Speakers

Karla Moreno Bryce, MDA, RD, LD

3 Common Myths about Plant-Based Diets for Children: and How to Support Their Growth

10:30 to 11:15am, American Vegetarian Association Main Stage

Karla Moreno-Bryce is a Registered Dietitian and leading expert in pediatric vegan nutrition. Her vegan journey began in 2008, driven by her desire to extend compassion to animals. Now, as a mother raising two vegan daughters, she continues to instill compassion in her family’s lifestyle.

As a Registered Dietitian, she has supported hundreds of vegan parents worldwide in helping them feel confident feeding their kids a vegan diet for proper growth and development. Her insights have been featured in highly recognized outlets such as HuffPost, BBC, and National Geographic.

In her spare time, she enjoys having picnics with her family—unless it’s in the middle of winter in Minnesota.

Her talk will be focused on debunking common myths around plant-based diets for kids, addressing common concerns, discussing benefits of plant-based diets and explaining how children can thrive normally on plants.

Website:
https://vegankidsnutrition.com
Instagram:
@vegan.kids.nutrition
Facebook:
@vegan.kids.nutrition

Mary Britton Clouse

Who Cares About City Chickens and Why

1:30pm to 2:15pm American Vegetarian Association Main Stage

Whether a fad or enduring change, living with chickens presents both opportunities and challenges to rethink our relationship with the most unjustly treated land animals on the planet. Will familiarity engender more respect for them as sentient individuals and reshape our behavior towards them or will they continue to be viewed as a means to an end at our whim? This presentation will show who chickens are, what they need and explain the animal rights philosophy that guides Chicken Run Rescue’s rescue and actions, including the Make A Vegan initiative.

An original art agitprop titled “Do not give up all hope, you who enter.” will also be on exhibit.

Mary Britton Clouse is an activist/artist who has served as President of Minnesota’s Animal Rights Coalition. She and her husband Albert Clouse founded the Minnesota Spay/Neuter Project, Legislative Efforts for Animal Protection and most recently Chicken Run Rescue (CRR) and Justice for Animals Arts Guild.

Since 2001, chickens as well as other domestic fowl, pigs, goats and sheep impounded by city shelters have been provided with love, shelter and vet care at Chicken Run Rescue’s sanctuary. Chicken Run Rescue fosters evolution in critical thought about who is food or friend through rescue, rehabilitation, sanctuary and education. CRR was the first urban chicken rescue in the US and is internationally recognized for its expertise in advocacy for them. Seeing first-hand experience and art as her most powerful tools for change, she has concentrated her activism and art on animals used in agriculture. Fate has placed chickens, the most exploited and abused of all animals harmed as food, at inner-city doorsteps everywhere. 

Website:
Chicken Run Rescue
Instagram:
@chickenrunrescue
Facebook:
@chickenrunrescue

Jodi Gruhn, MBA, NBC-HWC

Noon, Focus Health Music and Health Stage.

Please visit the Let’s Beat Breast Cancer page for full details on her talk, cooking demo, and the rally.

Jodi is a catalyst for wellness transformation, bringing her many years experience to inspire and educate audiences about the power of the plant-based plate. She is a Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach certified in plant-based nutrition and is a licensed Food For Life Instructor with the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine.

As the Director of Wholesome Minnesota, she fiercely advocates for plant based options in Minnesota schools partnering with nutrition leaders, parents, students and teachers to be the change in their organizations.

Her small business, Borealle, helps people find & align with their health to prevent, improve and reverse chronic disease with the added benefit of building better environmental practices.

Jodi loves mountain biking, camping and cooking in the outdoors — with a podcast called, We Do This For Fun, to prove it.