 And welcome to Lillian's Vegan World, the only show in Honolulu where we talk about the vegan lifestyle and the plant-based diet. I'm really, really excited to introduce you to my guest today, the beautiful young and very, very inspiring Anna Camacho from Good Food Movement. Thank you for having me. Welcome to the show. It's my pleasure. I'm very interested to hear about your little journey and what you're doing here. Very, very inspiring Anna, I must say. So you are one of the co-founders of the Good Food Movement. Yes. You're here in Honolulu. I am. There are about four of us. Myself and we're all best friends. So Dore, Joanna and Danielle. Great. And yeah, we started this about two years ago. Really just in Dore's living room, like sitting down and I think it was more born out of like frustration with the state of the world and knowing all of these things that we know and learn in college. And then a desire to be that change and be that positive impact and like how do we harness all those other people that want to be that too together and to make a bigger impact, a social impact. It is so fantastic that, I mean, that's what it's all about, isn't it? It's about change. Absolutely. And I looked at your website, which is fantastic. I honestly recommend anyone out there who's interested in, you know, the plant-based diet or veganism to really check out your webpage, which is... You can find us on www.goodfoodmvmt.org. Great. And on that website, there's so much information, but I just found it was kind of... I wanted more. I wanted to read more about it, the way that just the energy there on your website is fantastic. You have so much information, so many events and activities and also support for people who are thinking about going vegan or at least, you know, were curious about the plant-based diet. Yeah, absolutely. You could also check us out on social media at www.goodfoodmvmt.org. Yeah, on Instagram and Facebook. We post more on that, so we'll post any upcoming events that are happening or anything. You know, we post, like, our meals at, like, new vegan restaurants or our favorites. Yeah, really anything that we find interesting to share. We did make this one infographic. It's called Very Vegan Eateries on Oahu, and there's about 17 now. Whereas maybe a couple, a few years ago, there were only a handful of choices, which is a really good sign for the movement. So I'm very pleased to hear that. Yeah. So that's a great source of information that you have there. Yeah, I do. Anna, let's go back a step. Can you tell me, explain what the good food movement is? This is a non-profit organization. Yeah, so we're a non-profit. We started from a small group of friends, and we're on a mission to connect Hawaii's people to the power of our food choice. So we do this by organizing fun events. Our most popular and most attended are our film screenings, but we've done taste testings. We've done talk story sessions with some well-known vegan activists. We've done ecstatic dances, which are so fun. What's that? Ecstatic dances. So ecstatic dances. It's what it sounds like. So these were held at Good Vibes Center. We haven't had one for a while, but yeah, there are a couple nights every month where we put on a playlist of music that you can dance to, and there are snacks, vegan snacks. So you dance, and you have good vegan food and energy, and it's just a safe space to be free and move your body and connect with people on a different level than you is. What a great idea. And I see that a lot of people are turning up to your events. You're getting really good crowds coming in to support you and who are interested in what you're doing. Absolutely. Congratulations on that. It's also the community. So it's not about us. It's about our larger community. Obviously, we know the environmental aspects, the health aspects, the animal welfare. It's a global phenomenon, but what we can concentrate on is acting locally here. So we think global. We act local here in our local community. And here in Honolulu, we're very privileged to have the choice of going to a grocery store at any time of the day, really, and picking up the vegan option. Or there's so many eateries that provide it or restaurants that know about veganism and they have an option. So just making this more of a social norm to gather around vegan food because food is really at the center of our social gatherings. It really is that I see that here as well. I've just come from Japan where I've been 30 years and it's the same here. That same thing that connects everyone that brings people together is food. So it plays a very important role here in Hawaii too. And I totally agree with you. Hawaii is the perfect place to start your plant-based diet or to get started. And I think you will not be going out with anything without anything. Honolulu's got you covered. We've got a year-round growing season, fruits and vegetables, farmers markets on multiple days of the week. All over the island, lots of organic goodies. And then there are stores down to earth that I just absolutely love. And you walk into that store, I can spend hours there looking at all of the products that they have. It's just so much fun. So definitely we are very lucky and blessed to be here. We're lucky we live here. Anna, I wanted to show one of your first slides and it does explain your good food movement. So if you don't mind, I'm just going to read the top part. So good food defined, good, virtuous, kind, regenerative food that which nourishes us to grow life and to maintain health. Movement, a group of people working together to advance their shared ideas. Would you like to read the next one? Absolutely. Good food is grown, processed, distributed, bought and consumed in an intentional way. One that is in harmony with nature, that causes the least harm to living beings, that nourishes our bodies and adds value to our communities. Food connects us all to each other and our environment. Awesome. And you do support the vegan lifestyle, obviously. Anna, may I ask, are you vegan? I am. I've been vegan for a little more than four years. Right. And how are you feeling? I feel amazing. Yeah, I feel, I mean, it was a journey to get me there. And it's kind of like, you know that movie The Matrix? When you take, you have the choice between the red pill or the blue pill. You take the red pill and it's like you see how far the rabbit hole goes. And some people can get stuck there, right? But it's not about that. It's about, you know, okay, how do I grow from this? How do I learn and better myself and hopefully touch lives around me? Yes. Yeah. Why did you become a vegan? Why did I become a vegan? So the seed was planted. I feel like, I don't know when. I didn't meet my first vegetarian friend until college. But I learned about the food system through my studies at UH Manoa. And what were you studying? I studied holistic health. Yeah. So it's an interdisciplinary degree. I created it myself. Yeah. So I thought I was going to learn about food nutrition, some kinesiology, something about the body. But I ended up taking a bunch of classes and learning about our food system at large and how it's really industrialized. So I've watched Food Inc. You know, and I was like, oh gosh, everything's made out of corn. I guess what else is there, right? At the time. It's quite scary when you're the more you delve into where your food comes from. Yes. Exactly. It can be very scary. It can be very scary. And it's scary because that's the closest relationship that we have to our environment, where we take the food that is grown, whether it's animal or plant. And it becomes us, literally. Yes. So it's not this ethereal thing. It's very practical. It's practical spirituality. I like to call it, right? That's a good place. That's a good place to sit. Yeah. So in college, my roommate went vegetarian. I lived with Dorei for a little while, who was a joyful, vegan, intelligent, and aligned. So I was like, okay, the seed is getting watered a little bit. Yes. And then I watched this documentary. It was called Earthlings. Have you seen it? I haven't. I've heard of it. I haven't seen it. Yeah. So for the viewers out there, you can watch it for free on YouTube. I don't recommend it if you have, you know, like issues with gory images. But it was the documentary that kind of switched me over. Okay. So this documentary, it goes over animal exploitation on every level. So not just food, but clothing, entertainment, the pet trade, testing. And I just had no idea at the time. You know, this was all news to me. And I remember I was in the room with like two grown men. I think they were both like pretty vegan. They just walked out halfway. And just like the images on the screen. That's why I can't watch it just because of that. I am vegan and I can't even imagine how you could watch something like that and then still be okay with eating what you do if you're not on a plant-based diet. But again, documentaries are actually turning people vegan these days, aren't they? Yeah. I think the game changer, I haven't seen the game changer yet, by the way. It came out on Netflix yesterday. Yes. So I encourage people to watch it. Have you seen it? I've seen it twice. Really? It's like the best documentary on plant-based diets and veganism up to date. And we've screened a lot. So we've screened What the Health. We've screened How Spiracy. Racing Extinction. Island Earth from the ground up. Fantastic. Yeah. So me and my girls, we went to see this on the premiere night at Dole Canary and we were just like so inspired. And it's just like, it's so well done. It's produced by like James Cameron and like a bunch of big names. I mean, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Amazing. People are still like wondering how they became involved in this. But it just goes to show, I think, more and more people are just, you know, just deciding that or starting to learn that the plant-based diet, it's not a scary or threatening lifestyle. It's very empowering. It aligns you more with your moral values. Absolutely. And makes you feel good. Yeah. And I think that's what the Good Food Movement is about is, you know, showing people that, hey, this is fun. And it's a social thing, you know? And like it doesn't have to be so painful for the transition. Like you said, it's a choice, decision. And once you make it, I think the hardest part about it is actually the social aspect. Yes. Which is becoming, it is becoming slowly a little bit more socially acceptable. Absolutely. People are not, and especially here in Honolulu, I find the lifestyle to be very alive here. Yeah. Compared to other countries. Definitely. For a year long growing season. Yeah. We just have fruits all the time and like vegetable, it's just, it's very easy here. And I want, we want people to know that, you know? Yes. So we provide like these resources. Yes. Which we are going to talk about more into detail after you've got some upcoming events or some support. Yeah. Some support stuff that you would like to talk about after the break. Yeah, for sure. So do stay tuned. I'm very excited to talk to Anna from the Good Food Movement. So just going for a quick break and see you after it. Thanks to our ThinkTech underwriters and grand tours. The Atherton Family Foundation. Carol Munlee and the Friends of ThinkTech. The Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education. Collateral Analytics. The Cook Foundation. Dwayne Carisu. The Hawaii Community Foundation. The Hawaii Council of Associations of Apartment Owners. Hawaii Energy. The Hawaii Energy Policy Forum. Hawaiian Electric Company. Integrated Security Technologies. Galen Ho of BAE Systems. Kamehameha Schools. MW Group. The Shidler Family Foundation. The Sydney Stern Memorial Trust. Volo Foundation. Yuriko J. Sugimura. Thanks so much to you all. Welcome back, everyone, to Lillian's Vegan World. We're coming to you live from the downtown studios of ThinkTech, Hawaii. I do have my gorgeous guest here, Anna Camacho from the Food, Good Food Movement. One of the co-founders. Thank you. That is so awesome talking to you. I wish there were more people here to feel your energy. Because you're a very inspiring young lady. I'm looking forward to see how far and how successful you take this. Thank you. I do wish you all the luck. Thank you. You should meet my friends. They're awesome. I would love to meet your friends. One of your co-founders actually has her own show here at ThinkTech, Hawaii as well. She does. She's amazing. Her name is Dorei Shin and she has a show called Finding Our Futures. I actually don't know exactly what day and time, but I'm sure people can find it. Yes, we can find it on the ThinkTech YouTube channel. So definitely take a look at Dorei's show for sure. Anna, have a look at some of the photos that you sent in to us. That's our first event ever. That was at Ward Theatre, if you can't tell. It looks like 100-something people that showed up for a screening of What the Health. Yeah, they're super stoked about it. Great documentary. It's amazing. It's also on Netflix, I think still, if people are looking for it. What was the reaction? How did the crowd react? I think people loved it. I'm sure it touched a lot of lives. Yeah. I enjoyed that too. That documentary is a little bit more easier to watch if you compare it to some of the other documentaries that do have some very hard-to-watch graphics. It has impacted a lot of people. When I ask people like, actually almost 100% of the time, I'm not even exaggerating, I ask people why you went vegan. They went vegan or plant-based and it's almost always I watched a documentary. I know. So these documentaries and these films have really great power. Yes. A lot of impact. Rightfully so when you think about it because still people are just learning about what it's all about because I think we're sort of rid of this hysteria type of us being all hippies and hanging around with flowers in our hair and no shoes on. We should still do that. But it's true. It is becoming more of a social norm. It is. And the regular person, businessman, businessman, mom, dad, they can be vegan like your neighbor. And so can athletes. Absolutely. That's why Game Changer I think is something that definitely everyone should watch including my brother Frank in Sydney who is a fitness instructor of about 30 years. And I think it might be eye-opening for someone like him too who I think grew up believing or if you want to put it in another way was brainwashed into believing that we had absolutely had to incorporate animal products into our diet to be strong and fit and healthy and muscly and all that sort of stuff. So the Game Changer. Super inspiring. Definitely want people to watch that. Let's have a look at your next slide, Anna. Oh, that's James S. B. That's at Eolani School. So Eolani School is actually doing really great things with their classes there. They recently had an event. It was their second year in a row. It's called Mind Your Grines. So one of their teachers has a class and has their students read the omnivores dilemma. And they have an event where parents and families come. They cook vegan food and then they watch a documentary and they have a Q&A after. So they recently did that with Game Changers. Last year was Caspiracy. Yeah, the students seem to love it. Parents seem to be like their eyes seem to open after it and get curious and that's what we want. That's definitely where we want to be starting with this movement. I mean getting children to learn more about plant-based food and how to eat healthier in general. Yeah, they're very open to it. They learn about where food comes from and what it actually is and starts connecting to that thought process. They make the right decision. I believe in our children. Absolutely, they're going to be taking over soon and we want them to be healthy and happy and be true to themselves and what they feel in themselves and what they know is right and what is it. And make their own decision about what they do. But that event, I'm sorry, I totally went on a rant. But that was James Caspir and he was actually a famous vegan activist. You can find him on Instagram, on YouTube, from Australia. He went on a year-long vow of silence for the animals and that's how he gained this attention and traction. He's been traveling the world with his partner, Carly, spreading the vegan message. They're up to some really cool stuff. You should check them out if you're interested. You had the honor of working with them and meeting them and hosting their event here. Yeah, that was at Iolani. We also had kind of an activist workshop at the Good Vibe Center, which is downtown. Which also holds a lot of events, a lot of vegan events. If people are interested, they could find them on Instagram too. So it's really this whole community, right? Yes. Oh, and they came earlier this year too. They came back and they did the Q&A after one of our film screenings from the ground up. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it's Hawaii. They don't find any excuse to get back here. Exactly. I want to come back. So if you stay in touch with the Good Food Movement more like you know. Definitely. That would be on a team. James, he's doing great stuff. That's great stuff. And bringing a lot of awareness to a very important topic, which is the animal rights. Yeah. Let's have a look at another one, Anna. Oh, that's Will Tuttle. He was the author of this amazing book. It's called The World Peace Diet. Yeah, and he gave a talk at UH. In the background, you could see his wife's artwork. And he just told a story about how he went vegan. And this one thing sticks in my mind where he was talking to his mom and about vegetarians. And it was a long time ago. And he asked, what is a vegetarian? And she was like, oh, we don't know any of those people or we don't talk to any of those people. So it was still a very rare thing to be vegetarian. Yeah. More so vegan back in that day. And to see the evolution of how far the movement has come is really awesome. It's a really great time to be alive and be vegan right now. Yes, it is. It's what I'm trying to say. It certainly is. I turned myself vegetarian as a child. Yeah. How'd you do it? In a family where no one was vegetarian. There was absolutely, I had a father from Serbia, mother from Fiji. They were eating anything and everything. But I somehow decided when I was very young that I was going to be a vegetarian. And my parents took me to the doctor, to our doctor to find out what was going on. Wow. And I remembered the doctor saying something along the lines of just sneak the food into her meals. She won't know. Wow. So on purpose, every time they cook something, I immediately knew they were trying to put minced meat into everything I was eating. I would just refuse to eat it and not swallow. Oh my God. Did they come around eventually to cooking you vegetarian food? Yes, very quickly. Amazing. They understood that that was just the way I wanted to be and it came naturally to me. That's really great that your parents and your family or your parents supported you because that's, you know, we all know now that vegan food is delicious. It's accessible. It's good for the environment and good for you. Absolutely. So really it's just about making it socially normal. Yes. Which it's coming to be. Yes, I agree. Let's do another one, Anna. Okay. Oh yeah. They're James and Carly. This is at Vi Vi Collective. It's an amazing co-working space right in the heart of Mo'ili. Really? Uh-huh. But yeah, we did a screening from the ground up. It's also a documentary about plant-based athletes and that was just the Q&A that they were facilitating after. It's so important to be showing these documentaries to people who otherwise may not have the opportunity to see them. Yeah. I mean everyone's heard of the most popular ones of, you know, what the hell, Game Changer. But that's some, I admire your efforts in getting the word out and trying to educate people on this very healthy and awesome lifestyle. It's really fun. I know you look like you're having a lunchtime. That's why I said earlier, I wish more people were here because the energy that you were transmitting, Anna, is very beautiful. No, I mean it. I feel that way for me too. Thank you. Maybe we're just vibing off of each other. Maybe we are. That's the way it works. If it is. Get a few good people in the room and you know, magical things can happen. I believe. It's master-minding. Yes. Call it. Yeah, so anytime we have a good food movement, it's like we just feed off of each other's energy as you were talking about. Yeah. One person has an idea. So, for example, this is an actual idea that Joanna had, about a 21-day vegan Facebook talent. And it was like, yeah, we're all on board. This would be great. What would it look like? Somebody has another idea, you know, and then somebody else and it's just, and that's how you co-create, I feel like. Exactly. Yeah, it happens with multiple people that are just on the same mission and inspired. Yep. And feel safe with each other. Definitely. Well, we do want viewers or anyone who is interesting in perhaps giving, you know, the plant-based diet a try. Yeah, absolutely. To go on to your social media, Instagram or Facebook and take a look at your 21-day vegan challenge. Vegan challenge. Yeah. So we're actually going to launch it November 1st. This is just a pilot group. We've never done this before. Oh, put on you. Yeah. So we want to keep it really intimate, maybe 10 people. For 21 days, you commit 20 minutes of each day to check in with the group on Facebook, maybe post any recipes you've found, anything you've learned, your reflections, any restaurants you went to. And we just like help each other out and like hold that space for transforming and building a habit. Because as you know, as a health coach, it's just one habit after the other. Absolutely. But you need that health support system. I mean that support system and that's really what gets you through a lot of hardships when you're trying to transition from a, you know, a normal diet into a plant-based one. Here's something that you can eat on a plant-based diet. Look at this picture. Yeah, I'm so hungry right now. This is my vegan apple pie. You mean this? Yes. It's beautiful. It's my apple pie. The bottom crust I made from scratch, but the top crust is supermarket bought puff pastry, which happens to be vegan most of the time. You do want to check to make sure, but yes, vegan. So you can have apple pie on a plant-based diet. You can also have, check this next one out. Eggs. Does that look like a real egg? It looks like a real egg. It's about this quality. I'm not going to eat it. You know what? So this is one of my recipes for a vegan egg. The yolk is made from kabocha Japanese pumpkin. And the ingredient that gives it that eggy taste is the black salt. The kalanamak black salt, otherwise known as Himalayan salt. Gives it a nice edgy eggy flavor from the salt. You just blend it? You blend it up with a bit of nutritional yeast. The egg white is made from rice flour. I'll go into detail another time because we are running out of time. But you can see that there's anyone out there who's watching. There's plenty to eat on a plant-based diet. You will not miss out on anything. And you have the wonderful Anna and her friends at Good Food Movement. The co-founders who are there to support you. They will give you all of the information that you need. So thank you so much, Anna. Thanks for having me. It has been awesome having you on. And I look forward to seeing you again. And maybe collaborating on doing something with you. Absolutely. I would love to meet up and talk to you again. Definitely. Thanks for having me. My pleasure. And everyone else out there have a wonderful day. See you in a couple of weeks again on Lillian's Vegan World. Aloha and see you next time.