Last weekend was Kid’s Health Day for the YMCA. The free event showcased the youth organizations serving Pomona Valley. I work for the organization A Little Xtra and we set up a booth and handed out vegan samples. We had original and dark chocolate Silk almond milk, Beyond Meat chicken salad and Daiya cream cheese spread.

Almond milk is a great substitute for cow milk. It only has 60 calories per serving compared to normal 2 percent milk that is around 122 calories. There isn’t any cholesterol or saturated fat in almond milk and it has the good fats to keep your heart healthy. One cup of almond milk has 30 percent of the RDA of calcium and 25 percent of vitamin D.

Dairy-free cream cheese is the perfect substitute for those who are vegan or lactose intolerant. We were serving plain and strawberry from the brand Daiya. None of their products contain any animal products or byproducts and they are cholesterol and trans fat free. I am a big fan of Daiya’s cheese shreds and always make gooey quesadillas with them. They even have pre-made vegan gluten free pizzas available.

Beyond Meat donated 30lbs of chicken-free strips for us to make chicken salad. I will admit that when I made it the night before, it didn’t actually taste like chicken. But once it sat overnight and it absorbed all the juices and spices, it tasted really amazing. People couldn’t believe it wasn’t chicken.

Mercy For Animals donated kid friendly brochures and pamphlets about animal rights. Our event was successful and it was really awesome to expose people to vegan food. I was surprised by how many people had never had almond milk before. All the kids loved the chocolate Silk milk. I usually work vegan or vegetarian events so this was my first vegan outreach one. I can’t wait for the next one.