Vesanto Melina

Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D., was trained at the University of Toronto and the University of London, England, and taught nutrition at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and Seattle's Bastyr University. She is the co-author of the award-winning "Becoming Vegan: Express Edition" and the more extensive "Becoming Vegan: Comprehensive Edition" (for Dietitians, MDs, and health professionals). 

She also co-authored the nutrition classics "Becoming Vegetarian," "Becoming Raw," and "Becoming Vegan" (all with Brenda Davis), as well as "Cooking Vegan" and "Cooking Vegetarian" (both with Joseph Forest), and "The Food Allergy Survival Guide" and "Raising Vegetarian Children." 

 She was the author of the joint position paper on vegetarian diets for Dietitians of Canada and the American Dietetics Association (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics). She also coordinated the vegetarian section of their Manual of Clinical Dietetics. Vesanto is widely known in the media. 

She is an internationally known speaker and has presented workshops on the topic of vegetarian nutrition to thousands of dietitians across North America. Vesanto received the prestigious Clintec award for leadership in dietetics. She regularly consults for government and industry and for individual clients.

 To complement her scientific expertise is Vesanto's joy in creating healthy, delicious, and simple food to prepare. She became vegetarian in 1978 and vegan in 1993 as she gradually explored the consequences of food choices on health, animal welfare, and environmental issues. 

 Her co-author Brenda Davis completed an honors degree in Human Nutrition at the University of Guelph, followed by an internship in Ottawa, Ontario. She has worked as a public health nutritionist, clinical nutrition specialist, nutrition consultant, and academic nutrition instructor. She is Past-Chair of the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association. She is an outstanding and inspiring speaker.