March 2006

FEATURES IDEAS & NEWS

Pencil us in…
National Vegetarian Week is Coming Soon

(NVW) 22nd - 28th May 2006

Sponsored by Quorn

Vegetarianism…It’s Nothing to be Scared Of!

This year’s National Vegetarian Week (NVW) takes place from 22nd-28th May 2006 and promises to be one of our best yet! Don’t miss out – get your news and features teams at the ready. There’s loads of ways your publication can inspire and inform your readers – and our press desk is here to help.

For NVW 2006, we have lots in store including our ‘It’s Nothing to be Scared Of’ campaign to dispel the myth that vegetarianism is a restrictive or marginal way of eating. In fact, the 3 million plus vegetarians in the UK (many of whom are your readers!) know better.

As many recent press reports have proved – a vegetarian diet offers huge and life changing health benefits – from lowered levels of obesity and cancer, to a better sex drive! (See our Can You Keep it Up For a Week? promotion at www.rudefood.org, fronted by top comic Dave Spikey).

Ethical consumerism and meat reduction is big news. More than ever, Britons are looking at cutting down their consumption of meat and animal produce. And they want to learn more!

What your readers want to know:
• What is vegetarianism and why are so many people opting for ‘veggie’ diet?

• What do ‘veggies’ actually eat? It’s not all nut cutlets and tofu, you know! (Check out our hundreds of amazing recipes at www.vegsoc.org/recipes)

• What exactly are the health benefits and nutritional advantages?

• Why is it good for themselves, their families, the planet and for animal welfare?

According to market research from Key Note (September 2004), the vegetarian sector has seen continuous growth over the past few years. Key Note expect this trend to continue, and predict an increase in the market value to £779m by 2008/9 (currently valued at £617m).

National Vegetarian Week 2005 was a huge success. Media coverage beat all previous records with circulation figures reaching over 172 million!

So, how can we help you get involved? Firstly, you can visit our website which is constantly updated and has a host of excellent info pages – www.vegsoc.org – this includes links to our press pages. We can provide you with the latest information, quotes, veggie celebrity interviews, statistics, nutritional information, as well as our hugely popular recipes (this year we have a regional theme). We can even provide great images too, as well as logos.

Plus, we can provide your readers with booklets ranging from “Vegetarian Pregnancy, Vegetarian Babies”; “Food for Thought”, “Healthy Eating for Vegetarians”. Or, how about our “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” recipe booklet? We also can be contacted for postcards, posters and lots of great ideas for promotions and special offers.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

* For more press information, complimentary images and logos, contact Collette Walsh in The Vegetarian Society Press Office on 0161 925 2012, 07973 108 165, collette@vegsoc.org

* The in-house contact for business liaison during National Vegetarian Week is Matt Parkinson who can be contacted on matt@vegsoc.org

* For more information about Quorn please contact Sabrina Lynch at Revolver Communications on 020 7107 2720 or Sabrina.lynch@revolvercomms.com