WorldFest 2010

I just returned from a wonderful day at WorldFest. It was similar to last year, but my personal experience was quite difference. Going there on a gluten-free and soy-free diet definitely restricted my food options, but I felt great the entire day and had some fabulous food.

• Rawsheed had an awesome combo plate with his new pizza, a salad, and soup. He is opening a new cafe soon, which will be entirely gluten-free and oil-free!
  
  

Women of the Green Generation - impact of food on health and environment

The Women of the Green Generation event last week was really wonderful. Though it was a smaller crowd than normal, there was beautiful energy and the conversations were mainly about food and health. I spoke on a panel along with some of my favorite women in town:

• Heather Lounsbury
• Pam Sterling
• Rachel Avalon
• Silvie and Maryl Celiz

I was also excited to see a bunch of my friends in attendance, including chef Christy Morgan and vegan scientist Vanessa Meier. Robert Cheeke came along (despite it being a mainly female event) and helped me with video and photography.

Delicious food was prepared by chefs Rawsheed and Tigre, and the event was held at the beautiful LEED certified Evo-South building in Downtown L.A. The event was hosted by the lovely Kris Willey and Elisa Brown.

Here is a video summary of what we discussed (gave a shoutout to Forks Over Knives at the end):

TONIGHT: Whitney speaking at Women of the Green Generation Earth Day event

I am thrilled to be part of an upcoming Women of the Green Generation panel in honor of Earth Day. I am joining my good friends Pam Sterling, Heather Lounsbury, and Rachel Avalon and we'll be talking about the food we eat and how it impacts our planet and our health. My pals Rawsheed and Tigre will be providing vegan appetizers. It will be at the beautiful Evo eco condos in Downtown L.A. (check out pictures from the last event here)

I hope you join us - you can buy tickets online or at the event.

Wednesday April 28, 2010
Time: 7- 10 pm

Location: Evo-South 1155 South Grand  Los Angeles, CA 90015 (hosted in the roof top lounge)

Parking is easy and affordable - there are parking lots directly across from Evo on Grand Street - the lots are either free or as little as $5 -there is also street parking at meters which is usually free after 6 pm -But please read all signs for restrictions


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Anna Getty's new book "Easy Green Organic" launches at Rolling Greens

Rachel Sarnoff of EcoStiletto really knows how to throw a great party, and Anna Getty knows how to make beautiful green books, so their event last night at Rolling Greens was really wonderful. In fact, I can honestly say this was one of the best events I've been to in L.A., mainly because of all of the great people who were there. I admit I was so distracted by my conversations that I only caught a glimpse of Anna's new book, Easy Green Organic, but I'll be sure to review it eventually.


Aside from Rachel & Anna, I enjoyed the company of:

• Carolyn Scott
• Don Bodin (my music composer)
• Heather Lounsbury
• Karynne Boese
• Laura Klein
• Marty Stevens-Heebner
• Rachel Avalon
• Rebecca Harrell Tickell & Josh Tickell
• Siel
• Silvie Celiz
• Tracy Hepler

There was also some yummy vegan food, including a delicious strawberry salad, sesame noodles with tofu, Nicobella chocolates, O.N.E. coconut water cocktails with 360 organic vodka, and wine from Frey Vineyards. Rolling Greens nursery is really pretty, and it's definitely worth a trip to check it out.

Talking to Ed Begley Jr. about being eco-vegan

My friend Heather Lounsbury has a great radio show on health, and today Ed Begley Jr. was her guest. I called in and asked him: "what is do you think is the key to helping people learn to care about changing the way they eat and treat the planet?"

He suggested reading Mad Cowboy (on my list) and said vegan food is "flavorful, delicious food, you won't miss the meat" and is "the right way to live", comparing cattle farms to the Dachau concentration camp. As for the eco side of it, he mentioned how many resources it takes to raise meat compared to growing broccoli in the backyard like he does. "Less meat is better for you, certainly for the cattle, for the planet.". For meat-eaters, he recommended several of my favorite restaurants in L.A., such as Madeleine Bistro.

Check out the recording below - Ed had a lot of great things to say (he "walks the walk", as Heather pointed out). For instance, I learned that he is selling his famous green home in L.A. - can you imagine buying that?! Overall, he came across as very modest, especially when he talked about his Begley's Best products as if no-one knew about them! Search Amazon.com for Begley's Best

At the end, Heather gave me a great shout-out (she's the best)! Please tune into her show every week - she has fantastic guests that are right up your alley! : )

Women of the Green Generation presents Hot, Rich, & Green

Women of the Green Generation is a fantastic networking event for...well, women of the green generation (in other words, female entrepreneurs in the green world). I attended it for the 2nd time last night and it was even better than the 1st, mainly because it featured Rebecca Harrell Tickell and her new book Hot, Rich, & Green. Now, I'm a little biased because I assisted in the production of the book, but Rebecca's talk really blew me away (I really wish I had it on video, but luckily her wonderful husband Josh had that covered - hopefully that will be available to watch soon). Her acting background was evident in her confidence, poise, and accessibility - I was hanging on every word she said, even though I'd heard it all before. I really believe that Rebecca is going to change the world by inspiring women to follow their passions. I highly recommend you pick up a copy the book, and if you're interested in inviting Rebecca to speak at your own event you can contact her through the website.

After Rebecca spoke there was a panel of women featured in the book, including Siel, Anna Getty, Kris Willey, Elif Beall, and Andrea Robinson. Tracy Hepler also spoke. They shared their stories of success and gave advice on running green businesses - this was also very inspirational. 

There were a few vendors there, including Tia's Bakery, Golden Earth, and ChocoVivo. Food was provided by the lovely Large Marge Sustainables - delicious as always.

I was excited to attend the event with my pal Heather Lounsbury, and ran into wonderful women such as Laura Klein, Julie Naylon, Merle Morgan and Elisa Brown (who did an excellent job co-hosting the event). 

This WOTGG event reminded me why I love living in Los Angeles - there is such an incredible community of powerful people doing amazing things. Not to mention, this event was held at a fantastic location - at a penthouse in a LEED certified building downtown called EVO - the view was gorgeous. Though the energy in this city can be a little hectic and negative, if you break through the clutter you can find some sensational individuals and spectacular places.

I highly recommend you check out their next event...if you're a women that is. And if you do go, try to carpool or take public transportation (like the Big Blue Bus)

Natural Products Expo West: Saturday, March 13, 2010

And I thought yesterday was fun...

Today I spent another 4 hours at the Expo and it was wonderful because I had a lot more free time - but it still wasn't enough! I realized I was walking around way too slow when I discovered how many companies were actually there! Next time I go I will have to stay at a nearby hotel and just go to it non-stop - that's the only way to make the most of it.

What I love most about the Expo is getting to meet the people behind the products. Though I've experienced that with small companies at other events, this event has much more draw and therefore all the big-wigs of the large companies are there. For example, I finally met the CEO of Daiya (Greg), which was incredible. I was even introduced to Heather Mills at her V-Bites/Cheezly booth (they were serving delicious pizza using crust from Cruzer, and the big news is that they're going to be doing frozen pizzas together!)! Then I ran into Bart and Joy from Candle 79 - so great to see them. And I spent my day walking around with my pal Heather Lounsbury, who is going to interview a bunch of the people we met on her radio show.

One of the my favorite moments was at the Daiya booth. While I was talking to Greg a woman walked up to thank him, because she was able to make macaroni and cheese for her autistic children for the first time, and she started to cry - Greg gave her a hug. It was so wonderful to witness a moment like that, and it shows that I'm not the only one who believes that Daiya is changing the world! Not to mention, they have retail packaging now and will be in all Whole Foods and hopefully other natural markets - finally!!!!

Here's a list of some of the delicious food I saw there:

• Bernod Spin City cotton candy
• Bragg Live Foods
• Buenatural vegetarian tamales
• Coconut Bliss
• Dr. Lucy's Cookies (Lucy herself was there!)
• Earth Balance Natural Spreads
• Ener-G Foods
• Humane Choice
• Mary's Gone Crackers (they have new vegan cookies, and Mary was there!)
• Moo Moo's Vegetarian Cuisine
• Mrs. May's Naturals
• Natural Life Pet Products
• Nicobella - vegan organic dark chocolate truffles
• Oogavé - The Original Agave Soda
• PetGuard
• Primal Spirit Foods vegan jerky
• Rising Moon Organics
• Sharkies
• Sjaak's Organic Chocolates (their new vegan milk chocolate hazelnut bites are out of this world!!!)
• Tandoor Chef
• Yogi tea

Acupuncture with Heather Lounsbury

Join me in this video as I get an acupuncture session with Heather Lounsbury.

If you haven't tried acupuncture, this is a great introduction to it. And if you're looking for a great acupuncturist (who's also a vegetarian), check this out to see how wonderful Heather is. I left the appointment feeling very calm and relaxed - she really put me at ease.

And if you haven't seen it, check out my video with Heather from a few weeks ago:

Interested in a session with Heather? For a holiday promotion she's offering half off of your first visit if you mention Eco-Vegan Gal! This includes:

• medical intake
• herbal and nutritional consult
• acupuncture/acupressure

Her rate is usually $190 (for the first session), so you'll get it for only $95! This offer is good until the end of December. (Follow up sessions will be $120)

Interview with Heather Lounsbury: a vegetarian acupuncturist

Breathe Balance

Get Natural Get Well

Radio interview with Me!

No, I won't be interviewing myself. Actually, I'm going to be interviewed by someone this time!

Please tune in this Wednesday, Oct 14th, at 10am (PST) and I would love to hear questions from you. Or, you can listen to it anytime after the show airs.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/DocHeather/2009/10/14/All-Things-Health

"Heather Lounsbury, L.Ac. and her guest, Whitney Lauritsen, has a shared interest in teaching people about the effects our eating habits have on our health and the planet. Whitney is a filmmaker, environmentalist, and writes for her own blog- www.ecovegangal.com - about eco-friendly companies and healthy food. They'll be discussing the benefits of an animal free diet, dispel myths, and give tips on how to do it correctly"