Notes from the Scientific Department

VRG Nutrition Advisor Suzanne Havala Hobbs, DrPH, RD, was interviewed by Self magazine for a story about food trends. She also appeared as a guest discussing vegetarian diets on Tarheel People, a PAX-TV newsmagazine focusing on public affairs in North Carolina. Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, was interviewed for Natural Foods Merchandiser about vegetarian supplements and for Nutrition Industry Executive Magazine. She was also interviewed by Babyfit magazine for an article about vegetarian pregnancy.

VRG OUTREACH

Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, co-authored The Dietitian’s Guide to Vegetarian Diets: Issues and Applications, 2nd edition, with Virginia Messina and Mark Messina. Published by Jones and Bartlett, this textbook presents vital information on vegetarian nutritional needs and guidelines for treating all clients, including pregnant women, athletes, and diabetics. This edition takes into account new research, epidemiological studies, debates, and changes in the food market, as well as the different types of vegetarian diets.

VRG’s Food Service Advisor Nancy Berkoff, RD, EdD, CCE, presented two seminars for the Los Angeles Area Food Bank. The first targeted the organization’s providers and discussed how to prepare healthy (mostly vegetarian) meals for their clients at an All Charities Los Angeles Conference. The second was for Food Hunger and Awareness Day, when Nancy demonstrated how to prepare vegetarian meals and had 30 children living in shelters not only prepare the meal but also eat it! The menu, which had a Hawaiian theme, included pineapple and orange salad, ginger tofu skewers, and sesame-rice noodle salad.

In addition, Nancy did a Chef on Call, a quarterly feature that she writes for the Orange County Register, when she prepared a menu from a “mystery basket” (She doesn’t know which ingredients the person has chosen.) in Newport Beach, California. She created a vegetarian Provençale feast with ratatouille (summer squash stew), rosemary and beaujolais grilled portobellos, endive and walnut salad, and chocolate-dipped dried fruit, including dried raspberries and starfruit. All the produce was donated by Frieda’s.