By Christiana Rutkowski

This summer I was given the opportunity to intern for The Vegetarian Resource Group and I am extremely grateful and fortunate to have been given this chance. Due to the fact that the group is based out of Maryland and I am from New Jersey, I was unable to intern in person during the time of participation. Instead, I was able to complete multiple projects and write various articles for the blog via email, conversing back and forth with various individuals from The Vegetarian Resource Group.

VRG Co-Director Charles Stahler was extremely welcoming and helpful when I had first gone out on a whim, emailing Charles and asking if it would be at all possible to intern from home this summer. I heard back immediately, and in no time I was given the chance to form my own schedule, practicing time commitment skills and organizing my own projects.

Although I was limited in some ways by not interning at The VRG’s location in Maryland, I was still able to complete some really interesting projects and articles. One of the first projects I did was writing a restaurant review of a vegan restaurant in my own town. Not only did this mean getting to try delicious food—but it allowed me to discover one of my new favorite places to eat! Alongside this write-up, participating in other write-ups for other various restaurants allowed me to see how much the vegetarian and vegan diet has expanded. Naturally, this excited me a lot.

As a book fanatic, I could not be more grateful for when The VRG sent me the book Vegetarian Sports Nutrition by D. Enette Larson-Meyer. As an athlete myself, this book quickly became one of my top books I’ve ever read because it introduced me to much more information on not only vegetarianism but how it pertained to athletics and being an athlete. Not only did I get introduced to a new and exciting book, but I was able to keep this book at no cost. It was a very generous gift that I am very thankful for. Writing a review on this book was easy because of how interesting every single part was. [fyi, you can order this book from the VRG Book Catalog: http://www.vrg.org/catalog/

During my time interning, another favorite project of mine was compiling a table of foods labeled “vegan” located in a ShopRite supermarket in my town. Ever since I was younger, I always loved going to the grocery store. This project allowed me to spend tons of time in one while discovering new vegan foods and being able to share them by creating this table. Again, this project showed me how much the vegan lifestyle has expanded over the last year or so and how many different options are available.

Two bigger pieces I wrote included topics like different vegan foods that could be prepared for individuals who were vegetarian, vegan, or those who were neither, and an article written about veganism for my college’s school newspaper. This first article was fun because it allowed me to get creative in the kitchen while also introducing people in my life to vegan foods and meals who in turn then gave me a real-life evaluation on what they thought about the food. To my delight, the reviews were all nothing but positive, and on top of that, it meant consuming delicious food. The second, the article for my school’s newspaper, is something that will be seen by many college students, which excites me because it means that veganism will be reaching new viewers.

This internship experience was a perfect fit: something that allowed me to complete straightforward yet interesting projects from the comfort of my home about something I am passionate about. I have nothing but positive words for The Vegetarian Resource Group and the flexibility, time, and kindness the group displayed while having me intern for them. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity.

For more information about VRG internships, see http://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

To support VRG interns and other outreach, donate at www.vrg.org/donate