Plenary

John McDougall, MD — Santa Rosa, CA
The McDougall Live-in Program

The Hazards of High Protein Diets (11:45 a.m.)
Physician, educator, and best-selling author John McDougall, M.D. (www.drmcdougall.com/) is one of the world’s foremost proponents of a plant-based diet. Founder of The McDougall Plan for healthy living, Dr. McDougall has been studying and writing about the effects of nutrition on disease for over 20 years. He believes that people should look and feel great, and enjoy optimal health for a lifetime.

Dr. McDougall has developed a nourishing, low-fat, starch-based diet that not only promotes a broad range of dramatic and lasting health benefits such as weight (fat) loss, but most importantly can also reverse serious illness, such as heart disease, without drugs. In his plenary address, Dr. McDougall will eloquently and intelligently expose today’s “high protein” diets and explain why they are not sustainable programs for either optimum health or weight loss.

Howard Lyman — Alexandria, VA
Voice for a Viable Future

The Healthiest Diet on Earth (1:30 p.m.)

Howard Lyman a/k/a “The Mad Cowboy,” gained international recognition as Oprah Winfrey’s co-defendant in the infamous “meat disparagement” trial (www.madcowboy.com/). He is a former fourth generation rancher and farmer who walked away from it all to advocate “not only for our health but for our nation’s sanity as well.” Howard is the past president of both the International Vegetarian Union and EarthSave, as well as the author of Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat Meat. Howard will deliver the keynote address at VegFair in which he will relate the powerful personal story of his transformation from unhealthy carnivore into one of the world’s top vegetarian advocates.

Gene Bauston — Watkins Glen, NY
Farm Sanctuary

The Dangers of Factory Farms (9:00 a.m.)

Now in its 18th year, Farm Sanctuary (www.farmsanctuary.org/) has established America’s premier farm animal shelters and waged effective campaigns to stop farm animal cruelty. In addition to its No Downers, No Veal, and Farm Animal Defense campaigns, Farm Sanctuary promotes a vegan lifestyle. Sanctuary co-founder and president Gene Bauston will lecture on the dangers of current farming methods, and include a screening of Farm Sanctuary’s short video Life Behind Bars.

Peter Burwash — Carmel, CA
Peter Burwash International

Getting & Staying Fit with a Veg Diet (10:15 a.m.)

Peter Burwash is a former #1 ranked professional tennis player in both Canada and Hawaii. He is founder and president of the world’s largest tennis management company, PBI (www.pbitennis.com/); author of eight books, including Peter Burwash’s Vegetarian Primer and Total Health: The Next Level; and a featured speaker to dozens of Fortune 500 companies. Peter, an outspoken and knowledgeable health and fitness advocate, has been vegetarian for over 30 years. He will talk about how to obtain optimum health through diet and exercise.

Alka Chandna, Ph.D. — Norfolk, VA
The Food & Social Justice Project

Going Veg for All the Right Reasons (10:15 a.m.)

Founder of the San Francisco-based Food & Social Justice Project (www.satyamag.com/sept02/chandna.html), Alka Chandna, Ph.D., returns to the Bay Area for the first time since taking a position with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Alka will discuss the health, environmental, and ethical reasons for choosing a vegetarian lifestyle.

Amy Duggan & Olga Schifani — Burton, WA
Center for Vegan Organic Education

Vegan Organic Gardening (9:00 a.m.)

Amy Duggan & Olga Schifani are co-founders of the Center for Vegan Organic Education (www.veganorganiced.org/), an organization which teaches about the importance of food choices. CVOE seeks to return people to their food source, in turn, reconnecting them to their health and their environment. Amy & Olga grow vegetables and herbs through organic and veganic methodsÑgrowing food without the use of animal products. In their seminar you will learn how to grow food the healthiest way possible!

Barbara Gates — El Cajon, CA
Project Healthy Beginnings

Are School Lunches Healthy for Our Children? (4:15 p.m.)

Barbara Gates is a mother and the founder of Project Healthy Beginnings, an organization advocating for a healthy alternative to the current school lunch program (www.veggieschoollunches.com/). American children are getting more obese and unhealthy, in large part because of junk food and the high-fat, government-subsidized menus in our school’s cafeterias. Barbara’s lecture will focus on PHB’s sponsorship of legislation to create a vegetarian school lunch option in California.

Elliot Katz, DVM — Mill Valley, CA
In Defense of Animals

A Screening of The Witness (4:15 p.m.)

Tribe of Heart’s (www.tribeofheart.org/) award-winning documentary, The Witness, is the story of one man’s transformation from animal ambivalent to animal advocate. Elliot Katz, D.V.M., founder and president of In Defense of Animals (www.idausa.org/) will present the screening and lead a discussion of the documentary immediately following.

Jack Norris, RD — Sacramento, CA
Vegan Outreach

Veg Nutrition: How to Stay Healthy (3:00 p.m.)

Co-founder of Vegan Outreach (www.veganoutreach.org/), dietitian Jack Norris, R.D., is the publisher of the bimonthly newsletter Making Sense of Nutrition Research (www.jacknorrisrd.com/). An expert on vegan nutrition, Jack’s lecture will focus on the latest research on—and the benefits of—a vegetarian diet, along with modifications you can make for maximum health.

Kerrie Saunders, Ph.D. — Detroit, MI
VeganSpeak MultiMedia

The Transition Kitchen: Going Veg in One Day (3:00 p.m.)

Kerrie Saunders, Ph.D. is a psychologist, addictions counselor, and fitness consultant. She is the founder of VeganSpeak MultiMedia (www.veganspeak.com/), a purveyor of quality education on the benefits of a truly healthy lifestyle. Dr. Saunders is the author of the just published book The Vegan Diet as Chronic Disease Prevention. Her presentation will teach you how to “go from zero to vegan”—or anywhere in between—overnight! She will show you unbelievably simple ingredient substitutions that can help make the transition to a healthier lifestyle quick and easy, including a lot of new products and brands that you can use in your own home.