Ft. Bragg California's 4th Vibrant Living Expo
Living Light Culinary Arts Institute Gathers World Raw Food Experts
Sep 1, 2008
During the weekend of August 22-24, 2008, the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg, California, was host to vegan and raw foodists from around the world. Living Light, the world’s premier organic vegan and raw food culinary school, drew attendees from throughout the US and as far as Brazil, Russia, and Vietnam.
Living Light was founded in 1997 by Cherie Soria at the urging of the father of the raw food movement, Viktoras Kulvinskas, and Dr. Ann Wigmore. As the movement grew, Cherie and her husband Dan Ladermann felt that it was important to provide vegan and raw foodists with an opportunity to gather together as a community on an annual basis, and the Vibrant Living Expo was born.
World Vegan and Raw Food Experts
The expo assembled some of the biggest names in the raw food movement, including Dr. Viktoras Kulvinskas, Dr. Gabriel Cousins, creator of the Rainbow Diet, and Victoria Boutenko, the mother of green juicing. Activities were spread among four areas along the quiet town of Fort Bragg’s main street on California Highway One, and offered opportunities for exercise, yoga, and early morning meditation in addition to the varied lectures and panel discussions.
Lecture offerings were designed to appeal to longtime raw foodists and newcomers alike. Topics varied from the technical (raw food and metabolic enzymes) to environmental (genetic engineering), from practical (Getting into Your Pants in 90 Days or Less) to spiritual (Creating Peace by Being Peace).
A highlight was an Ask the Experts panel, held on the final day of the expo. Over a two-hour period, guests were invited to submit their questions about the raw food lifestyle to any of the six leading experts in the movement. One attendee asked each of the guests to contemplate the following question: “If you had to choose between a fresh blueberry and a dried goji berry (a well-known Superfood), which would you eat and why?” All six responded that without a doubt, fresh, seasonal and local is always best, and then extolled the anti-oxidant properties of fresh blueberries.
Non-Cooking Demonstrations
The Living Light Culinary Studio was the center of the Vibrant Living Expo’s non-cooking demonstrations (“non,” because raw food is never cooked above 118 degrees Fahrenheit). Friday hosted Rising Star Chef Showcase, which featured up and coming raw food chefs, many of whom were recent graduates of Living Light. Chef Tiana Rodrigues, of Rio de Janeiro’s Universo Organico, demonstrated how to make her Spinach Roulade, a featured item on the menu in her restaurant. The chef shared that she traveled from Brazil with a food dehydrator in one of her suitcases in order to prepare the flavorful dish.
On Saturday and Sunday, guests learned to make the recipes of renowned raw food chefs Nomi Shannon, Rhio, Cherie Soria, and others. Following each demonstration, onlookers received a copy of each recipe and a small sample. This was one of the most well attended offerings throughout the busy expo.
Vendor Booths
The Vibrant Living Expo showcased exhibitors from a large variety of companies and organizations that support the raw/live food lifestyle. Vendors sold cookbooks, herbs, green powders, dehydrators and raw chocolate. Happy Oasis, Director of Raw Spirit ( the raw food movement's version of Woodstock), was there to encourage raw enthusiasts to attend the upcoming festival. New exhibitors from Viva Institute invited attendees to join them on a live food retreat, an opportunity to learn about the raw food lifestyle while enjoying the beauty of Brazil’s green coast.
Perhaps most memorable were the “mermaids” from Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Collective, an organization that harvests wild seaweed from the Northern California Coast. Seaweed, a Superfood that’s rich in trace minerals and essential elements, can be eaten in salads, pureed to make a thickener in smoothies or desserts, or thrown in the bath to soften skin. Throughout the day, mermaid Trish Gallagher could be seen chasing delighted children with enormous kelp fronds or bestowing fellow vendors with slippery ocean gifts while owner Terry Nieves educated expo attendees on the numerous healing properties of ocean vegetables.
Vibrant Living Expo and Culinary Showcase 2009
Next year’s expo will be held at the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg, CA from August 21-23. The cost is $195 for three days or $75 per day. Arrive a day or two early to enjoy the many activities the area has to offer, and be sure to take the winding drive down California Highway One’s scenic coast. The sights are undeniably more vibrant when fueled with a fresh juice from the Living Light Café.
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