For other Teen FAQs, visit: http://www.vrg.org/teen/

The last few years I’ve been to summer camp, they always say that vegetarian meals are available. When I get there it is the same foods every night or just a salad bar, veggie burgers, and peanut butter and jelly. Are there any camps that actually have good menu options for vegetarian and vegans?

By Julia Warren

Yes! There are camps out there that offer great vegetarian and vegan options for kids and teens; you just have to look harder. Having a good camp experience is difficult when you are always hungry so finding camps that meet your dietary needs is important. We have made a list of some camps across the United States and Canada that keep in mind their vegetarian campers or are exclusively vegetarian/vegan. If none of these camps are located in your area there are some steps you can take to make sure your local camps are able to provide you with the appropriate food.

• Get in touch with the camp. Email or call the camp director or foodservice director to talk about the specific foods they offer. Many camps have entire menu plans or lists of foods that are available so you can get an idea of what you are looking forward to. Even if they don’t have what you want, a lot of camps aim to please and may be willing to work with you to get you some better options.
• Bring your own foods. Day camp? See if you can bring your own lunch. Overnight camp? See if there is a place where you can store food that you bring if they cannot guarantee appropriate foods. That way you know you’ll get something you will like and can eat.
• Be creative and try new things. Look at new combinations of foods. Never put edamame in your salad? Ever heard of sunflower seed butter? Camp may be the time to try something different!

Vegan Camps

Camp Exploration
Tarzana, CA

100% Vegan! Sessions focus on a wide range of topics. Camping in Zion and Bryce National parks, visiting alien/space related sites, traveling the California coast, and hiking Yosemite are some of the programs available each summer.

A wide range of vegan foods are available for both the vegan and non-vegan camper. Campers even have the opportunity to help prepare the food. Menu items include:

• Fondue
• Veggie sushi
• Vegan lasagna
• Falafel, hummus, babaganoush, tabouli, dolmas
• Smoothies
• Scrambled tofu
• Veggie jerky
• Toasted vegan marshmallows
• Stuffed peppers
• Mac and uncheese
• TLT’s (tofu, lettuce and tomato)

Contact Info
Address: PO Box 572572
Tarzana, CA 91357-2572
Phone: (818) 344-7838
Email: [email protected]
www.CampExploration.org
www.VeganCamp.org
www.kidsla.org/camp

Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp
Santa Cruz, CA; Portland, OR

Leadership/Activism Camp for ages 12-17. Campers look into issues like animal cruelty, violence, and gay marriage and develop the knowledge and skills required to advocate for change in issues that interest them.

Organic, vegan meals, using mostly local foods are provided for campers.
Before you go, inform them of allergies and special dietary needs so they can make sure they are properly supplied. Sample menu items include:

• Breakfast: French toast, pancakes, bagels
• Lunch: teriyaki rice bowls, falafel, barbecue tofu
• Dinner: veggie curry with coconut rice, stuffed shells, pizza
• Desserts: chocolate chip cookies, brownies, ice cream sundaes
• Snacks: popcorn, pretzels, fresh fruit

Contact Info
Location:Santa Cruz, CA
Phone: (415) 710-7351
Website: www.yeacamp.org
Email: [email protected]

Location: Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 347-0223
Website: www.yeacamp.org
Email: [email protected]

Location: Lanoka Harbor, NJ
Phone: (503) 347-0223
Website: www.yeacamp.org
Email: [email protected]

Vegan Camp at the Sthitaprajna Vegan Retreat
Karnataka, India

This is a camp for adults that provides a place for relaxation, meditation, Yoga, and vegan living. Beach and village visits as well as hiking and other day trips are included.

The entire retreat center is vegan; no animal foods, silk or leather are allowed and smoking and alcohol are prohibited.

Contact Info
Email: [email protected]
http://indianvegansociety.com/vegan_centre

Vegetarian Camps

Hawthorne Valley Farm Camp
Ghent, NY

Hawthorne Valley is an agricultural camp that teaches about sustainable agriculture and husbandry.

Vegetarian meals focus on biodynamic/organic, local foods. Eggs and dairy products are produced at the camp and are used along with whole grains, and seasonal foods in making all the meals from scratch.

Contact Info
Address: 327 Route 21C, Ghent, NY 12075
Phone:(518) 672-4790
Fax:(518) 672-7608
Email: [email protected]
www.vspcamp.com

Common Ground Center
Starksboro, VT

Common Ground center is a family camp with programs for families with children and teens. During each session programs are offered each day specifically for teens, children, and parents separately. Group activities are scheduled for evenings.

Vegetarian meals are provided and have an emphasis on organic and local foods. They can accommodate special diets and have vegan options available. Indian night, falafel, and Asian night are some popular and entirely vegan dinners offered.

• Full salad bar daily
• Fresh brick oven bread/pizza baked on premise
• Healthy snacks always available

Contact Info
Location: Starksboro, VT
Phone: 1-800-430-2667
www.cgcvt.org

Camp Woodbrooke
Richland Center, WI

Quaker- based camp for youth of all ages that includes an emphasis on community service, cooperative decisions, and fun.

This family run camp is vegetarian and vegan (meat options are by request). Many of the meals use produce from the camp garden and are made from scratch. Some examples of foods served are:

Vegan

• Falafels
• Spaghetti
• Potato Leek Soup
• Lentil Soup
• Pancakes, biscuits, coffee cake, muffins, cobblers (vegan versions)

Vegetarian

• Quiche
• Calzones
• Enchiladas
• Sandwiches with homemade bread (cheese, hummus, avocado)

Contact Info
Corporate Address: 1704 Roberts Ct, Madison, WI 53711-2029
Phone: (800) 498-9703
Email:[email protected]
www.campwoodbrooke.org

Camp Frenda
Port Carling, ON, Canada

This is a Seventh-day Adventist camp. Horseback riding and waterskiing are two main activities that are offered in addition to the usual camp programs.

All meals are vegetarian. Sample menus include:

• Sabbath Fixed Continental Breakfast: Muffins/Pastries, Bagels and Cream Cheese, Hard Boiled Egg, Hot and Cold Cereals, 2% Milk and Soy Milk, Fresh Whole Fruit & Canned Fruit, Whole Wheat Bread, Juice ‘n hot drinks
• Sabbath Lunch Menu: Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Corn , Salad Bar, Apple Crisp
• Sabbath Dinner Menu: Haystacks, Chips, Chili beans, Soup, Fresh whole fruit

Contact Info
Phone: 705-765-5597
Fax: 905-571-4781
Email: [email protected]
Email(foodservice director):[email protected]
www.campfrenda.com

Good Vegetarian Options Available

Camp Alonim
Brandeis, CA

Learning about Jewish heritage and Israeli life is the basis of this day camp and overnight camp. Swimming, photography, a climbing wall, horseback riding, and mountain biking are some of the activities for campers. Israel Day and Israeli dancing allow children to learn and celebrate the culture of Israel.

The camp has an organic garden and also offers cooking classes. Vegetarian options include:

• Spaghetti and marinara sauce
• Tofu chicken nuggets
• Tempura
• Vegetable bourekas
• Kugel
• Vegetable pot pie
• Grilled cheese sandwich
• Vegetable cholent
• Cheese quesadillas

Contact Info
15600 Mulholland Dr., Brandeis, CA 93064
Phone: 877-2-ALONIM
Fax: 877-856-3250
Email: [email protected]
www.alonim.com

Arrowbear Music Camp
Running Springs, CA

Musical instruction at varying levels is combined with nature explorations, group activities like volleyball, swimming, and crafts. Sessions end with a camp-wide concert open to family members to showcase the campers’ hard work and practice. Sample menu items include:

• Breakfast: Eggs & hash browns, melon, cereal (soymilk), oatmeal, juice,hot cocoa
• Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, celery, carrots, fruit (Vegan: grilled
  cheese with nutritional yeast & avocado)
• Dinner: Homemade pesto over pasta with tomatoes (Vegan pesto made without cheese), sautéed squash, lemon squares

Contact Info
P.O. Box 180 Running Springs, CA 92382
Fax: 909-867-2794
Phone: 909-867-2782
Email: [email protected]
www.arrowbear.com

Camp Winacka/ Whispering Oaks
San Diego Girl Scouts Camps, San Diego, CA

Under the Girl Scout Council two camps are available. Camp themes cover a range of topics and activities. Some of the sessions include learning how to blog and web design, horseback riding, sewing, backpacking, culinary arts, jewelry making and wilderness adventure.

Both camps provide numerous options for vegetarians and vegans. To begin with, many meals are designed to be vegetarian. Vegan options are always available and many times the main meals can easily be altered to avoid dairy and eggs. One example is stir-fry; the vegetable are cooked separate from any meat so that everyone can eat them. The cooks work to create meals that work seamlessly with what the majority of the camp is eating.

Sample menus include:

• Breakfast: Pancakes (vegan pancakes are available), Yogurt, Veggie Sausage, Fresh Fruit, Hot Cocoa
• Lunch: Build-Your-Own Taco Salad: Tortilla Chips, Salsa, Lettuce, Beans, Sour Cream, Cheese; Celery and Broccoli; Cinnamon Sugar Cookies (alternative vegan dessert example: ices)
• Dinner: Pasta, Marinara Sauce (meatless), Garlic Bread, Roasted Carrots, Salad, Chocolate Cake (alternative vegan dessert)

Contact Info
1231 Upas St, San Diego, CA, 92103
Phone: 800-643-4798
Email: [email protected]
www.sdgirlscouts.org

Camp Toccoa
Tocca, GA

Camp Tocca offers a traditional summer camp for youth along with climbing, adventures and horseback riding sessions.

There is always a meatless version of the main dish available for vegetarians. Children who are vegan or who have dairy allergies will be provided alternatives as well. Soy products are common replacements for meat in many of the dishes. Grains and beans are also used. They say, “We DON’T assume that our vegetarian and vegan campers will be happy eating lettuce for a week.”

Contact Info
92 Camp Toccoa Drive, Toccoa, GA 30577
Phone: (706) 886-2457
Fax: (706) 886-5123
Email: [email protected]
www.camptoccoa.org

Camp Emerson
Hinsdale, MA

Campers, age 7-15, design their own schedules from over 50 different activities. Categories include sports, performing arts, water sports, wilderness, studio arts, science and cooking.

The owner is vegan and provides an extensive menu for vegans and vegetarians. Camp Emerson is also expert at food allergies, Celiac Disease and intolerances. A team of Registered Dietitians and Specialty Chefs are employed by the camp to ensure that children with allergies eat safely. The camp is peanut, treenut, sesame and shellfish free. Sunflower seed butter is always available instead of peanut butter. The priority is delicious meals and full inclusion.

Cooked from scratch, healthy vegetarian & vegan meals are offered each day. There are always alternatives:

• Extensive salad bar daily (hummus, tofu, avocado, cheese, sunflower seeds, etc)
• Variety of sauces and a pasta bar
• Meatless alternatives
• Plant based milks and cheese
• Soy alternatives
• Gluten-free alternatives

Contact Info
Phone: 800-782-3395
Email: [email protected]
www.campemerson.com

Camp Sabra
Rocky Mountain, MO

Traditional camp activities and Jewish traditions combine at Camp Sabra. The camp offers activities like sailing, waterskiing, wake boarding, high/low ropes course and videography. Israel Day allows children to learn about their heritage and a Shabbat service is held each Saturday.

The camp keeps a kosher kitchen and offers vegetarians a full salad bar daily with hummus and sunflower seed butter as well as other options.

Contact Info
30750 Camp Sabra Road, Rocky Mount, MO 65072
Summer Phone: 573-365-1591
Summer Fax: 573-365-0577
Winter Phone: 314-442-3151
Email: [email protected]
www.campsabra.com

North Country Camps
Keeseville, NY

Nature programs, mountain biking, rock climbing, art & crafts, and sports are everyday activities available to campers. Special programs for wilderness overnight trips, work groups, and even 4-5 week expedition trips are also associated with the camps.

The kitchen staff prepares a number of soups, casseroles, stews, wraps and tofu dishes for vegetarians throughout the summer. Every year they host between 40-50 vegetarian campers and staff. Vegan alternatives may be limited.

Contact Info
Phone: 802-235-2908
Email: [email protected]
www.northcountrycamps.com

Journey’s End Farm Camp
Sterling, PA

Campers learn about farming and husbandry at this camp. A combination of work and play has created their philosophy know as “plork.” Campers get chance to milk a cow, pick berries, harvest vegetables, and bake. Swimming, ceramics, sports, campfires and cookouts are other typical activities that are incorporated into camp sessions.

Journey’s End Camp works creatively to incorporate seasonal produce, grown on the property, into every meal. They offer options for vegetarians and vegans and will work with campers to ensure that everyone is satisfied (gluten-free options are available as well).

• Quiche
• Veggie Lasagna/Pizza (vegan option: pesto with pasta or on crust with tofu “cheese”)
• Lentil soup with carrots and curry flavoring with homemade French bread
• Zucchini stuffed with rice/egg/vegetable/bread crumbs with cheese (vegan alternative)
• Pasta Salad with chopped vegetables and vinaigrette
• Salad available at lunch and dinner daily

Contact Info
P.O. Box 23, Sterling, PA, 18463
Phone: 570-689-3911
Email: [email protected]
www.journeysendfarm.org

Camp Tonkawa
Collinsville, TX

Nature Awareness Center for Adults and Children that focuses on connecting with nature and developing survival skills in a creative, fun, learning environment.

Every meal has a “no meat” option; foods are prepared separately and combined just before eating so animal products can easily be omitted in many of the meal options. Artificial colorings, additives, sweeteners and white sugar and flour are used sparingly or not at all. Those with very specific food allergies may want to provide their own alternatives for foods.

Contact Info
Phone: (940)440-8382
Email: [email protected]
www.camptonkawatexas.com

Global Youth Village
Bedford, VA

This is an International Leadership Camp that focuses on global involvement. Campers participate in activities like debate, listening skills, improving communication, and peace building. This is in addition to more traditional camp activities with global flair (ex: Turkish tilemaking, clogging with the Hoorak Cloggers, African drumming, Urkranian egg painting, etc)

Vegetarian meals, use mostly unprocessed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and honey. Entrées from countries around the world, including Greece, the Middle East, India, Japan, and Nigeria are offered regularly.

Contact Info
1020 Legacy Dr., Bedford, VA 24523
Tel: 540-871-0882
Fax: 540-297-1860
http://globalvillage.org

Written by Julia Warren
Julia collected the information used in this article during a distance internship with The Vegetarian Resource Group. She will be entering her final year as a nutrition major at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

The contents of this article 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 depend on information from camps, websites, or third party sources. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can easily change, people have different views, mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a camp or food is suitable for you. Please do further research or confirmation on your own. Let us know about positive vegan experiences you have with these or other camps. Comments can be sent to [email protected].

Pregnant or planning for pregnancy? Check out this recent article by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, VRG nutrition advisor, and co-author of VRG’s brochure, Vegan Nutrition in Pregnancy and Childhood.

Excerpted from Starting Right: What to Eat When You’re Hoping to be Expecting, published on http://www.onegreenplanet.org:

2. Make sure you’re eating a variety of vegan foods with an emphasis on whole, unprocessed foods.

Pre-pregnancy is a great time to clean up your plate. Eating a variety of foods – beans, grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds – makes it more likely that you’re getting the nutrients you need and that will support your baby’s growth. You’ll be a role model for your child for many years. It’s a lot easier to promote fruits and vegetables if your child sees you eating these healthy foods.

In addition to choosing whole, unprocessed foods often, be sure you mix things up. If you usually eat soy products as entrees, try adding some other kinds of beans or seitan. If you take fruit for lunch, eat seasonally – peaches in summer, pears in the fall, strawberries in the spring rather than only eating apples or bananas. Greater variety in your food choices makes it more likely that you’re getting all of the nutrients you need.

3. Start taking a supplement of folic acid and decide if you need to use supplements to insure adequate vitamin B12, calcium, vitamin D, iron, and iodine.

Folic acid is an important vitamin during early pregnancy because of its role in the development of the nervous system. Adequate intakes of folic acid have been linked to a reduced risk of birth defects like spina bifida. Since the baby’s brain and spinal cord begin to form very early in pregnancy, before you may even know you’re pregnant, the CDC and other government agencies recommend that all women who may become pregnant either take a supplement containing 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid or eat cereal fortified with folic acid. Few, if any, vegan cereals are fortified with folic acid, so it’s probably easiest to take a supplement of folic acid or, if you use a multi-vitamin, check to see if it has 100% of the Daily Value (DV) for folic acid.

Vitamin B12 is another vitamin that’s needed for development of the nervous system. Vegans get vitamin B12 from fortified foods (some brands of soy or other milks, cereals, energy bars, etc) and from supplements. Be sure that you have a reliable source of vitamin B12 that you use every day before and during pregnancy and when you’re breastfeeding.

Requirements for calcium and vitamin D do not go up in pregnancy. It’s still important to meet recommendations for these nutrients, either by choosing good food sources or by using a vegan supplement.

Iron needs are quite high in pregnancy because extra iron is needed to make the baby’s blood. If you start pregnancy with adequate amounts of stored iron, there’s less likelihood that you’ll become anemic during pregnancy. You can build up your stores of iron before pregnancy by eating iron-enriched foods (pasta, cereal, bread, some brands of fake meat) and foods high in iron (dried beans, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, nuts). Even with adequate stores of iron, your health care provider may recommend an iron supplement.

Iodine plays an important role in brain development. Iodized salt is an easy way to add iodine to your diet. If you don’t use iodized salt and rarely use sea vegetables (another source of iodine), either choose an iodine supplement or a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement that supplies iodine.

Read the whole article here »

photo from Freepik

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

In 2019 a group of scientists from 16 countries worked together to propose a healthy dietary pattern that they believed would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2050 and that could feed the global population sustainably. The diet that they proposed emphasized plant foods, including whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and unsaturated plant oils; called for low to moderate amounts of animal-based foods; and recommended low intakes of saturated fat, refined grains, and sugar. This diet was called the EAT-Lancet diet (1). A Planetary Health Diet Index has been developed to evaluate how closely people follow the EAT-Lancet diet.

What is the study?

Researchers wanted to see if people who more closely followed the EAT-Lancet diet did better health-wise than those who did not follow the guidelines of this way of eating (2). Almost 160,000 women and 45,000 men who did not have diabetes, cancer, or major cardiovascular diseases at the start of the study completed questionnaires about their eating habits every 4 years. Their reports of what they ate were evaluated using the Planetary Health Diet Index. The total possible Planetary Health Diet Index score ranged from 0 (nonadherence) to 140 (perfect adherence). Deaths among the study subjects were tracked for up to 34 years and were correlated with each subject’s Planetary Health Diet Index score.

What did this study find?

Subjects in the group with the highest score on the Planetary Health Diet Index had the lowest risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. In women, a higher Planetary Health Diet Index score was also associated with a lower risk of dying from an infectious disease. Eating higher amounts of red and processed meats, eggs, saturated fats, added sugars, sugar from fruit juice, and potatoes was associated with an increased risk of mortality overall.

Based on an environmental analysis, the food choices of the group with the highest Planetary Health Diet Index score resulted in 29% lower greenhouse gas emissions, 21% lower fertilizer needs, 51% lower cropland use, and 13% lower irrigation water needs compared to the group with the lowest score.

The results of this study suggest that choosing a more environmentally friendly diet also promotes lower risk of death from a number of chronic diseases. It’s not surprising that the environmentally friendly diet consists largely of whole plant foods.

To read more about diet and the environment see the environment section of VRG’s website

References

1. Willett W, Rockström J, Loken B, et al. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet. 2019;393(10170):447-492.
2. Bui LP, Pham TT, Wang F, et al. Planetary Health Diet Index and risk of total and cause-specific mortality in three prospective cohorts. Am J Clin Nutr. 2024 [in press].

During covid restrictions, Satvika was helping to distribute food to families at a makeshift drive-through. Seeing the unhealthy food, she partnered with a local farm, Veggielution, and created a plan with them to bring their produce to the federal distribution site. “It started off with flyers, and ramped up to brown bags filled with fruits and vegetables that I could hand to the cars along with their processed packages. This was the first time the farm was directly connected to the local school district… Intrigued by the link of nutrition to the highly subsidized and destructive processes of factory farming, inefficient at its core, I reached out to my district’s nutrition service directors. I have been a team member for the past three years, creating and serving a climate-friendly and culturally relevant menu, with items like chana masala and edamame fried rice now a permanent fixture.” One reference wrote, “This has been a lot of work by Satvika to get these dishes included, as the school has a lot of bureaucratic hurdles to get through, including a change in principal.”

Another reference from Friends of the Earth relayed about her further activism in Washington, DC: “Ms. Iyer spoke persuasively to her peers and to policymakers at USDA and in Congress about her own experiences that led her to become passionate about expanding climate-friendly, culturally appropriate lunch options in school … She led a rapid response effort to gather testimonies from youth, parents, and teachers about why they want to see more plant-based school menus and disseminated them to Members of Congress ahead of a key vote on the child nutrition reauthorization bill.

Satvika will major in Environmental Economics and Policy at the University of California Berkeley, and plans to pursue humanitarian engineering, social entrepreneurship, and policy careers that make sustainable choices readily accessible.

Support Young Veg Activists

To send support for additional scholarships and internships, donate at www.vrg.org/donate or call (410) 366-8343. You can also send a donation to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

Do you know an amazing vegan or vegetarian high school student? If so, let them know about our annual scholarship contest. The deadline for high school seniors is February 20^th of each year. To see scholarship rules and past winners, visit www.vrg.org/student/scholar

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Phosphorus is an essential part of the diet, both because of its important role in the structure of bones and teeth and because of its involvement in turning the food we eat into energy. Since dairy products supply about 20% of phosphorus and meat, poultry and fish supply about 25% of phosphorus in the typical U.S. diet¹, one might wonder if vegans get enough phosphorus. Grains, legumes, vegetables, and nuts are good sources of phosphorus. In the United States, grains are the largest source of dietary phosphorus, supplying almost 30% of dietary phosphorus in omnivores.¹

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for phosphorus is:

Birth to 6 months: 100 milligrams/day (this is the Adequate Intake rather than the RDA)

7-12 months: 275 milligrams/day (this is the Adequate Intake rather than the RDA)

1-3 years: 460 milligrams/day

4-8 years: 500 milligrams per day

9-18 years: 1250 milligrams/day

19 years and older: 700 milligrams/day

Pregnancy: 700 milligrams/day (1250 milligrams/day for those under 19 years)

Lactation: 700 milligrams/day (1250 milligrams/day for those under 19 years)

Many plant foods supply us with phosphorus.

12 Good Sources of Phosphorus for Vegans

1. Oat milk, commercial, 269 milligrams of phosphorus in 1 cup
2. Soymilk, commercial, 250 milligrams of phosphorus in 1 cup
3. Baked potato, medium size, 200 milligrams of phosphorus in a potato
4. Roasted almonds, 162 milligrams of phosphorus in ¼ cup
5. Peanuts, shelled, 143 milligrams of phosphorus in ¼ cup
6. Black beans, 140 milligrams of phosphorus in ½ cup, cooked
7. Quinoa, 140 milligrams of phosphorus in ½ cup, cooked
8. Chickpeas, 138 milligrams of phosphorus in ½ cup, cooked
9. Tofu, 120 milligrams of phosphorus in ½ cup
10. Lentils, 111 milligrams of phosphorus in ½ cup, cooked
11. Brown rice, 104 milligrams of phosphorus in ½ cup, cooked
12. Peanut butter, 102 milligrams of phosphorus in 2 Tablespoons

Fun Facts About Phosphorus

1. Although a lower percentage of dietary phosphorus is absorbed from vegan diets, compared to nonvegetarian diets, vegan diets typically provide enough phosphorus.
2. Processed foods often have additives, such as phosphoric acid and sodium phosphate, that contain phosphorus. These additives may supply 10-15% of the phosphorus in the typical American’s diet.
3. People with severe chronic kidney disease may be advised by their health care provider to eat less phosphorus.
4. Some antacids can reduce the amount of phosphorus that your body absorbs. Long-term regular use (more than 3 months) can lead to low levels of phosphorus. Antacids that contain aluminum hydroxide or calcium carbonate, such as Maalox and Tums, can reduce phosphorus absorption.
5. Phosphorus deficiency is very rare in the United States. Signs of a phosphorus deficiency include muscle weakness, coordination problems, bone pain, and soft and deformed bones. A phosphorus deficiency is diagnosed by checking blood levels of phosphorus.

Reference

¹ McClure ST, Chang AR, Selvin E, Rebholz CM, Appel LJ. Dietary sources of phosphorus among adults in the United States: Results from NHANES 2001-2014. Nutrients. 2017;9(2):95.

To read more about phosphorus see

Phosphorus Fact Sheet for Consumers (from National Institutes of Health; contains vegan and nonvegan sources of phosphorus)

Non-Dairy Milks – Nutrients of importance in Chronic Kidney Dysfunction

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal and Vegan 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.

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Dietary Guidelines for Americans is a document that is produced every 5 years and serves as a statement of current federal policy on the role of dietary factors in health promotion and disease prevention. It is used as the foundation for federal nutrition education materials, by schools, the food industry, and many others.

In an earlier post, I stated that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans U.S.-style Dietary Pattern limits total meat, poultry, and eggs to 4 ounces per day for those with a 2200 calorie diet. This prompted a question from a reader about whether the Dietary Guidelines’ provided any similar limit on meat-like analogs. The reader explained that they meant products like Impossible burgers or other meat-like analogs that were not mainly vegetable- or grain-based.

The Dietary Guidelines identifies “core elements that make up a healthy dietary pattern” (1). One of these core elements is the so-called protein foods which includes “lean meats, poultry, and eggs, seafood, beans, peas, and lentils, and nuts, seeds, and soy products” (1). Soy includes “tofu, tempeh, and products made from soy flour, soy protein isolate, and soy concentrate” (1).

While the Dietary Guidelines suggests replacing processed or high-fat meats with beans, peas, and lentils, no suggestions are made for replacing high-fat or processed meat-like analogs. The Healthy U.S.-style Dietary Pattern suggests that those eating a 2200 calorie diet get 5-ounce equivalents a week of nuts, seeds, and soy products. An ounce-equivalent is defined as 1 Tablespoon of nut or seed butters or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds or ¼  cup of tofu. No definition is provided for an ounce-equivalent of soy products other than tofu. The Healthy Vegetarian Dietary Pattern separates their recommendations for soy products and for nuts and seeds. This pattern suggests that those eating a 2200 calorie diet get 8-ounce equivalents a week of soy products but, again, no explanation is provided of what an ounce equivalent is for anything except tofu.

With greater use of a variety of soy products, including processed meat-like analogs, additional dietary guidance is needed on recommended amounts and serving sizes of these products.

Reference

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. December 2020. Available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.

To read more about Dietary Guidelines in the United States see:

The Dietary Pattern in Dietary Guidelines for Americans Could Easily Be Made Vegan and Nutritionally Adequate

What Have the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Said About Vegan and Vegetarian Diets? A Look Back

2020=2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Released; Has Both Positive and Negative Features

2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines Released

2010 Dietary Guidelines Released

To read more about Dietary Guidelines in other countries see:

Do International Dietary Guidelines Promote Vegan/Vegetarian Diets?

Mexican 2023 Dietary Guidelines Recommend that 92% of our Plate Should be Plant Foods

Spain’s Dietary Recommendations: Less Meat, More Plant Foods

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

A reader contacted us and asked, “Since many people are cutting down on their use of added salt (eliminating added salt in some cases), how can vegans be sure they are getting enough iodine in their diet?”

This is a reasonable concern since the iodine content of plant foods is often low and their iodine content depends on factors such as the concentration of iodine in the soil where the plants were grown (1). Iodine is an essential mineral that is needed for the thyroid gland to work properly. Not getting adequate iodine can have negative effects on the thyroid gland. Iodine deficiency in infants and children can result in poor growth and development.

Prior to the 1920s, in the United States, an iodine-deficiency disease called endemic goiter was relatively common. The incidence of endemic goiter fell sharply after iodized salt was introduced in the United States. Salt iodization is not mandatory in the United States but there are requirements for the amount of iodine that is added to iodized salt. Iodized salt provides about 76 micrograms of iodine in a quarter teaspoon. About half of the US population uses iodized salt (2). If you avoid added salt, your diet may be low in iodine, much like the diet of Americans prior to 1924.

“Well,” you may be thinking, “I eat some salty processed foods. I must get iodine from that.” Actually, most processed foods as well as products from fast food establishments are not made with iodized salt. If a food manufacturer does use iodized salt, the iodized salt must be listed as an ingredient (3).

Sea vegetables can be a source of iodine although the amount is inconsistent. Sometimes, sea vegetables are very high in iodine and that can cause health issues. The bioavailability of iodine from sea vegetables is also quite variable (4).

If you are vegan and don’t use iodized salt regularly, I recommend that you use a supplement containing iodine. Many multi-vitamin/mineral supplements contain iodine and iodine is also available as a separate supplement. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for iodine for adults is 150 micrograms per day. If you choose to use an iodine supplement you should look for one providing approximately this amount.

References

1. Ershow AG, Skeaff SA, Merkel JM, Pehrsson PR. Development of databases on iodine in foods and dietary supplements. Nutrients. 2018;10(1):100.
2. Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001.
3. Pennington JA, Young B. Iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and iodine in foods from the United States Total Diet Study. J Food Compost Anal. 1990;3:166-184.
4. Dominguez-Gonzalez MR, Chiocchetti GM, Herbello-Hermelo P, et al. Evaluation of iodine bioavailability in seaweed using in vitro methods. J Agric Food Chem. 2017;65:8435–8442.

To read more about iodine see:

Iodine in the Vegan Diet

Iodine in Prenatal Supplements

Iodine in Plant Milks

Food Sources of Iodine

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal and Vegan 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.

In our latest Nutrition Hotline column, a Vegan Journal reader asks, “My husband and I are healthy long-term vegans. Neither of us eat much processed food nor cook with a lot of oil… Is a completely oil-free diet worth the effort? VRG’s Nutrition Advisor, Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, answers their question here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue4/2023_issue4_nutrition_hotline.php

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

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

When you think of school lunch, do entrées like Thai Chili Tofu, Chana Masala, Vegan Tostadas and Tamales, and a Tofu Katsu Bowl come to mind? These are just some of the vegan entrées that were served in California’s 25 largest school districts in October 2022.

The non-profit Friends of the Earth developed a progress report on school lunch entrée offerings that were served in the largest districts in California and compared these to what was served in 2019 (1). The report uses the term “plant-based entrée” which they define as “the main course of the meal utilizing beans, peas, lentils and/or soy products as the main protein component. A plant-based meal contains no animal products or byproducts (e.g., no milk, yogurt, cheese, or meat products).” In other words, in this report, “plant-based” means “vegan.”

Here are some of the report’s findings:

• In October 2022, 68% of California’s largest school districts served plant-based entrée offerings daily or weekly, compared to 44% in 2019. Fourteen out of 25 middle and high schools offered a plant-based entrée every day compared to 9 out of 25 in 2019. The number of elementary schools offering plant-based entrées weekly has more than tripled. Despite these positive trends, plant-based entrées are only 8% of all entrées offered.
• Eighty different vegan entrées were offered in October 2022 compared to 61 in October 2019. This suggests that progress is being made in terms of the variety of offerings.
• School menus frequently offer more than one entrée per day. Nearly one in five entrées offered in 2020 included processed meat, an increase since 2019; 57% of all entrées contained cheese.

The report was not able to include information on how often vegan entrées are selected by students; it looked at how often these entrées were offered.

The report spotlights the second-largest high school district in California, Sweetwater Union, which offers vegan options daily in all school cafeterias. Offerings include falafel wraps, hummus-based entrées, and vegan burritos. Hot vegan entrées are offered three out of five school days each week.

Friends of the Earth offers a hypothetical scenario – if all school districts in California replaced a beef burger with a black bean burger one day a month, it would save 220 million pounds of CO2, which would be equivalent to eliminating 22,000 cars from the road for one year (2).

The report includes many recommendations for policy changes to promote healthy, climate-friendly school meals. This makes it a valuable tool for those working to improve school meals.

References

1. Stewart N, Hamerschlag K, et al. Plant-based trends in California’s school lunches. https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Plant-Based-Trends-in-California-School-Lunches_Final.pdf. 2023.
2. Kraus-Polk J, Hamerschlag K, et al. The state of school lunch in California: Opportunities for improving the health and environmental profile of school food. https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SchoolFoodReport_No-Execsummary.pdf. 2021.

To read more about school meals see the section on VRG’s website about School Food Service.

By Priscila Camargo Reis, VRG intern from Brazil

Contributor: Odette Olivares, VRG volunteer from Mexico

I am a Brazilian and became a vegetarian 24 years ago (in 1999). At that time, I was the only vegetarian I knew and it took 5 years to meet other vegetarian and vegan people. In my first undergraduate degree (2004-2009), in Biology, we never discussed the link between food and the environment. Another classmate and I were the only ones who talked about this and we used to be criticized and mocked by teachers and colleagues. Some of them, many years later, became vegetarian and recognized we were right.

In my MSc in Environmental Education (2009-2012) food was not included in sustainability issues either. Claudio Tarouco (PhD) and I were the first ones to talk about this, inside that research program.

It is interesting to point out that since the 1960’s decade, Josué de Castro – a brilliant Brazilian researcher who was a physician, a nutritionist, a social scientist, a politician and worldwide recognized – had talked intensively about the urgency of changing our food system, due to sustainability, health, and fighting against hunger. But he was silenced by the Military Dictatorship and only recently I heard about him in college.

Nowadays, vegetarianism (veganism included) has spread out and increased very fast. There are options in many places.

Currently, about 10 years after obtaining my Masters, I am in my second Undergraduate degree, studying Dietetics and Human Nutrition. Now, we have classes exclusively about the topic of sustainable food systems and there are vegetarian diets subjects. Although again, only one other classmate and I are vegetarians/vegans, but there are other vegans and vegetarians in other classes. There are vegetarian teachers as well. But, at least in my class, students and some teachers still seem to be prejudiced about vegans. But in all the 3 Universities I’ve studied (including the current one), despite having no vegan options in the school refectory, there was a non-vegan vegetarian meal option.

In my course, we are taught as dietitian professionals to respect the food choices of every patient. And vegetarianism is not seen as a wrong diet. Even so, there are still students and teachers who turn up their nose at veganism (and treat it as a faddish diet). Also there are other universities engaged in vegetarian diets and sustainable food system research, besides mine.

In Brazil, there is a campaign called “Meatless Monday,” when people are encouraged to not consume meat during the day. It is promoted by the Brazilian Vegetarian Society, and a few public schools, in São Paulo, have joined the program since 2017. And there is a lot of non-academic training on agroforestry systems and organic farming.

Odette Olivares, a Mexican dietitian, who is also a Vegetarian Resource Group volunteer and holds a Masters degree in MSC in Nutrition and Health from the Netherlands, had similar experiences as me. She states that 15 years ago, during her Undergraduate studies, the main idea was that a vegetarian diet was not appropriate, and especially a vegan diet was considered very dangerous to health. There were many myths about such diets as being unhealthy and not sustainable. Vegan diets for children were considered a very irresponsible thing to do as a nutritionist. They considered heme-iron as the best type of iron, ignoring that now a high consumption of heme-iron is also related to cardiometabolic diseases. Meat was considered a very nutritious food and almost essential to have a healthy diet.

Despite an already scientifically proven connection between nutrition and ecological sustainability, it was not discussed in her classes, which had 2 vegetarians maximum.

Nowadays, she asserts, the academic focus has changed and they are concentrated more in sustainability.

Odette concluded her MSc in the Netherlands 3 years ago where there were teachers promoting plant-based diets. Most students knew the benefits of vegetarianism and veganism. The teachers of Environmental Sciences were very aware of the connection between plant-based diets and planetary health. Her friends in Environmental Sciences told her it was very rare to find students who frequently consume meat, and they were judged a bit by others.

In her university, the school cafeteria offered plant-based, flexitarian, vegetarian, and vegan options on daily menus. Nutrition and sustainability, vegetarianism, and vegan diets are highly stressed in most of the school programs.

Now, all the 3 universities she has studied or worked in (both in Mexico and Netherlands) are taking actions to stress the link and the importance of nutrition, sustainability, and planetary health. Currently, she works as a teacher in a Mexican University where there are inside efforts and partnership between outside institutions to advance the topics related to “Optimum Nutrition and Sustainability”. In her classes, she teaches how having a vegetarian or a vegan diet is totally possible, healthy, and urgent.

However, Odette has been facing resistance from students about the benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets. She observes that these barriers are derived from the association between eating disorders and restrictive diets. As some nutrition students have experienced those diseases, they associate vegetarian and vegan diets with their personal issues.

We both agree that the discussions and perceptions regarding veganism, vegetarianism, plant based diets and their links between Earth health and better human health tremendously increased in the last two decades and people, professionals, teachers, and students are more concerned about that.

Nonetheless, in our personal experiences, it seems climate change is perceived as a real threat in Europe, in contrast to what we see in our countries of Mexico and Brazil. I lived in the Uk for a couple months and even though I saw climate deniers there, I also saw people in small towns reuniting in climate hubs and organized groups in London protesting many times for climate policies and supporting vegetarianism as one of the steps of sustainability. But as far as I know (and I may be wrong) I don’t see this happening in Brazil. However, there are vegetarian activists and researchers in Brazil claiming the same (but not on the streets) and the Brazilian Fridays for Future groups can be acting in different ways that I am not noticing. Though vegetarianism is becoming more common in Brazil, it is still unusual for most Brazilian environmentalists to go vegetarian.

Odette didn’t meet climate deniers in the Netherlands, and she believes that one of the reasons is that they are aware of the importance of the sea level and the survival of their country. Cancún, Mexico, on the other hand, has a culture that emphasizes party activities oriented to tourist enjoyment, so is not oriented to thinking about environmental issues. In other regions in Mexico, however, Odette has observed much more interest in Climate Change topics, especially in cities with large student populations such as Xalapa, Veracruz.

In Brazil, the social inequality, the fact that big ruralists and religious people have much power in the Political and Economic System, and the influence mainly of Asian and North American meat markets (and grains-, soy-, and other agricultural products), but also the exports to Europe (the Netherlands included) contribute to delay in real action towards sustainability life. However, the current government (president Lula) is more committed to sustainable agriculture, despite that their program includes livestock.

The “Dietary Guide for the Brazilian population” (2014), from the Ministry of Health, proposes that natural or minimally processed foods, predominantly of vegetable origin, should be the basis of the diet, and states they are the basis for a nutritionally balanced, culturally appropriate diet, which promotes a socially and environmentally sustainable food system. However, that official document mistakenly still claims animal based food provides most of the vitamins and minerals, and plant sources, individually, are not totally adequate and don’t provide all the nutrients we need.

Odette believes a meat based diet will change in the future thanks to the New Well Eating Plate¹, which now recommends consuming only 8% of our total energy derived from animal products, while the remaining 92% should be derived from plant sources.

This and all the changes we have noticed are very good news for animals, Earth, and humanity. And we need to keep talking about it and sharing more research focused on that topic, to decrease global meat consumption.

¹  In Spanish “El plato del bien comer” is a dietary guide from the Mexican Government rules for health promotion and education in food matters, which establishes criteria for nutritional guidance in Mexico.