These schedules may still change

This year, Chicago VeganMania boasts two stages – the Presentation Stage where you can gain knowledge and inspiration from some of the vegan movement's top leaders and thinkers, and the more participatory Workshop Stage, where groups of well-known vegans and everyday heroes will discuss ideas and lifestyle tips in a more casual environment.


PRESENTERS



GINNY KISCH MESSINA, MPH R.D.
The Seven Habits of Healthy Vegans

Ginny Messina is a long-time vegan and a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of Michigan.

She blogs at TheVeganRD.com and is co-author of Vegan for Life¸ and of the first vegetarian textbook for health professionals The Dietitians’ Guide to Vegetarian Diets, now in its third edition.

Ginny has twice co-authored the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Position on Vegetarian Diets. As a founding member of this organization’s vegetarian practice group, she currently serves on the editorial board of the organization’s vegetarian newsletter and is an expert reviewer of nutrition materials for health professionals and the public.

Prior to focusing her efforts on vegan nutrition, Ginny was on the faculty of Central Michigan University, where she taught courses on general nutrition, lifecycle nutrition, and nutrition education to dietetics students. She was also a dietitian with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and was director of nutrition services for George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC. She is an adjunct faculty member at Loma Linda University and lives in Port Townsend, WA. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.





ELLEN JAFFE JONES
Eat Vegan on $4 a Day

Ellen Jaffe Jones was a popular Emmy-winning consumer and investigative reporter for 18 years in Miami (WSVN) and St. Louis, a Wall Street financial consultant after that, and is now a certified personal trainer, high school running coach and accomplished endurance and sprint runner. (5th oldest female to finish the Palm Beaches Marathon in 2010!)

She wrote Eat Vegan on $4 a Day after her mom, aunt and both sisters got breast cancer, and after watching too many news stories that said you can't eat well on a budget. Her talk, "Eat Vegan on $4 a Day" gives great shopping ideas and money saving tips culled from her consumer reporting days and eating a cheap, healthy vegan diet for 30 years. She has a fun and informative presentation that tracks improved health when eating vegan and compromised health when falling off the wagon.





KAY STEPKIN
Veg Chicago: From Weird to Mainstream (A History of Veganism and Vegetarianism in Chicago)

Chicago Tribune “The Veggie Cook” columnist, Kay Stepkin, is a vegan chef, recipe creator, and a pioneer of the vegetarian and natural food movements in Chicago. In 1971, she founded the legendary Bread Shop on north Halsted Street, the city’s first vegetarian food store and 100% whole grain bakery as well as the restaurant, Bread Shop Kitchen, across the street. The Bread Shop served as a training ground for aspiring chefs and bakers who went on to open restaurants and bakeries of their own. Stepkin is also the host of the 8-episode ‘Go Veggie!® with Kay’ series that aired on Comcast cable. An advocate of whole-foods, plant-based dining and the vegan lifestyle, Kay will delight us with tales of Chicago’s healthy history.





VICTORIA MORAN
Main Street Vegan

A vegan of three decades, Victoria Moran is the author of eleven books, a certified holistic health counselor and vegan lifestyle coach, and director of Main Street Vegan Academy, training vegan lifestyle coaches. Her latest book is Main Street Vegan, which VegNews magazine calls “the vegan Bible.” A two-time Oprah! guest, winner of “Vegan of the Year” for 2012, and co-host of the Main Street Vegan Show on Unity.FM radio, Victoria lives in a green condo in New York City.

In this humor-laced, content-packed presentation, Main Street Vegan author Victoria Moran, HHC, AADP, will educate you with clear, simple-to-remember information to make your journey veganward easy, healthful, and fun. She’ll also move you with heartwarming stories and delight you with engaging anecdotes (e.g., how filmmaker Michael Moore interceded to keep “Main Street” in her book title). You’ll learn the fast facts you need to respond to questions from the curious; how to add far more to your meals and your life than you subtract; as well as tips for choosing foods that will help you love your body now and for decades to come. Finally, you’ll come to an understanding of the ethical underpinnings of being vegan: a way of eating and living that starts saving lives, ours and the animals’, from your very first day of this lifelong adventure.






FARMER HAROLD BROWN
The Humane Myth

(Bio coming soon)


WORKSHOPS



VEGANISM 101

What exactly is a vegan, and why and how do people adopt that lifestyle? What do vegans eat, and how do they fit into a world where everyone around them still eats animal products? Most vegans started out eating meat and at some point made the decision to change their diet and in many cases their lives. Here is a thoughtful and informative discussion about why people become vegan and how they stay that way.

featuring:
RAIN TRUTH

ROBERT GRILLO, founder and editor of Free From Harm

TAMBRA RIDDLE, author of "My Teenage Rejection of Death Products"

VICTORIA MORAN, author of "Main Street Vegan" (moderator)




CREATIVE ACTIVISM - USING YOUR LIFE AS YOUR MESSAGE

What does a teen fiction writer, a goth DJ and a beauty queen who doubles as an opera singer all have in common? Each one has discovered how to use their special talents and skills to communicate their passions for making the world a healthier and more compassionate place. Each of us has unique gifts that allow us to tell our stories in a compelling way. Meet a diverse group of creative thinkers who have each found unusual ways to make a positive difference in the world.

featuring:
MARISA BUCHHEIT, singer/sonwriter, opera singer and the current Miss Chicago

MARLA ROSE, co-creator of Chicago VeganMania and author of "The Adventures of Vivian Sharpe, Vegan Superhero" (moderator)

SCARY LADY SARAH, international DJ and Impresario and Promoter

WILLIAM FAITH, musician/songwriter, audio engineer and producer

SHARYL NODAY, painter/artist




VEGAN NUTRITION AND WELLNESS

Vegans will tell you they have the healthiest diet in the world, while others criticize it for being too limiting and lacking in certain nutrients. Who's right? Spend an hour with a group of nutritional experts, who will explain the vegan diet and the latest findings on how it influences people's health and longevity.

featuring:
ERIC SHARER

GINNY KISCH MESSINA, blogger at TheVeganRD.com and co-author of Vegan for Life

KARYN CALABRESE, owner of Karyn's Fresh Corner, Karyn's Cooked, Karyn's On Green and Karyn's Inner Beauty and author of "Soak Your Nuts – Cleansing with Karyn"

KENNY TORRELLA









HOW TO BUILD A VEGAN COMMUNITY

No man is an island, according to the old axiom, and likewise most vegans are a lot happier and more successful when they can turn to people who share their values and support their choices. Joining or building a community of like-minded peers is one of the healthiest moves for anyone who has convictions that are often not understood or accepted by much of mainstream society. Meet several local movers-and-shakers who have each built communities based on shared vegan values and goals. Learn why and how they did it, the challenges they each faced and the successes enjoyed by their different organizations.

featuring:
DEBRA STEPHENS, co-founder of Vegan Chicago and Chicago Vegan Meetup

JEFF OLICHWIER, founder and director of Taste of Vegan Chicagoland,

JOHN BESKE, co-creator of Chicago VeganMania and Chicago Vegan Family Network (moderator)

VADIM MOSKALIN, founder and director of VegChicago and the Chicago Veggie Pride Parade

ZARAKYAH AHMADIEL, founder and CEO of Soul Vegan




ASK A VEGAN EXPERT

This year, we're introducing another feature at Chicago VeganMania – your chance to go one on one with a vegan expert and get great tips on everything from raising healthy kids (or healthy vegetables), to choosing the best cosmetics to improving your athletic performance. Just stop by the Ask a Vegan Expert table and ask away.


A Vegan Cook and Baker: ALEXIS SCHERBA

Vegan Miss is run by your friendly blog doll, Miss Lexy. She started her blog mainly as a way to showcase her vegan recipes. There is information about vegan events and activism within Chicago too. Vegan Miss includes reviews of cookbook recipes, products, and worldwide vegan-friendly restaurants. As Miss Lexy has a passion for globe trotting, there are guide posts for vegans in the various places she has been.


A Veganic Gardener: CHRIS PADO
(Bio coming soon)


A Vegan Parent: JENNIFER GLOODT

Jennifer Gloodt is a plant-based lifestyle coach and compassionate mama of four healthy vegan children. Jennifer offers group and individual coaching for adults on vegan and raw food living as well as plant-based play dates, meditation, and art classes for children in the Chicago suburbs.
Visit Jennifer's blog and website for upcoming classes.


A Vegan Athlete: JEREMY MOORE

Jeremy Moore is a former 320lb All-American shot putter from his High School days and was conference athlete of the week for his first collegiate competition (he went vegan a couple months before his first college season) but soon had career ending injury while warming up for his second meet. After multiple failed comebacks he picked up cycling at around 300lbs and after 2 years, he was winning races. He was soon put on the Philippine National Cycling Team and was a high-ranking cyclist here in the US. Having qualified for the Olympics in a cycling event that was soon removed from the London Games schedule he decided to move on to speed skating. His goal is to be the first winter Olympian to represent the Philippines and use that platform to promote veganism in a country with no real public faces for the movement.


A Veganic Gardener: JULIA MORAN MARTZ

Julia Moran Martz is one of very few vegan Master Gardeners with the University of Illinois Extension Service. Sometimes helpful, always snarky, Julia (a.k.a., SnarkyVegan) is never short on opinions about gardening, eating and well, anything really. Born and bred in southern Indiana, Julia escaped to start a branding and advertising firm in Chicago but stays close to her roots by gardening and cooking whenever there’s not a deadline. Looking for veganic gardening advice? Follow her on Facebook and Twitter or check out her blog at snarkyvegan.com.


A Vegan Cook and Baker: KELLY PELOZA

Kelly Peloza, author of The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur book and blog, is a cookbook author, photographer, and long time vegan. A Chicago-area native, Kelly now lives in Milwaukee with her bunny, Gnocchi. She's currently finishing her last year of school and completing her second dessert cookbook.
You can find Kelly online here.


A Vegan Parent: KRISTIN KONRADY

Kristin Konrady lives on the Northside of Chicago with her husband, Patrick, & their 10-1/2 month old daughter, Mathilda, along with a menagerie of rescued animals. She spends more time than she cares to admit renovating their 1890 Victorian home. Kristin and her husband enjoy raising their daughter as a vegan.


A Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Expert: NATALLIA PESOLA

Beauty blogger Natallia Pesola will keep you posted on vegan products (both new and old) that make the cut! She loves spreading her knowledge on the importance of a cruelty-free lifestyle. Check out her blog for reviews, ideas and tutorials.




© 2012, Chicago VeganMania