Maine Animal Coalition: Vegetarian Food Festival - MAC's Fourth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival

Vegetarian Food Festival: MAC's Fourth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival

Join us for MAC's Fourth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival. The festival will consist of vegan food samples, guest speakers, exhibitors, displays, vegan product samples, a raffle and more. Additional details will be posted as they become available. For a taste of what's to come, check out the article and pictures from our Third Annual Vegetarian Food Festival.

DATE: Saturday, June 21, 2008
LOCATION: Abromson Community Education Center, University of Southern Maine, 88 Bedford Street, Portland, Maine
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - Food, Exhibitors & Displays
Noon - Jessica Porter, Macrobiotics for Vegetarians
2:30 p.m. - Paul Shapiro, Advances for Farm Animals: How and Why We're Winning

FOOD & SAMPLES:

The Pepper Club Restaurant, located in downtown Portland, will be catering vegan food samples again this year. Some of our exhibitors will also be providing free food samples, and we'll be serving samples of vegan food and products donated by Betty Lou's Inc. (organic vegan nut balls), Primal Spirit Foods (Primal Sticks), Larabar, Crispy Cat Candy Bars, Galaxy Foods (Rice Dream and vegan parmesan), Road's End Chreese, Jason Natural Products, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, and Sequel Naturals (Vega Whole Food Meal Replacement).

EXHIBITORS:

Exhibitors at the festival include Maine Animal Coalition, Green Elephant Vegetarian Restaurant, Ployes, Cafe Miranda, Maine Friends of Animals, Farm Sanctuary, Arbonne, the Humane Society of the United States, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, The Word - The Universal Spirit, Kzeloumsen Permaculture Gardens, and a Vegan Cooking Information table.

SPEAKERS:

Paul Shapiro, Senior Director of the Factory Farming Campaign,
The Humane Society of the United States
Advances for Farm Animals: How and Why We're Winning
For decades, the plight of farm animals in the United States has steadily grown worse. Yet the first few years of the 21st Century have seen historic strides against factory farming that few would have imagined just a decade ago. Long-time farm animal campaigner paul Shapiro will discuss some of the most important victories for farm animals and how to make even more progress.

As Senior Director of the HSUS's Factory Farming Campaign, Paul has spearheaded numerous successful campaigns to improve the plight of farm animals, most notably several campaigns to persuade retailers to stop selling battery cage eggs. Paul is also the founder and former campaigns director for Compassion Over Killing, where he helped lead campaigns such as the successful effort to end the use of the misleading "Animal Care Certified" logo on battery cage egg cartons nationwide. At Compassion Over Killing, he worked also as a farm animal cruelty investigator, primarily documenting conditions on egg and broiler factory farms, livestock auctions and slaughter plants. Paul has been interviewed by dozens of media outlets, including The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, USA Today, Fox New Channel and CNN. He has published dozens of articles about animal welfare in publications ranging from daily newspapers to academic journals. He received a bachelor's degree in peace studies from George Washington University.

Jessica Porter, Macrobiotic Chef and Author of The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics
Macrobiotics for Vegetarians
Jessica Porter teaches macrobiotic cooking classes in Toronto, where she lectures on the spiritual and emotional dimensions of macrobiotic practice. She has also taught cooking in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and London. When not writing, cooking or teaching macrobiotics, Jessica is a hypnotherapist specializing in smoking cessation and HypnoBirthing. She is a faculty member of the HypnoBirthing Institute, recipient of its Director's Award, and trains midwives and doctors in the technique throughout North America, Europe, and South Africa. Porter has also produced two hypnosis CDs - Healing with the Hip Chick, and Hip Chick Hypnosis - for people practicing the macrobiotic diet.

In her free time, Porter has co-hosted a weekly call-in radio show on WMPG in Portland, Maine, as well as trying her hand at standup comedy and improv. As an actress, she has played many contemporary and classical roles and has been featured in local independent films. She has also written and performed her own one-woman show called "Zen Comedy."

As a macrobiotic chef, she worked under the guidance of many well-known macrobiotic counselors, such as Michio Kushi (The Book of Macrobiotics), William Spear (Feng Shui Made Easy), Lino Stanchich (You are How You Eat), and Denny Waxman (10 Steps to Strengthening Health). From 1994 to 1996, Porter served as Manager for the "Way to Health" program at the Kushi Institute. There she supervised the coordination of students and teachers, and managed the faculty, which included Edward Esko, Wendy Esko, Alex Jack, and Charles Millman - all prolific macrobiotic teachers and authors. Through living and working at the Kushi Institute, she became part of a worldwide network of macrobiotic people, many of whom run macrobiotic centers, health food stores or co-ordinate regular gatherings of health-minded individuals. At the Kushi Institute, she completed all three levels of macrobiotic training. These include in-depth study of cooking, macrobiotic philosophy, health care, and oriental diagnosis. She also completed the macrobiotic counselor training at Gulliver's in New York City.

A Graduate of Brown University with a B.A. in Semiotics (now called Modern Culture and Media) in 1988, Porter served as co-editor of the campus humor magazine, the Philtrum Press. Growing up in Toronto, the author was an actress and co-host of the national radio program "Anybody Home?", produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.


MAJOR SPONSORS:

Betty Lou's

Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro

Vega

SPONSORS:

Bumble Bar

Crispy Cat Candy Bars

Delicious TV

The Humane Society of the United States

Follow Your Heart

LARABAR

Maine Coast Sea Vegetables

The Pepper Club Restaurant

Ployes

Primal Spirit Foods

Road's End Chreese

The Word - The Universal Spirit

Whole Foods Market

THANKS TO OUR DONORS:

Aubrey Organics
Chris McClay
Delicious TV
The Humane Society of the United States
Galaxy Foods
Hi Bombay
Jason Natural Products
Jennifer Breyer
Kiss My Face
Liz Lovely Cookies
Maine Coast Sea Vegetables
Maine Friends of Animals
Mesa Verde Mexican Restaurant
Morning Glory Natural Foods
O'Naturals
Pangea
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Robin Watts & Taylor Fawns
V-dogfood, LLC
Vegan Essentials
VegNews Magazine


THANKS TO OUR PLANNING COMMITTEE:

Angela Bell
Jennifer Breyer
Sarah Conroy
Beth Gallie
Laurie Grant
Katie Lisnik
Chris McClay
Richard Oliver
Robin Watts


If you would like to volunteer for this event, please contact us at 207-773-2215 or mac@maineanimalcoalition.org