Ready for a Challenge? Vegetarian Times

Vegetarian Times is hosting a 28-Day Boot Camp for those who want to try out being a vegetarian and need some help and guidance, for those "sometimes vegetarians" who want some motivation to go all the way, or for all the time vegetarians who just want to refresh their plan. They are already on day 11, but you can get the full meal plan here. You can also sign up for daily emailshere.

It doesn't really work that well if you are vegan however. Many of the recipes have dairy or eggs in them. Guess we are on our own. Maybe at some point I will have to make a Vegan Boot Camp for the rest of us.

American Dietetic Association Position on Vegetarianism

I picked up a copy of a 2010 issue of Vegetarian Journal, which is published in Baltimore, Maryland. This issue had enough vegan content to satisfy me. I am constantly being pleasantly surprised that the "vegetarian" magazines I pick up are often have more vegan friendly content than just being primarily vegetarian. My favorite section of this magazine is called Scientific Update: A review of recent scientific papers related to vegetarianism, as I never get tired of hearing about all the health benefits and good reasons to be vegan. One of the pieces talked about The American Dietetic Associations 2009 position on vegetarian diets. There was a link to the complete position paper at the bottom of the piece but It didn't seem to work, so I am just going to pass on the quote that they published, as it is pretty good on it's own. "...appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatments of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy,lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes."

What an excellent position! However, take note of the words "appropriately planned" and "well-planned" - so important that they had to mention it twice. A lazy vegan diet lacking in nutrients is not healthy and eating that way not only won't give you any health benefits, but if you are vegan because of moral issue, you are certainly not doing anything for "the cause" for the general public to see such a sickly representative.

Time to Vote!

I just voted in the 2010 VeggieAwards. What?! You want to vote too? Of course you do. You can do that here.

I know you don't need any incentives, but the people at VegNews are actually giving away prizes to voters too -Grand prize of a global getaway and first prize is a year supply of Daiya cheese. I am so anxious to try some o' that cheese.

Vegetarian Times Magazine

I received a copy of the April edition of Vegetarian Times magazine from a friend.
There is an article is in this issue that I really appreciated called "Chop, Chop!Learn how to slice, dice, mince and chiffonade like a pro". I had never even heard the term chiffonade before, but now I know how to do it! I feel so "food smart".(grin)

On the last page, there is an interview with Daryl Hannah. She has a vlog you can find here. I watched a couple of the food related episodes last night. I really liked the one from week 3(vegan junkfood). It looks like a really funky place to eat.

VegNews Magazine

The other day I finally had the opportunity to visit a local shop here called Earth's General Store. I was there for a quick browse to see the selection of items that they carried. I ended up walking out with the most recent issue of VegNews from their selection of magazines. The magazine has the subtitle of "VegetarianNEWSFOODPLANETTRAVELBUZZ". There were a few vegetarian magazines to choose from and I ended up picking this one because it had the most vegan references on the cover. I was delightfully surprised to begin to read and find that the focus of the magazine is actually more on vegan eating (and living) than vegetarianism. While devouring the magazine, I made an entire page of notes with websites to visit, books to read, little thoughts, and some products I may look into. I am sure you will see posts on a lot of these things as I work through my notes in the coming week or so.

It looks as though VegNews offers regular organized vegan/vegetarian group trips. Although the current trip is sold out, it looks fascinating. It is a 12-day trip to the state of Rajasthan, India and includes, among other things, a visit to an all-vegetarian village, daily yoga classes, and a vegan cooking class.

My two favorite parts of this issue were an article discussing race, class and equality in veganism in America and an article with a selection of some of the best recipes from VegWeb, a vegetarian website with more than 15,000 recipes submitted by users.