Debby Sunshine’s Appearance At The Sid Jacobson JCC

My husband takes lousy photos, but this blurry one of me clearly proves that I did complete my first public appearance last night at The Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in Greenvale, New York.

The segment was entitled “Jazzy Juices & Spectacular Salads.” I eagerly arrived early to set up my juicer and Vitamix blender, and to organize the fruits and vegetables for the small crowd which pre-registered for the class. What I didn’t expect was a crowd four times the size of what was anticipated by me and the JCC organizer. Oh no! And you guys know how long it takes to make one small cup of fresh juice!

My initial plan was to talk a bit about juicing and its growing popularity, and to prepare two of my favorite juices for the attendees to sample: my Simple Vegetable Juice and my Hot Beets Juice. I also planned to make a couple of raw kale salads, greens being at the core of my class.

While I was juicing and handing out samples for the crowd, questions began flying and my little food demonstration turned out to be more of a lecture about plant-based diets. I found myself talking about the recent Kaiser Permanente report, The China Study, and “yada, yada, yada…” I did get to prepare Chef AJ’s Hail To The Kale Salad providing small plates to everyone. It was a hit! And I handed out some nice packets including several recipes for juices, salads and salad dressings, as well as a list of my favorite food websites. The packet also included the Environmental Working Group’s 2013 Shoppers’ Guide To Pesticides, advising which produce to buy organic and which produce is clean.

The only kink in the night occurred when some of the attendees expressed their beliefs in diets such as the “Eat For Your Body Type” diet, the “Wheat Belly” diet and the “Paleo” diet, placing them in the same category as the vegan diet. The beliefs of many were that “all diets are supported by science and that it all depends upon which one you believe in.” Many stated that nothing is “black and white.” Clearly, there are those who truly believe that a vegan diet is nothing more than a “trend.”

My uncontrollable, but passionate, self felt the urgency to speak up (perhaps too strongly). I should have handled the situation a bit more tactfully, but I spoke about Dr. Esselstyn’s work at The Cleveland Clinic, Dr. John McDougall’s long career treating patients with plant-based diets, the work of Dr. Colin Campbell, and other doctors who have devoted their life’s work to studying the science of nutrition. After hearing about the “Eat For Your Body Type” diet one too many times, I may have used the word “bull…t” (but I did try to say it in a cute way).

Other than a few bumps in the road, I think that the night was successful. It was clearly a learning experience for me, and I did learn a lot!

Here is what I learned…

1. Many people view a plant-based diet as a “trend,” and are unaware of just how overwhelming the scientific evidence is that it is anything but a “trend.”

2. There are many people who are open to learning about plant-based diets, and age is not a factor in their willingness to change. I realized this from watching people take notes, and from the astute questions which were asked.

3. Change is slow and difficult, but worth fighting for.

4. I need to learn to speak to people in a more tactful way, recognizing that the way to win them over is to pursue a softer approach.

5. I do not want to make a career out of cooking demonstrations for large crowds, unless I have several sous chefs and assistants to boss around (only kidding…I mean “to help me out”).

6. Although I have to work on properly responding to the questions and comments of my audience, I do enjoy speaking about my vegan lifestyle and trying to educate people about all that I’ve learned along the way.

7. Life is clearly a growing process, and all that any one of us can do is to “live and learn!”

Goodbye for now…I’m off to do some more living and learning,

Debby

xoxoxo