Animal Activist Wields Wooden Spoon - SF Bay Area-based Nonprofit Empowers People and Saves Animals – One Meal at a Time
Using colorful vegetables and decadent chocolate, animal activist and vegetarian chef produces first-of-its kind Vegetarian Cooking DVD to empower people to make informed food choices and to debunk myths about plant-based cooking and eating. Compassionate Cooks' popular SF-area-based cooking classes, which pack in dozens of participants each month, were the inspiration for the DVD. With such regular laudatory feedback as "This class has changed my life," the DVD has the potential of helping countless people - and animals - at the same time.
Oakland, CA (PRWEB) December 7, 2004 -- Colleen Patrick-Goudreau founded her
Oakland-based nonprofit organization Compassionate Cooks™ (www.compassionatecooks.com) in order to empower people to make
informed food choices and to debunk myths about vegetarianism. The monthly
vegetarian cooking classes she teaches, to an average audience of 20, focus on
delicious and familiar dishes in order to take “vegetarianism out of the box.”
An extension of her animal advocacy outreach and education, she began teaching
classes over three years ago in response to people who, inspired to stop eating
animals, inevitably asked, “so what do I eat now?”
These popular
classes, a successful combination of demonstrative cooking, nutrition
information, and light-hearted fun, inspired her to take them even one step
further. “In every class, someone would raise her hand and ask when we would be
on TV or have a video. I realized thousands – even millions – of people could be
reached by creating a DVD. So that’s what I did. Dedicated to making a
first-of-its kind product that would be appealing, professional, and packed with
good food and sound nutrition information, I raised the money to create
Vegetarian Cooking with Compassionate Cooks,” a DVD that has been released this
past week – just in time for the holidays. And she’s working on TV, too. The
Food Network will soon be airing Colleen’s vegetarian BBQ, filmed on July 4th at
her home.
Featuring six cooking demonstrations, including two scrumptious
dairy-free desserts, and a show-and-tell segment of the wide array of vegetarian
products in the grocery store, the main portion of the DVD would be enough to
inspire and empower any viewer. But the special features offer even more – a
video segment of eight Frequently Asked Questions about vegetarianism as well as
a short 5-minute documentary about a farm animal rescue organization dedicated
to providing lifelong sanctuary to those victims who were lucky enough escape
being turned into dinner.
“People are so confused about what to eat and
are bombarded by advertising campaigns masked as public service announcements.
They want to know how to control their health and prevent disease. I seek to
provide people with the tools and resources they need to choose food that
benefits their health, the earth, and of course the animals, whose treatment
goes unnoticed and unseen by the public. Food is so incredibly personal, and
we’re very habit-oriented creatures. It is such a pleasure to watch people’s
perceptions and experiences change when they realize that “vegetarian food” is
food they’re already familiar with – vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, seeds.
Most people eat vegetarian – they just don’t call it that.”
About
Compassionate Cooks
Compassionate Cooks is a nonprofit organization dedicated
to empowering people to make informed food choices and to debunking myths about
vegetarianism through cooking classes, nutrition workshops, supermarket tours,
and a cooking DVD. Compassionate Cooks gives people the tools and resources they
need to prevent disease, optimize their health, and create new habits that
benefit the earth and all its inhabitants. For more information, please visit www.compassionatecooks.com.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb185244.htm