”

To eliminate awkwardness, Find Veg Love has designed a unique matching system. Attendees just log into the website and click who they like, during or after the event. “There’s no judgment or rejection, no pressure to tell your ‘date’ whether you like them, and no exchanging personal information,” the company explains. Results are confidential and attendees find out whom they match with by midnight.

The weeks leading up to Valentine’s, February 6-13, Veg Speed Date events will be taking place in 20 cities across Canada and the United States. Learn more at: https://findveglove.com/

VegDining Card offers discounts at dozens of vegetarian restaurants and other businesses around the world. See:
http://vegdining.com/Go.cfm?id=VegDiningCard-Ordering-VRG

Vegan Fashion Week is dedicated to elevating ethical fashion globally. This four-day event is designed to empower conscious brands and humans with an elevated platform for achievement, inspiration, and discovery. A tribute to the animals and an ode to the end of animal exploitation in all forms, Vegan Fashion Week is produced and curated by French creative director and animal rights advocate, Emmanuelle Rienda and merges fashion and activism with a deeply conscious twist.

To learn more about Vegan Fashion Week and to purchase tickets, visit: www.veganfashionweek.org

The Vegetarian Resource Group 2018 college scholarship winner Natalia Gosiaco reports that her first semester was great. “I have been meeting so many new people involved within the vegan community, and San Diego State has given me so many opportunities to further pursue my passions. I joined the Voice for Veg animal rights club a few weeks into school, as soon as I found out about it. I attend the meetings once a week, along with events that we do. Such events include outreach, educational seminars, supporting campaigns, and making merchandise, all to promote animal rights and veganism. I also got the opportunity to do a ten minute speech in my communications class this semester, and I chose to address why I do not drink cow’s milk, and why no one ever should. The speech went very well and I got a lot of positive feedback and questions. Many people told me they weren’t about to drink milk after listening to what I had to say.”

“This semester, I also reached out to the head of Sodexo at my old high school to check in with the vegan options being made available for students. She and I talked for a while, and she assured me that she is continuing to provide vegan options every day. She also told me that the vegan options are often a hit and sell out before the other dish! I told her that I am grateful for her persistence to incorporate meals that accommodate for everyone, and that I am always just a phone call or email away. I continue to email her ideas I have of easy vegan meal options, or grab and go snacks.

“I am continuing to work at the Lovin Oven, a 100% vegan pizza restaurant. Working as a server gives me a great platform to talk to customers about veganism and why I am vegan. It helps that they’re eating delicious vegan food too!”

For information about Natalia’s activism, see: https://www.vrg.org/blog/2018/05/10/hawaiian-student-receives-10000-vegetarian-resource-group-college-scholarship/

The next deadline for high school seniors for $20,000 in scholarships from The Vegetarian Resource Group is February 20, 2019. See:
https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

Chef Nancy Berkoff previously shared the following suggestions in a Vegan Cooking Tips column of Vegetarian Journal.

Keep some brewed tea in the refrigerator to use for cooking, marinades, and to flavor sauces. Tea is a great flavoring for mushrooms, tofu, cooked grains, roasted vegetables, and smoothies.

There are so many teas from which to choose, with lots of varieties of white, green, and black, caffeinated, decaffeinated, and herbal. You can purchase white, green, or black tea and flavor it or purchase pre-flavored tea. Hot tea can be flavored with cinnamon, fresh or dried ginger, fresh or dried mint, lemon grass, lavender, dried rose petals, rosewater or orange blossom water, fresh or dried lemon or orange zest or peel, orange juice, pineapple juice or apple juice concentrate, dried cranberries, dried pineapple… the list goes on! You can pour brewed tea over your flavoring of choice, or you can brew the tea with the flavoring.

If you’d like extra garnish or flavor, place some frozen pineapple (still frozen) or mango into the tea while it is brewing. This will add to the flavor and texture. If there is an international market nearby (or browse the internet), try the following hot beverages:

Korean:
Roasted corn and roasted barley are sold in the tea section of Korean markets. The roasted corn has a naturally sweet flavor and a delicate yellow color. The barley has a nutty, full-roasted flavor and a golden brown color. Add several teaspoons to two cups of boiling water and allow to boil for 2-3 minutes. Some people like to brew the corn and barley together. While you are at the store, purchase dried chrysanthemum or jasmine flowers to use as a garnish for your hot grain beverage or tea. You can also brew the flowers on their own — they make a fragrant and flavorful hot brew! You can drink your floral teas iced, too. This also works as a cooking liquid for rice, green vegetables, and grains.

Japanese:
Peel and slice fresh ginger, letting several small slices steep in boiling water for several minutes. The ginger tea will take on a delicate, pale green color and have a mild but stimulating flavor. Ginger tea is said to be good for sore throats or hoarse voices and it can warm a crowd on cold nights. Garnish ginger tea with orange or grapefruit straws. (Peel fruit and cut lengthwise into square “straws.”) You can also put some frozen strawberries or raspberries in the tea while it is brewing. This will create a festive color and texture. A different spin on this would be a hot lemonade. If you have fresh lemons available, you can wash them, slice them thinly, and steep in boiling water with fresh ginger or frozen raspberries or strawberries (still frozen) and a sweetener of choice. If fresh lemons are not available, you can use refrigerated or frozen (unsweetened) lemon juice concentrate.

South African:
When brewed, rooibos looks like a cup of traditional black leaf tea and has a mild, pleasant taste. Taken from the bark of a tree that grows only in South Africa, rooibos has no caffeine, but lots of flavor. Look for it in natural foods stores. Rooibos also tastes great combined with a small amount of vanilla extract and sweetener, orange zest and coriander, or a small amount of maple syrup and white pepper for a really interesting beverage. Rooibos can be used for flavoring chocolate- and cherry-based desserts and fruit ices.

If you’d like to go beyond tea, combine brewed tea with hot rice or almond milk (soymilk can tend to curdle), cinnamon, ginger, black pepper (yes, black pepper), and green and black coriander to create a “chai latte.” This can also be done with brewed coffee. Any leftover can be frozen for a delicious latte ice or latte ice cubes to be served with cold beverages.

See the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2016issue4/2016_issue4_cooking_tips.php

Please subscribe to Vegetarian Journal at:
https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

You can also subscribe to Vegetarian Journal on Kindle in the USA:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544727482&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K

The purpose of this questionnaire is to explore people’s knowledge about certain farming practices.

Go to:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5Z8TC99

Every New Year, a lot of people go on a weight loss diet. If you, a friend, or family member fall into that category, here’s a vegan weight loss article from Vegan Journal including recipes and a sample menu that might be helpful: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2006issue1/2006_issue1_weight.php

This article was written to provide suggestions for vegans, or people who are interested in following a vegan diet, who want to lose weight. The weight loss plan is designed for non-pregnant adults. If you have a medical condition such as kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure, please consult your health care professional to make sure these ideas will work for you.

Recipes you’ll find in this article are:
•Spinach-Onion Dip
•Spicy Creamy Sauce
•Oven-Roasted Salsa Tofu
•Tofu and Snow Pea Stir-Fry
•Seitan L’Orange
•Tempeh Cacciatore
•Baked Pears
•Glazed Pineapple
•Pineapple Cake
•Banana-Almond Shake
•Orange-Vanilla Smoothie
•Cool Rice Cream with Fruit

To subscribe to Vegan Journal, visit:
https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php