Kathy Feldman

Kathy Feldman's quest for plant-based eating began early on in life. As an animal lover, she wanted to stop eating meat in the 4th grade, but had to wait until the 11th grade when she could cook for herself to begin the journey of eating vegetarian. As a teen, she got a hold of Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé, which made her more aware of the environmental impact meat consumption had on the planet. It wasn’t until Kathy read the book Diet for a New America by John Robbins, did she learn about the horrific treatment of animals in factory farms, which validated her decision to not eat meat. When genetically modified papayas reached the market in Hawaii, Kathy set out to research GMOs. She was shocked to learn that corn and soy seeds are engineered to withstand the spraying of herbicides. In 2016, Kathy and Mackenzie set out to learn more about the food system, visiting 10 farms in Cuba and 20 organic farms in California and Oregon, keeping a blog about their experiences along the way. Since then, the two decided to write this book to share plant-based recipes and highlight some of the inspiring farms and food system leaders they met.