SuperFood Drive Staff

San Diego has many people working to make a difference, and one that shines with her efforts at promoting health and veggie food while solving the hunger problem is Ruthi Bozman-Moss Solari, a Certified Nutritionist through the Natural Healing Institute of Naturopathy.

According to the latest study by Feeding America, one in eight Americans are dependent upon food banks. Solari started a nonprofit called SuperFood Drive in June 2009 when she saw the opportunity to provide nutritious foods to an enormous target population.

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Christy Morgan

In almost 20 years of being vegan I have not heard much about the diet being combined with macrobiotics, so perhaps Los Angeles’ lovely Christy Morgan — aka The Blissful Chef — has created a niche for herself. With seven years of experience being vegan plus training in vegan and vegetarian cooking she received at The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts, Morgan helps people create a holistic approach that combines the body, spirit and mind while focusing on vegan nutrition.

In her highly informative and friendly style, Morgan outlines her 10 favorite macrobiotic websites on her blog.

Her new eCookbook, “Cooking with the Seasons – Spring Edition:  A Blissful Selection of Seasonal Recipes to Nourish You Throughout Spring” gives details on the 5 Element theory and has a beautiful chart that explains which foods and cooking methods are best for this time of year.

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Gary in Action

Gary Yourofsky, who founded Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow (ADAPTT) in 1996, the same year he became a vegan, is seriously dedicated to preventing cruelty to animals. He has lectured to more than 50,000 students nationwide over the years. While 99 percent of his talks are in college classrooms, a few are in elementary, middle, and high schools.

“My 60-minute lecture is on veganism, the only way to express genuine kindness to ALL animals.  I do 30 minutes on ethics, 15 on health, 10 on what to eat/how to eat, and 5 on the environment,” he said.  He makes it clear he does not preach to the choir — the lectures are in private classes for philosophy, ethics, women’s studies, and other subjects.

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L.A. Veggie Activists

A group of about 15 volunteers met on Feb. 20 to discuss their newly formed Advisory Board of Compassion Over Killing (COK) in Los Angeles.  Over lunch at SunPower Natural Cafe in Studio City and guided by Prabhat Gautam of Positive Television, they discussed online marketing,  outreach to restaurants and schools, fundraisers, and more.

Devin Murphy, a COK Board member, explained that in L.A. there was a vacuum — more outreach and focus on farm animal issues were needed. The group will build a strong vegan community by bringing people from different areas of L.A. into one place, and tapping into the existing vegetarian community that is not yet active.  They also want to connect people from different high schools, colleges, universities and meetup groups. The L.A. region has many vegetarian and vegan restaurants, but the Board plans to increase vegan options at non-vegan restaurants.

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Lovely Mimi

Mimi Kirk is the beautiful woman known for recently winning PETA’s “Sexiest Vegetarians Over 50″ contest. Now 71, she was the oldest contestant. Kirk told Fox 5 she feels like she is in her 20s because of the raw foods diet she started two years ago when age-related diseases, high cholesterol/blood pressure, and arthritis were making appearances.

“Even though I was very healthy and a vegetarian for the better part of 40 years, I did not want to take drugs. So I researched and found the raw food diet,” said Kirk.

She lost weight, took care of the aging-related diseases, and now feels full of energy.

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Cheesecakes by Earth Cafe

Vegan dessert options have seriously improved over the years and now cater not only to those who avoid eggs and dairy but people who steer clear of gluten and processed sugars. Some companies have taken extra steps to create products that make you feel as if you are truly indulging, even though you are enjoying healthy treats.

Take Earth Cafe, for one. Sold at natural foods stores, larger grocery stores, and other spots in California as well as online, their 10 different raw, vegan, wheat/gluten-free cheesecakes are creamy, rich and decadent. Rockin’ Raspberry and Banana Cream are excellent as are the others I have tried.

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The Veg-Appeal Ladies

People in San Diego are lucky that three food-loving ladies who have all been vegans for nearly 20 years decided to combine their expertise and passions.  Early this year, Sheila Fisher, Marge Wurgel, and Tracy Childs started to educate people about the health and planetary benefits of the vegan diet through their business called Veg-Appeal.

Marge was teaching vegan cooking in San Diego.  Tracy teaches vegan cooking classes through The Cancer Project, an offshoot of Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine. Sheila worked as a dietary counselor for the UCSD Cancer Center, where she was the only one at work following a vegan diet.

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Marti and Her Three Daughters

My mother Marti Paskal is a great role model for healthy eating and reducing cruelty to animals. She will also always be appreciated for supporting my decision at only four years old to go vegetarian, a passion that has lasted over 30 years.

Marti grew up in Ohio in the 40’s and 50’s when it was unheard of to be vegetarian. All the moms cooked meatloaf, chicken, and steaks. After her fifth grade class visited a farm, she was the only kid who refused to eat chicken for months after seeing how they were slaughtered.

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For years we have been  hearing about the rapid destruction of the planet, and people are finally making the link between the food they eat and the environmental crisis.   Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States,  is known for passionately advocating for climate change through his book and film “Inconvenient Truth.”  The vegetarian community has been hoping Gore would take the next step and declare he was becoming a vegetarian.

Since “Inconvenient Truth,” Gore has led over 30 Solutions Summits to address the climate crisis. He is a co-founder of Live Earth, which famously held online global concerts in seven continents in 2007, inspiring 2 billion people to take environmental action. They are planning a run in April for the water crisis.

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It’s motivational to meet a couple with shared life passions who bring positive change to the community.  Jason Rotman and Pia Kanekoa are a lovely engaged San Diego pair who hope to empower and enlighten people on the path of spiritual discovery, optimal nutrition and happy living.

With a healthy and grounded glow about them, Jason and Pia are surefire role models for the raw foods diet. Almost two years ago, a one-week trial brought so much clarity, energy and spiritual connection — commonly named results of the raw foods diet — that they decided to be permanent raw foodists. Before that, Jason was a vegetarian for one year, and Pia had been a sometimes vegetarian for 10 years. Their daughter Makalea, 7, is mostly vegan.

“Kids are the future and our responsibility is to give them a foundation of health,” said Pia.

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