VRG Activities

Publishing Vegetarian Journal is only one activity of The Vegetarian Resource Group. Not a day goes by when we are not involved in some exciting projects.

Not too long ago, VRG's staff and a few local members organized a vegan restaurant gathering for a group of 21 Japanese visitors interested in natural foods. Only three of our guests spoke English and we had to work through an interpreter. Besides enjoying a delicious Chinese meal together, we were able to ask one another questions concerning vegetarianism in both Japan and the United States. The first interesting fact we learned was that many Japanese have never seen nor tasted brown rice. We also found out some of our guests work on a publication promoting natural living in Japan and are eager to promote natural foods in Japan. Others were quite interested in animal rights issues. The organizer of this event hopes to return to Baltimore next year with another group of Japanese visitors for us to meet.

Once again, The Vegetarian Resource Group participated in the Annual Meeting of The American Dietetic Association. This year's conference was held in Kansas City, Missouri. VRG staff and volunteers were quite busy at our booth. Numerous dietitians thanked VRG for providing handouts to use in their university nutrition classes or with their clients. Several food companies offered samples of vegan cuisine. Times are certainly changing when Campbell's Foodservice now offers many vegetarian soups including three vegan options: Vegetarian Garden Vegetable, Vegetarian Seven Bean, and Vegetarian Spicy Lentil. These soups come frozen and condensed and would be a huge success in any foodservice setting. (Call (800) TRY-SOUP.)

The Field Roast Grain Meat Company also exhibited at The American Dietetic Association Conference. Field Roast is vegan grain meat made from grains, vegetables, and legumes. The main ingredient is a wheat protein flour made by rinsing out the starch of a simple wheat dough with water. Field Roast comes in three flavors (Lentil Sage, Mushroom Onion, and Smoked Tomato) and is handcrafted and cooked in small steam-fired kettle batches in Seattle, Washington. Field Roast is presently available for foodservice use in the western part of the United States. Future plans are to increase distribution to the eastern half of this country. Field Roast is an extremely versatile product for foodservice. (See: www.fieldroast.com)

During The American Dietetic Association Conference VRG sponsored a vegan dinner for both members and visiting dietitians. In addition, we did a Quick and Easy Vegan Cooking Demonstration for over 250 registered dietitians. Finally, while waiting for a flight out of Kansas City, we were approached by several individuals working for a frozen food company that had seen our booth during the show. They were on our plane and we spent the next two hours discussing ideas for a new veggie burger and other products suitable for patients in hospitals.