The Vegan Lifestyle has transcended its image as a niche dietary choice and emerged as a symbol of conscious living. In the United States, the trend of adopting a vegan lifestyle has been on the rise, and it’s not just limited to food choices. What’s particularly intriguing is the way
I’m Julie.
Graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, I hold a bachelor’s degree in Illustration with a focus on wildlife and minored in Graphic Design too. I’m also a children’s book writer and I’m currently writing a book, Only the Toad Knows Where the Rosemary Grows, about a frog who was pushed out of his habitat and lived in a rosemary pot on a back patio. His accounting of the deforestation of the reserve – he and many other animals inhabited – is a journey, one in which very much parallels what animals in forests and rainforests are dealing with today.
Vegetarian for thirty-four years and vegan for four years. I first became passionate in 1985 after reading a book written by a man who worked for Oscar Meyer. His accounting of working in a slaughterhouse was so gripping and horrific to me, that it inspired me even more to become an activist for these innocent souls without voices.
I’m a member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), ARM (Animal Recovery Mission), and Animal Legal Defense Fund and educate others on the Vegan Lifestyle, and what all of us together can do to truly make a difference in animals’ lives, which in turn effect ours and the planet. I’m also a supporter of a local animal rescue and I’m a rescue ‘mom’ of seven.
Being of Italian descent, I learned at an early age how to cook healthy meals and I loved to spend time in the kitchen with my mother and great-grandmother.
Educating children on eating well is essential. This prompted me to write a children’s cookbook, Plants on Plate for Kids, which features twenty-five fun-filled kid’s recipes that they can prepare with their parents, along with fun photos of each plate. Every recipe created is animal food art.
For example, ‘Hootmeal’ is a bowl of steel cut oats with coconut cream, with an owl made from nuts and fruit; ‘Bananaranimals’, is made from bananas, vegan M & M’s, marzipan, and vegan chocolate raisins; ‘Flutter Flap Jacks’, are pancakes with butterflies made from strawberries, blackberries, bananas and kiwis. Under the photo of each recipe is a ‘fun fact’ about that creature so kids can get an education while having fun in the kitchen.
I’m also working on another cookbook, Plants on a Plate, which will feature recipes such as vegan fried chicken with vegan mac-n-cheese, and vegan scallops made from oyster mushrooms.
My passion today goes beyond painting, writing, and cooking because I have a BIG project closely with the Founder of My Vegan World, Heather Hobrock, as creative editor for My Vegan World Magazine.