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Naples | Presenters

Featuring expert doctors, researchers, and activists to discuss timely topics such as health, diet, animal welfare, and the environment.
  • 10am - Mike and Denise Young | NON-PROFIT UPDATE + LONGEVITY HABITS
  • 10:30am - Randy Ryan & Dana Kavitski | HOW TO BUILD FARMS & GARDENS CHEAP
  • 10:50am - Stephen Huggins | SOUND BOWLS TO RAISE THE BODIES FREQUENCY VIBRATION
  • 11am - Shelley Katz | EASY TO GROW EDIBLE PERENNIALS FOR SWFL
  • 11:30am - Brad Talbott | HOW TO SAVE OUR SEAS
  • Noon - Ellen Jaffe Jones | BEAT INFLATION (AND MORE) ON A VEGAN DIET
  • 12:30pm - Fab The Vegan | THE PLANT BASED INFLUENCER
  • 1pm - Emanuel Bisarello | FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR HEALING AND AWAKENING
  • 1:30pm - Dr. Ron Knaus | HOW TO STABILIZE CURE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
  • 2:15pm - Dr. Will Tuttle | THE PHILOSOPHY OF VEGANISM
  • 2:45pm - Shannon & VeganEvan | ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISM

10:00am - Mike and Denise Young | NON-PROFIT UPDATE + LONGEVITY HABITS

Mike Young is the Founder of aPlantBasedDiet.org 501(c)(3) Non-Profit, TriangleGrapeVine.org and FloridaGrapeVine.org. aPlantBasedDiet.org has a website full of food and recipe resources, a YouTube Channel, local community groups, and live in person outdoor festival events up and down the US East Coast. He’s the type of person that’s continually in search of improvement and doing the best he can do with everything. Mike has always been a forward thinker, and this has propelled him into leading a whole foods plant based lifestyle. He believes there’s nothing more important to do today than spread the good news of this lifestyle since everyone and everything benefits! Mike can be found perpetually on social media. Mike is also a Lifestyle Nutritionist @ ForeverYoungNutritionCoaching.com with a passion for human health. Author of the vBook “Live to 150” available FREE here: http://LiveTo150.org

Denise began her non-profit leadership work as the President of her COA. She leads projects and analyses financial data as a Senior Systems Analyst at Freddie MAC. Denise began her Plant-based journey after Mike encouraged her to read The China Study in 2017. Denise lost her beloved Aunt and Grandmother to diabetes and watched several family members struggle with breast cancer. She’s committed to educating people about a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t exploit animals and is better for the environment. Since switching to a Whole Foods Plant Based diet, Denise has lost 20 pounds, has resumed running and recently won first place in her age group in a competitive 5K!

Providing a yearly update for the organization plus longevity tips from the newly completed free book LIVE to 150!

10:30am - Randy Ryan & Dana Kavitski

TOPIC | How to Build Farms & Gardens Cheap

Earth Farm 9 is an all Vegan Farm in SWFL that specializes in growing Rare Fruit. Owners Randy & Dana have built farms together in Maryland, North Florida, South Florida, and Randy has built one prior by himself in Pennsylvania. Join their lecture at Naples Veg Fest to learn about stretching your dollars and simply building sustainable systems for below average market prices + miscellaneous Life Hacks to save money while increasing your effectiveness!!
 

10:50am - Stephen Huggins

SOUND BOWLS TO RAISE THE BODIES FREQUENCY VIBRATION

10 minutes of immersive sound healing frequencies sit back relax and meditate to the pure crystal tones of crystal quartz singing bowls as your chakras get tuned up and your body comes into vibrational alignment. Also being featured is the angelic sounds of a metallophone and a crystal quartz singing pyramid. Steve the explorer travels the US and abroad providing positive energy in the upliftment of the frequency of humanity. He talks on spirituality and fasting as ancient cures for a modern world that has turned consumerist.

11am - Shelley Katz

EASY TO GROW EDIBLE PERENNIALS FOR SWFL

Shelley Katz is a fruit and vegetable grower who has been dedicated to growing food ecologically since 2013. She started managing mixed vegetable farms in 2017. Shelley has managed vegetable farms in Utah, Oregon, and Virginia. She also spent 2 years working on farms and gardens in Hawaii. Shelley has a B.S.c in Agriculture Science and has also received two Permaculture Design Certificates, one of which specialized in climate resiliency. In 2020, Shelley founded Heart of Palms Ranch and Eco-Farm in Fort Myers, FL.

11:30am - Brad Talbott

TOPIC | HOW TO SAVE OUR SEAS

Brad Talbott is an avid musician and Fort Myers Organizer for the international Anonymous for the Voiceless movement. Brad has helped organize public art demonstrations along with others around the state of Florida in order to educate the public about the positive effects a plant based diet can have on your health, the environment, and the animals we share this planet with. He has had experience with hosting musical events as President of music club at Florida Gulf Coast University in addition to hosting and assisting local open mic nights throughout the community.

Brad is a each clean up host, animal rights activist and he gives a lecture to FSW students every semester on compassionate consumption.
 

Noon - Ellen Jaffe Jones

BEAT INFLATION (AND MORE) ON A VEGAN DIET

With inflation skyrocketing, phone is ringing off hook from event planners and media on how to eat on a budget, vegan or not.

Ellen Jaffe Jones is a nationally ranked sprinter, 6-time vegan book author and former Emmy winning TV investigative reporter from Miami. Her mom, aunt, and both sisters had breast cancer and her family was part of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene studies. She is the only adult female without it. She has placed in 260 5K or longer races for her age group and was the only woman in the 70 to 74-year-old age group at the National Senior Games to compete in all 7 track events and placed in 3 of them. She is a licensed cooking instructor for Physicians Committee for Reponsible Medicine.

12:30pm - Fab The Vegan - The Plant Based Health Influencer

I was raised in Queens, New York and grew up in a typical Latin household eating a lot of different types of meats, and toxic food. By my late 20’s I had become accustomed to eating the Standard American Diet, which led me to eventually weigh 300 lbs pounds if not maybe over. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2007 at the age of 44 and was more sick than I had ever been in my life. At 50 years old in 2013 I decided to make a change and work actively towards healing myself from the inside out. I went PlantBased and ultimately became fully vegan in 2014 and, along with starting a fitness routine, I reversed my diabetes and lots of more illnesses, lost all the extra weight, and regained my health, confidence, and zest for life! Now I weight 165 lbs at 58 years old and I feel amazing!

1:00pm - Emanuel Bisarello

TOPIC | Fruits and vegetables for healing and awakening

Emanuel Bisarello has been in the field of healing for 15 years. Born in Argentina and raised on a daily meat, wheat and dairy diet; went through the journey of learning about how negative thoughts and emotions affect our health and how emotional release and raw foods helps us recover our health, well being and propels our spiritual life.
 

1:30pm - Dr. Ron Knaus - 85 Years Young Vegan Doc

TOPIC | HOW TO STABILIZE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Dr. Ronald Knaus is a psychiatrist in Saint Petersburg, Florida. He received his medical degree from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

2:15pm - Dr. Tuttle

TOPIC | THE PHILOSOPHY OF VEGANISM (remote via video chat)

Dr. Will Tuttle, visionary author, educator, and inspirational speaker, is author of the acclaimed Amazon #1 best-seller The World Peace Diet, published in 16 languages. Since 1985, Dr. Tuttle has delivered an unparalleled 4,000+ live audience presentations encouraging compassion and vegan living, in over 50 countries worldwide and in all 50 U.S. states.

2:45pm - Emcees | VeganEvan and Shannon Blair

Shannon’s journey toward animal liberation really got going Thanksgiving Day, 1996, when she was just 9 years old. After she saw footage showing what happens to animals in order for them to end up on our plates, she never ate another animal again and immediately became an activist, stickering packages and holding demos outside of supermarkets. After about 2 decades of eating a vegetarian diet, Shannon was made aware of the atrocities occurring in the dairy industry — she had never heard this information before. She also watched Cowspiracy on Netflix and then made the decision to transition to a Vegan Lifestyle overnight. Shortly after, she found out how horrendous the egg industry is, another one she had been supporting during all that time as a vegetarian. Shannon now understood why those “crazy vegans” weren’t eating cheese or eggs — they weren’t so crazy after all. She got right back into activism — this time with more knowledge, more reasons, and an incredible amount of inspiration from her son, VeganEvan (who decided to go vegan the same day, even though she tried talking him out of it)! Shannon is fighting for the animals and for Evan’s future. She quit her job in 2017 to advocate, educate, and activate full-time. Shannon and Evan travel all over doing outreach & actions for the animals. They are in the process of starting up a new non-profit organization, the Animal Liberation Action Squad. Shannon is a Certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach & Educator.

VeganEvan is a passionate and talented young animal advocate committed to creating a healthy, compassionate, and regenerative world. He is President & Spokesperson for Animal Hero Kids and also a spokesperson for the Solutionary Species movement. VeganEvan has spoken in front of large audiences at several major events throughout the country including the What the Health-Cowspiracy Conference, Central Florida Earth Day, the Animal Liberation Conference, Tampa Bay VegFest, the National Animal Rights Conference, Asheville Vegan Fest, VegFest Oahu, and many more!!  He has been awarded the Russell Simmons Creative Animal Hero Kids Award, and in 2016, he earned PETA’s Cutest Vegan Kid award.  More recently he was awarded the Shining World Leadership Award for Compassion from the Supreme Master Ching Hai Association. VeganEvan is a voice for the animals everywhere he goes! He enjoys leafleting, protesting, doing marches, Open Rescue, disruptions, and making videos and rap songs! Evan also participates in Anonymous for the Voiceless Cubes of Truth and Vigils with the Save Movement wherever he travels. Most of all, he loves visiting all of his rescued friends at the sanctuaries where they are happy, safe and free from harm.