Speakers
Central Florida Veg Fest features several great speakers on a variety of veg-related topics! Veg Fest is hosted by Jenna Bardroff and Kevin Layton of Forest Sponsor Solutionary Events and Julie Watkins of Garden Sponsor The Girls Gone Green.
11:00 a.m. Introducing: Plant-Powered Pro Wrestling Star Austin Aries
Austin Aries, Food Fight

Austin Aries simultaneously began his journey in the unique world of professional wrestling and the equally misunderstood world of vegetarianism in 2000. Since converting to a completely vegan diet in 2012, he has become an outspoken advocate and ambassador of a plant-based lifestyle. He recently released his first book, Food Fight, which is a revealing memoir that chronicles his rise in the pro wrestling ranks, all while detailing the evolution leading him to his plant-based lifestyle. He hopes by sharing his story it encourages change in how we look at the importance and impact of our food choices and how opening your mind to a more plant-based lifestyle can be a positively life changing decision. (Sorry, he will not be in spandex tights for this engagement).

Professional wrestling superstar Austin Aries has, over the course of his 17-year career, become known worldwide for his athletic skills in the ring and his charismatic verbal skills on the mic. His impressive resume includes over 20 championship titles, most notably in Ring of Honor Wrestling (First 2x World Champion, World Tag-Team) and TNA (World Heavyweight, World Tag-Team, and 6-time X Division Champion). In early 2016, Aries signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and quickly established himself, both as a wrestler and color commentator, appearing weekly on RAW and competing at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, FL. In July of this year, Aries and WWE mutually agreed to part ways, allowing Austin to focus on another of his passion: his plant-based lifestyle advocacy.
12:00 p.m. Beat Diabetes With a Vegan Diet
Myriam Parham, Florida Voices for Animals

Myriam will discuss studies and results of plant-based programs and diabetes. Will include information on several programs she has personally worked with such as; PCRMs GEICO study (she worked on this study at the Lakeland, FL GEICO site), programs at Florida Hospital system, such as Dr. Hans Diehl's CHIP program and hospital-based Creation Health programs. Will also share info on benefits of plant-based vegan diets and practical tips, fun facts, and foods that are must to include.

Myriam Parham, RD, CDE, CLC  is a Registered Dietitian, a Certified Diabetes Educator, and a Certified Lactation Consultant. She coordinates and teaches multiple programs which promote plant-based lifestyle at the Florida Hospital Zephyrhills; is president and co-founder of Florida Voices for Animals, Inc., has been a frequent speaker at the North American Vegetarian Society's Vegetarian Summerfest, and has served on the PCRM Professional Advisory board for many years. She was one of the site coordinators/educators at the Lakeland office for the GEICO Diabetes Study conducted by PCRM. She is the mother of a healthy, active, and thriving teenager who was raised vegan.
1:00 p.m. Healthy Vegan Families with the Power of Raw Food
Karen Ranzi, Super Healthy Children

In this interactive discussion, Karen will guide you to: Increase your family's physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Understand how early development and eating patterns are linked to future health and wellbeing. Learn healthy nutrition for pregnancy, infants, growing children, transitioning children, teenagers, and young adults. Learn to manage weight, relieve allergy symptoms, and increase attending skills through solid nutritional principles. Receive fun and successful tips for getting families on board for increasing the nutrient-dense fresh plant foods in their diet. Learn healthy easy recipe replacements for cooked, processed, and refined foods.

Karen Ranzi, M.A. is an award-winning author, international motivational speaker, raw vegan coach and certified natural foods chef, and a speech/language/feeding therapist. She is the owner of SuperHealthyChildren.com and SuperHealthyRaw.com. Karen will lead Love Raw Food and Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica in February 2018 with her daughter Gabriela. Karen travels throughout the United States and abroad to present her impassioned message about health and healing with vegan nutrition. Karen is a writer for VegWorld Magazine, Vegan Health and Fitness Magazine, Eternity Watch Magazine, Fruit Powered Digest, and Healing Our World Magazine. In 1994, Karen was able to heal her three year old son from severe asthma, chronic ear infections and multiple allergies, and herself from digestive and skin problems through dietary and lifestyle changes. By means of her education, life-changing personal experiences, and sincere desire to share her message, Karen has been able to guide thousands toward developing excellent health through plant-based living.
2:00 p.m. What a Fish Knows
Jonathan Balcombe, What a Fish Knows

A dynamic, richly illustrated tour of the remarkable lives of the world's most underestimated and maligned vertebrates: fishes. The presentation closes with a discussion of the troubled, evolving human-fish relationship and how we can help fishes.

Jonathan Balcombe is a biologist, author, and life-long animal advocate. He has a PhD in ethology from the University of Tennessee, where he studied communication in bats. His books include Pleasurable Kingdom, Second Nature, and The Exultant Ark also present animals in a new light and anticipate a revolution in the human-animal relationship. His latest book, the New York Times bestseller "What a Fish Knows", explores the private lives of the planet's most misunderstood and maligned vertebrates. Balcombe is Director for Animal Sentience with The Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy, based in Washington, DC. He is also a founding editor of Animal Sentience, the first scholarly journal of animal feeling. A popular commentator, he has appeared on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, National Geographic, and The Nature of Things. He lives in south Florida where he enjoys biking, baking, birding, Bach, and trying to understand the lizards on his patio.
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3:00 p.m. Create Thriving Health and Eliminate Disease with Natural Hygiene
Amy Hager, Self Healing Inspiration

This seminar teaches the principals of creating thriving health and eliminating disease through Natural Hygiene. What is Natural Hygiene and how can it help? Learn the Law of Similars. What are the best foods for humans eat, what are factors to create health besides food, and what are the basics of water only fasting and food combining? Amy will also go over our three macro nutrients: fats, carbohydrates and proteins, as well as debunking the protein myth. This seminar will teach you how to thrive, wake up with full energy, have better workouts, and live a happy pain-free life. If you have an auto-immune diseases, it will help you to eliminate it. Learn how to take excellent care of the most magnificent machine you will ever encounter: your body.

Amy Hager is the owner of Self Healing Inspiration, a company that mottos empowering self healing. The company is excited to present Plant Based Yoga Eco-Adventure in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in January 2018. Amy teaches Natural Hygiene, whole food plant based recipes and shopping, yoga, Thai yoga bodywork, pilates, TRX, and meditation. She has a passion for nutrition after watching her mother suffer with Crohn's disease for over 25 years, watching her husband heal his Lyme disease, and healing her own eczema and chronic sinus infections. She truly wants to help people avoid unnecessary pain and suffering.
4:00 p.m. How the Livestock Industry Increases Global Hunger
Dawn Moncrief, A Well-Fed World

This presentation will explain why consumption of animal-sourced foods (meat, dairy, and eggs) is increasing on a global scale and why decreases in the United States are critically important. It will detail the inefficient use of crops and natural resources and outline some of the tangible connections between animal consumption, global hunger, and climate change. Included will be points about the deceptive use of humane labels and statistics, as well as an explanation of why switching to grass-fed livestock hurts the environment and global food security.

Dawn Moncrief is the Founder and Executive Director of A Well-Fed World, an international hunger relief and animal protection organization that partners with and financially strengthens vegan feeding programs for people in need, farm animal care and rescue efforts, and vegan advocacy campaigns. She holds two master's degrees from The George Washington University, one in international relations, the other in women's studies--both with a focus on economic development. Her work highlights the ways in which high levels of meat consumption in the U.S. and internationally exacerbate global hunger and climate change. She also focuses on the ethical and environmental misconceptions in gifting animals for food in poor countries and the misleading nature of humane labels.
5:00 p.m. Vegan Transition
Grey, the Vegan Rapper, Official Grey Music

Grey, the Vegan Rapper will explain how his vegan transition changed his life, the way he lives, the effects it had on his friends and family, and how he creates his music. He never thought he would be a vegan. Once he felt the difference there was no going back. Yes, veganism changed his life, but it's the stuff they don't tell you that changed his life forever.

Grey is one of the hottest emerging artists at the intersection between activism, urban style, & hip hop. A growing Atlanta institution in his own right, Grey became one of the most talked about acts of 2016 after his Vegan Thanksgiving freestyle & music video took the internet by storm. His superb, cerebral, and soulful flow ensured that his message went global, earning him 45,000 new followers and nods from Russell Simmons, DL Hughley, Ellie Goulding, Unilad, Worldstar, and Baller Alert. Notching a total of 23 million views, he was catapulted from local stardom to the global stage. Even PETA and Whole Foods supported his release, proving the cross-marketability of Grey and his message. A lyricist, activist, and social entrepreneur, Grey is nothing short of refreshing. With a clear, understandable, and sophisticated flow, Grey is an artist to watch in 2017.