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avatar for Tania Hunter-Noel

Tania Hunter-Noel

Tania credits her mom with instilling in her a lifelong appreciation of healthy food- and a desire to learn about nutrition. On a tight budget, her mother provided home made meals that, without fail, included vegetables, salads, and fruits for dessert- often with additions from the backyard garden. She was also the consummate recycler long before recycling was common practice. Tania has always been passionate about learning how to be as healthy as possible, while maintaining kindness to animals and stewardship over our planet- this led her to turn to veganism almost 20 years ago. After maintaining that for more than 10 years, she experienced severe sciatica during her second pregnancy, which forced her to stop her exercise routine, resulting in higher than desired weight gain. In an effort to shed those unwanted pounds, she (foolishly) jumped on the low-carb/high protein craze, and reverted to eating some meat. This did not sit well with her, however, and after introducing exercise and weight lifting again, she discovered the Clean Eating approach, and it has been an ever evolving journey back 'home' to veganism again in January, 2012. Long ago, her mother taught her that fruits and vegetables, in their raw state, were the healthiest foods, and the best snacks. Tania grew up asking "why do we cook them then?", and preferred her fruits and veggies raw, a practice she has continued with her own children, who love most raw fruits/veggies, but turn their nose up at the cooked alternative. A foray into raw foods last summer prompted further study of the raw lifestyle, which has brought her now to a low-fat raw vegan lifestyle.

"I think people do the best they can with the knowledge they have at the time. When I first became vegan almost 20 years ago, it was still somewhat unheard of, and the prevailing vegan diet was one based on starches such as rice, potatoes, or pasta, with soy meat substitutes. Going back to being vegan a year ago, I learned so much more about live food and plant based diets. Some months later I happened across the raw foods movement. I had heard of it before, but hadn't been ready to 'hear it.' I am still learning about raw food, and about the low-fat raw vegan lifestyle. Each step has been equally important in my journey, and each new bit of information has been exactly what I needed at the time."

Tania is also inspired by the efforts of those who take oppression of girls and women as an opportunity to enlighten and enrich the lives of those same women by helping them get education, financing a business, or freeing them from other forms of oppression and giving them new hope for a better life- not only for themselves, but the lives of their families, and surrounding communities.

As a busy mom of three, free time is limited, but she enjoys volunteering in both the school and the community, reading, being active outdoors, and any type of dance.