Chat with a vegan: Dreena Burton, cookbook author and fascial stretch instructor

Chat with a Vegan: Dreena Burton, cookbook author and fascial stretch instructor

As part of our “Chat with a Vegan” series, Emma Levez Larocque sat down and spoke with Dreena Burton. Dreena is a plant-based cookbook author and a yoga and fascial stretch instructor based in Vancouver, British Columbia. We hope you find her experience and advice helpful no matter where you are on your own plant-based journey.

You can follow Dreena across multiple platforms:

If you’re interested in learning more after reading this blog post, you can find great resources on the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity Platform and subscribe to get free plant-based recipes and be notified when the next interview is posted.


How did your vegan journey begin?

I kind of just went through this period in my teenage years where I noticed I wasn’t feeling so good, and that’s when I really started to pay attention to what I was eating.

I was constipated a lot. My digestion didn’t feel good. I was starting to have joint pain problems in my early twenties and I came across a couple of books that opened my eyes. One was Diet for a New America by John Robbins and the other was Fit For Life. Both really opened my eyes to dairy, big time to dairy, and also to not eating meat, and phasing it out. So that’s how I moved into it, was phasing it out. There’s that magic time of about, I think a month, they say to really let the body change and adapt and your palate to open. And that happened for me.

It’s been over 25 years, but I can’t imagine having lived any other way. It was so obscure at the time. And I think living out West gave me a little more opportunity to feel that was accessible because there was more interest in it in the area that we live.

How did you get started writing cookbooks?

I was led into my cookbooks, I’d say largely, from moving out West. And at the time, my husband’s father had had a heart attack and his cardiologist in St. John’s recommended a plant-based diet, which was really unheard of.

I had been working in a marketing position in St. John’s and my heart was not in it at all. I was just like, I cannot see myself doing this for the rest of my life. People said to me, you know, when you talk about food, you light up. I was like, of course I do. Loved it since I was a kid. I knew my parents-in-law were needing help with recipes, and that’s when I just started to sketch things out myself. I wanted to create recipes that I felt like they could use, and they were healthy, whole foods, very low in fat for what health conditions they were going through.

That was the start of it for me. And then I kind of grew with it with every life change in a way, because the next book involves after having our first daughter and trying to incorporate more foods to feed her and those concepts.

How did you start teaching yoga and fascia classes?

 I felt great in my body through food, through diet. That removed a lot of pain and discomfort in my body up until about my 40s. And then things started to change where I was feeling like my joints were hurting and my body just the things I love to do like cooking, for instance, even caused me pain. I thought maybe I’m just missing something like alignment, how to align your body.

So I took yoga and I wasn’t sure if I was going to teach. To me, it was just to learn, but something kind of pulled me into wanting to teach.

So, I just kind of kept on that journey in the background and I was teaching at a studio. But the joint stuff didn’t go away and it was irritating to me because I felt like I’m doing everything right.

And then I came across this work to change your fascia, which really has changed my life because I don’t have the pain anymore. When I talk about fascia work, this is working at the tissues on a deeper level from the inside out. It’s a movement practice, but it’s not yoga.

Everything that we’ve done in our life has shaped the quality and health of our connective tissue. And we want to keep it healthy because if it’s not, it’s dense and dry and not pliable as it should be. It restricts the movement of the limbs. So this is why you have pain. When you can free up the fascia, then the limbs move better. You feel better in your body. And so it’s a really simple formula where you move to create the change from the inside out. It’s the most interesting form of movement that I have.

After a couple of months, I noticed, wow, I can turn my head again. I was like, wow, my tissues feel really different and I’m feeling good in my body again.

So when I started to feel shifts in my body, I can’t explain it other than I felt a draw to it. Just like when I started writing recipes, I felt a draw to it and I’m feeling that with this work.

I’ve had classes that I’ve been running online and now I’m soon to launch a site called Fascia Flo and running zoom classes and video recordings for people to also take.

How do you think healthy veganism and movement are connected?

I feel they’re so interconnected. I feel like you really cannot live well with only one. So let’s say that, because eating a vegan diet, if you’re not really paying attention to the health properties of that vegan diet, if you’re relying a lot, a lot on, we all eat some processed food. If you rely a lot on processed food, then you’re not going to feel good for it.

But similarly, if you’re not moving your body, then you’re also not going to feel good for it. And some people move their bodies all the time and don’t really pay attention to healthy diet. And that, you know, can cause stagnation and issues later on. And also people eat super healthy, but don’t really pay attention to the movement.

We are animals, after all. Species all follow a certain way of eating and they all move. We’re not meant to be as sedentary as we are, and you know, we have to work, we have jobs, we have these things, but we also have to pay attention to what we need to do to balance that out when that is part of our life.

I think when you’re following a plant based diet, you tend to then pull in all these other elements of wellness along the way. If you stay with it, right over time, you want to learn more about this part of wellness. All these little things start to kind of come in and movement’s part of that to me.

What inspires you?

I feel like learning inspires me. I mean, that sounds kind of corny in a way, but I’ve never really idolized people. I’ve looked up to people like I, I would love to meet Dr. Campbell one day. And people who’ve, who’ve taken a different path. even though it was so challenging for them to do so, that’s very inspiring. But also just seeing, you know, people do the things they want to do despite their challenges.

That growth of a human that’s possible is what’s inspiring, and knowing that it doesn’t stop, you know, you remember being in your twenties thinking you know everything, and then you get to your thirties and you think you still know quite a bit. And then you get to your forties and you’re like, I don’t know, I think I’ve got tons to learn. And so you really can keep learning and it’s exciting to keep learning.

This interview from PlantUniversity’s “Chat with a Vegan” series was hosted by Emma Levez Larocque of Plant-based RHN and featured Dreena Burton.

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Chat with a vegan: Pamela Fergusson, Registered Dietitian

Chat with a Vegan: Pamela Fergusson, Registered Dietitian

As part of our “Chat with a Vegan” series, PlantUniversity’s Brighde Reed sat down and spoke with Pamela Fergusson. Pamela is a Registered Dietitian who owns a private practice in Nelson, British Columbia. We hope you find her experience and advice helpful no matter where you are on your own plant-based journey.

You can follow Pamela across multiple platforms:

If you’re interested in learning more after reading this blog post, you can find great resources on the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity Platform and subscribe to get free plant-based recipes and be notified when the next interview is posted.


Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Pamela Fergusson, a Registered Dietitian. I have a Ph.D. in nutrition and I have a private practice. I live in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, and I run my practice from here. I see people from across Canada and also internationally too. I specialize in plant-based nutrition and I am vegan, but I see all types of eaters. Generally, the omnivore clients that I see are usually looking to transition to more plant-based and I always help my clients move in the direction of being more plant-based. We have so much evidence that it is an optimal way to eat.

For fun, I’m very fortunate. I live in the beautiful Kootenay region of B.C. We live in such a gorgeous place, full of hiking, swimming, beaches, and amazing skiing in the winter. And I try to take advantage of that as much as I can. I have four children. Three of them are still living at home, so I’m a busy person with a business and also a busy family and I have a beautiful dog as well. Life is busy, but when I have the opportunity, I’m outdoors. I’m also very passionate about yoga; I try to go to yoga five or six days a week.

When did you become vegan and what was your motivation?

I get asked this all the time and to be honest, I cannot remember the exact time that I went vegan, but I think it was around nine or ten years ago. Before that I was a vegetarian for a long time.

I originally went vegetarian in university after reading the book Diet for a Small Planet. I went vegetarian partly for environmental reasons, but also this idea that was put forward in that book that we have enough calories on our planet to feed everyone, we’re just distributing them poorly. That was compelling for me as I was interested in eating lower down the food chain so that we do not squander our food resources.

Much later on, I became fully plant-based and it wasn’t until then that I switched on more to the ethical issues so I decided to be fully vegan. I was motivated by the environment, and I was somewhat motivated by health. But once I made the connection with animal suffering, that was what took me from 90% of the way there to a hundred percent and fully committed.

What was easy for you when you went vegan and what was more of a challenge?

I have to say I do have a little bit of an advantage that I am a Registered Dietitian. I have a Ph.D. in nutrition, so I went vegan feeling quite confident that I would be able to cook meals that I would enjoy. I had been a vegetarian before for a long time, so I already had some expertise in preparing plant-based options.

Probably the more challenging part was bringing my children on board. We transitioned the children over a year. The kids had been omnivorous before that. We went very slowly with the kids so they felt on board with the transition and just moving at the pace that was comfortable for them as their taste buds adapted and as their identity adapted.

My kids eat a plant-based diet at home and make their own decisions outside the home. They have varying levels of commitment to or interest in being vegan. At home, they are fully plant-based and they enjoy plant-based food.

What are some nutrients that vegan children need to make an effort to get?

Key nutrients for vegan children include dietary fat. Children, particularly younger children, and toddlers require a lot more fat in their diet than adults do. This is not an age group to be eating low fat. They should be enjoying sources of fat like nut and seed butter; hummus is a great one because it’s providing healthy fats as well as protein.

Don’t hesitate to use some oils when cooking for children. If oils are something that you use in your household, you certainly can use those in preparing foods for your children.

Protein is also important. We don’t need to overly worry about protein, but we certainly wouldn’t want to get into a pattern of feeding children mostly only fruits and vegetables. They do need to be getting a few protein-rich sources a day like beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, and meat alternatives are also an option if your family includes those.

Nuts and seeds are also sources of both proteins and healthy fats.

Next, we can consider some of the micronutrients like iron, a key nutrient for kids. Iron deficiency is common in children, not only for vegan kids but actually among omnivorous children as well. We do need to think of iron-rich foods in plant-based options, those again are a lot of the high-protein foods. Beans, lentils, and greens also are good sources of iron and tofu is a pretty good source of iron too.

Finally, calcium. I encourage all plant-based families to offer a cup or even two cups of plant-based milk to their older children each day. If you have a baby or a toddler who is consuming breast milk or formula, then you may be waiting until they’re old enough. Talk to your dietitian or pediatrician to introduce plant-based milks. For school-aged children, pre-schoolers, and certainly teenagers, including a cup or two cups of plant-based milk that’s fortified with calcium each day will help them to meet their calcium needs.

Calcium is well distributed across whole foods in a plant-based diet as well. Dried fruits, nuts, and seeds, particularly sesame seeds, so tahini and tahini dressings are a good source of calcium, or once again hummus.  Green veggies and leafy greens as well as tofu, beans, and lentils are good sources of calcium. The combination of choosing mostly whole plant-based foods, along with fortified plant-based milk; I would underscore that.

Although those are key nutrients for plant-based families to consider, they’re really just the nutrients that are important for growing children, and these are certainly available on a plant-based diet.

This interview from PlantUniversity’s “Chat with a Vegan” series was hosted by Brighde Reed of World Vegan Travel and featured Dr. Pamela Fergusson, RD.

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Chat with a vegan: Rian Peters, recording artist

Chat with a vegan: Rian Peters, recording artist

As part of our “Chat with a Vegan” series, PlantUniversity’s Brighde Reed sat down and spoke with Rian Peters. Rian is a recording artist based in Vancouver, and a vegan of many years. We hope you find his experience and advice helpful no matter where you are on your own plant-based journey.

You can follow Rian on Instagram at @iamtheliving and @livingplantfoods, or on his website.

If you’re interested in learning more after reading this blog post, you can find great resources on the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity Platform and subscribe to get free plant-based recipes and be notified when the next interview is posted.


Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Rian Peters, I am a recording artist. I go under the stage name I Am The Living. I’m based in Vancouver

Why did you become vegan?

I became vegan because a friend of mine sent me a video a few years back and I decided to watch the video, and when I watched the video, it really resonated with me it sparked something inside of me that I would never forget. He was talking about veganism and, the reasons why it’s good for the environment and good for animals, and for your health to turn vegan. There were some images that he showed within the lecture and yeah. I just built a newfound type of compassion and empathy for other living beings. So after I felt that I told myself I can’t continue to consume animals.

What were you concerned about when you went vegan?

To be honest, I didn’t really have any fear, I just felt that it was the right thing for me to do. It was more so just the gradual steps, a lot of people can go cold turkey, excuse the pun. But for me, I decided I’d take it to step by step. That really helped me on my journey to where I am today.

What piece of advice would you give to someone thinking about going vegan?How do you get your protein?

I would just say to them just be confident in your decision and also take your time. But at the same time, if they feel like they’re just ready to cut out certain things from their lifestyle when it comes to what they eat then, go for it. If they’re a bit more on the edge about it, not too sure of what to do take gradual steps. So, just take your time with it and know that this is the best thing for you to do for your health first and foremost, and for the animals, because if you’re not consuming animals, then the animals don’t have anything to worry about.

Yeah. It’s taken me to a place that I never thought I would ever get to. The foundation of my nutritional intake is a raw frugivore lifestyle. I eat an abundance of, natural whole fruits. This is a huge part of what I eat on a daily basis with tender leafy greens, juices smoothie bowls. I stick to uncooked foods. That’s where I’m at right now. I didn’t start that way though. But now, I’m in the best place I’ve ever been to in my life. I’m very happy with how I feel and the energy that I have.

Do you miss eating animal products?

I sometimes still get that question, but I remember when I did transition, a lot of people asked me if I had missed the animal products. From the start, I didn’t miss animal products at all because I knew that it was the best thing for me, for my health, and once my senses started to change and adapt to the foods that I that we are naturally supposed to consume, I didn’t miss the smell or the texture or anything to do with animals.

What benefits have you experienced going vegan mentally, physically, and emotionally?

Absolutely. All of those three. Everything just went onto another vibration. It’s the best I’ve ever, felt inside and out. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

When I was a lot younger I never had this amount of energy and freedom. I feel like sometimes the foods that we eat can really hold us down mentally and spiritually and physically.

What’s your favorite food?

My favorite, my number one favorite vegan food has to be the mango. Fruit is definitely my number one go-to. The creator created mangos for us to eat, you can just grab it off a tree and eat it. That’s my top fruit.

What do you cook when you’re trying to impress?

So there was a time I had a really fun gathering with a bunch of vegans. It was like a potluck, people brought, different foods and I decided to prepare some plantain wraps. They’re literally just made from raw plantain, I blend it up in the Vitamix add a little seasoning, and spread it out on the dehydrator trays, leave them in a dehydrator for a few hours and you can use them as a burrito wrap. So the plantain wraps definitely were a winner.

This interview from PlantUniversity’s “Chat with a Vegan” series was hosted by Brighde Reed of World Vegan Travel and featured Ravi Boghan.

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