Bill Tara, Marlene Watson-Tara, Gary Francione, Anna Charlton and Laurence Candy

Join our presenters for a day of inquiry into what we are eating and how changing our daily diet can improve our health and reconnect us with the world we live in. The day includes a delicious plant-based lunch to demonstrate how you can incorporate these dietary principles into your daily life without compromising on taste and enjoyment. Each participant will also receive the gift of health from Clearspring. A selection of delicious organic food to nourish your biome.

Our physical health, mental clarity, vitality and longevity are all the product of our daily way of life.  The knowledge and practical tools to claim our full potential run counter to many popular medical and nutritional narratives. New stories are needed. These stories include ancient wisdom traditions, rebellious science and human ecology. They honour the natural world and resist the synthetic environment that dominates modern life. Join our presenters for a day of exploration of the interface between the external biosphere and the community of microorganisms that form our internal microbiome. Some of the questions our presenters will address include:

Do the billions of microorganisms in a teaspoon of soil affect the 100 trillion cells in the human microbiome?

Has nature been monetised? Can we afford a healthy planet?

Can diet extend life and protect against cognitive decline?

Are heart disease, diabetes and inflammatory diseases caused by human habits?

Can planetary health and sustainability begin in the kitchen?

What are the nutritional mythologies that govern the food system?

10:30 am. 
Bill Tara - Are We What We Eat?  How the environment decides a healthy diet.

11.15 am.
Marlene Watson-Tara – The Power of Your Plate. Promoting health or causing disease.

11:45 am.
Coffee break

12:15 pm
Laurence Candy
Stockfree organic farming, the roadmap for a kinder, more sustainable food system.

12.45pm
Comfort break

1pm.
Delicious Lunch

2pm
Professors Gary Francione & Anna Charlton – Being fair means going vegan.

2.45pm
Q&A and discussion

3.30pm
Finish

Presenters

Bill Tara is a seminar leader, author and has been an activist for natural health care for 60 years. He has been invited to more than 25 countries to teach macrobiotic nutrition and human ecology. Tara has established health education centres in the USA and Europe. He and his wife, Marlene, are founders of the Human Ecology Project to promote the vision of a healthy world for humans and non-humans alike. His most recent book is How to Eat Right and Save the Planet.

Marlene Watson-Tara has been a lifelong voice for the animals. From a young age, she established herself as a dynamic health counsellor, teacher and advocate for a wholefood plant-based vegan diet, yoga and vibrant health. She is a graduate of T Colin Campbell Centre for Nutrition Studies and an expert in her field on macrobiotics and plant-based nutrition. Her love of oriental philosophy and human ecology is her driving force. She is the author of several books, most recently Go Vegan. She has designed vegan menus for the festival’s gala evenings.

Professor Gary Francione is a professor of law and philosophy and has written extensively on the legal status of animals, various moral issues involving animal use, and veganism. He was a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. He presently holds appointments at the University of Oxford (Continuing Education), the University of East Anglia, and the University of Lincoln. His latest book is Why Veganism Matters: The Moral Value of Animals. He is considered to be one of the leading scholars of animal law/ethics in the world.

Professor Anna Charlton is a former adjunct professor of law at Rutgers University. Francione and Charlton co-founded the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Clinic, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and are joint authors of a series of practical texts on animal ethics, veganism, and animal advocacy, including Eat Like You Care: An Examination of the Morality of Eating Animals, which is now in 14 languages.

Laurence Candy is a former dairy farmer in Dorset, England, who transformed his family’s Northwood Farm into the UK’s first certified biocyclic vegan standard. He was the first farmer in the UK to be certified at this high standard, which involves farming without any animal inputs. He now runs the farm on a stock-free basis, growing crops such as oats, wheat and fava beans, a change driven by a mix of personal, ethical, and environmental concerns.

Lunch menu
Just heavenly roasted garlic & sweet potato soup with almond cream & crispy shallots
Majestic Thai coconut & peanut butter tofu curry with warming spices, garlic, and pickled ginger
Lemon-scented fluffy basmati rice
Seasonal greens with balsamic glaze
Sensational lemon mousse with fresh raspberries & chocolate truffle
Menu contains nuts