Featured Presenter – Linda Woolven & Ted Snider
For Linda Woolven and Ted Snider, owners of the Natural Path, vegetarian journey started when they were on their honeymoon in Greece twenty-four years ago. They were sitting on the most beautiful beach in the world, when Linda turned to Ted and said, “Half the people in the world live by killing animals; half the world lives by not killing animals. We’re on our own now and can do whatever we want: let’s not kill animals.”
Ted’s says, the trick to adjusting to a vegetarian diet is loving the food your eating. If you are eating steak, you don’t miss lobster; if you are eating a delicious meatless dish, you don’t miss meat dishes. So the first thing to do is get a great vegetarian cookbook. Soon you realize that you are only giving up a few things and inheriting a world of exotic things. Linda is a brilliant cook who creates delicious dishes out nowhere. So she got to work on writing her first vegetarian cookbook. They cooked each recipe to try it out and lived on a new, exciting dish every day. For the first couple of years, they never ate the same dish twice. How exciting!
“Have you ever wondered why everyone at the Vegetarian Food Festival knows that vegetarianism is better for you and better for the planet and everyone not at the Vegetarian Food Festival believes that it is not? The reason is because the media, whose job it is to report facts to the public, consistently underrepresents and misrepresents the scientific studies on vegetarianism to the public. Since most people don’t read the medical journals, they are dependent on the media to tell them what the medical journals say. So because the media under and misrepresents them and never recommends–are rarely even mentions–vegetarianism, even the best informed people think we are wrong when we tell them vegetarianism is healthier. And that is perhaps the biggest thing standing in the way of spreading the word on vegetarianism: they are trying to spread the word to a public who, based on responsible reading, already believes the word is wrong.”
Linda and Ted will take a tour of the landmark studies on vegetarianism of the past couple of years, show how the major media in Toronto reported on them, and then show what the studies actually showed. The pattern of underreporting and misreporting the studies will be exposed.
They both are excited being at such a large celebration of vegetarianism and being with so many people who want to live nonviolently in harmony with animals and nature. They are looking forward to learning lots of new stuff. But, secretly, Ted is looking most forward to eating!
Their talk, “The V Word: Media Representations of Vegetarian Diets”, will take place on September 9th at 4:30pm in Miss Lou’s Room
Featured Cooking Demonstrator – Lisa Pitman
Lisa Pitman, a full time social workers and raw certified chef has been a vegetarian since the age of six. Lisa became a vegan quite early owing to her body’s inability to digest animal proteins. But that decision-to eliminate animal foods-she says “changed her life” Lisa continued interest in veganism saw her becoming an ethical vegan when she turned 16. She enjoys doing cooking demos, creates food-based outreach events and contributes recipes for One Green Planet and Toronto Vegetarian Association.
Every year, she says, she looks forward to the “reunion with like-minded friends, hearing current research about plants, tasting fantastic veg products just hitting the market, and walking away from the weekend full of energy, inspiration and passion”.
This year, Nicole Axworthy and Lisa Pitman will teach you fantastic tips and tricks they have discovered over decades of thriving on plants. If you are new to plant-based eating, or simply looking for more ways to stretch your time and money, you’ll walk away with some new insights and sensational samples!
Join Lisa Pitman and Nicole Axworthy’s cooking demonstration, “10 Super Secrets That Make Eating Vegan Cheap, Fast & Fun at 12:00 pm in the Lakeside Terrance.
Featured Exhibitor – New Moon Kitchen
New Moon Kitchen is an all-natural gourmet bakery that has been devoted to making delicious and healthy baked goods since 1997.
They have been part of this festival for years and its always something they look forward to every September. They love to meet their cookie fans and give out sample to people who have never heard of them before. They really like the look a person’s face when they run through their lists of allergies and they can say, “Yes, you can eat these”.
New Moon Kitchen will be bringing back their Love Bites cookies that they usually only run for Valentine’s day. They will also run a special deal on the cookies and granola during the festival!
Find New Moon at the festival all weekend long in the International Marketplace
Featured Entertainment – Larra Skye
Larra Skye is a singer/songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Her album of original music, The World Disappears was the #1 bestselling independent jazz album of 2006 for national retailer HMV.
This summer, Larra, just finished a music album this summer, which has kept her busy for a while now and will keep her busy until she releases the album in February! Aside from that, and songwriting, she loves to cook and bake, jog, bike and read (mainly modern fiction). She tries to check out all the vegan restaurants and cafés that are opening up in the city. Her favourite right now is Tori’s in the Beaches. She took a meditation course in the spring and is doing some painting in the fall. She loves Toronto for its beaches, never-ending events, live music, people, and communities.
Listen to Larra Skype perform at the festival on September 8th at 4:00 pm on the Redpath Stage
