It’s All About Food

Asian Fusion

with Chat Mingkwan
Chat Mingkwan grew up in Bangkok, Thailand. He has apprenticed in provincial French cuisine at La Cagouille in Rayon, France, traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, and worked in restaurants in the San Francisco area. Currently Chat runs Unusual Touch, a business specializing in catering, food consulting, and restaurant design, Thai cooking classes, and culinary expeditions to Thailand. He is the author of the cookbooks "Buddha's Table" and "Vietnamese Fusion" and "Asian fusion."

Forks Over Knives

with Dr. Esselstyn, Dr. Campbell and Brian Wendell
FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering yet under-appreciated researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Dr. Campbell, a nutritional scientist at Cornell University, was concerned in the late 1960’s with producing “high quality” animal protein to bring to the poor and malnourished areas of the third world. While in the Philippines, he made a life-changing discovery: the country’s wealthier children, who were consuming relatively high amounts of animal-based foods, were much more likely to get liver cancer. Dr. Esselstyn, a top surgeon and head of the Breast Cancer Task Force at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, found that many of the diseases he routinely treated were virtually unknown in parts of the world where animal-based foods were rarely consumed. FORKS OVER KNIVES utilizes state of the art 3-D graphics and rare archival footage. The film features leading experts on health, examines the question “why we don’t know”, and tackles the issue of diet and disease in a way that will have people talking for years.

Sprouts the Miracle Foods

with Steve Meyerowitz, The Sproutman
Gardens of mini-vegetables were part of Sproutman's lifetime fight against chronic allergies and asthma. After 20 years of disappointment with orthodox medicine, he became symptom-free through his use of diet, juices, and fasting. In 1980, he founded "The Sprout House", a "no-cooking" school in New York City teaching the benefits of a living foods diet.  Steve is a health crusader and author of 10 books including Power Juices Super Drinks, Wheatgrass Nature's Finest Medicine, Juice Fasting and Detoxification, and Food Combining and Digestion. His most recent book is The Organic Food Guide: How to Shop Smarter and Eat Healthier.  He has been featured on PBS, the Home Shopping Network, TV Food Network, and in Better Nutrition, Prevention, Organic Gardening and Flower & Garden Magazines. His sprouting inventions, such as the "Hemp Sprout Bag" are sold nationwide. You can visit him at www.Sproutman.com.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

with Joe Cross
Joe Cross is an Australian entrepreneur and investor who invests in early stage high potential growth companies. Most recently, Joe founded Reboot Your Life, a lifestyle brand that provides information, tools, media and entertainment, consumer products and community support that encourage people to consume more fruits and vegetables in order to improve their health and vitality. Joe began his business career as a trader on the Sydney Futures Exchange where he worked from the early 1980s until 1998. During this time, Joe founded several companies in the derivatives trading and technology space. From the late 1990s until 2003, Joe managed a diverse portfolio of assets in telecommunications, media, technology and financial services for Queensland Press Ltd, a wholly owned company of News Corp. During 2003, Joe began investing his own capital through his investment vehicle Jaymsea Investments Pty Ltd. A number of these businesses have gone from a start up to a thriving and successful business in a few short years. Today, Jaymsea has a diverse portfolio of active investments with financial and managerial stakes in high potential growth companies. The portfolio includes: Thakoon, a leading US based high end fashion label; Willow, a high end Australian based fashion label; and Citibabes, a club and education centre for families with small children. Joe lives in New York and Sydney. 

Food Politics

with Marion Nestle
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, which she chaired from 1988-2003. She also holds appointments as Professor of Sociology at NYU and Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. She has held faculty positions at Brandeis University and the UCSF School of Medicine. From 1986-88, she was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and managing editor of the 1988 Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health . Her research examines scientific, economic, and social influences on food choice. She is the author of three prize-winning books: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2002, revised edition, 2007), Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety (2003, revised edition, 2010), and What to Eat (2006). Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine , was published in 2008 and in paperback in 2010. Her book with Dr. Malden Nesheim, Feed Your Pet Right, came out in 2010. She is currently working with Dr. Nesheim on a book about calories for University of California Press. She writes a monthly Food Matters column for the San Francisco Chronicle, and blogs daily (almost) at www.foodpolitics.com and at The Atlantic / Life. She also twitters @marionnestle.

NYC Vegetarian Food Festival

with Sarah Gross and Nira
Sarah Gross, founder of the charitable vegan chocolate company Rescue Chocolate teamed up with Nira Paliwoda, fellow foodie and event planner, to create the premiere NYC Vegetarian Food Festival. Foodies, locavores, vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians, and those who simply want to find out more about living a healthy, sustainable lifestyle, this is the festival for you! Vegetarian food companies, restaurants, and health and wellness vendors will congregate in New York City to celebrate the delight of vegetarian food and cruelty-free living for the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival. The festival will feature food sampling and meals from New York City’s top vegetarian restaurants and food companies, vegetarian/animal welfare information tables, a raffle benefiting Empty Cages Collective and live entertainment and activities throughout the day. With free admission and free samples, it has never been a better time to see for yourself what the vegetarian buzz is about. Where: The Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street (Between 6th and 7th Avenues), when: April 3, 10-6.

Appetite for Reduction

with Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s latest cookbook is Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes. Her previous titles include Veganomicon, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, Vegan Brunch, and Vegan with a Vengeance. She lives in Omaha, NE. Visit her recently re-launched website, The Post Punk Kitchen, at www.theppk.com.

Animal Factory

David Kirby is the author of Animal Factory which came out in paperwork today. David Kirby has been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post since its founding in 2005, has been a professional journalist for over 15 years. Kirby has also written for a number of national magazines. In addition, Kirby was a foreign correspondent in Mexico and Central America from 1986-1990, where he covered the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and covered politics, corruption and natural disasters in Mexico. He has also done extensive consulting with the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report Office. Kirby also worked in politics, medical research and public relations. He worked for New York City Council President Carol Bellamy as a special assistant for healthcare, cultural affairs and civil rights, followed by employment as chief scheduler to Manhattan Borough President David N. Dinkins. He also was a senior staff adviser to Dinkins’ successful 1989 run for Mayor of New York City. From 1990-1993, Kirby was Director of Public Information at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), where he acted as press spokesman for Chairwoman Elizabeth Taylor, and witnessed first-hand the inner workings of Congress, the White House and powerful Federal agencies like the FDA, CDC and NIH. Kirby also wrote the award-winning New York Times bestseller, EVIDENCE OF HARM: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic – A Medical Controversy. Evidence of Harm sparked a national debate in private homes, leading universities and the halls of Congress, and Kirby has appeared on such venues as Meet the Press, Larry King Live, The Today Show, Imus in the Morning, Montel Williams, Air America, and dozens of local radio and television stations. Kirby has also been interviewed by or reviewed outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Associated Press, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Newsday, The Lancet, Salon.com and more.

Our Food System

with Phil Howard, PhD
Dr. Howard teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Community, Food and Agriculture, as well as a graduate course in Research Methods as an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. His research focuses on the 'food system.' The food system involves all of the steps required to produce food and get it to our plates–from farming and processing to distribution and consumption. His work includes project involving food consolidation, ecolables and food environments. He earned a PhD in Rural Sociology from the University of Missouri in 2002, and conducted postdoctoral research at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 2002 until 2006.

Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness

with Robert Cheeke
Robert Cheeke uses the platform of bodybuilding to communicate the message of meat-free, steroid-free health, fun and fitness. One of the nicest people you will ever meet, Robert is the epitome of a lean, clean, meat-free machine. His new book, Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness, and his website, www.veganbodybuilding.com provide information and inspiration on achieving your goals this year.