Let's re-ask, why vegetarian? The seed was planted by listening to conscious rap music in the late 80s with KRS-One referring to vegetarian diet in a few of his songs. One of his songs entitled "Beef" changed everything for me overnight and he spoke of the Honorable Elijah Muhummad's book "Eat to Live" which I read and that lead me to reading every book I could find on the subject by authors such as Llaila Afika, Queen Afua, and Dick Gregory. In 1991, I attended a lecture given by Dick Gregory where he spoke about only eating FRUITS as it speaks of in Genesis 1:29 I believe. This was ground shaking for me. On one hand as crazy as it sounded it made all the sense in the world. I began to experiment with fruit-only eating almost immediately and I would do it for a few days at a time, until I really got hungry then I would go back to my usual diet. That was my introduction to going to an all raw or live food diet. Years later I learned the importance of vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables. I believe had I had the knowledge and understanding of vegetables, fatty fruits, nuts, and seeds I would have been practicing a live food diet much longer than I have.

For the record I have been practicing vegetarianism for 20 years and an all live food diet for more than 10 years. In my opinion this is really the one true way to be a vegetarian, well, I should say a HEALTHY vegetarian. Working in a vegetarian establishment, I see way too many unhealthy vegetarians and the reason undoubtedly is because of too much unfermented soy and cooked starch. These 2 food groups pose a real problem for the vegetarian movement and a trap for those looking to practice the vegetarian way. Starch is by far the most addictive food and probably the worst food anyone can eat period, even worse than meat and dairy. Grains should only be consume when sprouted and the same goes with beans. The sprouting transforms the complex high blood altering carbohydrates into simple, easy to digest sugars. Soy should only be consumed when fermented. The earliest cultivators of soy understood this and only consumed soy in the forms of miso, natto, tempeh, soy sauce, etc. not as tofu, bean curd, soy isolate, tvp as it done by mass vegetarians today.

As a live food vegetarian, green leafy vegetables became a staple food, not necessarily fruits. I tell people all the time, your greens replace your starch, and that change alone will make all the difference. Also, Mother Nature has created thousands of fruits, herbs, nuts, seeds, vegetables with thousands of varieties of each. We have been bamboozled with limited food choices that we eat over and over and expect good health with the limited over hybridized commercialized food. Going to ethnic markets, farmer's market, and not just health food stores is essential. We all need to introduce our palate and bodies to all different kinds of fresh food that we are ignorant of. This will make for an exciting expedition into becoming a well informed, balanced, and true fresh food vegetarian.

Join us for the 9th Annual Happily Natural Day featuring special guest speakers, workshop presenters, musicians and international vendor marketplace with one of a kind fashions, arts, crafts, health & body products.

For 9 years Happily Natural Day has promoted natural lifestyles, cultural awareness and social change - join us for the 9th Annual Celebration in Richmond Virginia the last weekend in August!! We have always been more

than a hair show, promoting not only natural hairstyles but also urban agriculture, holistic health and wellness in addition to eco-consciousness. Attendees can look forward to interactive workshops, panel discussions, cooking demonstrations, activities for their children, live music and most of all merchants from all across the country.

Happily Natural Day is a movement - dedicated to living holisitically - our organization promotes initatives and campaigns thoughout the country in promotion of wellness and loving our community. We are proud to say that since our inception in 2003 we have grown and evolved outgrowing each venue and are happy to present our 9th year at Trinity Life Family Center in Richmond VA.

We would love to see you in attendance!! Please RSVP and share the event with a friend!! Interested vendors feel free to contact us here and we will promptly send you an application and answer any questions you may have!!

Stay tuned to our event page and website for updates on speakers, guest performers, featured vendors and more - http://happilynaturalday.com