4.8 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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What if your next meal could change a life—starting with your own?
Rip sits down with Chef Kevin McGee, a 25-year veteran of plant-based living and the visionary behind the Urban Oak Initiative. From his Missouri roots and a former career in investment banking, to leading a nonprofit centered on food justice, Kevin shares a moving personal and professional journey grounded in compassion, health, and cultural heritage.
Listeners will hear how Kevin’s childhood influences—especially his mother and grandmother—shaped his culinary philosophy.
And you’ll hear a very personal story—how his daughter’s battle with cancer became a turning point in his life, igniting a new level of purpose that fuels everything he does today.
This episode is a masterclass in how food can nourish not just our bodies, but our spirits and communities as well. So grab a seat at the table—Chef Kevin is serving up something truly special.
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0:00.0 | I'm Ray Besselston, and you're listening to the Plant Strong podcast. |
0:05.6 | What if your next meal could change a life starting with your own? |
0:11.6 | Today, you're going to meet chef Kevin McGee, who traded investment banking for plant-based cooking |
0:18.2 | to improve the health of his family and his community. |
0:21.6 | His story is coming up right after these words from Plant Strong. |
0:26.6 | I am thrilled to share that Planned Strong is now a platinum partner of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, |
0:35.6 | that's A-C-L-M, and it's a powerful step forward |
0:40.5 | in our mission to reach as many people as possible with the life-changing benefits of adopting |
0:46.6 | a Whole Food, plant-based lifestyle. This includes the health care providers who serve on the |
0:53.1 | front lines of chronic disease every single |
0:57.2 | day. It's also why we're so excited to announce that our November, Planned Strong Retreat, |
1:02.9 | in Black Mountain, North Carolina, will offer continuing education credits for licensed providers. |
1:09.3 | It's an incredible opportunity to recharge personally and professionally |
1:14.9 | while learning how to prescribe and apply nutrition as the ultimate defense against chronic |
1:21.5 | disease. Together with ACLM and our passionate community, we're creating a future where food is foundational |
1:30.4 | and plants are the prescription. Visit plantstrong.com to get more information about our events. |
1:38.9 | More great news, my Plansstrong cousins, we have a seasonal summer sale that's taking place at |
1:44.8 | planstrong.com. You can save 50% on two packs of our skillet burger mixes while |
1:52.2 | supplies last. I reach for these over and over again because firstly, everyone in the |
1:58.8 | family loves them, and secondly, they throw together so quickly. |
2:04.0 | By the time I'm done getting the condiments out of the fridge and slicing up my tomatoes, |
2:09.1 | onions, and avocados, they are done. And if you've been disappointed by the ingredients |
... |
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