The Starting Block: Finding Vegetarian Information

Are you one of the very few vegetarians – or even possibly vegans - living in Statesboro?

If you're vegetarian, interested in vegetarianism, or maybe are just hoping to start eating a little healthier, you probably already know that Statesboro isn't exactly the veggie capitol of the world. Even those simply trying to cut down on the amount of meat they eat, for whatever reasons, may have a very difficult time finding a variety of food in the 'Boro.

Luckily, it doesn't really matter where you live these days as long as you have an Internet connection. There is a wealth of great sites on-line that provide information about vegetarianism, nutritional guidance and related news stories. Web stores for vegetarian and vegan food and products, as well as message board sites for connecting with vegetarians around the world, are all over the Internet today.

For those new to vegetarianism, or those just confused about why in the world anyone would want to minimize or discontinue eating animal products, there are countless sites available for information. Intrigued? Interested? Just plain curious? Check out some of the wonderful sites available. Listed here are three of my current favorites.

Vegetarian Times Magazine on-line:
www.vegetariantimes.com
Vegetarian Times focuses more on general vegetarian living than specific information on trying to understand the diet, but it's still a great resource for better vegetarian understanding. The link at the top, “VEG 101,” currently opens with a report from Dr. Neal Barnard on “How to go from Part-time to Full-time vegetarian.” It also includes some unique topics, such as a list of reasons to go vegetarian, a list of some famous vegetarians, answers to questions people commonly ask, and a vegetarian food pyramid.

The Vegetarian Resource Group:
www.vrg.org
I've only recently come across this site, but it looks promising already. They do a great job at presenting a wide variety of essential information to veggie beginners. If you know absolutely nothing about vegetarian living, check out the “Vegetarian Nutrition” link and check out “Vegetarianism in a Nutshell.” An amazing link for both beginning and advanced vegetarians is the “Ingredient Information” link on the left side of the page. It covers the questions every vegetarian at some point wants to ask, from hidden ingredients in common foods to B12 concerns.

Vegetarian & vegan message board:
www.veggieboards.com
VeggieBoards, the largest veg*an message board on-line, contains a variety of discussion boards. The site offers “Support Forums” which include threads such as “New to Vegetarianism” and “Vegetarian Discussion.” For those of you more experienced, the section also includes “Vegan Discussion” and “Raw Foodists” threads. The site offers many more sections such as the “Focus Forums,” which include threads for food discussion, easy recipes and product reviews. Probably the most beneficial forum section on VeggieBoards for beginners is the “Health Forums.” I've seen countless posts on the health threads from worried parents of newly-vegetarian teens, hoping to understand more about the health benefits and concerns of a vegetarian or vegan diet. The site has more than 20 thousand members, so you'll never wait long for a response to your questions.