1) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Note from The Vegetarian Resource Group Research Director
By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
CARBON FOOTPRINTS VS. WATER FOOTPRINTS OF VEGAN FOODS: WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT?
If you're a vegan for the environment, should water footprints or carbon footprints of food matter more to you? You're probably aware that almost all large studies and meta-analyses compiling results of several studies conclude that vegan diets have the smallest water footprint and carbon footprint of all diets. For the rest of this note go to [ https://www.vrg.org/blog/2023/11/24/carbon-footprints-vs-water-footprints-of-vegan-foods-which-is-more-important/ ]
If you live in the Baltimore area and can house a VRG intern for a week or two during the summer, please email us at [email protected]
February 20th is our yearly deadline for The Vegetarian Resource Group scholarship contest. Surprise surprise. Most students wait until February 20th to send in their applications. So this is a very busy time of year for us. Thank you so much to Whitney, who volunteers to coordinate all our volunteer readers that read essay submissions. And thank you to all the readers!! For more details about the contest and to read past essays, go to [ https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm ]
Email us if you want to volunteer to be a reader of a few essays. We divide it up, so no one has to read hundreds. If you want to donate to our scholarships or internships, you can donate at [ https://www.vrg.org/donate ]
Indicate it's for the scholarships and internships.
If you will be attending upcoming VegFests in Santa Cruz, California; Wilmington, North Carolina; or Worcester, Massachusetts; please come by the VRG booth and say hi to our volunteers.
We were sad to see Vegan Journal editor Rissa Miller leave for other projects. Here is her last issue. [ https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue4/VJ_issue4_2023.pdf ]
Welcome to our new Vegan Journal editor Hannah Kaminsky. Hannah has been contributing recipes for VJ for numerous years, so we are excited to have her as Senior Editor. And thank you to former editor Keryl and managing editor Debra for helping with the transition. To subscribe, go to [ https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php ]
All our outreach and education is made possible with your support.
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3) A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS
Thanks to the following volunteers for all your hard work with The Vegetarian Resource Group, including posting to social media, writing blog posts, research, presentations, restaurant research, clerical work, writing HTML, contributing to our vegan parents group, doing media interviews, editing, photography, performing nutrition analysis, helping with our newsletters, reading scholarship essays, and more! To volunteer at VRG, please contact us at [email protected] To support The Vegetarian Resource Group's outreach, donate at [ https://www.vrg.org/donate ]
- Jill Adler
- Jeff Bourdier
- Amy Burger
- Danielle Choma
- Cathy Conway MS RD
- Keryl Cryer
- Chis Dunmall
- Heather Francis JD
- Carole Hamlin
- Jessica Langeham
- Sundari Maharagjh
- Reed Mangels PhD RD
- Laura McGuiness MLIS
- Wendy McPherson
- Whitney McVerry
- Noel Merveilleux
- Julie Neild
- Odette Olivares MSN
- Priscila Reis
- Nadely Requena
- Mae Seon
- Elsa Spencer PhD
- Carolyn Stoller
- Cheryl Van Beek
- Neha Vivek
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4) VRG OUTREACH
If you live in the Baltimore area and can house a VRG intern for a week or two during the summer, please email us at [email protected]
In a recent article, VRG researcher Jeanne calculated the carbon footprint of meat pizza to be approximately seven times greater than the carbon footprint of vegan pizza. If you are interested in the environmental issues relted to veganism, some of Jeanne's articles may be a good read for you. See [ https://www.vrg.org/blog/2024/01/16/eutrophication-footprints-of-vegan-pizza-vs-meat-pizza/ ]
Also see Water Footprints of Vegan Pizza Versus Meat Pizza. [ https://www.vrg.org/blog/2024/01/02/water-footprints-of-vegan-pizza-vs-meat-pizza/ ]
and Revisiting Livestock's Long Shadow. [ https://www.vrg.org/blog/2023/11/21/revisiting-livestocks-long-shadow/ ]
Our Brazilian intern Priscila did this vegan Brazilian meal plan. [ https://www.vrg.org/blog/2023/11/20/vegan-brazilian-meal-plan/ ]
This article is about when we met our virtual Texas intern Nadely in person for the first time in Colorado. [ https://www.vrg.org/blog/2023/11/16/vrg-intern-nadely-requena-in-colorado/ ]
A couple doing a mission trip to Guatemala called us asking to reprint some of our Spanish materials. If you are doing education or outreach in the Latino community, you can see our Spanish items at [ https://www.vrg.org/nutshell/information_in_Spanish.htm ]
Our Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels will be doing two virtual 1-hour classes for undergrad nutrition students at Univesity of Maryland Eastern Shore. If you are a college nutrition professor and would like one of these in-services, please email [email protected]
Thank you to Heather for coordinating a VRG booth at the New England VegFest; Whitney at Wilmington, NC VegFest, and Arnie at Santa Cruz, CA VegFest. We wanted to mention that the proliferation of these large vegan events in large part happened because of the pioneering vegfests of the Toronto Vegetarian Association, Boston Vegetarian Society, and a few others.
VRG was mentioned in this article about FDA's plant-based milk labeling guidance [ https://www.dairyreporter.com/Article/2023/08/03/dairy-and-plant-based-organizations-go-head-to-head-over-fda-s-plant-based-milk-labeling-guidance ]
VRG volunteer Whitney McVerry was interviewed about our VRG vegetarian scholarships. See
For more information on the scholarships, see [
https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm ]
To support VRG scholarships and internships, donate at [
https://www.vrg.org/donate ]
To suport VRG veg education and research, join at [ https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php ]
Donate at [ https://www.vrg.org/donate ]
If you work for a company that matches donations, please request the match form.
If you have to make Required Mininimum Distributions from your IRA, you may want to consider making a donation to VRG through a Qualified Charitable Distribution.
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5) VRG BOOTHS
PLEASE COME BY AND SAY HI AT THESE VRG BOOTHS AT THESE FESTIVALS.
Saturday, April 6, 2024 Santa Cruz, CA VegFest
[ https://vegfestsantacruz.org/ ]
Sunday, April 21, 2024 Wilmington, NC Veg Fest
[ https://wilmingtonvegfest.com/ ]
Sunday, June 9, 2024 Worcester, MA NEW ENGLAND VEG FEST
[ https://www.nevegfest.org/ ]
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6) BALTIMORE DINING
Eddie's Supermarket of Roland Park for the holidays offered a Vegan Plate of Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms, Vegan Butternut Squash Risotto, and Steamed Green Beans. Something to note for future holidays.
Slutty Vegan intends to open near Morgan State University and Baltimore Peninsula in 2024. See [ https://www.wmar2news.com/local/slutty-vegan-announces-second-baltimore-location-at-baltimore-peninsula ]
According to The Baltimore Sun: "This will also be the year that a plant-based culinary celebrity makes her long-awaited homecoming. Aisha "Pinky" Cole's Slutty Vegan chain has been making waves in the Atlanta region for half a decade, serving burgers to the likes of Missy Elliott and Kelly Clarkson, and next, the Baltimore native will bring her burger business to the Baltimore Peninsula, too. Cole is set to be an anchor tenant in the Rye Street Market, one of the first buildings to rise in the planned 235-acre South Baltimore development formerly known as Port Covington. Accompanying the burger spot will be Bar Vegan, a cocktail bar and restaurant serving vegan tacos, pasta and sandwiches. Both are expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2024, a Baltimore Peninsula spokesperson said."
[ https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/01/10/bits-bites-baltimore-restaurant-openings-were-looking-forward-to-in-2024/?lctg=5483E4A874A1F59284FCA455FA&utm_email=5483E4A874A1F59284FCA455FA&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.baltimoresun.com%2f2024%2f01%2f10%2fbits-bites-baltimore-restaurant-openings-were-looking-forward-to-in-2024%2f&utm_campaign=bs-morning-sun&utm_content=hybrid ]
Spice and Dice Thai Kitchen in the Baltimore area near Towson has a separate vegetarian menu, wth plenty of vegan options. We tried the Crispy Eggplant Salad appetizer, which was great. The Lemongrass Hot and Sour Soup requested as mild still had a tang, but was just right for us. It had plenty of tofu and we would order it again. You can see the menu at [ https://www.spiceanddice.com/vegan ]
Unfortunately, Mr. Chans in Pikesville has closed. We will miss the decades of vegan dinners and other events held there.
We look forward to a new vegetarian South Indian restaurant opening in Roland Park soon.
Two of our spring college interns will be blogging their impressions of vegan options at Golden West and the Roland Park Bagel Shop.
Please share your favorite places to eat vegan in the Baltimore area. Send to vrg.org
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7) OTHER EVENTS
VEGAN SONG
Animal Friends Croatia wanted to share this vegan song.
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwrlMCCAeYM ]
Holistic Holiday at Sea Cruise
[ https://holisticholidayatsea.com/March2024/ ]
As a Vegan Pioneeer and biologist, Dick Stafursky inspired much of our work.
He grew up on a small dairy farm in Massachusetts. Three philosophies inspired Dick from his teen years - veganism, atheism, and conservation. During his years in Washington, he was a volunteer editor and activist for the Vegetarian Society of Washington, D.C. We fondly remember leafletting with Dick at the premier of the first Star Trek movie, as Spock was vegetarian on the show, (William Shatner who played Captain Kirk also narrated a vegetarian documentary.) For the past 20 years, Dick led the nonprofit Species' Forest, which preserves 88 acres he inherited and donated in Conway MA, and will continue to do so well past his lifetime. See obituary at [ https://www.commonsnews.org/issue/725/725milestones-21 ]
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8) VRG COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST - $30,000 IN AWARDS - APPLICATIONS DUE FEBRUARY 20 ANNUALLY
The deadline for high school seniors to submit vegetarian/vegan scholarship application is February 2024.
For past winners and submission details, see [ https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm ]
To help read essay submissions and judge (if a family member is not submitting an application) email [email protected]
Judging several hundred essays is a large project. Thanks so much to Whitney for coordinating this endeavor.
To donate and support VRG scholarships and interns, donate at [ https://vrg.org/donate ]
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9) FOLLOW VRG'S SOCIAL MEDIA
Our Videos can be found here:
[ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvSyCToa_i9fA4D5CLCAFWw ]
You can keep up with us on ~
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10) ABOUT VRG/SUPPORT VEGAN EDUCATION
Our health professionals, activists, and educators work with businesses and individuals to bring about healthful changes in your school, workplace, and community. Registered dietitians and physicians aid in the development of nutrition-related publications and answer member and media questions about vegetarian diets. The Vegetarian Resource Group is a non-profit organization. Financial support comes primarily from memberships, donations, bequests, and book sales. The Vegan Journal (formerly Vegetarian Journal), a print magazine, is a benefit of membership in The VRG.
(For more information, please see the Vegan Journal online ( [
http://www.vrg.org/journal/ ]
)
If you would like to make a donation, become a member, volunteer, or find out more about The VRG, contact us at:
The Vegetarian Resource Group
P.O. Box 1463
Baltimore, MD 21203
Phone: (410) 366-8343
FAX: (410) 366-8804
E-mail: [email protected] to volunteer
Website: [ https://www.vrg.org/ ]
To donate: [ https://www.vrg.org/donate ]
Donate crypto: [ https://every.org/vrg/donate/crypto ]
Or text 'give' to 80660vegan (80660 83426)
VRG-NEWS is the e-mail newsletter of The Vegetarian Resource Group. This is an announcement list so subscriber messages are not accepted by the list. If you have a technical question about the list, please contact us at [email protected]. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or corrections to VRG-NEWS, please direct them to [email protected]. Thanks. If you are a new subscriber, you might enjoy reading past issues of VRG-NEWS online at
[ http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/ ]
The VRG is an educational non-profit group providing information on vegetarianism and veganism. To subscribe to VRG-NEWS, go to
[ https://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/ ]
To subscribe to VRG-NEWS, you just need to type in your email address at
[ https://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/index.php#subscribe ]
Then click subscribe.
If you do not wish to receive the National Email Newsletter, visit
[ https://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/index.php#unsubscribe ]
See Unsubscribe at the TOP RIGHT OF THE PAGE. You only need to type in your email address where it says unsubscribe. Then click on Unsubscribe. A confirmation message will be emailed to you.
OR YOU CAN JUST EMAIL [email protected] and let us know that you want to unsubscribe from the national email newsletter.
Copyright The Vegetarian Resource Group 2024 The contents of this newsletter, and our other publications, including 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 own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.
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