Speakers
If you are interested in speaking at Central Florida Veg Fest, please complete the Speaker Application.
Central Florida Veg Fest features several great speakers on a variety of veg-related topics! (more speakers will be posted soon!)
Central Florida Veg Fest features several great speakers on a variety of veg-related topics! (more speakers will be posted soon!)
"From Publix to Pig Paradise--Choosing Compassion through "Eating Mercifully"
Dale West, Rooterville A Sanctuary 11:00 a.m.
A real life experience of a grocery store manager going on a plant-based diet while falling in love with farm animals. Rooterville is home to over 300 rescued animals, many coming from factory farms. They are ambassadors, representing the billions of animals being tortured and then brutishly slaughtered. As a store manager Dale witnessed the daily disconnect people had between their food and what and where it came from. Rooterville's mission "Encourage compassion for all animals" the best way to express this is by not eating them. Each Rootervile resident has a story as each of us do. Sharing their life stories while relating what each of us can do in our "stories" helps to unite humanity with the animal world.
After working over 30 years for Publix Supermarkets, Dale retired to dedicate his time to spreading a message of hope and healing. With his wife and partner, Elaine, they manage the sanctuary teaching humane education and plant-based nutrition. Dale is Director of Rooterville, A Sanctuary and Co-Founder of Life Reclaimed Ministries: Sharing a message of hope and healing through a plant-based lifestyle.
Dale West, Rooterville A Sanctuary 11:00 a.m.
A real life experience of a grocery store manager going on a plant-based diet while falling in love with farm animals. Rooterville is home to over 300 rescued animals, many coming from factory farms. They are ambassadors, representing the billions of animals being tortured and then brutishly slaughtered. As a store manager Dale witnessed the daily disconnect people had between their food and what and where it came from. Rooterville's mission "Encourage compassion for all animals" the best way to express this is by not eating them. Each Rootervile resident has a story as each of us do. Sharing their life stories while relating what each of us can do in our "stories" helps to unite humanity with the animal world.
After working over 30 years for Publix Supermarkets, Dale retired to dedicate his time to spreading a message of hope and healing. With his wife and partner, Elaine, they manage the sanctuary teaching humane education and plant-based nutrition. Dale is Director of Rooterville, A Sanctuary and Co-Founder of Life Reclaimed Ministries: Sharing a message of hope and healing through a plant-based lifestyle.
"Too Old to Change?"
JL Fields, Go Vegan With JL 12:00 p.m.
How one woman morphed from meat-eater to vegetarian, got off the couch, and became a post-40 vegan, athlete, body image warrior, and career changer.
JL Fields is a vegan lifestyle coach & educator, Food for Life instructor, personal chef, career coach, and a corporate consultant offering wellness training, brand representation, and strategic planning services. She is the author of Vegan Pressure Cooking, co-author of Vegan for Her: The Woman's Guide to Being Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet, contributor to Running, Eating, Thinking: A Vegan Anthology, and the vegan dining critic for the Colorado Springs Gazette. JL has studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute and Organic Avenue, and completed the Intensive Study Program at The Christina Pirello School of Natural Cooking and Integrative Health Studies. She is on the faculty of the Main Street Vegan Academy, is certified as a Food for Life Instructor by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and holds a Master degree. JL provides vegan cooking services, lifestyle coaching and classes in Colorado Springs and via phone.
JL Fields, Go Vegan With JL 12:00 p.m.
How one woman morphed from meat-eater to vegetarian, got off the couch, and became a post-40 vegan, athlete, body image warrior, and career changer.
JL Fields is a vegan lifestyle coach & educator, Food for Life instructor, personal chef, career coach, and a corporate consultant offering wellness training, brand representation, and strategic planning services. She is the author of Vegan Pressure Cooking, co-author of Vegan for Her: The Woman's Guide to Being Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet, contributor to Running, Eating, Thinking: A Vegan Anthology, and the vegan dining critic for the Colorado Springs Gazette. JL has studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute and Organic Avenue, and completed the Intensive Study Program at The Christina Pirello School of Natural Cooking and Integrative Health Studies. She is on the faculty of the Main Street Vegan Academy, is certified as a Food for Life Instructor by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and holds a Master degree. JL provides vegan cooking services, lifestyle coaching and classes in Colorado Springs and via phone.
"Fat Guy Drinks Juice"
Bobby Brennan, Fat Guy Drinks Juice 1:00 p.m.
Bobby has been on a weight loss Journey for several years. He discovered what juicing was about by watching the documentary, FAT, SICK, and NEARLY DEAD and then completed two 60 day juice fasts. During this weight journey he has lost well over 200lbs, and is still continuing this journey.
Bobby is a professional bassist. Born and raised on Long Island and New York city, Bobby graduated from The California Institute of the Arts where he studied with Jazz Great Charlie Haden. He has performed with various artists from New York and Orlando, including Michael Andrew, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Les Brown Big band, and has worked on various shows at Disney World and Sea World. Most recently, he finished a 2 year tour with Cirque Du Soleils "Banana Shpeel” and is getting ready to play bass for the upcoming Broadway musical Disenchanted.
Bobby Brennan, Fat Guy Drinks Juice 1:00 p.m.
Bobby has been on a weight loss Journey for several years. He discovered what juicing was about by watching the documentary, FAT, SICK, and NEARLY DEAD and then completed two 60 day juice fasts. During this weight journey he has lost well over 200lbs, and is still continuing this journey.
Bobby is a professional bassist. Born and raised on Long Island and New York city, Bobby graduated from The California Institute of the Arts where he studied with Jazz Great Charlie Haden. He has performed with various artists from New York and Orlando, including Michael Andrew, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Les Brown Big band, and has worked on various shows at Disney World and Sea World. Most recently, he finished a 2 year tour with Cirque Du Soleils "Banana Shpeel” and is getting ready to play bass for the upcoming Broadway musical Disenchanted.
"The Secrets to an Empty Medicine Cabinet"
Dustin Rudolph, Pursue a Healthy You 2:00 p.m.
Dustin's presentation begins by defining what optimal health is. Then a look into the use of medications to treat chronic diseases is undertaken. He discusses heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and prostate cancer and compare the difference in using medications versus a whole food, plant-based diet. All information given is backed up by the evidence-based scientific and medical literature. He closes with an invitation to learn more about adopting a whole food, plant-based lifestyle through his book "The Empty Medicine Cabinet: The Pharmacist's Guide to the Hidden Danger of Drugs and the Healing Powers of Food".
With over a decade of experience in the field of pharmacy, Dustin Rudolph, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist currently practicing in an acute care hospital setting. He graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2002 from North Dakota State University in Fargo. In 2009, Dustin adopted a vegetarian diet, and then a whole foods, plant-based diet a year later. He founded his website (www.PlantBasedPharmacist.com) with a goal of providing reliable, high-quality, evidence-based health and wellness information to improve the knowledge of both patients and medical professionals. He continued his education in the field of healthcare in 2010 by earning a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition through the T. Colin Campbell Foundation and Cornell University. Dustin has become an expert in nutrition and lifestyle medicine. He is an educator, speaker, and author helping others learn how to prevent and reverse chronic disease by adopting a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle..
Dustin Rudolph, Pursue a Healthy You 2:00 p.m.
Dustin's presentation begins by defining what optimal health is. Then a look into the use of medications to treat chronic diseases is undertaken. He discusses heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and prostate cancer and compare the difference in using medications versus a whole food, plant-based diet. All information given is backed up by the evidence-based scientific and medical literature. He closes with an invitation to learn more about adopting a whole food, plant-based lifestyle through his book "The Empty Medicine Cabinet: The Pharmacist's Guide to the Hidden Danger of Drugs and the Healing Powers of Food".
With over a decade of experience in the field of pharmacy, Dustin Rudolph, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist currently practicing in an acute care hospital setting. He graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2002 from North Dakota State University in Fargo. In 2009, Dustin adopted a vegetarian diet, and then a whole foods, plant-based diet a year later. He founded his website (www.PlantBasedPharmacist.com) with a goal of providing reliable, high-quality, evidence-based health and wellness information to improve the knowledge of both patients and medical professionals. He continued his education in the field of healthcare in 2010 by earning a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition through the T. Colin Campbell Foundation and Cornell University. Dustin has become an expert in nutrition and lifestyle medicine. He is an educator, speaker, and author helping others learn how to prevent and reverse chronic disease by adopting a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle..
"Veganizing Via Video: Effective Digital Activism & The Bite Size Vegan Story"
Emily Barwick, Bite Size Vegan 3:00 p.m.
In this day in age people connect the most through digital means and social media. We are a visual culture with a waning attention span and it's important that those working to spread the message of veganism find ways to educate within this paradigm. Emily will share with you her personal journey with video activism, including her inconvenient tech-phobia and missteps, as well as speak to the key components of developing your own digital activism. She will also share some of the Bite Size Vegan videos and save time for questions.
Emily Moran Barwick is the creator of the ever-expanding video resource Bite Size Vegan. She is an artist, writer, activist, vegan educator, animal-lover, book-worm, fruit-ninja, and…well, bite-size vegan! She is passionate about the rights of non-human animals. Her "official" credentials are BA, MA, MFS, RYT, CPT, BFD [bachelors, masters, masters of fine arts, registered yoga teacher, certified personal trainer, and big f*ckin deal ;) ] She began the Bite Size Vegan project with the desire to make a difference for the animals. She wants to help people understand veganism--that it's not an exclusive club, fad diet, or elitist social movement, but rather a logical, compassionate, rational approach to life, especially in regards to the lives of others. There is a LOT of information and misinformation on veganism out there. Bite Size Vegan is here to help with short, digestible "nuggets" of info, kept brief for your modern attention span. Emily says "my hope is to help people really look at our reasoning behind what we do to animals; to examine our justifications more deeply than 'that’s the way it’s always been'.""
Emily Barwick, Bite Size Vegan 3:00 p.m.
In this day in age people connect the most through digital means and social media. We are a visual culture with a waning attention span and it's important that those working to spread the message of veganism find ways to educate within this paradigm. Emily will share with you her personal journey with video activism, including her inconvenient tech-phobia and missteps, as well as speak to the key components of developing your own digital activism. She will also share some of the Bite Size Vegan videos and save time for questions.
Emily Moran Barwick is the creator of the ever-expanding video resource Bite Size Vegan. She is an artist, writer, activist, vegan educator, animal-lover, book-worm, fruit-ninja, and…well, bite-size vegan! She is passionate about the rights of non-human animals. Her "official" credentials are BA, MA, MFS, RYT, CPT, BFD [bachelors, masters, masters of fine arts, registered yoga teacher, certified personal trainer, and big f*ckin deal ;) ] She began the Bite Size Vegan project with the desire to make a difference for the animals. She wants to help people understand veganism--that it's not an exclusive club, fad diet, or elitist social movement, but rather a logical, compassionate, rational approach to life, especially in regards to the lives of others. There is a LOT of information and misinformation on veganism out there. Bite Size Vegan is here to help with short, digestible "nuggets" of info, kept brief for your modern attention span. Emily says "my hope is to help people really look at our reasoning behind what we do to animals; to examine our justifications more deeply than 'that’s the way it’s always been'.""
"Destination Vegan: Travel. Vegan food."
Jasmine Ryan, Destination Vegan 4:00 p.m.
What is Destination Vegan? A new travel and vegan dining show! We're here to celebrate awesome places and explore their vegan cultures. Join us as we show you this up-and-coming t.v. series, answer your questions, and invite you to design an episode!
Jasmine Ryan, Destination Vegan 4:00 p.m.
What is Destination Vegan? A new travel and vegan dining show! We're here to celebrate awesome places and explore their vegan cultures. Join us as we show you this up-and-coming t.v. series, answer your questions, and invite you to design an episode!
"Smashing Hunger, Squashing Poverty"
Keith McHenry, Food Not Bombs 5:00 p.m.
Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry with be sharing a vision of a vegan future with compassion, social justice, and a healthy environment with the global Food Not Bombs movement while demonstrating how to make a tasty non-gmo tofu spread sure to encourage every omnivore to go vegan.
Keith lives with his partner and fellow Food Not Bombs activist, Abbi Samuels, in Santa Cruz, California and Taos, New Mexico. He enjoys tending to their gardens, sharing meals with the hungry, maintaining one of the movement's websites and helping coordinate logistics for Food Not Bombs. He is an experienced public speaker giving presentations at colleges and conferences all over the world. Keith also draws, paints, and writes about social justice issues.
Keith McHenry, Food Not Bombs 5:00 p.m.
Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry with be sharing a vision of a vegan future with compassion, social justice, and a healthy environment with the global Food Not Bombs movement while demonstrating how to make a tasty non-gmo tofu spread sure to encourage every omnivore to go vegan.
Keith lives with his partner and fellow Food Not Bombs activist, Abbi Samuels, in Santa Cruz, California and Taos, New Mexico. He enjoys tending to their gardens, sharing meals with the hungry, maintaining one of the movement's websites and helping coordinate logistics for Food Not Bombs. He is an experienced public speaker giving presentations at colleges and conferences all over the world. Keith also draws, paints, and writes about social justice issues.
