Announcing the Speakers for DAY ONE of VegFest/YogaFest 2013!

Actually, these are just the VegFest ones. I was planning to promote the Yoga ones too, but when I asked Heather (one of the organizers) whether it was Yin or Hatha yoga that uses the anvil and bungee cords, she told me to never mind.

So here we go:

Saturday June 22, 10:30 – 11:15: Tom Marcantonio

Tom is an urban farmer and teacher who will reveal to us the many mysteries of “permaculture”.  “Permaculture is a branch of ecological design, ecological engineering, and environmental design which develops sustainable architecture and self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems.” Apparently, David Suzuki thinks it might help prevent the world from completely going down the toilet. I’m excited about it because it guarantees that when you spend $100 and 6 weeks of blood, sweat and tears on a strawberry plant, it doesn’t come out looking like this (see adjacent picture). So want to turn your black thumb green while learning the skills to save humankind? Tom’s your man!

Saturday June 22, 11:30 – 12:15: Élise Desaulniers

Élise is a Montreal-based author who writes about Food and Ethics. She’s contributed food and animal-related pieces to Huffington Post Canada, and she’ll be talking about her new book Vache à lait: Dix mythes de l’industrie laitière. For those who are less skilled en francais than moi, that means “Cash Cow: 10 Myths of the Dairy Industry”. Élise will discuss the politics behind Canadian society’s dependence on dairy, while correcting some of the misinformation surrounding the purported healthfulness of dairy products. Her 11:30 presentation will be in French – but she’ll be back at 1:30 with an English version!

Saturday June 22, 12:30 – 1:15 Natasha Kyssa

Natasha Kyssa is the author of Canadian bestseller The Simply Raw Living Foods Detox Manual and founder of SimplyRaw.  She also co-owns Simply Raw Express, a raw vegan juice bar & takeaway in Ottawa, Canada.

In 1990, after eight successful years as an international model, Natasha adopted a raw lifestyle which helped her recover from clinical depression, and anorexia and bulimia.  Her life was completely transformed and she has since studied at various Institutes including the Ann Wigmore Institute, the Hippocrates Health Institute, Optimum Health Institute, The Gerson Institute, Living Light Culinary Arts Institute, as well as other well-known organizations around the world.

All that sounds awsome. But of course if you ask the average person why they find Natasha’s approach to food and wellness so intriguing, they invariably say something like “She’s 52 and she looks like she’s 30!”

Saturday June 22, 1:30 – 2:15 Élise Desaulniers again! En anglais this time!

Saturday June 22, 2:30 – 3:15 Kathy Smart

Kathy is a TV show host, bestselling author, chef, a multi-award winning nutritionist, and is known as Canada’s leading gluten-free expert. She’ll be presenting “Smart Gluten Free Cooking Tricks” – showing 5 fast and easy cooking tricks for healthy, gluten free cooking and baking. She will be also making her vegan and gluten free Power Balls to show you how easy it is to have healthy, kid friendly snacks on hand.