Should we only buy organic produce? There is not a definite yes or no answer to this question. There may be important time periods at which people are more vulnerable to the potential harm of pesticide residues on our food: just prior to conception, during pregnancy, and during early childhood.

There is evidence that organophosphate pesticide exposure during these time periods is associated with deficits in cognitive and behavioral development in children.

There are some clear environmental benefits to buying organic produce. However, it is unclear whether there are health risks to consumers from ingesting pesticides from conventional produce.

Each year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases their Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists. Using pesticide residue data from the USDA, the EWG ranks the highest and lowest pesticide fruits and vegetables.

The 2017 Dirty Dozen list contains strawberries, spinach, nectarines, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, celery, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, and potatoes. The 2017 Clean Fifteen list contains sweet corn, avocados, pineapples, cabbage, onions, sweet peas, papayas, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant, honeydew, kiwi, cantaloupe, cauliflower, and grapefruit.

EWG recommends buying the organic versions of the fruits and vegetables on the Dirty Dozen list to minimize exposure to synthetic pesticides.

Organic agriculture utilizes crop rotation, compost and manure as fertilizers, soil and water conservation practices, natural methods for managing pests, and no synthetic pesticides. Some of the goals of organic agriculture, according to the USDAs organic program, are to promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity.

Pesticide exposure: The Environmental Protection Agency sets limits for safe consumption of pesticides; they estimate an exposure level called the chronic reference dose, the amount of a chemical a person could be exposed to daily throughout life without any harmful effects.

A 2011 study estimated typical amounts of exposure to synthetic pesticides based on the USDAs pesticide residue data for fruits and vegetables on the Dirty Dozen list. They found that most pesticides were present at amounts one thousand times smaller than the chronic reference dose.

Even the highest pesticide residue detected was only 2 percent of the chronic reference dose. This puts the Dirty Dozen list in perspective: it means that even the highest pesticide conventional produce is very low in pesticides.

Is that small amount of synthetic pesticide any risk to consumers? Some scientists think that pesticide residues do not pose health risks, because humans and other animals are exposed to small amounts of naturally occurring toxins in every plant food we eat. The body regularly breaks down self-produced metabolic wastes and naturally occurring carcinogens in foods, as well as pesticides, and excretes these harmful substances.

Greater concentrations of urinary breakdown products of synthetic pesticides have been found in frequent consumers of conventional produce compared to frequent consumers of organic produce, and several short-term studies have shown that switching conventional foods for organic foods reduces urinary pesticide metabolites.

However, evidence is lacking whether the consumer gains any significant health benefit by eating organic instead of conventional produce.

What about people who work with pesticides in agriculture? Studies suggest a link between pesticide exposure and brain cancer, Parkinsons disease, multiple myeloma, leukemia, lymphoma, and cancers of the stomach and prostate.

A study comparing several markers of DNA damage in blood samples of conventional and organic farmers found evidence of greater DNA damage in conventional farmers. This suggests supporting organic agriculture can help to reduce the harmful effects of synthetic pesticide exposure for those who work in agriculture and are exposed to very high doses.

There are environmental advantages. Organic agriculture avoids conventional fertilizers, aiming to prevent harmful nitrogen runoff into waterways. Avoiding synthetic pesticides prevents pesticide contamination of groundwater.

Although organic pest management methods may not work as well as conventional in some cases, there is a great deal of evidence that organic crops bring better soil quality, less soil erosion, more plant diversity, and more diversity in insects, soil organisms, and birds.

Regarding nutritional differences, there appears to be a small increase in antioxidant content in organic fruits and vegetables compared to their conventional counterparts.

There is growing evidence that exposure to a mixture of synthetic pesticides is harmful to the bees we depend on as pollinators for many crops.

A shift toward organic agriculture could help to alleviate some of the stress on bee populations.

Note that the Dirty Dozen are not our major dietary source of exposure to harmful chemicals. Exposure to persistent organic pollutants such as organochlorine pesticides and PCBs occurs primarily via fatty animal foods like fish, dairy products, and meat.

Also, glyphosate, an herbicide linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma in agricultural workers, is present primarily in processed foods.

By centering your diet on unrefined plant foods, you will automatically reduce your exposure to potentially dangerous chemicals. The large volume of studies performed on typical, pesticide-treated produce has demonstrated that consumption of produce, whether organic or not, protects against chronic diseases.

For your health, consuming a diet of vegetables, beans, fruit, nuts, and seeds is the most important action you can take. If you are able to buy organic vegetables and fruits, that is preferable, especially for our children, the environment and for farmers.

Dr. Fuhrman is a New York Times best-selling author and a board certified family physician specializing in lifestyle and nutritional medicine. The Eat To Live Cookbook offers over 200 unique disease-fighting delicious recipes and his newest book, The End of Heart Disease, offers a detailed plan to prevent and reverse heart disease using a nutrient-dense, plant-rich eating style. Visit his informative website at DrFuhrman.com. Submit your questions and comments about this column directly to [emailprotected]

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Kemmerer Gazette | Is buying organic produce always the way to go? - Kemmerer Gazette

Danes are voting through their wallets and sending a clear signal that they want a food production system more in harmony with nature and with fewer chemicals being used.

Figures just released from Danmarks Statistik show that sales of organic food increased by 15 percent during 2016. In other words, every Dane consumed organic food worth 2,000 kroner last year.

It is still items such as milk, cheese and eggs that are the most popular, but sales of organic vegetables increased by 26 percent.

READ ALSO: Arla to produce more organic milk

Now, organic foods count for 9.6 percent of total food sales in Denmark.

The figures show clearly that Danes are now ready for even more organic food. Supermarkets have been competing with each other to have the broadest range of organic foods, explained Kirsten Lund Jensen, the head of the organic section at the Danish Agriculture and Food Council.

In total, 334,900 tonnes of organic foodstuffs with a value of 8 billion kroner were sold in 2016. Of this, milk, cheese and eggs accounted for almost half.

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Danes increasingly acquiring a taste for organic food - The Copenhagen Post - Danish news in english

For brands in the $40 billion U.S. market for organic food and beverages, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Organic seal is more than just another call-out for product packaging it defines their position in the retail landscape.

The integrity of the USDA Certified Organic seal is critical to the industry as a whole, and a reason why a recent article in The Washington Post is raising concerns from some members of the organic dairy community about how the practices of some large scale organic dairy operations may be affecting other brands and companies working within the space.

Nate Lewis, Farm Policy Director at the Organic Trade Association (OTA), told BevNET the group supports investigations into any allegations of wrongdoing across the supply chain, citing the need to assure the public trust in organic certified products.

The message were hearing from our members is sort of alleging that the whole system is broken because of the potential for or allegations of wrongdoing really does a disservice to the thousands of operations, inspectors and certifiers that are doing a really good job safeguarding the organic seal, he said.

The allegations Lewis refers to originated in a May 1 article by Post reporter Peter Whorisky, titled Why your organic milk may not be organic, which examined several large scale organic dairy operations and found critical weaknesses in the unorthodox inspection system used by the USDA.

The agencys guidelines for organic certification of dairy livestock requires for cows to be grazed on pasture during grazing season and to be kept in healthy, low-stress environments, as well as other provisions. Any organic operation with sales in excess of $5,000 per year, as well as companies that wish to sell products to be used as organic ingredients, need to be certified by a USDA-accredited agent.

In its reporting, The Post visited a facility run by Aurora Organic Dairy in High Plains, Colo. over eight days last year. Reporters at no point observed more than 10 percent of the herd, or a few hundred cows, grazing on pasture. In addition, tests conducted for The Post by scientists at Virginia Tech showed that Auroras milk matched conventional milk rather than organic when examined for a key indicator of grass-feeding.

A spokesperson for Aurora denied the accusations, telling The Post: The requirements of the USDA National Organic Program allow for an extremely wide range of grazing practices that comply with the rule.

Discussions with people in the organic food and beverage community about the revelations detailed in The Post drew a range of responses.

In an e-mail to BevNET, Beth Unger, regulatory engagement manager at Organic Valley, an independent cooperative of organic farmers based in Wisconsin, echoed those feelings. If a producer isnt following the rules, there is a process for investigating and revoking their certificates, protecting those who are following the rules, she said.

A spokesperson for Horizon Organic, which partners with over 600 family farms in 23 states to supply the majority of its milk, said in an e-mail that the company was focused on promoting the benefits of organic by building solidarity and collaboration in the industry.

We rely on consumer confidence in the organic seal for its success in the marketplace, and this confidence is intrinsically linked to a rigorous system of audits, inspections, and monitoring of all certified operations to organics clear and strict standards, said the spokesperson.

In an interview with BevNET, Errol Schweizer, a former vice president of grocery for Whole Foods and a board member for several companies in the natural food space, emphasized that the issues discussed in the Post article did not reflect a larger concern across the organic industry and that the operations highlighted in the story are the exception rather than the rule. Yet he noted that mass scaling in organic, which has brought lower prices and broadened consumer access to such products, may have enabled a looser interpretation of standards.

I think theres a problem with the scale creating a race to the bottom in terms of quality, unless theres really strong check and balances in the system. Schweizer said. When youre able to sell organic products cheaply, I think its important as a retailer or a customer that you have to scrutinize your supply chain. We have to appreciate that it is accessible and available and theres many more people consuming organic, but I think there is some price to pay here because what you see probably doesnt meet the expectations of what most consumers would consider organic.

Expanding beyond individual operations, the Post story also detailed issues related to the organic certification process, in which USDA-accredited agents private companies and organizations hired by individual farmers make annual inspections. The USDA reviews the records of each inspector every 2.5 years.

In its review of Auroras practices, The Post found that staff from the Colorado Department of Agriculture, at an annual cost of $13,000, conducted an inspection after the conclusion of grazing season in November. The USDA requires all inspections to take place during grazing season, which typically runs from spring until the first frost. Sanctions can include financial penalties of up to $11,000 per violation and potential revocation of the farm of businesss organic certificate.

According to a list published on the USDAs website, the most recent U.S. accreditation firm to lose its accreditation was Organic National and International Certifiers in April 2014.

Im not a regulatory expert, but I do feel that theres probably a loose interpretation of the standards here and theres definitely some responsibility on the shoulder of the certifier, said Schweizer. I have a hard time understanding how these types of farms are passing the audit, and then that the USDA is continuing to allow these farms to pass an audit based on their production methods. So I see it mostly from the retail point of view, but my gut says theres something wrong there.

Exerting influence over regulatory bodies is one way in which brands and trade organizations are taking action to safeguard and improve organic standards. Lewis said that the OTA seeks to influence regulatory guidelines through its involvement with the National Organic Standards Board, the body which advises the USDA on organic guidelines.

I think our main objective [at OTA] in that real is to ensure that the organic standards are scale neutral and consistently applied across the board regardless of size or location of operation, he said, adding that the organization advocates for strong funding of the National Organic Program as well as the USDA. Having a level playing field for all types of producers is really the best way to ensure integrity, maintain public confidence and to allow all types of operations to succeed in the organic marketplace.

We are on record supporting stricter standards especially for animal health and welfare, such as the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule, said Unger, referring to a comprehensive set of federal standards for on-farm welfare currently being deliberated. We believe the standards should optimize animal health and maximize their opportunities to express their natural behaviors.

While pushing for gradual improvements on a regulatory level, Schweizer said that the most immediate way of addressing issues related to organic certification was for the industry to scrutinize itself more closely.

I just think that there needs to be an effort on the part of the organic community and that includes both producers, consumers and retailers to police their own, he said. I think democracy in the marketplace and transparency and making sure that folks are all playing by the rules is as important as the enforcement on the regulatory side from certifiers as well as agencies. I want to emphasize that there needs to be scrutiny from the organic community and the organic industry on folks that are playing loose and fast with the regulation that we all have to follow to maintain the integrity of the marketplace.

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Organic Dairy Industry Responds to WaPost Story on Certification Issues - BevNET.com

Benitolink: San Benito County News

Local meditation group seeks members Benitolink: San Benito County News Do you practice one of the many kinds of meditation there are available in the world? Or would you like to know what meditation is, or how you can begin to do it yourself? If so, you can find a weekly meeting in Hollister where you can join others of ...

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Local meditation group seeks members - Benitolink: San Benito County News

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The benefits of mindfulness meditation are well-known, but one type of mindfulness meditation, loving-kindness meditation, works particularly well when it comes to sharpening your capacity for compassion and empathy. The beauty of this meditation is that it shows you that you can practice being loving and kind just as much as you can practice a headstand or your latest balance pose and you can become far better at it, too.

A UW-Madison studyfound proof of this when they took fMRI scans of the brains of Tibetan monks and meditators who had at least 10,000 hoursof practice meditating on loving-kindness. The scans showed that brain circuits used to detect others emotions and feelings were far stronger in those who had practiced loving-kindness meditation than in those who didnt. Whats more, the longer they had practiced, the stronger the connections were. Meditators displayed a heightened capacity for positive emotions (read: happiness!) as well.

In particular, the insula a region near the front part of the brain linked to bodily representations of emotion exhibited significant activity during loving-kindness meditation. The strength of its activity measured even higher in those who claimed to be meditating more intensely. The temporal parietal juncture linked to the perception of others mind states and emotions lit up as well. Both areas are linked to ones capacity for sharing emotions and empathizing with others.

So, what does this mean, exactly? According to Dr. Richard Davidson, psychiatry and psychology professor at UW-Madison and the director of the study, People are not just stuck at their respective set points. We can take advantage of our brains plasticity and train it to enhance these qualities. In other words, compassion can be learned. And who couldnt use a little more compassion?

What makes loving-kindness meditation so powerful is that it increases your capacity for wholly unconditional love. Often we reserve compassion and love for those closest to us family and friends but with loving-kindness meditation, that love extends much further to oneself, strangers, and the whole world. Perhaps most difficultly, this meditative practice requires you to extend love and compassion to those youre struggling with, too.

Heres how to do it, according to the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.

May I be freefrom inner and outer harm and danger. May I be safe and protected.

May I be freeof mental suffering or distress.

May I be happy.

May I be freeof physical pain and suffering.

May I be healthy and strong.

May I be ableto live in this world happily, peacefully, joyfully, with ease.

As loving-kindness practitioner and Buddhist monkMatthieu Ricard said, Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree. It changes your brain and therefore changes what you are. With loving-kindness meditation, you have the power to hack into a more compassionate and happy life. Because this practice requires no special time, place, or tools, its easy to fit it into your daily routine. Next time youre sipping your morning tea, relaxing into savasana, or even zoning out driving down the highway, consider addingten to 30 minutes of loving-kindness to your day.

Related on Organic Authority

5 Killer Meditation Apps to Help You Get Your Om On7 Scientifically-Backed Ways Meditation Changes Your BrainAre You Getting the Most Out of Your Meditation Practice?

Lauren Krouse is an autodidact, travel addict, amateur Buddhist philosopher, and proud black lab mama. She believes in sounding her barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world Whitman-style and is frequently found writing in the woods perched on a log or reading on the coast with her belly in the sand.

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This is How Loving-Kindness Meditation Transforms Your Brain - Organic Authority

The key to a well-balanced life? According to Gisele Bndchen, it's meditation.

On Tuesday afternoon in New York City, Bndchen and other practitioners of the activity gathered at the inaugural Women of Vision Awards, hosted by the David Lynch Foundation, to benefit female survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The nonprofit organization provides scholarships to classes on stress-reducing techniques. The luncheon raised enough money to provide free Transcendental Meditation sessions to 1,000 girls and women in N.Y.C.

The fundraiser, hosted by Rosanna Scotto of Good Day New York, also recognized Bndchen, Robin Roberts of Good Morning America, Alex and Ani CEO and founder Carolyn Rafaelian, and filmmaker Joni Kimberlin with Humanitarian Awards for their work with the charity, while veteran and sexual abuse survivor Latoya Mack received the Courage Award

"I have been meditating since my early 20s. Words cannot express enough the significance of its gifts in my life," said Bndchen, who wore a slinky white pantsuit featuring a knotted bow at the collar and wide legs and beige pointed-toe pumps to the luncheon. "I discovered meditation is a wonderful way to connect with our true essence. It can help us become more aware. It brings wisdom and healing."

"Meditation has brought me clarity and peace during my most challenging times," she added. "It has helped me know myself and to discover my purpose."

VIDEO: 4 Ways to Work Out Without Killing Your Wallet

RELATED: 7 Meditation Apps to Help Keep Your Zen

Head to davidlynchfoundation.org to find out more about the organization's work and how you can contribute to the cause.

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Gisele Bndchen Talks the Importance of Meditation and Finding Your Inner Peace - InStyle

Alice Coltrane released A Monastic Trio, her first album as a bandleader, in 1968, one year after the death of her husband and collaborator John Coltrane. Over the next decade, working as a composer, pianist, and harpist, Coltrane produced a revelatory body of work at a rate of about an album a year, playing thick and exploratory modal jazz imbued with a sense of spiritual questing that was entirely her own. Then, after the release of the live double album Transfiguration in 1978, she disappeared from public life almost entirely, returning to recording only for her final album Translinear Light, just a few years before her own death in 2007.

In the intermediary, Coltrane devoted herself to religious pursuits. In 1975, she established the Vedantic Center, an organization for the study of the ancient Vedic religion of India and spiritual wisdom and insight from all faiths. She took the name Swamini Turiyasangitananda, which translates from Sanskrit as the highest song of God. In 1983, she relocated the center to a sprawling 48-acre complex in the Santa Monica Mountains outside Los Angeles, renaming it the Sai Anantam Ashram and inviting a group of followers to live and study there.

Coltrane didnt cease her musical activities during this time, but redirected them toward the ashram community rather than the jazz-listening public at large. Under the Turiyasangitananda name, she recorded a series of cassettes that mix traditional Vedic chant with the American gospel Coltrane learned during her upbringing as a church organist in Detroit and the intense improvisation shed spent the previous decades honing. She worked in collaboration with singers at the ashram, and released the tapes on a private press, distributing them exclusively to her religious followers.

World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, a new compilation from David Byrnes Luaka Bop label, collects highlights from Coltranes ashram period and releases them publicly for the first time. Its difficult to overstate the significance of the release: This is a major body of work from a master musician, previously unheard outside of a community of religious devotees and any lucky collectors who managed to secure copies of the original cassettes.

Listening to the music as an outsider to that community, you sometimes feel youve wandered into the ashram unbidden, a situation that might be discomfiting if it werent for the nearly overwhelming warmth and joy with which the performers perform their material. Luaka Bop clearly approached the question of releasing the compilation to an audience so divorced from its original context with careful consideration: The label worked with Coltranes children Ravi and Michelle and her longtime engineer Baker Bigsby to secure and remaster the original tapes, and the compilations liner notes include a lengthy interview with a musician and ashram resident alongside more purely musicological writing.

And frankly, the music inside World Spirituality Classics 1 deserves to be heard. The ashram tapes are the only known recordings on which Alice Coltrane used her singing voice, an instrument as restrained and plaintive as her harp and piano are wild and expressive. Om Shanti, the second track and the first to feature Coltrane the singer, is transfixing. Accompanied at first only by stand-up bass and her own organ, she sings a lilting bluesy tune, sounding almost amused at the beatific atmosphere shes managed to conjure with just a few simple elements. Halfway through, the ashram singers join in wailing call-and-response, sounding like spirits beckoning Coltrane to join them in some nether realm. But the singers unflappable calm prevails: as the music around her becomes haunting and cavernous, her voice never rises above a conversational patter.

The compilations eight tracks run from between four and a half and eleven minutes in length, tending toward the longer end of that spectrum. Many of them are bifurcated in a manner similar to Om Shanti. One half might feature a vocal solo from Coltrane or another singer, the other hypnotically repetitious Vedic or gospel chanting. These chanting sections will be familiar to listeners of Rada-Krsna Nama Sankirtana, Coltranes 1975 album of devotional songs, but the addition of the compilations other most distinctive instrument gives them a new otherworldly glow. Coltrane frequently plays an Oberheim OB-8 synthesizer, a hefty piece of analog equipment that was state-of-the-art at the time. Her favorite mode of expression on the OB-8 is a huge, arcing glissando, sliding continuously from somewhere near the bottom of the keyboards range to somewhere near the top. These figures often loom behind the proceedings like futuristic monoliths. They recall Coltranes ability on the harp, like her husbands on the soprano sax, to play shimmering arpeggiated lines so smoothly that the distinctions between pitches seem to break down entirely. Thanks to the electronic capabilities of the OB-8, they actually do.

Theres a renewed interest in Coltranes music and spiritual life among listeners, many of them coming from outside the orthodoxy of traditional jazz fandom. (The work of her nephew Steven Ellison a.k.a. Flying Lotus, a frequent childhood visitor to the ashram whose own interstellar musical explorations owe a great deal to the woman he calls auntie, surely has something to do with this revival.) Through curated reissue labels and musicians like Botany and Visible Cloaks, were also in the middle of a new age renaissance, with artists exploring the musical potential of sounds that were originally intended as aids for meditation and spiritual experience. And the tumultuous political climate has encouraged musicians and listeners alike to view music as a balm against wounds inflicted in the outside world. Though the music onWorld Spirituality Classics 1 was recorded decadesago, 2017 is a felicitous moment for the compilations release.

Luaka Bop has done a remarkable job of collecting recordings that were originally scattered across multiple releases and giving them the feeling of a consistent whole. The insistent rhythm of Rama Guru is particularly invigorating in the wake of the slow and exploratory Rama Rama; the melody of the choral centerpiece Journey to Satchidananda finds a rippled but recognizable reflection in the harp motif that opens Er Ra. The most affecting of these thematic restatements comes during the 10-minute closer Keshava Murahara, whose pensive strings and vocals soon swell toward the tune of Om Shanti with an ecstasy that was only hinted at previously. Three quarters of the way through of the song, the small orchestra has settled down. Coltranes voice is back in the sparse setting where we heard it first, weary but unwavering, ready to begin the next journey.

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Alice Coltrane's Ashram Recordings Are Nearly Perfect Music for Our Current Moment - SPIN

Source: The HitavadaDate: 11 May 2017 10:21:15

Staff Reporter,

CENTRAL Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) in a neat manner on May 7. Over 30,000 candidates appeared for the examination conducted at 54 centres in city.

Students not only from city but from upcountry and adjoining places of the nearby district chosen Nagpur as a centre for the examination. Shree Gurudev Sewa Ashram of city made arrangement of lodging and boarding for the out station candidates free of cost coming for the exam.

Adv Ashok Yawale, one of the main organisers of the event, while talking to The Hitavada said, Since Nagpur is one of the main centre, many students from nearby districts opt for it. We at Nagpur are organising many event and distribute free meals on several occasions.

The students coming for the exams are mostly teenagers and are accompanied by their parents. We thought of providing free loading and boarding to the students from May 6, Shree Gurudev Sewa Mandals team including Satvik Thaware, Krupal Bhoyar, Suresh Rajurkar, Gyaneshwar Rakshak, Praveen Paradkar, Tapas, Subash Bangade, Anand Mathane, Vitthal Punse informed people about services on social media.

We had given option of prior registration, to avoid rush on time. More then 90 students and their parents took the benefit of the services, informed Subash Bangade. Gyaneshwar Rakshak added, People spend lot of money on several celebrations. We thought that this is a crucial examination and people from other cities, many of them coming for the first time to the city.

They even dont no the centre and places to stay, as well as to find quality food amidst scorching heat. We decided to help them.

This is the true help to the aspairing doctors of the country. This was a noble gesture, very rare to see. Even aspirants coming for other exams like police recruitment etc often are forced to sleep on the railway platfrom.

A little help to the strugling youths can carry a good name for the city. Its a new begining and we will continue the same in future also, said Praveen Paradkar.

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Shree Gurudev Sewa Ashram's noble gesture towards NEET aspirants - The Hitavada

By Natalie Gingerich Mackenzie | May 9, 2017 Special to espnW.com

Courtesy of Toni Pressley

Florida State grad Toni Pressley's soccer career took her from coast to coast in the U.S. -- as well as overseas to Russia -- before landing her with the NWSL's Orlando Pride in her home state last year. Despite an exhausting schedule, the self-proclaimed "pretend Food Network star" loves to cook -- and fill her Instagram feed with photos of her creations.

One recent theme: Pressley has been following a vegan diet for about four months. She began as an experiment and quickly noticed that she was getting leaner and had more energy on the field. "I loved learning about which substitutions I could make and how to reinvent recipes and food," she said. "There are so many options available that veganism is not as hard as many people think."

She has found that it's easier than she thought to get the muscle-building protein she needs. "I make sure I get my protein with plant-based protein shakes, tofu, meat replacements (I really like pea-based options), and I also take a daily vitamin," she said.

She shared one of her favorite dishes: vegan mushroom risotto.

Courtesy of Toni Pressley

Day and time: Any day for dinner

Place: My home! I love to cook.

What I'm eating: Vegan mushroom risotto

Whose recipe: Mine

Why I'm eating it: Mushroom risotto is one of my favorite things to eat on this planet!

The recipe: Ingredients: 2 cups Arborio rice 4 cups assorted mushrooms 1/2 cup diced yellow onion 7-8 cups veggie broth 3 cloves garlic 1 cup vegan Parmesan cheese 1 cup raw cashews, plus enough water to cover them completely in a container 1 tablespoon vegan butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons chopped chives Salt and pepper to taste

Courtesy of Toni Pressley

1. Make cashew cream. Soak cashews in water overnight or for at least 8 hours. Using a high-speed blender or food processor, blend for about 2 minutes to make cream.

2. In a large skillet on medium heat, add vegan butter and olive oil. Add mushroom onions, and saut for 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, and saut for another 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Add Arborio rice, and stir thoroughly.

4. Add one cup of veggie broth, stirring constantly until the broth is almost all absorbed. Repeat this step for the remaining six to seven cups of broth.

5. Test rice to ensure it is cooked through. If not, cook until tender.

6. Add vegan Parmesan and chives and mix well.

7. Add a half cup to a cup of cashew cream, depending on how creamy you like it. I use a half cup.

8. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Link:

What athletes eat: Soccer player Toni Pressley's vegan mushroom risotto - ESPN

There will be food from established New Orleans restaurants and emerging pop-ups. There will be local bands on stage, the rapper behind a famous, meatless Thanksgiving anthem and a chef giving light flavors a heavy metal edge. There will be beer, from a nearby craft brewery no less.

What you won't find at NOLA Veggie Fest on Saturday and Sunday (May 13-14) are any animal products on the menus or among the product offerings. But this party is about what vegan principles bring in rather than what they exclude and showing where they intersect with ideas of health, sustainability and creativity.

Contributed photo by Joseph Schneider NOLA Veggie Fest returns to the grounds of Kingsley House as a two-day event showcasing the New Orleans vegan community.

That starts with food and drink thats either traditionally vegan or reconfigured to be so. And since being vegan entails a lot more than diet, NOLA Veggie Fest showcases facets of the lifestyle beyond the food booths. Theres entertainment, yoga, pet adoptions and even dating possibilities synced to the event.

The annual event is a project of the Humane Society of Louisiana. Last year, it got a reboot, steering closer to the familiar New Orleans festival format. It was a bid to draw a more diverse crowd, and it worked. The free, two-day outdoor festival returns to Kingsley House, taking over the grassy, oak-shaded grounds of this historic service organization on the edge of the Irish Channel.

We want to draw the average person off the street; thats why its free, and thats why we go with making it a real festival, event director Leah Duncan said. We want to make the vegan lifestyle more relatable because, really, it comes down to small changes once you get into the groove.

That groove can take on many different styles. One special guest this year is Grey the Vegan Rapper. The Atlanta-based musician became an internet sensation last year for his song Vegan Thanksgiving. Heres a taste of his verses: Mashed potatoes so good, put your hands in it. String beans and you know we got yams with it. Got cabbage and greens with no ham in it.

The songs video took off on social media, mixing images of wholesome home cooking and a jamming house party with plenty of twerking but no turkey. Grey is scheduled to appear at NOLA Veggie Fest on Saturday.

Also featured on Saturday is the Vegan Black Metal Chef, whose online video series presents vegan cooking with all the dark theatrics of the heaviest of heavy metal. His cookbook is called The Seitanic Spellbook, the name riffing on the wheat gluten product. The tome is full of vegan recipes and gives an idea of this chefs mashup sensibility.

Contributed photo from Vegan Black Metal Chef Combining vegan cooking with the heaviest of heavy metal, the Vegan Black Metal Chef will be part of NOLA Veggie Fest this year in New Orleans.

As in the past, NOLA Veggie Fest will have a bazaar of booths for products from local and national suppliers. Some of the local brands are vegan-friendly without being vegan-exclusive. One example is Breads on Oak, the Uptown bakery and caf that has built a niche with vegan baked goods and sandwiches, while still preparing traditional pastries.

Others represent the growing range of food concepts around New Orleans built from the start to vegan specs. That includes Little Jim Ice Cream, which makes dairy-free frozen desserts and vegan ice cream sandwiches, served up at events from its own old-time vending cart.

NOLA Veggie Fest has also been a natural fit for Girls Gone Vegan, and each year, it serves as a showcase for a growing local bakery that supplies cafes and restaurants around town.

The sisters Hayden and Erinn Aley created Girls Gone Vegan in 2014, starting with old family recipes they reworked to be both vegan and gluten free. Their repertoire keeps expanding as they take on more bakery staples with a tool kit that includes custom gluten-free flours, seasonal fruit, cashew cheese and dark chocolate.

Contributed photo from Hayden Aley The New Orleans bakery Girls Gone Vegan will prepare a hummingbird cake bar that is vegan and gluten free for this year's NOLA Veggie Fest.

This year, they're preparing a number of bars and brownies for easy festival portability. That includes a special hummingbird cake, with the flavor profile of the Southern classic rendered as a vegan bar.

Girls Gone Vegan doesnt have a storefront bakery, so appearances at farmers markets and events like NOLA Veggie Fest give the Aley sisters a chance to meet their customers and introduce their baking style to others.

Kombucha flows from the taps at the Big Easy Bucha bewery in New Orleans. Big Easy Bucha makes a variety of kombucha, a fermented tea with ancient roots and a growing modern following.

Its always best when people can taste our product while we explain it, Hayden Aley said. What it comes down to is good food is good food.

The festival booths also show some local products at the intersection of vegan-friendly principles and broader health-conscious trends. For instance, one vendor on site will be Big Easy Bucha, the local brewery for kombucha, a fizzy, fermented tea touted for its health and wellness potential. Others are part of event as essential elements of a New Orleans festival. That goes for the beer, this year supplied by NOLA Brewing Co.

Also new this year are sessions for veg speed dating sessions (on Saturday), with categories for different age groups and orientations. Who knows? If you hit it off at NOLA Veggie Fest your next meal might be tofu for two.

NOLA Veggie Fest

Where: 1600 Constance St.

When: May 13, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; May 14, noon-6 p.m.

Free admission (VIP tickets $20)

Schedules and details at nolaveggiefest.com

Follow Ian McNulty on Twitter, @IanMcNultyNOLA.

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At NOLA Veggie Fest, the good times are on a vegan roll - The Advocate