Go vegetarian - information on the Internet - Editorial

Vegetarian Times, March, 1997 by Toni Apgar

This month, we have an extra treat for you. After you've read through this issue, turn on your computer, open whatever web browser you use and type http://www.vegetariantimes.com. If you don't have access to the World Wide Web, go to your local library and look us up or ask any teenager if you can use his or her computer. Then watch what I consider near-magic. The Vegetarian Times web site is up and running. Each month we feature several dishes based on one type of food. In February, it is pizza; in March, it is chili. We give lots of facts and lore about the food we choose, plus, of course, preparation tips and recipes. Every month we provide some of our famous "Low-Fat & Fast" recipes, some useful advice on the way to better health (look for it under "Natural Remedies"), other vegetarian web sites we think you might enjoy and a bunch of resources including a complete vegetarian glossary, tons of advice on how to make food substitutions, an entertaining section caned "Mythconceptions" and a calendar of upcoming events.

Please, after you've visited us electronically, go to die menu bar on any page and select "Feedback." We'd really like to know what you think of the site, and we would like to add to our calendar any upcoming events that you know about. Just E-mail us at the site or at 74651.215 compuserve.com. You can also use snail mail; we still love the printed word. Our address is P.O. Box 570, Oak Park, IL 60303. We'd love to hear from you and hope you share our excitement about this new way of communicating on matters vegetarian.

More great news this month: Be sure to look for our newest magazine, Natural Remedies, at your local newsstand. This magazine is a practical guide to how alternative medicine can work for you. A sister to Vegetarian Times, Natural Ramedies adopts the same kind of thorough, scientific approach to providing information that can help you achieve and maintain optimal health. Wherever you are on the continuum of alternative health -- merely curious or confirmed believer in the healing power of herbs and other natural cures -- this magazine will meet your needs. If you can't find a copy at your local newsstand, call us at (708) 848-8100, and we'd send you one for $5.95.

We know that this winter you'll be cooking up some fantastic vegetarian soups to keep you warm and toasty, and we'd like you to share some of that knowledge with us. It's time again for the Vegetarian Times recipe contest, where readers are asked to submit their favorite recipes -- this year, for soups. Our panel of editors will test the recipes and select the winners. We'll publish the winning recipes next fall, just in time for the kind of weather where soup is warmly appreciated. Your soup can be a starter, an entree or a dessert. It must be your original recipe, and, of course, it must be vegetarian. For more details, see p. 114. And start cookin'!

P.S. Don't forget the Great American Meatout on March 20. Encourage your non-vegetarian extended family, your co-workers and your friends to "kick the habit" that day to find out just how life-affirming it can be.