Vegan and the Living Is Easy

Victoria Moran (www.victoriamoran.com) has so much to offer that I'm not sure how we'll fit it all in in under an hour! She has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America and The Today Show (to name just a few), has been a vegan over 20 years (even when it wasn't fashionable to be one!) and is a prolific author. Victoria has written 10 books including "The Love-Powered Diet: Eating for Freedom, Health & Joy," "Younger by the Day," and my personal favorite…"Creating a Charmed Life." In addition (when does she sleep?!), she hosts the "Veg and the City” show on HealthyLife.net Radio, and writes the “Veg and the City” blog on HuffingtonPost.com. Phew! For those of you who wanting to lose weight but who feel stuck, Victoria will share how she lost over 60 pounds nearly 28 years ago and has kept it off. She is also a very stylish woman – having gone to fashion school and worked in the fashion industry and so you can expect some fun talk about vegan fashion and beauty (yay!). This is a wonderful opportunity to learn from someone who walks her talk and shares from the heart! Please join us on April 25!

Vegan shoes have gotten a bad rap! When people think of them they often think…plastic… uncomfortable…unattractive. Well, guess what! Times are changing and "vegan" shoes are some of the most fashionable (and eco-friendly) in the world – thanks to people like our guest, Elizabeth Olsen, founder and creative designer of Olsen Haus shoes. Her brand stands for cruelty-free and eco-luxury and is a leader in exposure and education regarding animal and environmental issues – all while changing the "face" of the environmentally friendly, compassionate, vegan lifestyle. These are not just any ordinary shoes. They have been mentioned in Vogue, Marie Claire, Oprah and The Wall Street Journal to name just a few! Want to know more? Want to know how (and why) you can look fashionable, feel great and contribute to the environment and the well-being of animals? Want to know some of the "insider scoop" on the fashion industry? This is your chance!

Lately, veganism has become synonymous with what you eat. The truth is it goes much deeper than that and that's what we'll be discussing with Doris Lin. How does veganism save wildlife? What is wrong with New Jersey's current bear hunt policy and even how easy is it to raise a vegan family? You won't want to miss this lively and enlightening discussion! Doris' views and insights are widely read in the About.com Guide to Animal Rights http://animalrights.about.com/b/2011/02/17/vegan-and-the-living-is-easy.htm) and as an animal rights attorney she has worked diligently for a variety of animal protection groups including the Animal Protection PAC and The Bear Education and Resource Group and is currently representing animal advocates in a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey's bear hunt policy.

Between lunch and dinner on a fateful April 20, 2002, Eric shifted from eating Double Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburgers, dairy ice cream, and New York-style pizza to being vegan, and he hasn’t looked back since. Web-based video played a crucial role in his transition, and he hopes his new documentary web series, I’m Vegan, will become a useful addition to internet-based advocacy. Prior to producing and directing I’m Vegan, Eric co-founded the Boston Vegan Association www.bostonvegan.org, which fosters, supports, and educates Boston’s vegan community, and advocates veganism as the only consistent way to commit to the belief that it is wrong to cause unnecessary harm to animals. Eric is also the co-founder and co-owner of Peace o' Pie, a popular vegan pizzeria that opened in Boston late last year (and is very delicious, we might add!). You can learn more about Eric at: www.vegandocumentary.com, www.bostonvegan.org, www.peaceopie.com. As always, all questions are welcome.

Join us and our fabulous guest, Priscilla Feral, President of Friends of Animals and author of two cookbooks including "The Best of Vegan Cooking" as we talk about all things vegan. The timing on this show is perfect! If you are looking for delightful ways to wow your guests at the holidays, this is it. Priscilla's recipes are delicious and beautiful. Please bring your questions, your taste buds, and your interest in learning more about being vegan. As an avid gardener and vegan cook, Priscilla Feral nurtures a profound respect for nature and its abundance. Priscilla once designed chocolate recipes for Godiva, and has since produced vegan recipes that have appeared in The New York Times, and many other publications. Best of all, she is the President of Friends of Animals, a non-profit, international animal advocacy organization that works to cultivate a respectful view of nonhuman animals, free-living and domestic with a goal to free animals from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation around the world.

Harold Brown was born and raised on a cattle farm in Michigan, worked three years working in the dairy industry and has spent over half his life in agriculture. He is now an advocate for sustainable farming, social and environmental justice, animal rights and peace through non-violence. Harold is one of the characters in the new Tribe of Heart documentary, Peaceable Kingdom, The Journey Home (http://www.peaceablekingdomfilm.org/). Join us as we talk about how and why he made his amazing journey. He's a compelling speaker with a heartfelt message to share!

For the past 23 years, Ginger's expertise has been as a Boston Fashion Stylist helping women make wardrobe and personal style choices they love (http://totalimageconsultants.com/vegan-fashion.shtml). So, what happens when you have a style expert who is also a vegan? You get the best of both worlds…fashion with compassion! Designers design what we'll buy, and as the interest and demand for vegan fashion is skyrocketing, let us help you understand how to do it with joy and ease – and make a very clear fashion statement the designers can't ignore. Please join us as we talk about how to make cruelty-free fashion, makeup and skin care choices. What's in, what's out and where do you find it! As always all questions are welcome.

Dr. Will Tuttle is an award-winning speaker, educator, musician and the author of an amazing book, "The World Peace Diet." It is the first book to make explicit the invisible connections between our culture, our food, and the source of our broad range of problems—and the way to a positive transformation in our individual and collective lives. We first met Will when he did a reading from his book a few years ago. We were mesmerized. His philosophy was simple, direct, inspiring and full of compassion and insight. We have never thought about animal rights, compassionate living and the interconnectedness of all life in the same way since then. Please join us for an enlightening discussion of his book, his life, and his music.

Please join us as we talk with Lee Hall, VP of Legal Affairs at Friends of Animals, a non-profit founded in New York in 1957, about her new book On Their Own Terms. Lee is an attorney who’s been a vegan and animal advocate for more than 26 years. She is active in feral cat rescue, and has defended animals from White-tailed deer to tropical birds. With Priscilla Feral, Lee co-authored a popular cookbook called Dining With Friends (a fabulous cookbook we highly recommend). Lee wrote On Their Own Terms after recognizing a need for a book that explains veganism and animal rights to the curious, and which also helps the committed activist make personal and group decisions in order to have a positive impact for animals in the real world we share with them. Full of practical discussion, real people’s experiences, and bold proposals, On Their Own Terms is a book for anyone who’s ever wondered whether animal rights can be more than a long-for but distant ideal -- and, if so, how to realistically plan to be a part of that cultural shift.

Veganism is such a new (and foreign) concept to so many people that they often don't know where to begin – at least this is what we've experienced in talking to people along our journey. We often get questions about food, cooking, health, eating out, lifestyle, fashion and vegan beauty..and we love talking about all of it! Our goal is to support people, raise awareness, and eliminate animal suffering at the hands of humans. The good news is that it is all do-able and can open your life up to a new adventure. This is your opportunity to get answers, resources and our take on all of that and more. We welcome questions in advance and live on the air. Please join us!

Do you want to know why we need to care about the treatment of animals in our society? It is not something that is widely talked about but tonight we will! Please join us and Nick Cooney, founder and Director of The Humane League, as we discuss vegan outreach and how we can each do our part to eliminate animal suffering by going vegan. Nick Cooney is the founder and Director of The Humane League, an animal protection organization based in Philadelphia that advocates on behalf of farm animals, lab and companion animals, with a special focus vegan outreach and farm animal advocacy. Nick has written for publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer and Z Magazine, and his work for animals has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including Time Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio. He has also worked as a nutrition educator with the University of Pennsylvania's Urban Nutrition Initiative. More information about the Humane League is online at www.TheHumaneLeague.com

Veganism is such a new (and foreign) concept to so many people that they often don't know where to begin – at least this is what we've experienced in talking to people along our journey. We often get questions about food, cooking, health, eating out, lifestyle, fashion and vegan beauty..and we love talking about all of it! Our goal is to support people, raise awareness, and eliminate animal suffering at the hands of humans. The good news is that it is all do-able and can open your life up to a new adventure. This is your opportunity to get answers, resources and our take on all of that and more. We welcome questions in advance and live on the air. Please join us!

Our guest will be Suzanne Dragan, the nurse director of Food for Life, a free community outreach program of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey. Food for Life promotes the health, humane & environmental benefits of eating a plant-based diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains & legumes. A vegan of many years, Suzanne is a member of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and is certified in Plant-based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Foundation, Cornell University. From 1994-2008, Suzanne hosted “Animal Talk”, an animal activist radio show on WCTC 1450AM in New Brunswick NJ. She wrote the column “Concerning Animals” for the Home News & Tribune, was a consultant to the Humane Society of the US and was the 2008 recipient of the Animal Welfare Federation of NJ “Hero to the Animals” award.

We are absolutely thrilled to introduce you to Dustin Rhodes, our guest for Monday, March 8 (8 pm EST). Dustin is always interested in talking about and exploring how to talk about veganism – specifically why it is good for all of us – in a way that is not offensive or off-putting and considers this to be the Million Dollar Vegan Question! Dustin was born and raised in a small town in rural Virginia and spent most of his life learning to treat animals as commodities (he came from a long line of dairy farmers, and growing up, they even raised some of their own food animals), while simultaneously being interested in and drawn toward vegetarianism. His whole life has been spent wrestling with and trying to reconcile what he knows to be right with what he actually does. (So true for so many of us!) Dustin moved to beautiful Asheville, North Carolina when he was 18 to attend college, and stayed there for 16 years. He now lives and works in Washington, DC for Friends of Animals (www.friendsofanimals.org)—an animal and vegan advocacy organization founded in 1957. He lives with two elderly dogs and his partner of 13 years, Bray. So, join us as we talk about all aspects of veganism and, if you are not already familiar with Friends of Animals this is a great time to learn more. Their work is amazing. In addition to our wonderful guests, each week Ginger will offer a vegan fashion tip or inside information on the fashion industry and its relationship (or lack thereof) to being vegan-friendly. We will also periodically give away vegan skin care or makeup products so stay tuned!

How many times have we heard the phrase, “It’s too hard to be a vegan”? Sadly, it’s more than we can count. Although support for a vegan lifestyle is growing, most people feel like they are doing it alone and that’s the part that makes it hard. We know what it’s like to feel like outsiders, labeled as radical and maybe a little nutty by friends and family. We also each took different routes on our way to being vegans so we can speak to many pitfalls (and how to avoid them) and successes along the way. We’ve also done tons of reading and research and have made fabulous connections so we have great resources to share with you! Since we’ve been asked so many questions about being vegan, we thought we’d open this show up to your questions. Ask us anything! We both know a lot about food and nutrition and Ginger is a well-known authority on vegan fashion and makeup. Feel free to send us your questions in advance (ginger@totalimageconsultants.com) or just join us live on the call. We can’t wait to share all we’ve learned with you to help make your transition (or current vegan lifestyle) easy!