Vegetarians or veggie-interested folks in the Portland, Oregon area might be interested in checking out a series of classes given by Northwest VEG (Vegetarian Education & Empowerment Group). The classes offered are the Master Vegetarian Program or Veg 101.
Here are a couple of brief class descriptions that I got from OregonLive.com:
Master Vegetarian: Modeled after the Master Recycler Program and the Metro Master Gardener Program, the nine-week Master Vegetarian Program was piloted by Northwest VEG in 2007 to teach interested members of the community about the environmental and epidemiological impact of food choices. Now in its fourth run, the program …read more

Did you know that 1 in every 200 kids is a vegetarian?
The new estimate of young vegetarians comes from a recent federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of alternative medicine based on a survey of thousands of Americans in 2007. Information on children’s diet habits was gleaned from about 9,000 parents and other adults speaking on the behalf of those under 18.
One of the theories surrounding this influx of young vegetarians is the easy access of factory farming footage found on YouTube. I’ve observed similar footage myself on television – pigs being beaten and abused, chickens looking sick …read more

In keeping with my New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve been trying some new foods. I’ve read that foods with brighter colors contain more antioxidants.  Red bell peppers instead of green, golden butternut squash over zucchini, Blood oranges, bright tomatoes right off the vine…..okay you’ve got awhile to wait for those, but they sure sound wonderful. Don’t they?
Not sure what antioxidants are?  Here’s an explanation:
Antioxidants are vitamins and chemicals in our foods that can prevent or slow oxidation damage in our bodies. When our cells use oxygen, they naturally produce free radicals as by-products. Free radicals are molecules with incomplete electron shells that …read more

Are you interested in the latest healthy vegetarian and vegan diet information out of the Mayo Clinic? 
The basic message is this – in order to obtain addequate nutrition, you need to be sure to eat a varied diet full of fresh ingredients and whole grains.  
Many foods in a tradional meat/milk/egg diet can be substituted easily.  If you are vegan, you can replace cow’s milk with a fortified soy, rice, or almond milk.  You can replace cheese with soy cheese, rice cheese, or nutritional yeast flakes.  Replace your eggs with tofu or when baking, use 1Tablespoon flax seed meal with 3 …read more

I noticed some interest in an older post that Jul had written about good sources of protein for vegetarians and vegans. I thought maybe it would be helpful to touch on the subject again, as there are many new vegetarians out there looking for answers.

I remember when I first talked about going veg and my family questioned my choice – they were afraid that my kids would not get adequate nutrition. I did some research and explained to them that we’d be fine as long as we consumed a varied diet, …read more

 
I’ve been trying to get a jump on my New Year’s get-fit resolutions, but that can be hard this time year. Between the holiday baking and all the sick kids at work, I’m not feeling my best. In an attempt to avoid something especially flu-y and icky (official medical terms, of course) I’ve added additional Vitamin C and a Flax Seed supplement to my diet.
My friend, Diane, over at Weighting Line, has some additional helpful advice about trying to reach your fitness goals when you are feeling under the weather.  Diane’s tips are fine for vegetarians, with the exception of avoiding chicken …read more

I’ve always been a fan of brocoli and brussel sprouts, even before I read that they fight cancer. A compound known as indole-3-carinol, has been found helpful in treating both prostate and breast cancer.
The mystery of how a compound in broccoli and cabbage fights cancer has been solved, scientists announced Tuesday. And the discovery may lead to the development of anti-cancer drugs with fewer side effects.
The compound, indole-3-carbinol (I3C), diminishes the activity of an enzyme in rapidly advancing breast cancer, University of California, Berkeley, researchers said. The compound is already undergoing clinical trials in humans after it was found to stop …read more

Wonder which fruits and veggies you should be buying organic? I recently printed out this handy guide featuring the 12 cleanest and dirtiest fruits and veggies (in terms of pesticides). Those items on the left contain the highest amount of pesticides when grown using conventional farming methods. The items on the right, on the other hand, absorb very little of the pesticide chemicals used on them.
I’ve seen lists like this several times before, but I always manage to forget most of the details when I’m standing at the grocery store making my produce choices. Never again! I’m determined to always …read more

Recently I did a little comparison. I bought two kinds of red bell peppers from my supermarket, a conventionally-grown one and an organic one. The organic one cost over twice as much, and was slightly smaller than the conventional pepper. Otherwise, they looked pretty similar.
I then performed a taste test, to see if I could tell the difference between the two. They were both juicy and delicious. The organic one seemed to have a little more flavor, but it’s possible that I imagined it because of my expectations. It also seemed to have less wax coating its skin, which I …read more

Check out this list of the top 100 protein-rich vegetarian foods compiled by Monica at SmarterFitter Blog. OK, so the first two items are leafy cowpeas (salted and unsalted), which leads me to important thoughts such as “Where would I find such things? How can a pea be leafy? And what do cows have to do with it?”
But let’s ignore these questions for the moment, and take a look at the other 98 items on the list – lots of great sources of (lacto-ovo) vegetarian protein. If you’re worried about getting enough protein in your diet, try adding some of …read more