First, my plant-based diet story.
In the early 90’s, I read a New Yorker article about the brilliant animal behaviorist Temple Grandin, who also happens to be autistic. Her exceptional understanding of animals led her to design humane slaughterhouses (now there’s an oxymoron!).
No one voluntarily thinks about slaughterhouses. They are hidden from view. Meat arrives in kitchens in tidy wrapped packages, to be roasted, boiled, browned, baked, sautéed, or fried. But once I began to be aware of the source of that meat–living, sentient animals who wanted to live just as much as I did–I could no longer eat meat. It became repellent to me, and I became a vegetarian.
Five years ago, I eliminated the other animal foods–dairy and eggs. Dairy had always been a problem for me because I’m lactose intolerant. Plus, it just seems weird to drink the milk of another species. Humans don’t even drink our own species’ milk, after infancy! Cruelty also drove me away from eggs. Who lays eggs? Girl chickens. The boy chicks are immediately killed: gassed, ground up, or thrown into trash bags. Would that be okay for bluebirds, or eagles, or herons? No.
So now my diet is vegan. A few items come out of a box–brown rice pasta, soy curls, a stash of Gardein in the freezer–but I eat mostly whole foods.
My life story is a zig-zag up and down the East Coast. I grew up in Riverton, New Jersey with three younger sisters, until my parents moved us to Florida where I spent the next 17 years. I went to college for a BS in math, taught math, then wanted a better income so I went to the University of Missouri for a PhD in operations research. I spent 16 years in the consulting world in Massachusetts and northern Virginia, working with defense and intelligence agencies. My husband Mac and I raised five children, and we now have seven grandchildren. I understand the challenges of feeding kids a healthy diet!
Then, I made a drastic change in my life. I left my job and moved to Pittsboro, North Carolina to open a vegetarian bed & breakfast, which I ran for 18 years. I also wrote fiction, publishing two mysteries and a collection of short stories, which you can read about on my other website.
After I sold the B&B, I decided on my mission: to normalize the plant-based way of eating. I completed a certificate in plant-based nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at Cornell. In 2019, I became an instructor of the Food for Life curriculum developed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I completed the professional plant-based cooking course offered by Rouxbe, the world’s leading online culinary school.
I teach cooking classes, give talks, and hand-hold as people sort out their kitchens, their pantries, and their menus. I love to help people plan menus, batch cook, try new foods, and understand the nutrition of the plant-based way of eating.
Eating plant-based helps people feel great, lowers their risk of chronic diseases, and makes their doctors happy.