I have been 99% vegan a year this November. I decided to go vegan for heath reasons and to my surprise I don’t miss dairy or meat – ever. Its easy for me to fix a meal for myself at home, but eating out is – well it sucks. Not only do I have a small amount of choices from a mainstream restaurant menu, but now I have to ask my server if the food contains GMOs to which he/she replies “What’s a GMO?” If I had a nickel every time I heard that question….
The first time I met Marchell was in Tustin at the local antique market. I was a vendor and she was going around the market giving away samples of her homemade passion fruit juice. She was opening a raw food restaurant late summer in the Artists Village in Santa Ana and was giving out samples of her specialty drinks to outdoor venues around town. A couple of months later I attended a professional woman’s networking group at Harmony Arts & Wellness Center in Huntington Beach, and guess who was there? Marchell. She even brought 5 different raw desserts that she made herself. Like I said before, I am vegan but the only raw foods I ate were salads. I had no idea raw food could be so delicious and her presentation looks like something one would find in a four-star restaurant.
Marchell shared her story with us at the women’s group and what a story she had to tell. I knew I had to write about her for the OJB. She is a woman who is following her dream, the American dream. Here is her story:
After years of suffering from multiple chronic health conditions, Marchell became an avid proponent of organic, living foods when she was cured of a serious illness after just eight months of a raw vegan diet. Since then, Marchell’s battle with chronic asthma, eczema, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and numerous other ailments have all joined the cured list of lifetime plagues. With the use of food as her medicine, Marchell’s health is more radiant than ever, with energy to spare.
Her enthusiasm and passion for the raw food lifestyle became an entrepreneurial reality when she was laid off from a teaching position in June of 2011. Always one to embrace change, Marchell welcomed the possibilities of the future with open arms and sky-high dreams. One year later, she is the owner and executive chef of Au NatuRaw Organic Garden Eatery in The Artists Village in Santa Ana. Her vision for success is to provide living foods that promote radiant health, classes that educate others about the importance of biodiversity and sustainability, and cooperative participation in ensuring the redemption and continued well-being of our planet.
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