This Vegan Food Guide provides a framework for a healthful vegetarian diet. Whether you are vegan, vegetarian or making the transition to a plant-based diet, or if you are simply trying to improve your current diet, this guide can be helpful in selecting the types, frequency and quantities from the various food groups in order to achieve a balanced daily meal plan.
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Foods are grouped as follows:

• Grains: At the base of the pyramid, these foods form the foundation of the diet. Grains provide energy, complex carbohydrates, fiber, iron, and B-vitamins. Whole grains are an important source of zinc and other minerals. Vegetarians should choose whole grains often, but enriched refined grains can play a role in vegetarian diets and may be especially valuable for children.

• Vegetables and fruits: Vegetables are grouped separately from fruits to encourage eating both types of food rather than to focus on one or the other. More servings of vegetables are specified because of the greater nutrient density and phytochemical content as compared with fruits.

• Legumes, nuts, and other protein-rich foods: These foods are good sources of protein, B-vitamins, and trace minerals. This group includes all legumes, including soy products such as soy milk and tofu, as well as nuts, seeds, nut and seed butters, eggs, and meat analogs.
  Dairy foods are included in this food group along with other foods that offer similar amounts of protein per serving and provides an optional choice for those vegetarians who do consume dairy products. This ensures that protein needs will be met whether or not dairy foods are included in the diet. Its placement here also emphasizes the availability of calcium from all of the food groups.
  Most of the foods in this group provide iron, which is well absorbed when a source of vitamin C is consumed with the meal. However, dairy foods are the exception here, and those vegetarians who consume frequent servings of dairy foods must take care to include adequate sources of iron in their meals.

• Fats: Vegetarians and others who do not eat fish require small amounts of plant sources of N-3 fats. In addition, research suggests that moderate intake of certain healthful plant fats may reduce risk for cardiovascular disease, may improve nutrient intake, and may even aid in weight control. Ideally, most of the fat in vegetarian diets should come from fat-rich whole plant foods such as nuts, seeds, and avocado. A minimum of two servings of fats per day are specified. Nuts or seeds may be eaten in place of these fats.

• Calcium-rich foods: Adults should consume a minimum of eight servings of calcium-rich foods daily. Each serving also counts toward choices from one of the other food groups in the guide. For example, 1 cup of certain cooked leafy green vegetables counts as a serving from the calcium-rich foods group and as 2 servings from the vegetable group.

• Caloric intake: A diet based on the minimum number of servings from each of the food groups provides approximately 1,400 to 1,500 calories per day, which may be an inadequate energy intake for many vegetarians. Consumers can meet their higher energy needs by choosing more servings from any of the food groups. Regardless of energy needs, most food choices should come from these groups, with only moderate servings of sweets and alcohol at most.

• Vegan sources of protein:

  Brewer's yeast, nuts, nut butters, soy products, especially TVP, tofu, soy nuts, soy milk and baked goods made with soy flour, Pumpkin and squash seeds, legumes, whole grains, especially quinoa, spelt and brown rice

• Vegan sources of calcium:
  (avoid spinach and beets, as the oxalate interferes with calcium absorption)

  Almonds, filberts, kale, collards, tofu, broccoli, bok choy, turnip greens, okra

• Vegan sources of iron:

  Cooking in iron skillets, brewer's yeast, pumpkin and squash seeds, blackstrap molasses, soybeans, wheat germ, pine nuts, dried lima beans, potatoes with their skin on, raisins, prunes, apricots

• Vegan sources of vitamin B12:

  Fortified cereal and beverages

• Snacks that make good and tasty use of these foods include:

  Trail mix made with fortified cereal, pumpkin seeds, raisin and peanuts, Muffins made with wheat germ, soy flour and sweetened with molasses (only use a little, as blackstrap is a strong and bitter molasses that may overpower the muffin if used in excess), tofu cubes, fresh vegetables and a tofu-based dip, Tofu fruit smoothie made in the blender, Whole-wheat crackers spread with nut butters, bananas spread with nut butters, roasted squash and pumpkin seeds, hummus spread on half a bagel, roasted soy nuts, dried fruit-and-nut logs (Finely chop 1 cup each of raisins, dates and figs. Mix and add 1 cup of wheat germ, 1 cup of sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup of dried coconut shreds. Add rice syrup or honey if desired for added sweetness, and shape into little logs. Refrigerate.), homemade oatmeal cookies, homemade peanut butter cookies, apples dipped in nut butter, cooked beans (a great finger food for your 10-month-old), Homemade popsicles with juice, banana and soy milk whirled in blender and frozen