And I'm Welcome to Food for Thought. My name is Colleen Patrick Gudreau from Compassionate Cooks.

I founded Compassionate Cooks to empower people

to make informed food choices and to debunk myths

about vegetarianism and animal rights.

You can learn more about who we are and what we do by visiting our

website compassion at cooks.com. I also encourage you to visit and join our

message board to find community and camaraderie and support you can find it by going to

compassionate cooks dot com and clicking on our message board under

writings or podcast and I also want to remind you that if you want to spread the word about this podcast in a way that would actually

encourage people to listen we now have podcast sampler CDs and you can

order them at our website. The sponsor for today's episode is a very special woman named

Genica Maxwell. I'd like to share her very beautiful email with you. She wrote,

Dear Colleen, I feel a little self-conscious writing to you.

I know that's probably a little unremarkable.

I'm one of the many who feel touched by your podcast.

Your words awoke compassion in me that I had been hiding. When you

speak, I feel like I'm listening to an old friend or a beloved professor. I hope I managed

to articulate all that I intend.

I'm 25 years old, but a classic example of what the American diet and lifestyle will lead to.

I'm overweight.

I've had my gallbladder removed and I've had a recurring staff infection for which I've had five separate surgeries.

I was very depressed about my life. I felt drained emotionally and physically. I tried a lot of different diets and yet my body just seemed defective.

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