For many years, I worked as a “real food” nutritionist and sustainability advocate, running a clinical nutrition practice focused on weight loss and gut health. I also hosted the Sustainable Dish Podcast and occasionally still speak internationally about the intersection of optimal human nutrition, regenerative agriculture, and food justice. I co-authored Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat and served as the director and producer of its companion film, Sacred Cow. Additionally, I founded the Global Food Justice Alliance, a non-profit advocating for the inclusion of animal-sourced foods in dietary policies to promote a more nutritious, sustainable, and equitable global food system.

How It All Began

I’ve always had a love of nature, food, art and a curious mind. As a child, I struggled with undiagnosed celiac disease until I was 26. While pursuing a degree in art education, I met my first partner, an environmentalist who became an organic farmer. I spent 18 years living with him and raising our kids on organic farms, I worked in various jobs doing marketing for National Public Radio and Whole Food Market before shifting to the study of human nutrition in order to better understand how to optimally eat for myself and my family.

During that time, I discovered the “ancestral health” movement. It made complete sense to me. Modern human culture is living a “mis-match” to how we should. Most of us live like caged animals, under artificial light, in tight quarters, not moving, sleeping or eating like we would have during hunter-gatherer days. It also became evident to me that the food we were growing on the farm —organic vegetables and pasture-raised animals—represented both the healthiest and most sustainable way to eat. However the information being taught during my graduate program didn’t agree. My ideas about avoiding ultra-processed foods and eating a diet centered on natural meat and vegetables was considered disordered eating, or “orthorexic”. But this didn’t match my real world experience, because despite having followed a so-called healthy version of the standard American diet (low-fat, high-fiber, and mostly vegetarian), I had endured blood sugar swings, gut issues (even while gluten-free), and chronic low energy. I was convinced that the typical Western diet and lifestyle was the main driver of our modern diseases and that trying to mimic a more ancestral way of life was the optimal way to live.

Much of my blog writing and cookbooks countered mainstream advice like “eat less meat” and “all foods are good in moderation.” Instead, I championed a low-carb, seasonal, real food approach, which I later branded “Sustainavore.” This approach proved effective not only for me but for the vast majority of my nutrition clients as well.

In 2021, I released the book Sacred Cow with Robb Wolf and the companion documentary, Sacred Cow, narrated by Nick Offerman. Our appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience propelled both the book and film onto bestseller lists. Around this time, I began an international speaking tour addressing the intersection of sustainable food systems and human health. My work attracted the support of several foundations, leading to the formation of my non-profit, the Global Food Justice Alliance, to ensure access to healthy, sustainable animal-sourced foods for all people.