I was browsing the American Dietetic Association’s site and saw this odd document called “Vegetarian Eating: Fact vs. Fiction” (PDF).

No doubt this is from the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, the official pro-vegetarian wing of the ADA (although all of the ADA supposedly agrees). But a couple of these “Myth” and “Fact” comparisons are surprising, even coming from the ADA’s veg*an contingent: 

Myth: Vegetarianism is just a fad that will pass in a few years.

Fact: Most people throughout world history have eaten a largely vegetarian diet. Relatively recently, in Europe and North America, where meat and animal products have become affordable, diets centered around meats have become widespread. In other parts of the world, plant-based diets remain more common.

Which is why it’s so easy to travel as a vegan. Meat is a relatively new thing? What is their source for this? The freaking China Study? 

Myth: A vegetarian diet is too strict and limiting. It would be too hard to follow.

Fact: There are many different types of vegetarian diets. A lacto-ovo vegetarian avoids meat, fish and poultry but may eat eggs and dairy products. A lacto-vegetarian will avoid meat, fish, and poultry but will eat milk, cheese and dairy. They will avoid eggs or derivatives of eggs. Vegans are strict vegetarians who avoid all animal products.

That one is more awkward than anything else, and a bit of a non-sequitur on a site that is supposedly all about nutrition and not preaching a veggie lifestyle. (Why does the ADA feel compelled to insist that vegetarianism isn’t difficult? Working with people who have chosen vegetarianism is different than trying to talk them into it.) But after including “vegan” under the definition of “vegetarian,” they go on to say…

Myth: Vegetarians need to take vitamin or mineral supplements.

Fact: Most healthy vegetarians don’t need to take supplements although there may be exceptions. Someone switching to a vegetarian diet should meet with a registered dietitian to be sure that all necessary vitamins and minerals are being consumed from food sources.

Vegetarians (and vegans?) don’t need to supplement? What is the ADA trying accomplish with this? Are they more concerned with educating us on adequate nutrition or with spreading vegetarianism? They don’t even want to mention B12 in case any non-supplementing vegans are reading this for validation?  

Apparently these sorts of articles do have an effect, judging by a letter published in the ADA’s Vegetarian Nutrition Update:

I have just recently decided to become a vegan-I am also a Registered Dietitian. I work in an outpatient hospital setting doing education in a cardiac rehab program and I am working on building a private practice. I have been overwhelmed with the plethora of acceptable research on the health benefits of vegan diets-especially T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study and the information on this ADA [Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group’s] web site. … I am getting so much resistance from clients to even listen to or read the compelling information on the health benefits of a milk- and meat-free diet. I don’t want to be pushy but I want them to be well informed as well.