Note from the Coordinators
CHANGING THE WORLD THROUGH SMALL TASKS AND ACTS OF KINDNESS
One Vegetarian Resource Group scholarship applicant wrote: "... Raising awareness for veganism in an area and school that has a minuscule vegan/vegetarian population — my school has just begun serving soy milk in the lunch line for no extra charge. This is one seemingly minor success that truly means a lot for the future of veganism in my community. More people will now be exposed to a vegan option, and I am certain that more is to come regarding the school lunches. As demand for veggie lunches increases, the school will have no choice but to make the menu more vegan-friendly."
We live in a grandiose world where people want easy knowledge, instant change, and leaders who they think have all the answers to follow. We want social media postings from all political, product, or personality persuasions that have tens of thousands of people looking at them, and whether the information is true or kind doesn't matter. However, real change can come from all our small actions, and acts of kindness, without expecting perfection. Beware of people of every persuasion, even if we mostly agree with what they are promoting, if they present themselves as knowing all the answers, espouse a perfect diet, etc.
Thank you to Keryl Cryer, our prior Senior Editor of 10 years, who filled in countless hours and helped get this issue of Vegetarian Journal done on time. Thank you to Gene Slothour-Hudnall, our new Volunteer Coordinator, who quickly got up to speed after a staff change. Thank you Reed Mangels, as always, and our writers, who were able to meet short deadlines. Kudos to Casey Brown, who, while busy with her dietetic internship, finished a research project for us and submitted an abstract for presentation at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. And appreciation to Teagan Kim, a student at Johns Hopkins University, for doing weekly restaurant entries for our vegetarian/vegan restaurant guide (www.vrg.org/restaurant); former VRG Intern Yasmin Radbod for doing an outreach booth for us at American University; VRG Intern Laneece Hurd for quickly finishing an article for us though busy with a hard school schedule; David Milner for providing ongoing HTML help; Suzanne Hengen for doing our recipes' nutrition analyses, and many others.
In this issue, John Westerdahl did fascinating research on vegetarian Lenna Frances Cooper, one of the founders of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (previously known as the American Dietetic Association). Her pioneering work along with others resulted in an organization over 70,000 strong. You never know where the seeds you plant will end up sprouting. Thank you to everyone for your support and kindness.
Debra Wasserman & Charles Stahler
Coordinators of The Vegetarian Resource Group
