A Vegetarian Resource Group member recently visited the Upstate University Hospital Cafeteria in Syracuse, New York and was excited to see that they were offering vegan food options prepared by Strong Hearts vegan restaurant. She said the Vegan Chicken Salad Sandwich was delicious!

Information on Strong Hearts restaurant in Syracuse, NY can be found here: https://stronghearts315.com/

They also have a second location in Buffalo, NY: https://www.stronghearts716.com/

In the United States when people think of pancakes they often picture a pile of pancakes covered with maple syrup. However, did you know that around the world pancakes are savory? Debra Daniels-Zeller shared savory pancake recipes with readers in a previous issue of The Vegetarian Resource Group’s Journal. Enjoy Asian Noodle Pancakes with Sweet and Sour Sauce, Millet-Vegetable Pancakes with Wild Mushroom Sauce, Tomato-Garlic Chickpea Pancakes with Salsa Spread, and more.

Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2009issue2/2009_issue2_pancakes.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Did you ever imagine that your health care provider would give you a prescription that provides free or discounted produce? Such prescriptions, called produce prescriptions, have been given to people who have or are at risk for diet-related diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Often recipients have low incomes. Financial costs of programs providing produce prescriptions may be covered by grants, donations, some Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid pilot programs, and private insurance companies. Often these are pilot programs and are limited in both duration and in the number of people that can be served.

A recent study examined the effects of produce prescription programs in 12 U.S. states (1). Almost 4,000 individuals received produce prescriptions. About half were adults and half were children. They were all from low-income neighborhoods. Participants received paper vouchers or electronic cards providing from $15 to $300 per month to buy fruits and vegetables at grocery stores and farmers markets. They attended nutrition classes. The median length of program participation was 6 months.

Adults receiving produce prescription ate, on average, more than three quarters of a cup per day more fruits and vegetables; children averaged a quarter cup more per day. Both adults and children reported that their overall health status improved. Among adults with poor health, improvements were seen in blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin (a measure of diabetes control), and body mass index (BMI). These results suggest that produce prescriptions could have important benefits.

At this point, programs that provide prescriptions for produce are small and are unavailable to many Americans who could benefit from them. These programs appear promising and should be considered in any discussion of health care policy.

References

1. Hager K, Du M, Li Z, et al. Impact of produce prescriptions on diet, food security, and cardiometabolic health outcomes: A multisite evaluation of 9 produce prescription programs in the United States. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2023;16(9):e009520.

To read more about improving health with nutrition see Ana Negrón, MD. Healing from the Kitchen

No Whey Spookie Kookies

Are you looking for places to purchase vegan candy and other treats for Halloween? Here’s some online sources that sell vegan goodies with a Halloween theme, as well as items sold in stores:

Lake Champlain Chocolates Vegan Salted Caramel Pumpkins, Dark Chocolate Squares, and more.

Natural Candy Store Variety of chocolate, lollipops, and more.

No Whey Chocolate Spooky Kookies and a wide variety of vegan chocolates that are allergy-friendly as well.

Unreal Variety of bars, cups, and gems.

Yum Earth Organic lollipops, as well as hard candies.

East Carolina University is recruiting pregnant vegan and vegetarian women to participate in a research study that examines urine and breast milk iodine concentration. We need your help in this process.

The following are the basic eligibility criteria:

• Following one of the following diet patterns: vegan or vegetarian,
• Currently pregnant,
• Willing to provide 1 sample of urine while pregnant and one sample of breast milk approximately one month after delivery,
• Willing to complete a web-based screening survey and a diet questionnaire.

Women selected for the study will receive a gift card to reimburse them for their time.

More information about the study can be found at: https://www.vegstudy.com/

To complete eligibility screening visit (please use Firefox as your browser): https://go.ecu.edu/veg-study

We sincerely appreciate your help.
Roman Pawlak, Ph,D, RD
Principal Investigator
East Carolina University

Bhava winter boot

Are you searching for a pair of vegan boots? Below is a list of online retailers selling vegan boots in the USA, Canada, and Europe.

USA

Bhava Studio Offers women’s boots.

Brave GentleMan Online store out of Brooklyn, NY offering men’s boots.

Mooshoes Offers both men and women’s boots out of New York City, NY.

Sudo Shoes Online store out of Cambridge, MA offering men’s and women’s boots.

Vegan Chic Online store out of Los Angeles, CA offering boots for men and women.

The Vegetarian Site Online store selling boots for men and women.

CANADA

Native Shoes Canadian company offering shoes for kids, men, and women.

Terraluv and Nice Shoes  Canadian company offering shoes for men, kids, and women.

Boots from Ethical Wares

EUROPE

Ethical Wares Online store out of Wales selling a wide variety of men’s and women’s boots. They deliver worldwide.

Green Laces Online store out of Sweden selling boots for men and women.

Nae This Portuguese online store offers both men’s and women’s boots. Ships worldwide.

Noah Shoes Boutique German shop and online store offers women’s and men’s boots.

Veganline British online store offering boots for men and women.

Vegetarian Shoes British online store selling men’s and women’s boots.

Wills Vegan Store This UK online store offers men’s and women’s boots. They deliver to the USA as well.

Pumpkin is an ingredient to use year-round, but most people think more “pumpkin-y” in the fall and winter. There are two ways to obtain pumpkin as an ingredient: fresh or canned. There is a third option, a pumpkin “stand-in” if you will, frozen winter squash. Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, shares some quick and easy ideas for preparing vegan dishes based on pumpkin including a pumpkin latte, creamy pumpkin soup, creamy pumpkin spread, pumpkin rice pilaf, and more. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2017issue4/2017_issue4_cooking_tips.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

If you happen to be traveling on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor Trains, you will be happy to know that the café car offers several vegan options including an Asian Noodle Bowl, Blue Corn Tamale, Fresh Vegetable Crudités with Hummus Dip, Pistachio Nuts, and Hippeas Vegan Nacho Puffs.

By Charles Stahler

We recently walked the floor at Natural Products Expo East, a trade show held in Philadelphia, PA. Here are a few products of interest.

Outstanding Cheese Balls was a delicious nondairy crunchy cheese snack. See https://outstandingfoods.com/pages/about

Unique and good tasting were pinole chips with 0% saturated fat and made with masa harina flour, brown rice protein, chia seeds, date paste, and sunflower oil. See https://www.bobsnatural.com/products/pinole-chips-traditional

A convenient snack from Mexico that didn’t need to be refrigerated before opening was Fillo’s Walking Tamales. Just open the pouch and eat. Though you may want to warm it up. Contains tomatillo, corn flour, black beans, water, olive oil, garbanzo beans, onion, salt, habanero pepper, serrano pepper, garlic powder, baking soda, brown sugar, onion powder, an dblack pepper. See www.fillows.com

Fabalish Brownie Bites’ first ingredient is chickpeas, but tasted like a yummy brownie. Thaw and it’s ready to eat. See  https://www.fabalish.com/collections/brownie-bites

Looking for dairy free and egg free animal crackers? Try Happy Snacks. See https://marketsquarefood.com/

Totally Bananas has a dairy free chocolate creamy blended covered banana frozen novelty. We saw resistant people take a try and savor the whole sample.  See  https://www.totally-bananas.net/

To carry all these delicious snacks, you can use Pure Sage totes or lunch bags. They use recycled plastic bottles made into fabric, and then turned into bags by employing Jordanian women. See puresagebags.com

Then after eating all these treats, you may want to brush your teeth with Before Toothpaste. Their toothpaste tubes are recyclable sugarcane, which the company says creates a 50% less carbon footprint than traditional plastic tubes. See https://beforecompany.com/pages/our-story

VRG’s Chelsea Chilewa will be reporting more on this show in additional blog postings.

Are you looking for new ways to prepare cauliflower? Dina Gharib’s article “The Versatile Vegan” offers recipes for Pineapple Cauliflower Fried “Rice,” Cauliflower Crust Pizza, and Creamy Cauliflower Soup. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue3/2015_issue3_versatile_vegan.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php