Presenters
Talks and Cooking Demos
Recordings of presentations will be available on our Youtube Channel
Talks
Carol J. Adams
CHEF, AUTHOR, ENTREPRENEUR
Talk Title: The Sexual Politics of Meat in Authoritarian Times
Carol J. Adams is the author of The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory, now available in a newly updated 35th anniversary edition. The book has inspired art exhibits, a rock song, and was used as a plot device in an episode of Law and Order SVU. Other books include The Pornography of Meat: New and Updated, Neither Man nor Beast: Feminism and the
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Defense of Animals, Burger, and with co-author Virginia Messina, Protest Kitchen: Fight Injustice, Save the Planet, and Fuel Your Resistance One Meal at a Time. Her work is the subject of two anthologies, Defiant Daughters: 21 Women of Art, Activism, Animals, and The Sexual Politics of Meat and The Art of the Animal: 14 Women Artists Explore The Sexual Politics of Meat, in which a new generation of feminists, artists, and activists respond to her iconic book.
She has a Master of Divinity from Yale University (1976), has taught seminary courses on pastoral care, and has spoken on more than 130 college and university campuses. She has keynoted at conferences around the world and participated on the winning side in debates at the Oxford Union (2021) and the Cambridge Union (2025).
Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post,Ms. Magazine,Tikkun, and Truthdig, among others. She has been an activist against sexual violence, racism, and homelessness, and for reproductive justice and fair housing.
Steven Blake, ScD
TITLE??
Talk Title: Perfect Food
Steve Blake, ScD is a doctor of science specializing in nutritional biochemistry. He has been eating plants for 56 years. He has published many papers and authored the McGraw-Hill college textbook Vitamins and Minerals Demystified. Steve Blake is Director of Nutritional Neuroscience at the Maui Memory Clinic. He is lead advisor and author for the Macmillan Reference, Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. He has worked as Faculty Nutritional Biochemist at Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience for years. He is a research scientist who finished a clinical trial using nutrition at the Hawaii Alzheimer’s Disease Center that he designed and ran with a large team. He is research director at the Neuroscience Nutrition Foundation. He has presented grand rounds at John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii, Castle Medical Center in Kailua, Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience, St. Francis Liliha, Honolulu, and at Boston Medical.
He is author of Nutrients for Memory, Fats and Oils Demystified, Stop Strokes, Autism: A Spectrum of Improvement, Mastering Migraines, Arthritis Relief, Parkinson’s Disease: Dietary Regulation of Dopamine, Healing Medicine, No More Heart Attacks, and co-author of Mosby’s Drug Guide for Nurses, 4th edition.
As a professional, registered medical plant specialist, he is well known for his Herb Doctors database, also published by Mosby as Alternative Remedies. Steve Blake programmed the Diet Doctor, software for revealing nutrition information. Steve Blake has a doctorate in holistic health specializing in nutritional biochemistry. He also has a doctorate in naturopathic medicine and is a neuromuscular therapist. He and his wife Catherine live on an organic farm on Maui that is powered by the sun.
Robert Cheeke
BODY BUILDER, INFLUENCER
Talk Title: How To Be An Impactful Vegan
Robert grew up on a farm in Corvallis, Oregon where he adopted a vegan lifestyle in 1995 at age 15, weighing just 120 pounds. Today he is the author of the books, Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, Shred It!, Plant-Based Muscle, the New York Times bestseller, The Plant-Based Athlete, and his latest, The Impactful Vegan, released in 2024. He is often referred to as the
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“Godfather of Vegan Bodybuilding,” growing the industry from infancy in 2002, to where it is today. As a natural bodybuilding champion, Robert is considered one of VegNews magazine’s Most Influential Vegan Athletes. He tours around the world sharing his story of transformation from a skinny farm kid to champion vegan bodybuilder. Robert is the founder of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, is a former multi-sport athlete, and has followed a plant-based diet for more than 30 years. Robert is a book writing consultant and ghostwriter, and he lives in his hometown of Corvallis, Oregon.
Dylan Gabino Ventura
FILM PRODUCER, PODCASTER, INFLUENCER
Jason Kartalian is the creator behind @veganhackspod, a dynamic social media platform with over 500K followers across social media channels. He’s known for crafting short, impactful, and wildly shareable vegan content that blends humor, creativity, and accessibility helping bring veganism to a viral audience. Through over-the-top food experiments, unapologetically weird and wonderful culinary hacks, and relatable storytelling, Jason demystifies plant-based living and makes it fun, inclusive, and impossible to scroll past. Jason also co-hosts the Vegan Hacks Podcast. There is a method to his madness: To make compassionate, mindful eating go mainstream.
Jack Gescheidt
ENVIRONMENTAL & ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Talk Title: Please Don’t Call It An Animal Holocaust. Even Though It Is
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and The Fresh & Flexible™ Meal Plan: The Easiest, Most Nutritious Way to Feed Your Dog and Cat, an innovative approach to feeding home-prepared meals based on the same principles we use to eat a healthy diet ourselves. She is the founder of Holistic Animal Health and Advocacy, working with home caregivers, shelter and rescue organizations, and veterinary professionals throughout the United States and internationally through private consultations, workshops, and as a speaker at conferences and outreach events. Her work has been published in professional and trade publications including the International Animal Health Journal, the Journal of the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy, and Vegan Life Magazine.
Jan is deeply committed to animal advocacy, writing and working to foster a better relationship between humans and other species. In 2006 and 2007 she successfully led a coalition to prevent the building of a slaughterhouse in her community; in 2007 co-founded the Mendocino County, California, animal advocacy organization CARE: Compassion for Animals, Respect for the Earth; and has been nominated for the American Red Cross (Sonoma and Mendocino Counties) Real Heroes Award in the Animal Category.
Supporting caregivers in offering healthy, home-prepared meals and, when possible, a vegan diet, to companion animals is a natural melding of Jan’s work as a healer and as an advocate for animals of all species. She finds great enjoyment in empowering humans to integrate their compassion into all aspects of their relationships with other animals—and in seeing the animals they care for thrive as a result. Her commitment to enhancing awareness and relationship among all species is evident in her writing, including her book Listen to the Silence: Lessons from Trees and Other Masters and the extensive library of articles archived on her website, HolisticAHA.com.
Jan lives in the hills of northern California, where she shares her mountaintop home with the resident deer, ravens, coyotes, rattlesnakes, bears, jackrabbits, and countless other wise and wild ones.
Tamiko Katsumoto, MD, DipABLM
CLINICAL PROFESSOR
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Talk Title: Food’s Protective Power Against Disease
Tamiko Katsumoto, MD, DipABLM is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University and is board certified in lifestyle medicine. She earned her MD from the University of California, San Francisco. She completed her internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at UCSF, including a postdoc in immunology. Deeply committed to human and planetary health, she is passionate about educating her patients, her colleagues, and the general public on the merits of sustainable whole food plant-centered diets as a strategy to
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both improve individual health and mitigate climate change and environmental degradation. She is fascinated by the impact of diet and lifestyle on inflammation, autoimmunity, and cancer. She directs the Rheumatology Oncology Clinic and serves as a co-director of the Stanford Immune Related Toxicity Working Group, a multidisciplinary group which aims to improve the quality of care of cancer patients on immune checkpoint inhibitors. She is involved in several clinical trials at Stanford and has spent time at Genentech, where she led several global clinical trials in immunology. She co-chaired the American College of Rheumatology Climate Change Task Force. She is working closely with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and serves on the steering committee for the Center for Human and Planetary Health where she co-leads the Food Systems, Health and Environment Working Group.
Austin Meyer
AUTHOR, EDUCATOR
Dr. Joanne Konghas been praised as one of today’s most compelling vegan advocates. Her TEDx talk, The Power of Plant-Based Eating, has over 1 million views on YouTube. She has appeared at numerous conferences and festivals, including the North American Veg Society Summerfest, National Animal Rights Day, VegFest Colorado, Oakland VegFest, Sedona VegFest, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Plant-Based Climate Summit, and many others.
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Her advocacy has been recognized around the world with international talks in Italy, Spain, Germany, Norway, Canada, and a three-week tour of India. Dr. Kong is the author of If You’ve Ever Loved an Animal, Go Vegan, she is editor of Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, and her new book, Vegan Made Easy: A Practical Guide to Plant-Based Living, is on sale here today. She appears in the major documentary Eating Our Way to Extinction. In her advocacy activities, Dr. Kong draws upon a diversity of skills as a writer, speaker, and creative artist, and performs in the duo, Vegan Virtuosi, with cellist and vegan advocate Christoph Wagner.
Zoe Novic
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
🔥Want to make a real difference for animals?
The Humane League is on a mission to end the abuse of animals raised for food—and it’s working. Recognized by Animal Charity Evaluators as one of the most effective animal advocacy groups in the world, THL has secured groundbreaking victories through bold corporate and legislative campaigns.
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Now, THL’s Bay Area team is pulling back the curtain:
🚨 Get an inside look at THL’s strategy
🎯 Learn about current campaign targets
✊ Find powerful ways YOU can get involved
If you’ve ever wondered “What more can I do to help animals?”—this is your chance to find out. Don’t miss it. #ForTheAnimals 🐔
Zoe Rosenberg
VEGAN COMEDIAN
A 15-year veteran of stand-up and a 13 year vegan, Steven takes audiences on a cruelty-free, high-energy rollercoaster of laughter. His work is both introspective and electric, blending philosophy with punchlines in a way that feels effortless yet deeply intentional. Like the best jazz solos, his sets are unpredictable, yet every note lands exactly where it’s meant to. His comedic voice is distinct, his timing razor-sharp, and his approach—completely unmatched.
Michael Rupena
AUTHOR, EDUCATOR
Dr. Joanne Konghas been praised as one of today’s most compelling vegan advocates. Her TEDx talk, The Power of Plant-Based Eating, has over 1 million views on YouTube. She has appeared at numerous conferences and festivals, including the North American Veg Society Summerfest, National Animal Rights Day, VegFest Colorado, Oakland VegFest, Sedona VegFest, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Plant-Based Climate Summit, and many others.
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Her advocacy has been recognized around the world with international talks in Italy, Spain, Germany, Norway, Canada, and a three-week tour of India. Dr. Kong is the author of If You’ve Ever Loved an Animal, Go Vegan, she is editor of Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, and her new book, Vegan Made Easy: A Practical Guide to Plant-Based Living, is on sale here today. She appears in the major documentary Eating Our Way to Extinction. In her advocacy activities, Dr. Kong draws upon a diversity of skills as a writer, speaker, and creative artist, and performs in the duo, Vegan Virtuosi, with cellist and vegan advocate Christoph Wagner.
John Sanbonmatsu
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
🔥Want to make a real difference for animals?
The Humane League is on a mission to end the abuse of animals raised for food—and it’s working. Recognized by Animal Charity Evaluators as one of the most effective animal advocacy groups in the world, THL has secured groundbreaking victories through bold corporate and legislative campaigns.
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Now, THL’s Bay Area team is pulling back the curtain:
🚨 Get an inside look at THL’s strategy
🎯 Learn about current campaign targets
✊ Find powerful ways YOU can get involved
If you’ve ever wondered “What more can I do to help animals?”—this is your chance to find out. Don’t miss it. #ForTheAnimals 🐔
Paul Shapiro
VEGAN COMEDIAN
A 15-year veteran of stand-up and a 13 year vegan, Steven takes audiences on a cruelty-free, high-energy rollercoaster of laughter. His work is both introspective and electric, blending philosophy with punchlines in a way that feels effortless yet deeply intentional. Like the best jazz solos, his sets are unpredictable, yet every note lands exactly where it’s meant to. His comedic voice is distinct, his timing razor-sharp, and his approach—completely unmatched.
Lia Wilbourn
AUTHOR, EDUCATOR
Dr. Joanne Konghas been praised as one of today’s most compelling vegan advocates. Her TEDx talk, The Power of Plant-Based Eating, has over 1 million views on YouTube. She has appeared at numerous conferences and festivals, including the North American Veg Society Summerfest, National Animal Rights Day, VegFest Colorado, Oakland VegFest, Sedona VegFest, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Plant-Based Climate Summit, and many others.
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Her advocacy has been recognized around the world with international talks in Italy, Spain, Germany, Norway, Canada, and a three-week tour of India. Dr. Kong is the author of If You’ve Ever Loved an Animal, Go Vegan, she is editor of Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, and her new book, Vegan Made Easy: A Practical Guide to Plant-Based Living, is on sale here today. She appears in the major documentary Eating Our Way to Extinction. In her advocacy activities, Dr. Kong draws upon a diversity of skills as a writer, speaker, and creative artist, and performs in the duo, Vegan Virtuosi, with cellist and vegan advocate Christoph Wagner.
Meet the Chefs
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As a self-proclaimed lifelong foodie, Jake always dreamed of turning that passion into a business but never knew where to start.
After discovering a love for cultivating fungi in 2022, he launched Fungi Farms, a local mushroom farm that laid the groundwork for his next big move: becoming a chef.
Jack’s mission is to turn locally grown, organic mushrooms into crave worthy comfort food that delights every kind of palate. With mushrooms finally getting the spotlight they deserve, Jack is here for the mycelial movement, one bite at a time.
Through his creative dishes and hands-on farming, he’s on a mission to nourish and educate, showing the world just how powerful (and tasty) fungi can be!
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Malibu's Burgers is a classic burger joint in Oakland that sells burgers, shakes, and fries that happen to be vegan. They pride themselves in creating food items that can appeal to a wide variety of customers, both the hard-core vegans, flexatarians, as well as regular meat-eaters that are occasionally interested in alternative ingredients. What is unique about their brand is that they appeal to nostalgic comfort food in their making of 100% plant-based meals.
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and The Fresh & Flexible™ Meal Plan: The Easiest, Most Nutritious Way to Feed Your Dog and Cat, an innovative approach to feeding home-prepared meals based on the same principles we use to eat a healthy diet ourselves. She is the founder of Holistic Animal Health and Advocacy, working with home caregivers, shelter and rescue organizations, and veterinary professionals throughout the United States and internationally through private consultations, workshops, and as a speaker at conferences and outreach events. Her work has been published in professional and trade publications including the International Animal Health Journal, the Journal of the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy, and Vegan Life Magazine.
Jan is deeply committed to animal advocacy, writing and working to foster a better relationship between humans and other species. In 2006 and 2007 she successfully led a coalition to prevent the building of a slaughterhouse in her community; in 2007 co-founded the Mendocino County, California, animal advocacy organization CARE: Compassion for Animals, Respect for the Earth; and has been nominated for the American Red Cross (Sonoma and Mendocino Counties) Real Heroes Award in the Animal Category.
Supporting caregivers in offering healthy, home-prepared meals and, when possible, a vegan diet, to companion animals is a natural melding of Jan’s work as a healer and as an advocate for animals of all species. She finds great enjoyment in empowering humans to integrate their compassion into all aspects of their relationships with other animals—and in seeing the animals they care for thrive as a result. Her commitment to enhancing awareness and relationship among all species is evident in her writing, including her book Listen to the Silence: Lessons from Trees and Other Masters and the extensive library of articles archived on her website, HolisticAHA.com.
Jan lives in the hills of northern California, where she shares her mountaintop home with the resident deer, ravens, coyotes, rattlesnakes, bears, jackrabbits, and countless other wise and wild ones.
Chef Paola
Alma y Sazon
Jan Allegretti, D.Vet.Hom, has been a consultant in holistic health care for nonhuman animals for more than 35 years, specializing in nutrition, homeopathy, and lifestyle assessment. She is the author of The Holistic Animal Health Series, which includes the bestselling The Complete Holistic Dog Book: Home Health Care for Our Canine Companions, a comprehensive manual for health and healing through nutrition, homeopathy, herbal medicine, and a supportive home environment;
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and The Fresh & Flexible™ Meal Plan: The Easiest, Most Nutritious Way to Feed Your Dog and Cat, an innovative approach to feeding home-prepared meals based on the same principles we use to eat a healthy diet ourselves. She is the founder of Holistic Animal Health and Advocacy, working with home caregivers, shelter and rescue organizations, and veterinary professionals throughout the United States and internationally through private consultations, workshops, and as a speaker at conferences and outreach events. Her work has been published in professional and trade publications including the International Animal Health Journal, the Journal of the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy, and Vegan Life Magazine.
Jan is deeply committed to animal advocacy, writing and working to foster a better relationship between humans and other species. In 2006 and 2007 she successfully led a coalition to prevent the building of a slaughterhouse in her community; in 2007 co-founded the Mendocino County, California, animal advocacy organization CARE: Compassion for Animals, Respect for the Earth; and has been nominated for the American Red Cross (Sonoma and Mendocino Counties) Real Heroes Award in the Animal Category.
Supporting caregivers in offering healthy, home-prepared meals and, when possible, a vegan diet, to companion animals is a natural melding of Jan’s work as a healer and as an advocate for animals of all species. She finds great enjoyment in empowering humans to integrate their compassion into all aspects of their relationships with other animals—and in seeing the animals they care for thrive as a result. Her commitment to enhancing awareness and relationship among all species is evident in her writing, including her book Listen to the Silence: Lessons from Trees and Other Masters and the extensive library of articles archived on her website, HolisticAHA.com.
Jan lives in the hills of northern California, where she shares her mountaintop home with the resident deer, ravens, coyotes, rattlesnakes, bears, jackrabbits, and countless other wise and wild ones.
Chef Paola
Alma y Sazon
Jan Allegretti, D.Vet.Hom, has been a consultant in holistic health care for nonhuman animals for more than 35 years, specializing in nutrition, homeopathy, and lifestyle assessment. She is the author of The Holistic Animal Health Series, which includes the bestselling The Complete Holistic Dog Book: Home Health Care for Our Canine Companions, a comprehensive manual for health and healing through nutrition, homeopathy, herbal medicine, and a supportive home environment;
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and The Fresh & Flexible™ Meal Plan: The Easiest, Most Nutritious Way to Feed Your Dog and Cat, an innovative approach to feeding home-prepared meals based on the same principles we use to eat a healthy diet ourselves. She is the founder of Holistic Animal Health and Advocacy, working with home caregivers, shelter and rescue organizations, and veterinary professionals throughout the United States and internationally through private consultations, workshops, and as a speaker at conferences and outreach events. Her work has been published in professional and trade publications including the International Animal Health Journal, the Journal of the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy, and Vegan Life Magazine.
Jan is deeply committed to animal advocacy, writing and working to foster a better relationship between humans and other species. In 2006 and 2007 she successfully led a coalition to prevent the building of a slaughterhouse in her community; in 2007 co-founded the Mendocino County, California, animal advocacy organization CARE: Compassion for Animals, Respect for the Earth; and has been nominated for the American Red Cross (Sonoma and Mendocino Counties) Real Heroes Award in the Animal Category.
Supporting caregivers in offering healthy, home-prepared meals and, when possible, a vegan diet, to companion animals is a natural melding of Jan’s work as a healer and as an advocate for animals of all species. She finds great enjoyment in empowering humans to integrate their compassion into all aspects of their relationships with other animals—and in seeing the animals they care for thrive as a result. Her commitment to enhancing awareness and relationship among all species is evident in her writing, including her book Listen to the Silence: Lessons from Trees and Other Masters and the extensive library of articles archived on her website, HolisticAHA.com.
Jan lives in the hills of northern California, where she shares her mountaintop home with the resident deer, ravens, coyotes, rattlesnakes, bears, jackrabbits, and countless other wise and wild ones.
Chef Paola
Alma y Sazon
Jan Allegretti, D.Vet.Hom, has been a consultant in holistic health care for nonhuman animals for more than 35 years, specializing in nutrition, homeopathy, and lifestyle assessment. She is the author of The Holistic Animal Health Series, which includes the bestselling The Complete Holistic Dog Book: Home Health Care for Our Canine Companions, a comprehensive manual for health and healing through nutrition, homeopathy, herbal medicine, and a supportive home environment;