VegFest 2010 Rocks the Weekend with 4,800+!

Portland VegFest 2010 was a tremendous success! More than 4,800 people flooded through the VegFest doors on Saturday and Sunday and enjoyed hundreds of samples of delicious food, shopped with our veg-savvy exhibitors, attended cooking demos, and listened to inspiring talks by Dr. Michael Klaper, Dr. Milton Mills, Brenda Davis RD, Chef Tal Ronnen, and so many more!

VegFest was a huge success thanks to the support from our generous sponsors, 100+ amazing exhibitors, 250+ dedicated volunteers, and the 4,800 folks who discovered and celebrated the wonderful benefits of plant-based food.

Already excited about VegFest 2011? So are we! We'll be locking in a date soon, so please check back often. Are you interested in becoming a member of NW VEG and supporting the work we do? Please click here. Thanks for your continued support!

Photos coming soon! If you've got photos from VegFest that you'd like to share, please send us a link to your photos. Thanks!

Portland VegFest 2010 *Now Expanded to TWO DAYS!* Saturday & Sunday, September 18 & 19 Oregon Convention Center - Exhibit Hall A 777 NE MLK, Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 97232 10am - 6pm     $5 Admission per day Children 10 & under free Click here to download a $1 off coupon VegFest celebrates and promotes sustainable, compassionate and healthy food choices and lifestyles. This low-cost, fun and food-filled event welcomes everyone! VegFest features: Food Samples! Speakers & Classes Cooking Demonstrations Ask the Experts Family Activities Restaurants Non-profit organizations

VegFest Event & Media Sponsors:

This event will need 300+ volunteers to make it an even greater success than last year's VegFest. Want to help out with VegFest 2010? Please email volunteer@nwveg.org

Main Speakers: Dr. Michael Klaper

Dr. Michael Klaper graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 1972. As Dr. Klaper's medical Career progressed, he began to realize that many of the diseases his patients brought to his office - clogged arteries (atherosclerosis) high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity, adult onset diabetes, and even some forms of arthritis, asthma, and other significant illnesses - were made worse, or actually caused, by the high-fat, overly processed Standard American Diet.

This prompted him to undertake a serious study of the link between diet and disease, eventually leading him to implement nutritionally-based therapies in his practice. The results were dramatic. Nearly all of his patients who followed his dietary, exercise,and stress reduction programs soon became leaner and more energetic, while their elevated blood pressures and cholesterol levels returned to safer values. (In twelve weeks on this same program, Dr. Klaper's own cholesterol dropped from 242 mg/dl to 140mg/dl, while a 22-pound "spare tire" of abdominal fat melted away -- without dieting or calorie restriction.) He also observed that many of the chronic diseases mentioned above improved or resolved completely, often allowing his patients to reduce or discontinue their medication entirely.

Dr. Klaper believes strongly that proper nutrition and a balanced lifestyle are essential for health, and in many cases make the difference between healing an illness or merely treating the symptoms. www.vegsource.com/klaper

Dr. Milton Mills

Whether internist Milton Mills is practicing at Fairfax Hospital in Virginia or at free clinics in Washington, D.C., his prescription for patients is likely to include some dietary advice: go vegetarian.

"Medical research shows conclusively that a plant-based diet reduces chronic disease risk, so that's something I absolutely encourage my patients to move toward," says Dr. Mills, a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine, who became interested in the connection between diet and health when he went vegetarian as a teenager. "I find that when people are ill, they are very open to adopting practices that will improve their health."

Dr. Mills doesn't limit his message to his patients. He takes it to audiences around the country as well, speaking at hospitals, churches, and community centers. Click here to see Dr. Mills speak on "Are Humans Designed to Eat Meat?"

Christopher Weber, Ph.D.

Christopher Weber is an Assistant Research Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and member of the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

His doctoral research at Carnegie Mellon involved the connections between international trade, economic growth, and the environmental and climate impacts of household consumption in the U.S. and China. His current research interests involve climate change and the use of life cycle assessment and economic modeling in business and government policy.

Brenda Davis, R.D.

Brenda Davis, registered dietitian and nutritionist, is a leader in her field and an internationally acclaimed speaker. She has worked as a public health nutritionist, clinical nutrition specialist, nutrition consultant and academic nutrition instructor. She is currently on a diabetes intervention research project in Majuro, Marshall Islands. Brenda spent 8 months in Majuro in 2006 and returns for 4-6 week periods once or twice a year.

Brenda is a past chair of the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association. In July 2007, she was inducted into the Vegetarian Hall of Fame.

A co-author of seven books - best-sellers, Becoming Vegan, Becoming Vegetarian, The New Becoming Vegetarian and Defeating Diabetes, Dairy-free and Delicious and the newly released, Becoming Raw and Raw-food Revolution Diet. Brenda lives in Kelowna, British Columbia with her husband Paul. She has two grown children, Leena and Cory. Click here to watch an interview with Brenda. www.brendadavisrd.com