Notes From The Scientific Department

Meals on Wheels Vegetarian Menus Distributed

The VRG/National Meals on Wheels Foundation vegetarian menu set is ready! Copies of the menus, with corresponding recipes and additional educational materials about good nutrition for older adults have been compiled into a packet and distributed to senior centers and Meals on Wheels sites around the country. Additional menu sets were distributed to dietitians at the Annual Meeting of The American Dietetic Association in Boston, MA.

The completion of the menu set marks a milestone for the VRG/NMOWF Vegetarian Initiative. The menus are currently in use at 25 Meals on Wheels sites throughout New York City, from Harlem to midtown Manhattan. Practical tips on implementing the menus will be collected from these sites and others over the next year and will be shared with other programs around the country on an ongoing basis.

Anyone interested in receiving a set of the menus and corresponding materials can send four 32-cent stamps to VRG, Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

Busy as Ever

Whew! VRG was hard to miss in recent months. Coordinators Charles Stahler and Debra Wasserman exhibited at the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore, while Nutrition Advisor Suzanne Havala, M.S., R.D., presented a session on the health and nutritional aspects of vegetarian diets in Milwaukee at the Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Dietetic Association. Later, Sue presented two sessions on vegetarian nutrition and children at the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) annual meeting held in Bethesda, Maryland. She then traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan to lecture and conduct supermarket tours for 250 participants in the Coronary Health Improvement Project at Borgess Hospital, a lifestyle intervention program emphasizing a plant-based diet.

VRG was highly visible in Boston, beginning with the Boston Vegetarian Society's Vegetarian Food Festival. The VRG exhibited and passed out educational materials, and Sue Havala presented a lecture on healthful ideas for supermarket shopping. The next week, at the Annual Meeting of The American Dietetic Association, over 600 pounds of nutrition education materials were given away to over 10,000 dietitians attending the conference in Boston. Many thanks to those who provided help at the booth including Charles Stahler and Debra Wasserman, Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D., Arnie Alper, M.D., Suzanne Havala R.D., Julie Hoskins, R.D., Ginny Messina, M.P.H., R.D., and Robin Stone.

In addition to VRG's main exhibit, Suzanne Havala and Ginny Messina sold vegetarian books and other materials at a day-long member product display, the VRG was represented at a booth for ADA alliance organizations, and VRG hosted a sold-out vegan dinner at Country Life restaurant one evening. Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels was a featured presenter at an ADA session on vegetarian nutrition in pregnancy and lactation, and Debra Wasserman and Reed Mangels presented a poster session on VRG's web site as a reliable source of vegetarian nutrition education information. VRG was also well-represented at events associated with the ADA's Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group (DPG), where volunteer Nutrition Advisors Julie Hoskins (DPG Chair), Reed Mangels (Chair of the Nominating Committee), and Nutrition Advisor Sue Havala (Legislative Issues Chair and Nominating Committee member) were active in DPG business. Also, a thank you to Worthington Foods and Vegetarian Times for hosting the DPG reception.

Other News

The San Jose Mercury News interviewed VRG Nutrition Advisor Suzanne Havala for an article about vegetarian diets, and the Connecticut-based Bottom Line Health newsletter (circulation 220,000) interviewed her for an article about healthful convenience foods at the grocery store and quick meal ideas.