Limited vegetarian food service options frustrates reader.

I am continually reminded of how limited creative vegetarian options at restaurants and banquet facilities are. When I stopped in at my usual lunch place for garden burgers and salads, I asked if they considered carrying more veggie options. The manager responded that their supplier, Sysco, doesn't carry many, if any, veggie options beyond the ubiquitous garden burger. Usually at restaurants and hotel/conference functions, the veggie option is some relatively unimaginative pasta, eggplant, or grilled veggies dish. Choices are even further limited if one is vegan.

When and how is the mainstream hospitality industry going to learn about the delights of tofu, seitan, etc., like home chefs have? There are cookbooks galore for the consumer, but is this happening for the industry? What, if anything, is anyone doing to increase options among restaurants, banquet facilities, and caterers? I think this is a huge untapped market, but we need to provide easy-to-use educational materials and resources for these users to buy the goods.

Please tell me what you know, and refer me to others who are working on this or would consider this as part of their work plan.

K.W., via e-mail

Editors' Note: Many people are working on this issue. Sysco has a vegetarian line called MoonRose (<www.moonrosevegetarian.com>), which has several vegan options. You may want to let your food service know about them. To increase the availability of vegan food, we need to ask for it and make sure enough people buy the options when they are on the menu.

On the education end, chef Nancy Berkoff, VRG's Food Service Advisor, has written a "Vegetarian Update" column for Foodservice Director magazine for several years. She has attended Foodservice Director's industry conference every year for five years and has shown how to include vegetarian menus for health care, schools, businesses, industry accounts, etc. Nancy has given how-to vegetarian seminars all over the industry and the world, including for the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the American Dietetic Association, the American Culinary Federation, and the National Restaurant Association. To learn more about VRG's Vegan in Volume and other food service information, visit <www. vrg.org/fsupdate/index.htm>.