photo from Cascabel By Sundari Maharajh, VRG Intern With vegan food growing in popularity, there is a lot more variety of options for plant-based eaters around the country. However, each area or even state has its own regional foods. Being from Houston, Texas, we have a strong Mexican influence on all our food choices due to close proximity to Mexico. This means there is an array of authentic vegan Mexican restaurants throughout Houston such as Cascabel. The south is also home to soul food, which has sparked the start of many vegan soul food restaurants around Texas. To explore the differenc ..read more

The Vegetarian Resource Group has a graphic called Burrito on My Plate, which shows viewers the water footprint of a vegan versus a meat-based burrito. It takes 225 gallons of water to make a vegan burrito without tofu and 253 gallons of water to make a vegan burrito with tofu. In comparison, it takes 541 gallons of water to make a beef burrito. The Burrito on My Plate Graphic can be seen here: https://www.vrg.org/environment/BurritoOnMyPlate.pdf The article detailing how we came up with the numbers of gallons of water needed to produce each type of burrito can be found here: https://www.vrg ..read more

Cierra Peterlin shares vegan recipes utilizing foods that would otherwise go to waste. She says, “These ideas are meant to provide a quick view of what it could look like to eat in a way that is conscious of food waste each day.” Some of the recipes include Stale Bread French Toast, Celery Leaf Salad, Potato Soup, Wrinkly Pepper Fajitas, Banana Peel Tacos, and more. See: https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/vegan-zero-waste-recipe-ideas.pdf ..read more

By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD So, perhaps some of your residents have requested vegan menus at your facility. Easy-peasy! Look at your menu and think which items on today’s menu don’t have meat, eggs, or dairy and build a vegan menu from there. For example, if you are serving pancakes, using a non-dairy pancake batter (US Foods, Smart and Final and Sysco have these), your vegan residents can enjoy these along with maple syrup and sliced bananas. Making omelets for your omnivore residents? Grill or sauté your mushroom, pepper, and onion filling then set aside some for your vegan residents. Ve ..read more

By Neha Vivek, VRG Intern One day in my 8-year-old life, I came home and told my parents I no longer wanted to eat meat, and was switching to a vegetarian diet. While my parents undoubtedly thought this was a phase, our culture’s general acceptance of vegetarian food meant they were well-prepared to support me. However, for many families, this transition may be worrisome, factoring in growing children’s nutritional needs while accommodating their changing taste buds. The main goal with children is to appeal to their likes, making vegetarian food comforting and exciting rather than scary and d ..read more

Passover begins the evening of April 22, 2024 this year and The Vegetarian Resource Group is the publisher of several books that feature vegan Passover recipes. Below we share three recipes with you. In the USA, you can purchase these vegan cookbooks from the VRG Book Catalog here: http://www.vrg.org/catalog Fresh Tomato Soup (from No Cholesterol Passover Recipes, by Debra Wasserman) (Serves 4) 1 large onion, chopped 5 small ripe tomatoes, chopped 1-1/2 cups water ½ teaspoon fresh parsley, minced Pepper and salt to taste Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and cook over medium heat for ..read more

photo from Bodhi Express The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate Here are some new additions to VRG’s guide: BARE Blends, 7545 South University Blvd., Centennial, CO 80122; 1425 2nd St., Sarasota, FL 34236; 1310 Beacon St., Brookline, MA 02446; 15 Clifton County Rd., Clifton Park, NY 12065; 1475 Western Ave ..read more

Vegan Journal is published by The Vegetarian Resource Group. Enjoy in-depth original research, product and book reviews, scientific updates on veggie nutrition, delicious vegan recipes with gorgeous photos, plus so much more. Both long-term vegans and those new to a vegan life-style will enjoy this magazine. To subscribe in the USA only, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php ..read more

By Danielle Choma and Carolyn Stoller, VRG Interns The Vegetarian Resource Group offers several scholarships to high school seniors applying to their freshman year in college. To win the scholarship, applicants must fill out the appropriate forms and information and submit an essay explaining how they have contributed to veganism/vegetarianism and what it means to them. This blog analyzes the scholarship essay entries of ten applicants from 2003 and ten applicants from 2024. The first 2003 applicant that we reviewed was written in a story-like format and right off the bat mentions Gandhi. Sim ..read more

photo from Sodexo By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD A recent press release from Sodexo, a global food service and facilities management company, announced that it has expanded its DefaultVeg strategy, which uses behavioral nudges to promote plant-based eating. At Sodexo dining halls on close to 400 college and university campuses in the United States, unless the school opts out, every dining hall will have an entirely plant-based entrée station and a station that alternates plant-based and animal-based meals as the main offering every day. The program was pilot tested on 3 college campuses where a st ..read more