100% FREE Event! Just Start Here: Tools for Blossoming in a Vegan Lifestyle!

Back by popular demand!

Invite your veg-curious friends and join Dr. Amish Shah, fitness instructor Will Tucker, Chef Jason Wyrick, and educator Melody Hodges for a FREE seminar designed to show us how to live a healthy vegan lifestyle with fun and flare.

Dr. Shah will give nutrition tips and speak on the latest vegan medical research, and Will Tucker will offer practical advice for staying fit amidst our busy lives. Melody Hodges will share her story and real-life perspective on living a vegan lifestyle. And VEG Meetup co-founder, Chef Jason Wyrick, will share delicious suggestions on making authentic Mexican dishes including two Sonoran-style enchilada recipes that are so mouthwatering and delectable you'll forget that they’re healthy dishes. As a bonus, we’ll get to sample the scrumptious creations!

Natural Grocers Event Page (https://www.naturalgrocers.com/nutrition-and-health/events/events-calendar/just-start-here/)

This is a FREE event, and reservations are not required. BUT, seating is LIMITED, so it’s first come, first seated. This event will be jam-packed, so arrive early for choice seating!

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Chef Jason Wyrick is the Executive Chef of The Vegan Taste, an organic vegan meal delivery service in business since 2007 that delivers nationwide. In 2001, Jason was diagnosed with Type II diabetes and completely reversed diabetes and lost over 100 pounds by going vegan. He is a NY Times Bestselling Author and has written Vegan Tacos, Vegan Mexico, co-authored 21 Day Weight Loss Kickstart and Powerfoods for the Brain with Dr. Neal Barnard, and was the food editor for Living the Farm Sanctuary Life. Chef Wyrick published the world’s first vegan food magazine, The Vegan Culinary Experience, was the first vegan instructor to teach in the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu program, and was the first vegan chef to present at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival. He has catered for companies such as Google and Humana and for Farm Sanctuary and PETA. He also leads international vegan food tours and is fortunate enough to travel around the globe teaching others how to make high-end vegan cuisine.

Dr. Amish Shah graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in his hometown of Chicago, IL in 2001. He completed a Masters in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley in 2003, followed by residency training in Emergency Medicine at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center. In 2007, he won the American Academy of Emergency Medicine’s National Resident Research Competition for his work in inventing a new method to provide care for the critically ill. From 2007-2013, he taught medical students and residents at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York as a full-time faculty member. While there, he led the New York Jets Airway Management Team. In 2013, Dr. Shah graduated from the University of Arizona’s Sports Medicine fellowship, a Division I college program featuring a wide breadth of sports coverage. His research project and clinical focus were ultrasound-guided procedures and diagnostics. He is currently board certified in Emergency Medicine and Sports Medicine.

Will Tucker is a fitness expert & award winning professional vegan bodybuilder. He dispels the myth that large amounts of animal protein are required to build an outstanding physique. His philosophy is that all the nutrients the body requires are available in a well balanced, plant-based diet that is high in carbohydrates with minimal amounts of protein & healthy fats. As a certified fitness trainer, he relies on his 20+ years of fitness experience to help his clients develop plant-based nutrition & exercise plans that fit their individual preferences & needs. Will’s talk, Protein Propaganda, delves into the mass conditioning in the fitness & everyday world of protein consumption. He discusses why society is obsessed with protein and raises critical questions about commercial financial interests associated with our food choices. He discusses the impact on animal, environmental & health aspects, while sharing his personal story of how he transitioned from a meat & potato kind of guy to vegan.

Melody Hodges is an award-winning educator and a long-time member of Animal Advocates of Arizona. She is a self-proclaimed work in progress. Melody is the founder of Perks 4 Pigs, a group dedicated to hosting celebrations in support of Ironwood Pig Sanctuary. She started her healthy vegan adventure over 9 years ago, and she swears it's the best decision she ever made. (Don't tell her husband she said that!) Melody's favorite pastime is laughing with loved ones, and her mission in life is to help make the world a little more kind and a lot less serious.