Vegetarian Diets Get the Nod from the ADA

The American Dietetic Association has had a positive position on vegetarian diets for well over a decade, possibly longer, with the publication of their position paper in 1997 (Journal of the American Dietetic Association, November 1997, Volume 97, Number 11).

Well, now they've reaffirmed that a well-planned vegetarian or vegan diet is "appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes" (Volume 109, Issue 7, Pages 1266-1282) I think the inclusion of "all stages of life" is very important. While most people are now accepting of vegetarian diets for adults, vegetarian--and especially vegan--diets for children and pregnant women are still frequently frowned on.

Another keyword here is 'well-planned'. Simply substituing lettuce, broccoli or rice for the traditional meat on your plate doesn't cut it nutritionally. But well-planned doesn't have to mean complicated. Here are a couple of tips from the folks at Vegetarian Nutrition and the Toronto Vegetarian Association.

New Contributor

I'd like to welcome my long-time friend Michael as a new contributor to this blog.

Michael and I have been friends since we were four years old, and have been cooking together almost as long. Michael shares my love of cooking, eating and creating mouth-watering recipes that are simple to prepare and accessible; and I'm delighted that we can continue to share this life-long passion together on the pages of this blog. Michael's approach to vegetarian cooking is slightly different than mine, so I'm anticipating that this collaboration will also bring a a slightly different perspective on vegetarian cooking than the one I have been offering on my website for almost ten years now (although only recently in blog format).

Welcome Michael!

Reconnecting with Food

David Suzuki has a column today on reconnecting with food in the summer. He echoes just about all my own sentiments and beliefs. I also get annoyed that a lot of the organic produce in our local grocery store is from the United States. With all the amazing local goodness that I receive weekly in my CSA, most of the organic veggies in the Provigo down the street are still "product of the USA." I also liked his comments on cherry picking (in the literal sense). For me it's blueberry picking. There is something special about picking berries... or apples.. or strawberries.