It's the 20th anniversary of The Vegetarian Resource Group! Making it easier for you to be vegetarian

Vegetarian Journal, May-June, 2002

CONSIDERING OUR THOUSANDS of volunteers and supporters with whom we've worked over the years, five pages isn't nearly enough room to recognize everyone and all the projects undertaken by VRG. However, we'll take you through some of our achievements of the last two decades.

THE BEGINNING

In September of 1982, The Vegetarian Resource Group was founded by a vegan doctor, vegetarian nurse, a Master's swimmer, and two activists. Our goals have always been to: 1) Provide scientific and practical information; 2) Go beyond those who are already vegan and reach the various segments of the community; and 3) Reduce the barriers to becoming vegetarian.

The first incarnation of the Vegetarian Journal was a 4-page newsletter produced on a typewriter. From this humble beginning, we were off to a roaring start due to two feature articles by Isaac Rehert and Winifred Walsh in The Baltimore Sun.

Early in 1983, we were surprised when people from all over Baltimore jammed our tofu cooking demonstration. One person even sat on top of the refrigerator! How many of you had heard of tofu back then? That year, continuing our innovative campaign to get the word out, the group set up an activity at a local Children's Fair, having kids prepare their own healthful snacks. We also spoke at a high school, sponsored a World Vegetarian Day Conference, gave a cooking demonstration in the plaza next to City Hall, ,donated food to a local soup kitchen, performed cooking demos at local health foods stores, hosted camping trips, organized booths at the Baltimore City Fair, and distributed information at a community college. Another great success was when, on October 1, 1983, our local Mayor proclaimed World Vegetarian Day in Baltimore. Since then, many localities have followed suit.

In our second year, we started writing "Beyond Carrot Cake," a vegetarian column for a free community-based newspaper. We also had mentions in publications such as What's New in Home Economics and Women's Circle Home Cooking. We published the Healthy Holidays cookbook and produced "Be Kind to Animals--Don't Eat Them" and "Vegetarians Are Sprouting Up All Over" bumper stickers. VRG's first annual essay contest was mentioned by the National Science Teachers Association, and Debra Wasserman served on the consumer board of the local Giant supermarket chain.

VRG BECOMES A PUBLISHER

In the early 1980's, most vegetarian cookbooks were complicated and called for unusual ingredients. At our outreach booths we learned that individuals really needed practical recipes. So we published the cookbook Vegetarianism for the Working Person--Quick and Easy Recipes. In 1984, a mention in Changing Times magazine resulted in over 800 orders, which launched VRG as a publisher. We produced vegetarian (vegan) Passover recipes and received thousands of requests. In 1990 we published Simply Vegan--Quick Vegetarian Meals, which includes a great nutrition section by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD. At the time, it was extremely rare to see the word "vegan" on a book cover. We have now sold over 80,000 copies of this pioneering work which has shown tens of thousands of people how easy it is to be vegan.

INGREDIENT AND RESTAURANT INFORMATION

In 1985 we researched and produced our "Guide to Fast Food," which answered questions such as "Which Fast Food Chain(s) Doesn't Fry Their French Fries in Lard?" This piece earned mention in USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and by the Copley News Service, to name a few.

Requests for the guide and our other materials came from the American Heart Association, Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Mayo Clinic, Vogue magazine, the Captain of the RMS Queen Mary, the Arkansas Democrat, People Weekly, Self, Shape, and even the Camp Fire Girls.

In 1996 Vegetarian Journal's Guide to Natural Foods Restaurants in the US and Canada was mentioned in The New York Times.

In the 1980's there was a dairy industry campaign that promoted milk as less than 4% fat. Though this is true by weight, whole milk can have nearly 50% of its calories from fat. We complained to the Maryland Attorney General about the commercials. The Mid-Atlantic Marketing Association ceased the campaign on its own. However, the Attorney General obtained their agreement to refrain from this type of advertising in the future. They paid the Consumer Protection Division $3,500 to be used for consumer education.

In 1989, due to research by Karen Lazarus, MD, we published a report on Dole tropical juice that brought attention to the common food coloring ingredient cochineal, which is made from beetle shells. This made us begin to question the source of other dyes and natural and artificial flavors. By 1997, Jeanne Bartas completed Vegetarian Journal's Guide to Food Ingredients. Jeanne's year of detailed research took her beyond dictionary definitions. By contacting food companies, and then their suppliers, she played detective as she tracked down the actual commercial sources of the ingredients.

In 2001 VRG published another update of its Guide to Fast Food and Quick Service Chains, which was quoted in the book Fast Food Nation and Atlantic Monthly magazine, referencing the information about natural flavorings in McDonald's French fries.