It’s All About Food

It's All About Food - Paul Shapiro, Clean Meat - 01.16.18

Featured guest: Paul Shapiro, Clean MeatPaul Shapiro is the author of Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World(published by Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books). A TEDx speaker and the founder of Compassion Over Killing, for 13 years Shapiro also served as a spokesperson and vice president for The Humane Society of the United States.
Shapiro is a mainstream voice for agricultural sustainability who’s earned praise from many sides of the animal welfare spectrum. For example, Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation, calls him “a major force in the struggle to reduce farm animal suffering,” while a McDonald’s executive inducted Shapiro into his own NGO Hall of Fame. He wrote: “The common thread of the effective NGO leader is ‘likeability.’ …What’s most common and effective in their work was their good nature and fun spirit. Paul Shapiro from the Humane Society of the United States exemplifies this. Even though we don’t agree on a fair amount, but because he’s affable — and no jerk! — we found common ground, getting rid of gestation stalls for sows and going cage-free for hens.”
In 1995, Shapiro founded Compassion Over Killing as a high school club, building it into a national organization over the next decade before leaving in 2005 to join The Humane Society of the United States. An inductee into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame, Shapiro has been interviewed by hundreds of news outlets as an authority on animal welfare and animal advocacy. He’s also published dozens of articles about animal welfare in publications ranging from daily newspapers to academic journals.
 

It's All About Food - Sunny Mueller, The Vegetarian House - 01.08.18

Part I: Sunny Mueller, The Vegetarian HouseSunny is the manager of The Vegetarian House in San Jose, California. The Vegetarian House is an organic vegan restaurant located in downtown San Jose; it was inspired by The Supreme Master Ching Hai, a world renowned spiritual teacher and humanitarian. The restaurant began operation in 1994 with a vision of a world where all beings, humans and animals could live together in peace, love and harmony. At the Vegetarian House, fresh organic produce is served cooked and seasoned with non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) ingredients. Genetically modified foods are linked to allergic reactions and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals. They are banned by food manufacturers in Europe and elsewhere, yet GMOs are present in the vast majority of locally available processed foods. Some of the products including sauces and noodles are made in house from scratch, using organic ingredients that are free of preservatives. Concerned for the happiness and well being of our animal friends, only animal-free meals (vegan) are served. In an effort to reduce the carbon footprint, freshly grown organic ingredients from local sources are used whenever possible. The restaurant also uses solar energy generated from solar panels and uses energy efficient lighting and appliances. The Vegetarian House is committed to working towards a sustainable planet. To reduce the environmental impact, all waste is recycled or composted whenever possible. The ‘TOGO’ packaging is made of environmentally-friendly materials which are either biodegradable or compostable. Part II: Caryn Hartglass covers food trends for the new year.

It's All About Food - Caryn Hartglass, Happy 2018! - 01.03.18

Caryn Hartglass, Happy 2018!
Caryn gives her thoughts, inspirations and ideas for the coming year.

It's All About Food - Vegan Dogs, Dental Hygiene, Direction & Digestion - 12.28.17

Caryn Hartglass, Vegan Dogs, Dental Hygiene, Direction & DigestionIn the last episode of 2017 Caryn discusses the following topics: a Los Angeles Animal Services commission proposal to make shelter dogs vegan; dental hygiene; humans innate directive to be part of and support a larger entity; tips for digestive issues. 

It's All About Food - Tommy McDonald and Richa Hingle - 12.12.17

Part I: Tommy McDonald, Field Roast: 101 Artisan Vegan Meat Recipes to Cook, Share, and SavorTommy McDonald is head chef at Field Roast in Seattle, Washington. In their first official cookbook, Field Roast: 101 Artisan Vegan Meat Recipes to Cook, Share, and Savor, Field Roast executive chef Tommy McDonald teaches readers how to make their own grain meat, and shares dozens of plant-based recipes for every occasion, whether it’s a fuss-free weekday meal or a hearty holiday feast. From stocking the pantry with the right ingredients to tying a perfect butcher’s slipknot, from choosing the best sausage casing to successfully stuffing your roast, McDonald is there every step of the way to help first-timers and skilled chefs alike impress family and friends with vegan meals that are wholesome, satisfying, and delicious.  Part II: Richa Hingle, Vegan Richa’s Everyday KitchenRicha Hingle is the prolific and award winning recipe developer, blogger, and photographer behind VeganRicha.com and Best Selling Author of Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen. Her instructions are easy to follow and her step-by-step photographs welcome the uninitiated into their kitchen as vouched by many of her readers. She loves to show people how easy it is to cook vegan Indian or other cuisines, which are allergy friendly and have gluten free and soy free options. Richa has been featured on Oprah.com, Huffington Post, Glamour, Babble, VegNews.com, Cosmopolitan India, Femina India, TheKitchn, Cosmopolitan, MSN, BuzzFeed, and many more. 

It's All About Food - Harold Hartglass, No Cucumbers! - 11.28.17

Harold Hartglass, No Cucumbers!Caryn reflects on her dad’s passing this week, his connection with food and how it has influenced her as a food educator and activist.

It's All About Food - Lori Steinberg and Gabriel Heymann - 11.15.17

Part I: Lori Steinberg, CheezehoundLori Sternberg is the founder of the vegan cheese company, Cheezehound.        Part II: Gabriel Heymann, Smart BeerSmart Beer founder, Gabriel Heymann splits his time between the Hudson Valley and Brooklyn, NY. He realized he needed a beer that he could enjoy without feeling like he compromised his health-conscious and active lifestyle. He thirsted for a beer that was made from sustainable ingredients and a brand that supported his social and environmental values. This thirst gave way to the concept of Smart Beer.
“I wanted to enjoy both my social life and my healthy, active lifestyle,” Heymann said. “You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your lifestyle or values in order to celebrate, and that’s what this beer is about. We can have it all.”
“I set out to create a great tasting and refreshing organic beer that would go perfectly with my life and my friend’s lives. A beer I could feel good about holding and drinking at a bar. I’m happy to share Smart Beer with you. Cheers!”
In addition to founding Smart Beer, Gabriel has an extensive professional background in the music business and fitness/well-being. He’s also a certified yoga teacher who seeks to help people feel good and enjoy life.

It's All About Food - Saray Stancic, MD FACN and Ben Hartman - 11.07.17

Part I: Saray Stancic, MD FACN, Lifestyle MedicineSaray Stancic, MD, a graduate of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and a board certified Infectious Disease specialist since 1999, is the founder of Stancic Health and Wellness in Ramsey NJ. The mission of this innovative medical practice is to educate and empower patients for achieving optimal health via lifestyle modification, while shedding light on the large and mounting body of scientific data supporting the importance of optimal nutrition in disease prevention. She seeks a highly personalized doctor-patient relationship, pursuing individual health related goals which may include weight loss, and improved control of blood sugars, lipid profiles and/or blood pressure with an eye towards reducing dependency on medication.
In 1995, Dr. Stancic, a third-year medical resident working long hospital hours, was abruptly stricken with a severe and disabling case of multiple sclerosis. After 8 years of impaired and disrupted work and daily life, complicated by side effects of intensive pharmaceutical therapies, she stumbled upon a medical journal study reporting some beneficial reduction in MS symptom severity associated with one particular food: blueberries. This triggered an exhaustive exploration of the medical literature, revealing plentiful evidence in respectable peer-reviewed journals that dietary choices do play a key role in the development of chronic illness…. a topic that had eluded the medical school curriculum she knew so well.
Dr. Stancic concluded that the power of prevention/healing offered by a whole-food, plant-based diet for many chronic conditions is enormous and unquestionable. Inspired, she saw it as imperative to adopt this lifestyle personally, and she discontinued all medications and focused upon optimizing diet. Remarkably, after years of difficulty walking unassisted, she found her neurological deficits gradually improving, and felt renewed and infused with a great sense of hope. She decided to take up jogging, which evolved to running, and in the spring of 2010 ran a marathon. She followed through on a pledge to walk 2,015 miles in 2015, 20 years after being struck down by multiple sclerosis. These experiences laid the foundation for a personal crusade to prevent chronic illness by helping patients modify their lifestyles.
Opportunities for physicians within their usual practices and specialties to advocate for improved patient nutrition have long seemed very limited. Earlier in her career as a chief and director of infectious disease and virology clinics, Dr. Stancic did serve as Co-Director of the Dept. Of Veterans Affairs’ successful national “MOVE Program” (Optimizing Nutrition and Disease Prevention Program)…. leading a multidisciplinary team of nutritionists, psychologists, physical therapists and physicians in educating veterans about incorporating physical activity and greater attention toward nutrition into daily life. As the years went by, she shared with other physicians her insights from the research literature and personal experience about potential chronic disease prevention/remediation using plant-based whole-foods diets…. But she found regrettably that not many colleagues shared her enthusiasm or accepted that this approach could be valid.
As a physician observing unnecessary suffering and loss, Dr. Stancic had felt compelled to spread the word of this seemingly untapped therapeutic resource. The physician of today is relegated to symptom management via treatment plans highly dependent on prescription medications and invasive procedures…. with little time devoted to uncovering and addressing the underlying causes of disease, and little time available for counseling, support and education, interventions that have been proven to circumvent the need for drugs and surgery. Therefore Dr. Stancic concluded that she would establish her own small medical practice as a model for lifestyle based personal wellness promotion, where the primary intervention is educating patients on the importance of food choices and how these simple decisions affect our complicated health outcomes.
Part II: Ben Hartman, Lean Farm GuideBen Hartman grew up on a corn and soybean farm in Indiana and graduated college with degrees in English and philosophy. Ben and his wife, Rachel Hershberger, own and operate Clay Bottom Farm in Goshen, Indiana, where they make their living growing and selling specialty crops on less than one acre. Their food is sold locally to restaurants and cafeterias, at a farmers market, and through a community-supported-agriculture (CSA) program. The farm has twice won Edible Michiana’s Reader’s Choice award. The Lean Farm, Ben’s first book, won the Shingo Institute’s prestigious Research and Professional Publication Award. In 2017, Ben was named one of fifty emerging green leaders in the United States by Grist. Follow the Clay Bottom Farm on Facebook.

It's All About Food - Josh Tickell, Kiss the Ground - 10.31.17

Josh Tickell, Kiss the GroundJosh Tickell is a Sundance award winning film director, bestselling author and thought leader. His films and books focus on critical, “big picture” social issues including alternative energy, conscious capitalism and reversing climate change.Josh’s first movie, Fuel, won the Sundance Audience Award for Best Documentary and to theaters globally. He recently co-directed the 2017 Lionsgate release, Good Fortune, the rags to riches biopic of Paul Mitchell and Patron cofounder, John Paul DeJoria. He regularly films and interviews luminaries such as Elon Musk, Dan Aykroyd, Woody Harrelson, Sheryl Crow, and Shailene Woodley.Tickell’s movies have won more than 40 major awards and have been selected as a NY TimesCritics’ Pick, shortlisted for an Oscar and shown in the White House. He has spoken at more than 100 colleges and Fortune 500 businesses globally. He is a guest on shows such as The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, Morning Joe and on the Today Show.Tickell’s new book, Kiss the Ground – How The Food You Eat Can Reverse Climate Change, Heal Your Body and Save the World with a forward by Whole Foods Founder, John Mackey, will be released in November of 2017 and is being turned into a movie from executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio also entitled Kiss the Ground.

It's All About Food - Happy Halloween with Gary De Mattei & Caryn Hartglass - 10.24.17

Gary De Mattei, Happy HalloweenGary De Mattei is the co-founder and Creative Director of Responsible Eating and Living. Gary is an actor, director, producer, filmmaker, writer, teacher and trained chef. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit theatre company, The Artist’s Theatre Repertory Ensemble (TheATRE). Before moving to New York in 2008 Gary worked extensively in Bay Area theatre as an actor, director, writer, producer, teacher, and arts administrator. He was the co-founder and producing artistic director of Theatre On San Pedro Square (TOSPS) in San Jose from January of 2000 to April of 2008. During that time Gary produced plays and musicals that showcased local, national and international theatre artists. Gary was the Theatre Department Chair at Presentation High School in San Jose. During his tenure at Presentation Gary directed plays and musicals and taught acting. His theatre department was awarded the prestigious Best High School Musical Award from the American Musical Theatre. Gary is a Bay Area Theatre Critics Award nominee for his portrayal of Fiorello H. LaGuardia in Foothill Music Theatre’s production of Fiorello. A proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, Gary trains at HB Studio in New York under the guidance of his acting teacher Austin Pendleton. For more about Gary go to his website, GaryDeMattei.com.