If you’ve heard my story before you know that I didn’t set out to be an activist in the food movement. It was all an accident. Growing up a very sick child, developing unconventional habits to help me break free from this over-processed world and the persistence of my friends who asked me to start this blog is what led to where I am today. I never thought I would quit my full-time job as a corporate consultant to do what I am doing today. I am an accidental activist. No one trained me on how to get the attention of the largest corporations in the world, how to handle the media interviews and the publicity necessary for spreading the message or how to handle the people who are trying to disparage me from moving forward.
So when Experience Life Magazine contacted me and said they wanted to put me on the cover of their magazine, I didn’t quite know what to expect. They flew me out to Los Angeles and spent an entire day with me from morning until night. I was actually kinda dreading the whole day, since getting my picture taken by strangers is not one of my favorite things to do! When I walked into the studio, my worries vanished, and I knew I was going to be all right. All I could think was “this is all for me?” The positive energy of the whole entire Experience Life team was contagious. A personal stylist was ready with a whole wardrobe of outfits to choose from, my hair & makeup was done by celebrity hollywood artists and a nice selection of healthy snacks were available! It was one of the most fun days of my life and a day I’ll never forget.
I can’t thank Experience Life enough for believing in me, this mission and for allowing me the honor to be on their cover of the October issue.
During the photo shoot, they also filmed a “Behind the Scenes” video. During the interview, I broke down crying (which they thankfully at my request edited out, although you can still see my red eyes). Sometimes it can be so hard to talk about my personal story. In this video, I also talk about what I am most proud of – you!
Please take a couple of minutes and watch the video here:
You can also check out the full written Q&A with Experience Life here.
If you are looking for a magazine that inspires, is thoughtful and not afraid to stand up for the truth, Experience Life is an incredible choice to have sent to your house or iPad. You can check out a subscription to Experience Life here on Amazon.
Thank you again Food Babe Army, you made this happen.
Xo,
Vani
Great videos. Keep up the great work Vani! You’ve made an impact on my whole family and your influence keeps reaching out from each family member to other family members and friends. We will all change the way this country eats. For the current and future generations, this battle must be waged. You do great work and we appreciate it!
An alert came to me from Center For Food Safety and the Environmental Working Group announcing EPA’s passing of the bill that allows DOW’s new poison combination, ENLIST DUO, combination of 2-4-D (Agent Orange) And Round-up … ignoring millions of people, scientists, 50-60 members of Congress and experts from all over the country. The battle continues to fight the labeling of GMO’s on which all the millions of pounds of pesticides will be sprayed.
Please contact Center For Food Safety and Environmental Working Group who are spear heading legal action against the EPA and the USDept.of Agriculter.
Sorry, Agriculture!!! The creators of the Great American Dust Bowl!!!
Sorry, Agriculture ! The ones who brought us the Great American Dust Bowl !!! Now, with their mono-cropping and their distructive over use of pesticides and fertilizer, they’re well on their way to poisoning the planet beyond recovery. Fight them!
Sorry, Agriculture… The one’s who brought us the Great American Dust Bowl with their land usage policies …. and now they want their mono-cropping and over usage of pesticides and fertilizers, destroying the nutrients in the food and soil, polluting our water… all beyond repair if allowed to continue.
I notice on the news,when anchors are asked what GMOs are they never have or give the correct answer,most of them all look at each wide eyed other take random guesses.
There has got to be a simple format even a brochure in simple wording explaining what GMOs are.(if you do go on the news it would be good to have and give out beforehand)
Many people don’t understand with GMOs that the pesticides are grown into the plant internally but also sprayed on top of the plants too.
Where in the past washing will/may remove a good portion of the pesticides on a non-GMO plant,the GMO produce cannot be washed of pesticides in anyway since the pesticides are part of the plant.Therefore you are eating a full pesticide inside and out plant.
That is one of the negative issues with GMOs that could be easier to explain to the general public.
Now with the 2 types of super pesticide mix possibly being used in GMOs in the future i think this is the right explanation when you have to make it short.
(just an idea) Keep up the good work!
Marie- The topic of GMO’s is really not one about pesticides. Although it is indeed a part of the equation, it’s not the main concern. Pesticides have always permeated into the food on which it is sprayed. ALWAYS. It’s always been a lie that it could be washed off. But, I digress. GMO’s are a result of forcing DNA into another specie. Our bodies do not recognize these foods that are NOT found in nature and our body’s treat them as a foreign invader. The results are unhealthy immune response (inflammation) cancer, tumors , leaky gut, allergies and overall healthy degradation leading to an early death. Couple that with the heavy chemical pesticides, glyphosate, agent orange, bt toxin and you have a recipe for death. Death of you AND the planet. “Genetic Roulette” is the best documentary to watch that covers the details and covers it honestly…
I know all about GMOs i have been against GMOs for years.My point has just been proven by the long and confusing information that you just wrote(i understand it)but an uninformed person will be 10 times more confused after reading it.I think using the pesticide angle on someone new would be a good jumping off point.If someone new could walk away knowing and understanding a few reasons that GMOs are bad i think that would be a success.I think its information over load when you have a new person that wants to know whats initially wrong with it(there’s so much).That’s why so many people are confused.After they learn this then they can learn much more about the subject. A mom would be more concerned about a double laced pesticide food product then all the other stuff that is hard to understand at first.
*Yes and i know pesticides for the most part can’t be washed off that’s why i said will/may in my sentence.
CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING THE COVER !!
lOVE YOUR STORIES AND YOUR STRENGTH TO BRING THE TRUTH INTO THE LIGHT FOR ALL OF US FOLLOWERS……………..
PLEASE , CARRY ON !!!!
VINNIE 🙂
Nice veggies…. giggle. The attention you are bringing to healthy living is so great.
Much respect for your intelligent tenacity. And, yes you are toetawy helfy gojus…..
Please Support Experience Life Magazine! I just finished reading your post and thought about subscribing to Experience Life, since I’ve really enjoyed reading it in the past. So, I clicked on your Amazon link and noticed the low rating. After reading the low reviews, I realized that they were negative posts towards you on the cover! “Food-Babers”, If you enjoy Experience Life magazine, please consider placing a positive review on Amazon to support the work they do. Thank you!
(-a health conscious mother of five)
I also went through the negative posts relating to Vani and clicked “No” for “Was this review helpful to you?” 🙂
Hee, Hee!!! I’m going to do the same thing. What is wrong with people?!! The crud they eat has gone to their brains!
Me too lol
I so admire your courage to “do what it takes”…no matter what. WE are grateful to you, Voni, to be our voice, to fight our fight, and to be our educator in a field where the opposition can threaten to “take you out”. You are literally our armed crusader whose mission it is to bring us the truth….no matter what. Thank you! Words aren’t really enough, but THANK YOU! You are Loved!
Once you start eating fresh and cooking from scratch you will never go back..fast food takes like mush in your mouth and even restaurant food is marginal!! I love having fewer and fresh ingredients in my cupboard and fridge vs packaged and canned products full of sodium , sugar and preservatives!! I too have always been a student of nutrition..thank you for all you do to educate the public to bear become nutritional shoppers and changing what big AG profits from!!
You rock mama!! Such an inspiration as always and no one deserves to be on this cover more than you!! Radiant inside and out!
Today as I was buying my groceries, I was in the produce (veggie) section. I now look at food so differently. I’m thankful you have created a persona & army to make changes in these corporations & educate people on what they are eating. I have no children, but always wonder& often shutter when I see the boxed foods people buy for their children. I wonder, in ten years, what their health will be like because there is a huge population that would rather keep their head in the sand..you’re delicious recipes & life choices teach people it is possible. Best of luck.keep up the good work. Great video 🙂
Vani, you ARE changing the world! You do great work and have opened the eyes of many people who are so thankful you are out there going after big food companies.
I’ve been a long-time Experience Life subscriber since it started coming when I joined Lifetime. I was so surprised and delighted when I saw you on the cover! Congrats on all the success!
Instead of wallowing yourself in self pity, you’ve chosen to direct you concern to help the ignorant and weak. I praise God for giving you courage and will pray for His strength and wisdom to be upon you in your chosen endeavour.
Vani
You are an amazing inspiration and I wish you are your team continued Success!
Lead ON – and I will be there to Help!!
I love and appreciate all that you are about.
xoxo
I have to say that you are one amazing individual to have accomplished as much as you have since I discovered your challenge to change the food industry in this country. Where does our food industry get off feeding us the garbage other countries will have none of? The FDA is a joke because they are gutless to challenge the money that buys our ignorance. And don’t even get me started on GMOs! Do what you do. It’s the best thing that’s happened in a long time.
Congratulations! You look SO healthy! Thank you for teaching us to eat smart. Your courage and strength are inspiring!
Your eyes got red, MY EYES are both wet and red.. you are amazing and I am so glad you found yourself aimed in the correct direction, as I am, too…. always half way there… my Mom was a vegetarian to the point of wearing canvas shoes made into high heels for here when she worked in the studios, in movies… but here I am, 77 years old, and healthy… a few oops! used to have high blood pressure and was called ‘pre diabetes’… no longer… just amping up my diet back to the healthy normal was all I needed, and you did it for me. However, reading this made me think I never thanked you for putting me back to health… so, THANKS, Vani, you are grand.
I am a relatively new member of the food babe army and I couldn’t be happier!! My husband and I are now processed food free and feeling great. Vani, you are such an inspiration to us. Thankfully, we live in an area of the country where eating real food is easy but we still have everything else available. Your tireless work has inspired us and I love sharing what we have learned with friends and family. Thank you and keep up the fight!! We are right there with you 🙂
CONGRATS on making the cover and a BIG thank you for all the work you do!
Vani,
congratulations are so well deserved. We are all healthier for your investigations and activism. It’s hard to do something good on a large scale in this country without an amazing amount of fortitude and I am so grateful for your strength in putting up the fight for all of our good. You are SO appreciated and help inspire me to want to also be a force for good. I do not yet know my calling, but you are an inspiration!
How did I get to be 60 and so ignorant about food? My sister’s hideous death from cancer is how! She, Just an average woman who worked hard to have her little piece of the American Dream, wasn’t schooled in the poisoning of food. No, growing up in the 50s and 60s, she was taught about nutrition! Eat your vegetables…your all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, and pickles all on a sesame seed bun, and even better, get the meal with a bargain soft drink! Be happy… everybody’s doing it! (And still are!) In the meantime, subsidy farmers were getting rich from GMO crops which caused the cancer.
Listen to Vani, youngsters! She’s right! I am listening to her, but I do not know why it took me so long. Maybe she is our saviour!
Most sick people I know don’t have a clue why they are sick. Many are the millennial generation. Worst yet, their children, who are second generation, fast food fanatics, are lining up at walk in clinics, only to be given more antibiotics. Doctors need to tell people why they are sick! Eat right people! You are an amazing person, Vani. Keep the faith. Do you know Michelle Obama?
TO: Debbie………Ur sister did not have time to do the research Vani and others are doing for us. I am 75 with auto immune terminal disease and I was working full time and taking care of a house and a developmentally delayed son. I am grateful for their dedication to the issue and us. Yes,, they are making money at it too if they are smart but there is nothing wrong with that in a capitalistic country. Thank you Vani for helping all of us.
You Are What You Eat is My Mantra!!
Food Babe!! Your a Legend!!
Hi , I’m so happy for your good work who try to help people to eat safe food without chemicals and to watch out for the unsafe food chemicals including process food. This is very helpful for me to learn of what’s in our food. This have help me to watch out for , for I have food allergies including chemicals of GMO food . My homeopathist had advised me to eat organic and food that are contain no GMO. I am thankful that you didn’t terrific job for your hard work.
Vani, you’re wonderful! I’m so glad you’re doing such incredible great work. Young people particularly are more likely to pay attention to you… Keep up the good work for people planet & environment…. Congratulations on the honor of being on the cover & for creating the work to be noticed … many blessings…
Congrats Vani! You’re awesome and we love you.
For the many months that I have been following you I have wanted to commend you. On a large scale, you are doing what I have been teaching on a small scale for years. Congratulations on your cover, all of your success and all that you do. Don’t ever give up.
I love you Food Baba ! I eat 90% High PH food. takes a lot of worry out of eating for me.
Roy
Beautiful!! Thank you so much for being our spokesperson for healthy eating! You are our hero!!!
I am amazed with your story and feel identified cuz I was a sick child allergic to many things, I wouldn’t imagine that it was because of feeding habits.
All I can say is: keep up the hard work, lady! you are such a brave and committed person doing what’s right. There’s people who will value your efforts and send mellow vibes to you. For sure you’re doing a difference in the world that was given to you. Congrats!
Good for you Vani!!
Great job…thanks for ALL you do!!
Your inspire me everyday to eat right and to encourage others to do the same!!
Love and Hugs!!
Congratulations!
Wow, this is great, to see all your hard work being recognized. We live in the UK for 6 months out of the year. A few weeks ago you commented on the way the English have changed some their eating habits. It’s all because of a guy named Jamie Oliver, who had a TV show 2 or 3 years back that showed the public exactly what you are talking about. It was an educational yet fun show to watch. He would pull folks off the street to interview them, then turn their lives around by bring them into his studio and teaching them what they could do for their health by eating differently.. He would have follow up programs on how much better there health & lives were when they choose to love themselves more through the food they eat. Then he tackled the school system. It made a world of difference in the UK. I love what you are doing, best wishes.
EVER THINK ABOUT DOING A TV SHOW???
Was absolutely shocked by the negative comments! I think you did a fantastic job and I personally couldn’t thank you enough for all that you do angel! As a 3 year/9 month survivor of a near fatal blood cancer, I am still desperately trying to survive the horrific damage that chemotherapy has done to my life vessel. I spend most of my days now educating myself on super foods towards this endeavor and I must say that you continue to be a life saving tool in my quest! Stay strong my friend. #ThankfulForYou <3
With a planet full of people with the guts to stand up like Vani did ,THEY will lose.
Thank you, Food Babe. You are amazing (and you look amazing on that cover! Well deserved). I am slowly spreading your work…it takes a long time for people to realize change, and a lot longer for people to accept and admit that they are unintentionally responsible for (or at least have been contributing to) many of the illnesses and problems they or their children have. Thank you for your persistence amongst such powerful (read: money backed) forces as well as the less powerful, but sometimes more effective, negative individuals.
Ignorance may be bliss, but the collective mindset of the world is changing, and more people are beginning to care; it might not be in my lifetime, one in which we still value nonsense over common sense, money and fame over love and peace. YOU are changing the world, one person at a time. Although we are all capable of that on a small level, most won’t conceive of that in an entire lifetime. Stay strong, for us. Queen V, what a true celebrity should be doing with her success. 🙂
Fabulous! Keep going xoxo <3
I sincerely appreciate your work. Congrats on the Cover!
Congratulations Vani! I’m approaching my 1 year vegan anniversary and the 1 year anniversary of Veganosity, the blog that my daughter and I started so we could share our journey. We have never felt better and it’s changed our lives. Processed foods are the devil, and the scary thing is that so many of them are labeled as healthy. Thank you for doing the hard work that others don’t have the energy, the desire, or, just don’t know how to do. If not for you, I’d still be drinking Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Now I make my own. Thank you!!!!
Vani, God Bless You!
Thank you for your dedication to this most important fight! I’m new to your blog and am committed to helping to stop the powers that perpetuate the poisoning of our foods. I think a great idea would be to make a t-shirt, a button, or a symbol pin. Maybe all three. We could wear them to show our commitment to this cause. Possibly sold here on your site? with a short but powerful message. We could be walking billboards. I’ll gladly be the first to buy as many as I can afford, and give them to others I know, who’d also like to spread the word! Lots of love and strength sent to you and everyone here and elsewhere who care about this, one of the most pertinent issues in our lifetimes.
These Broadcasters are told what to say, for one thing they are Government run! Food Babe is getting recognition on Alternative News shows and getting the real message out here! I watch Infowars and that is how I found out about Food Babe, and of course I’m new to this way of life! I still don’t eat right and it will change in time. There is a lot of stuff in my cabinets that are gmo’s, which I didn’t know till now. I buy fresh meats only and if I want hamburger, I’ll take a roast of some kind and have the grocery store grind it up, instead of buy theirs. You surely don’t know what is in there burger! O and another thing I can’t figure out? is where is Our meat, cow, pig and chicken coming from, are they gmo feed? Not many people know how to string a trout line, skin a Buck, but I do!
SO HAPPY FOR YOU! You deserve the cover of this magazine and hopefully we will see you on the covers of many more magazines in the future. I have deep respect for you and what you are doing. Lots of love to you Vani!
Congratulations Vani,
You are helping so many other people by getting the true facts out in the marketplace. You are so right on! Fantastic!
Mark
Congrats Vani!!! Such a great and powerful story, keep telling it as often as you can, people need to hear it!
Please don’t stop doing what you are doing – advocating for healthier foods, free from additives, preservatives and other undesireable ‘stuff’. Our world needs more people like you – willing to put your heart and life out there, standing up for what you believe.
Never heard of the magazine before. Thank you for the work you do. I have asthma & am trying to get rid of it. God bless you!
I agree with some of the comments. Your website has changed my entire thought process on what I put into my system. Im getting married soon. Getting tips from you has helped me loose weight. U know gotta look good in my dress 🙂
Have you tried this soup yet? https://foodbabe.com/2011/05/16/wedding-weight-loss-soup/
I have not tried this soup but I’m so excited to. Thank you. Btw you look amazing for your wedding. That gives me hope because I to am planning my wedding myself.
I’ve never seen this magazine before; where can I find it?
At Barnes and Noble 🙂
I too just looked at the reviews on Amazon. You have to wonder about the recent negative reviews. I think you are touching a nerve somewhere. Keep up the good work Vani, you are educating and changing peoples lives for the better. I am sorry that what you have to say is frightening to big business and agriculture. If they put more energy into improving their products instead of harassing people who are trying to make a healthier world, they would be able to sustain their business into the future and maybe not be so afraid of the truth.
Thank you doesn’t seem adequate to express my appreciation for what you have done for us. Your passion and willingness to give of yourself for the benefit of so many people is such an honorable thing. More and more people are beginning to realize that the food we eat has everything to do with our health and it’s because of passionate people like you. Please never give up.
Way cool cover shot, Vani. I’m so glad I found your blog.
Keep fighting for us Babe! We love you!