51 Projects of The Vegetarian Resource Group

(If you would like to be informed in detail throughout the year about VRG outreach, please send a note to The Vegetarian Resource Group, Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. You can also sign up for our monthly email newsletter. Please note that these are just samples of our work, and are not meant to be all inclusive.)

FOODSERVICE OUTREACH
1. Nancy Berkoff, R.D., Ed.D., a certified chef and VRG’s foodservice advisor, is assisting colleges, restaurants, company cafeterias, caterers, and others to add healthy vegetarian options. If you want to promote healthy vegetarian food in institutions, be sure to subscribe to our Vegetarian Journal’s Foodservice Update quarterly newsletter and look at our other foodservice materials. If chefs where you eat have foodservice questions not answered in these publications, they can e-mail questions to [email protected].

2. Nancy worked with an Orange County, California food bank to develop vegetarian recipes using the food products they usually have on hand.

3. Dr. Berkoff instituted one vegan soup every day at a community college in Los Angeles, California.

4. Suzanne Havala, M.S., R.D., gave two presentations at a North and South Carolina foodservice meeting. She spoke on Integrating Vegetarian Entrees into Food Service.

5. Nancy supplied quantity vegan recipes to an organization holding a three day conference for 1,200 people.

SUPERMARKET OUTREACH
6. VRG handed out materials at the annual Food Marketing Institute supermarket conference in Chicago, Illinois. We displayed packages of vegetarian foods available for supermarket distribution and handed out a list of companies providing these items.

7. Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D., assisted Wegmans Supermarket in Upstate New York and Eastern Pennsylvania in revising their vegetarian booklet, which they are distributing in their stores.

EDUCATION OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
8. Nancy Berkoff, R.D., and Debra Wasserman were selected to give a cooking demonstration at the annual meeting of The American Dietetic Association in Kansas City, Missouri. We also answered questions and gave out thousands of pieces of literature to help educate dietitians about vegetarian diets.

9. Suzanne Havala, M.S., R.D., spoke to nursing students at Johns Hopkins University.

10. A professor at a college in New York ordered our Guide to Food Ingredients to give out to her entire advanced food science course. It will be nice when all health professionals understand what is vegetarian.

11. Sue Havala spoke at a physicians’ conference in Wisconsin.

VEGETARIAN CHILDREN
12. Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D., and Suzanne Havala, R.D., were interviewed by newspapers around the country in reference to Benjamin Spock advocating vegetarian diets for children.

13. Dr. Mangels was asked by Virginia Messina to help to co-author an article on vegetarian children for The Journal of The American Dietetic Association.

14. Reed helped a mother of vegan quintuplets with menu planning.

OUTREACH TO SENIOR CITIZENS
15. Suzanne Havala developed a vegetarian meal plan for Meals on Wheels. This was tested by Cathy Conway in New York City at 25 meal sites. Ms. Conway was then asked to give presentations throughout New York State.

16. A dietitian from an Air Force Base asked for fifty copies of this meal plan to distribute.

17. Nancy Berkoff spoke on senior nutrition on Good Morning California (CBS) in Sacramento, California.

PUBLICATIONS
18. We continue to publish the independent Vegetarian Journal, which does not accept advertising. All nutrition articles are reviewed by a registered dietitian.

19. VRG authored the Vegetarian Journal’s Guide to Natural Foods Restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.

20. We printed the Meatless Meals for Working People. In addition to over 100 quick recipes, included is information about vegetarian and vegan foods in over 70 fast food and quick service chains.

21. Dar Veverka was interviewed on the Environmental News radio show in the Great Lakes area concerning our guide to over 250 food ingredients. An excerpt from this guide will be reprinted in a textbook used to teach foodservice professionals.

22. A member produced the vegan Yiddish video No Shmaltz! featuring recipes from our The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook.

LOCAL OUTREACH
23. We have had booths at fairs in New York City, Baltimore, Chicago, Boston, and other places.

24. VRG sponsored dinners in Baltimore, Maryland; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Kansas City, Missouri.

OUTREACH TO STUDENTS
25. We continued sponsorship of the VRG essay contest.

26. Dr. Mangels was asked to review the Vegetarian Choices chapter in a new high school textbook.

27. VRG hosted a college intern from Georgia for three months, a journalism intern for four months, and an intern from Japan for three months.

28. A school district in Pennsylvania requested sets of materials for 50 teachers, plus 500 I Love Animals and Broccoli Shopping Basket and 750 I Love Animals and Broccoli Coloring Books for students.

29. VRG was accepted to exhibit at National Association of College and University Food Services annual meeting.

GOVERNMENT TESTIMONY
30. Testimony was given concerning the new proposed organic standards.

31. VRG sent in testimony on revision of the Dietary Guidelines.

INTERNET OUTREACH
32. Now over 25,000 people a month visit our web site: www.vrg.org

33. Over 4,000 individuals currently subscribe to our electronic newsletter.

34. The Tufts University Navigator rated our pages a 24 out of a possible 25 as among the best nutrition education web sites.

PROMOTION OF VEGETARIAN FOODS
35. We gave information to a major cereal company looking to produce healthier foods.

36. By being mentioned in our Vegetarian Journal’s Foodservice Update, a seitan company picked up additional contracts for their product.

37. We gave advice to a member looking to package her new vegan food item.

38. A natural foods company gained a major account by being talked about in our Foodservice Update.

CONSUMER EDUCATION
39. Reed Mangels was asked to write an article on soy foods for a diabetes magazine.

40. A Florida hospital requested materials to hand out for consumer education.

41. A dietitian in Virginia presenting workshops at American Heart Association and American Cancer Society meetings requests materials from us each year.

MEDIA
42. Sue Havala was interviewed by the Raleigh News and Observor, Miami Herald, and Channel 7 in Miami.

43. Nancy Berkoff appeared on Good Morning San Diego and the Wendy Royster show in Baltimore.

44.VRG had mentions in the Air Force Times, Gift Basket Review, Port Arthur News, Trenton Times, Baltimore Sun, San Bernardino Sun, Parade Magazine, and numerous small, large, and unique media across the country.

ANSWERING EVERYDAY QUESTIONS ON OUR WEB SITE, THROUGH THE MAIL AND OVER THE PHONE
45. Vegetarian teen athletes wanted to know how to respond to peer pressure.

46. Consumers asked if Yellow #5 is animal-derived.

47. A Tibetian monk requested information on vegetarianism to distribute.

48. A vegetarian fast food chain from Europe wanted statistics on the number of vegetarians to help them evaluate the market in the United States.

49. Non-vegetarian registered dietitians called for materials to give to their vegetarian clients.

50. Numerous first time vegan pregnant women wrote for information.

51. An individual from South America called for Spanish brochures.

The Vegetarian Resource Group
Vegetarian Journal, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203
(410) 366-8343; www.vrg.org

The Vegetarian Resource Group answers your questions and makes it easier for you to eat meatless meals.

Please support our outreach efforts.

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If you would like to make a donation online go to our secure site. If you would like to donate by check or money order, please send it to The Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203 or call (410) 366-8343 for more information. You can visit the VRG homepage at www.vrg.org

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