Ani Phyo is a premier celebrity raw food chef who has appeared on numerous TV shows, including Travel Chanel’s Bizarre Foods. The author of six books, including Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen and Ani’s Raw Food Asia, she is also host of the online video series “Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen Show.” She lives in Los Angeles.

Before obtaining a MS in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology as a student of architect Mies van der Rohe and planner Ludwig Hilberseimer, Seidel worked as a farmhand, factory worker, Alaska salmon fisherman, and carpenter. In 1957, while working in Chicago on the most environmentally damaging office and institutional buildings, he read a book entitled “The Challenge of Man’s Future,” by Harrison Brown. It described the dangers of excessive population growth, food and mineral shortages, and over consumption that threatened our future.

It was clear his work bore a heavy impact on these problems, he changed direction and became a committed environmental architect planner. During this period, and after, he spent time teaching at five tuitions of higher learning including one in China and one in India. His work at the University of Michigan on directing urban expansion into a system of pedestrian oriented new towns led to his being hired as the master planner for an environmentally sound socially integrated community of 80,000 to be built outside of Cincinnati. When this failed to materialize, he took to developing, designing, and building eco-friendly, urban infill condominiums in Cincinnati. Peter Seidel, environmentalist

When Ronald Reagan became president, and the Arab oil boycott was call off, public interest in conservation evaporated. It was clear that his efforts, and those of others, were directed toward a dead end. A question kept haunting him: “When we see that our future is threatened and we know what we can do about it, why don’t we act?” Thinking about this led to another abrupt change in his career. He turned to writing. After failing to obtain production funding for a television documentary, “Invisible Walls” addressed to this problem, in 1998 “Invisible walls” came out as a book . Since then Seidel has devoted his time producing books and articles, related to examining this problem of inaction.

Turn Here Sweet Corn: Organic Farming Works.

Atina Diffley is an organic vegetable farmer who now educates consumers, farmers, and policymakers about organic farming through the consulting business Organic Farming Works LLC, owned by her and her husband, Martin. From 1973 through 2007, the Diffleys owned and operated Gardens of Eagan, one of the first certified organic produce farms in the Midwest. To contact Atina or Martin Diffley, visit www.organicfarmingworks.com.

She has served on several nonprofit boards of directors and advisory boards. She has also taught marketing management and strategy in the MBA program at Johns Hopkins University, for Humane Society University, and for the Bank Marketing Association.

Caryn has spoken extensively at conferences in both the business and nonprofit sectors on increasing marketing and outreach effectiveness. She has also authored many articles, including for Executive Update, Vegetarian Journal and The Animals’ Agenda.

Caryn holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, as well as an A.B. in economics / mathematics from Dartmouth College, where she played varsity ice hockey. She earned an advanced certificate in marketing design from Sessions College for Professional Design.

She is the author of Sister Vegetarian’s 31 Days of Drama-Free Vegetarian and Vegan Living. She is a 45 yr old Vegan who knows how it is to try for years to become a vegetarian and then a vegan. She is a a vegan who incorporates 20% to 50% raw vegan meals weekly into my vegan meals for optimum health benefits. She is a Certified Raw Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Raw Vegan Chef through Raw Vegan Network-Ekaya Institute of Living Food Education. She uses her certifications to help people transition to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle by illustrating the importance of adding to weekly meals raw vegan and whole foods for increased health benefits.

Part II: Doron Petersan, Sticky Fingers Sweets Doron Petersan opened Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats in 2002 drawing on her dgree in Dietetics from the University of Maryland and years of experience working in restaurants. She lives with her husband, Peter and their recued companion-animals in Washington, D.C.

Part II: Dr. Milton Mills, Rethinking Food Dr. Milton Mills is the Associate Director of Preventive Medicine with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and co-author of PCRM’s report on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Dr. Mills serves as the Race & Nutrition Specialist and Board Advisor for A Well Fed World. Whether internist Dr. Mills is practicing at Fairfax Hospital in Virginia or at free clinics in Washington, D.C., his prescription for patients is likely to include some dietary advice: go vegetarian. “Medical research shows conclusively that a plant-based diet reduces chronic disease risk, so that’s something I absolutely encourage my patients to move toward,” says Dr. Mills, a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Mills doesn’t limit his message to his patients. He takes it to audiences around the country as well, speaking at hospitals, churches, and community centers.

Part II: Nick Branningan, Genetically Modified Food.  Nick Brannigan is the author of “I’m Eating WHAT?!?: The Health Risks of Genetically Modified Food and 10 Real World Solutions to Avoid Them”, the free eBook available at www.imeatingwhat.com.

The Chefs Terry Hope Romero, author and co-author of bestselling vegan cookbooks Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and Viva Vegan! Authentic Vegan Latina American Recipes has also presented informative and lively cooking demos and talks to hungry crowds at food festivals and conferences the world over, from Paris to New York City, from Boston to Toronto and beyond. Terry also contributes to VegNews (a leading vegan lifestyle magazine) with her regular column: “Hot Urban Eats.” She also holds a certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from Cornell University.

Toni Fiore was the host of the Delicious TV’s Totally Vegetarian, as well as the VegEZ podcast with apps and e-cookbooks .Toni is also the author of Totally Vegetarian: Easy, Fast, Comforting Cooking for Every Kind of Vegetarian, she is currently mulling over ideas for her next cookbook.

Miyoko Schinner has published three cookbooks, owned a restaurant, developed and sold products nationwide and on United Airlines, and has taught cooking in front of both live audiences and on television. She started her own cooking show – Miyoko’s Kitchen – with the goal of mainstreaming vegan cuisine and making plant-based cooking fun and accessible to all.

Part II: Johanna McCloy, Soy Happy Johanna (pronounced “yo-hah-nah”) is dedicated to bridging cultural gaps and empowering individuals to realize that their voices and their actions matter. With compassion and action, they can cross divides and help to generate the positive changes they seek to see in the world. Soy Happy was created with this in mind.

A multi-cultural background Johanna spent seventeen years living in Spain, India, Japan, and Venezuela. She speaks nearly fluent Spanish and some Japanese. She attended Duke University and received her degree in Comparative Area Studies and Anthropology.

Experience in the entertainment industry Johanna studied acting with the legendary Sanford Meisner in Los Angeles. She is often noted for her Guest Starring role as Ensign Calloway in Star Trek The Next Generation and for other acting credits in radio, theatre, television and film. She also has professional experience as a story analyst, documentary researcher and tribute video producer. (She continues to free-lance in these capacities.)

Published writer Johanna’s personal essays have been published in India Currents Magazine, Moxie Magazine, Journeywoman and a book entitled Voices from the Garden (Lantern Books.) She has written countless articles regarding consumer advocacy and Soy Happy for a variety of publications, including the book by Erik Marcus entitled, Meat Market. Johanna is also co-creator and co-editor of Dare To Be Fabulous (DTBF) , celebrating womens’ stories of daring, joy and empowerment.

In 2000, Johanna attended a Major League Baseball (MLB) game and found no viable vegetarian menu options in the entire stadium. She realized that many fans were either bringing their own food or eating before or after the game, due to the lack of options, so she decided to do something about it. She compiled statistics on the rise in demand for vegetarian options, and presented her menu proposal to the concession manager one week later. She then began outreaching to every MLB park, as well as baseball fans, consumer groups and supportive organizations. The Soy Happy website was created as an informational resource.

Fans started to speak up, celebrities offered endorsements, media paid attention, and concession managers responded. When Soy Happy started, none of the MLB parks offered veggie dogs. As of 2011, 22 MLB parks offer veggie dogs, due in large part to Soy Happy‘s efforts.

Using our baseball experience as a model, Soy Happy continues to empower consumers on the importance of their feedback and to promote a wide variety of vegetarian/vegan options for foodservice establishments.

Soy Happy provides a unique hybrid of services. In addition to being a consumer advocate, Soy Happy offers promotional and outreach services for foodservice providers.