August 11, 2025 • 16 mins
In times of rising chronic diseases, and challenges, costs and threats to health care, Plant Powered Metro NY, a leading nutrition and health-focused nonprofit in New York, offers a powerful solution to treating and preventing chronic diseases. Our guest is Lianna Levine Reisner, President and Network Director, to talk about plant-powered diets as an evidence-based approach to well-being, and their Jumpstart Program, based on a whole food, plant based diet.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Get Connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly
conversation about fitness, health and happenings in our community on
one oh six point seven Light FM.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thanks for listening to Get connected. In times of rising
chronic disease and all the challenges, costs and threats to healthcare,
Plant Powered Metro New York, a leading nutrition and health
focused nonprofit, offers a powerful solution to treating and preventing
chronic diseases. Our guest is Leanna Levine Reisner, President and
Network director of Plant Powered Metro New York, to talk
(00:34):
about plant powered diets as an evidence based approach to
well being and their jump Start program to introduce community
members to a whole food plant based diet. Leanna Levine Reisner,
thank you for being on Get Connected High Pleasure. You
can find out more about the organization at Plant Powered
Metro ny dot org. Let's start with the organization, Leenna.
(00:55):
When was it founded in what inspired you to get
started on this program?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Sure so, plant Powered Metro New York was founded in
twenty nineteen. A few colleagues of mine were out in
the field trying to talk to people about plant based
nutrition and realizing that there was a real big opportunity
here to do this in a more thoughtful way, in
a strategic way, to bring out a bigger narrative around
health and healing through how we eat and how we live.
(01:23):
And so we came together. I was working in Manhattan
with a colleague, took a guy from the Bronx, a
woman from Queens and a friend of ours from Long
Island and we all came together to co found the organization.
And since that day, you know, we've been building this
network of educators and volunteers and folks who can go
out and really teach this in in a mindful way,
(01:44):
noting that it's not a message that everybody's ready to
hear yet.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
We will talk a little bit about, you know, people's
challenges with a plant based diet. But this is a nonprofit.
Why was a nonprofit the way you wanted to do this?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
As one of our co founders and Recasaka always likes
to say, she says, it's everybody's right to know that
what we eat has the power to heal us or
the power to make us sick. And so we felt
that a nonprofit framework was the right way to go
about this. There's so many people out there trying to
make quick money out of our health and well being
(02:18):
at many different levels of society, and we just thought,
we want to have authenticity. We want to be talking
to people a person to person and guide them on
the path to change and figure out how to do
this in a way that's culturally relevant and that could
be done at scale as well. And so all of
these pieces sort of pointed us toward founding a nonprofit.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And I understand that you have some personal story that
kind of is baked into why you followed this path.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yes, when I was well, I'm still raising my kids.
I have three children, and at the time I had two,
and I was really trying to understand how do I
feed these kids so that they can grow well, be
happy and healthy. And at the same time, was in
my early thirties. My husband and I were starting to
feel the aging process in some way. Why do we
(03:04):
feel this way when we didn't before was the big question,
and so we were trying to figure out how to
make the changes, any changes that would make sense. But
to go down the path of understanding nutrition was a
real big rabbit hole. As you probably may guess, right,
there are thousands of nutritional ideas. In the marketplace, everybody
has a certain dietary plan or supplements or things they
(03:27):
want to sell you, and I got lost in all
of that as just a lay person trying to make
sense of all of this. And I had the time
and the privilege when my kids were little to be
able to go on this journey and understand. So when
I found the evidence based behind whole food plant based nutrition,
it was really refreshing. It was simple. It was the
big idea that when you have unprocessed plant foods as
(03:51):
the predominant form of your calories and your diet, you know,
putting nutrient density as the core of the big idea,
then health can emerge. And so for me, what I
found is that I used to have endometriosis, which is
a very common hormonal condition that many women face, and
within weeks my symptoms were gone, which was the most
(04:12):
crazy thing I could have ever experienced. Growing up as
the daughter of a physician, you know, I talked to
many people along my path and nobody had ever said, well,
did you know that food has something to do with
your hormones? And so when I had this light bulb
go off about food and hormones. It really drove me into,
I guess this place where I'm just totally passionate about
(04:33):
the lifestyle, not just because it helped myself, but because
I have seen so many people with many different kinds
of conditions, whether it's diabetes or gastrointestinal issues or heart disease,
everybody can benefit and I think that was what really
spurred me into going from making it a personal project
into a communal project.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Our guest is Leanna Levine Reisner. She's President and network
director of Plant Metro New York. You can find out
more about them at plant powered metrony dot org. You're
listening to get connected on one oh six point seven
Light FM. I am Nina del Rio. Leanna Levine Reisner
has a certificate in plant based Nutrition from the T.
Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and Ecornell. She is
(05:18):
a certified Vegan Lifestyle coach an educator through main Street
Vegan Academy. She's also a member of the American College
of Lifestyle Medicine. I mention all those things because clearly
you've done a very much a deep dive into this
work and this lifestyle, but you would also acknowledge I
think just being a vegetarian or a vegan doesn't necessarily
mean you're eating healthy food. A diet of pizza or
(05:40):
chips and gatorade is not going to do it. So
to kind of drill down a whole foods plant based lifestyle,
we don't mean the grocery store chain. What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yes, the way we define it is a diet that
is predominated by whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes which are
chick peas, peas, lentils, beans of all varieties, and then
also nuts and seeds. And when you put all the
pieces together, with these kinds of building blocks, we have
an anti inflammatory diet. We have an antioxidant rich diet.
(06:13):
We have an anti cancer diet, we have a heart
healthy diet. All the pieces really come together, and I
think I often tell people at the core of these
building blocks is fiber. Plants give us fiber. We can't
find fiber in animal foods, and in many processed plant foods,
the fiber has been stripped down. And so when we
build a fiber rich diet, we're feeding our gastro and
(06:34):
testinal microbiota, all these amazing organisms that live in our system.
And through that health emerges. It's just remarkable to me
how we have gone so far afield from the historical
human diet, where I think many people thought as hunter
gatherers in our earliest days, that we were out hunting
animals a lot, and that was a core piece of
(06:55):
our nutrient makeup. But in fact, plants have always been
through the piece. And if we look around the world
at communities that live long and live well, they're usually
eating a predominantly plant based diet in whatever form it
appears in that part of the world.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So let's talk about a couple of hurdles for people,
and you sort of refer to one that is germane
to where we are today. People are so busy, we've
gotten away from eating plant based foods and things that
take a little longer because they feel inconvenient. Inconvenience is
a challenge.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I think that there are certainly aspects of this lifestyle
that you need to learn how to do in order
to create the new convenience for you. But there are
we need to also build a convenience mindset within our
food system to make it easier for people to make
healthy choices. But one of the things I always like
to say, is look, you can eat simply. You don't
have to make the gourmet dish for it to be
(07:49):
a you know, presentable to you. My husband is really
the master of this. He's like, just don't prepare it
for me, I'll eat it raw. Like that's great for you,
but it's not right for everybody. So the simple things
like putting sweet potatoes in the oven roasted whole. You
don't have to even wrap them in aluminum foil. You
can just have them and they're delicious. Or you can
(08:10):
cut them up and put them on the side and
have them ready to mix in with a whole grain.
Maybe you've made some brown rice, maybe you have some
beans out of a can, no salt added, just to
keep that sodium low. And then you're adding in some
chopped of carrots or tomatoes, and you suddenly have a
wider variety of a meal. And for us, we often
teach about how you make simple homemade dressings just to
(08:33):
make it easier to get flavor put in. We talk
a lot about herbs and spices, citrus, vinegars, the kinds
of more natural flavorings that we can add to make
food really pop without all of the additives that are
predominating in our food system. But convenience is hard for
many many people. I mean, I even hear physicians telling
me you're the way that you eat is amazing. I
(08:55):
don't think I can do it, And I think what
we often say is it just takes that extra time.
If you can invest just a few weeks to figure
out how to make this work for you, you will
find how infinitely easier it is for you, and then
you'll have those tricks up your sleeve so that when
you're traveling you know you can get there.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And of course the Jumpstart program, which we're talking about
in a moment, kind of gives people the tools to
get started. That's what it's designed to do. Another thing
people do talk about, though, is, of course they don't
like green things. If you don't like them, what do
you do?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, well, yes, there are plenty of people who don't
like vegetables, or maybe you've never eaten certain vegetables and
don't know how to prepare them. What I often say
is start with the things that you love. This is
a strengths based approach to dietary change. If you already
eat something like you know, like you like potatoes, okay,
but you're used to having them fried with lots of
(09:46):
salt on them. Try them in different ways and so
we can build up from there. It helps adults, it
also helps picky children. That's a big question I often
get asked. And then you can slowly layer in other foods.
And what often happens is as we change what we're eating,
our taste buds change, and that opens up a whole
new world because then we can try new foods and incorporate.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Those a new One more question, expense, Tell me about
the average grocery bill for a meat eater versus a
non meat eater.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Good question. I don't think I have those details at
my fingertips at the moment, but it certainly is the
case that a pound of meat is more expensive than
a pound of dry beans. So if cost is a concern,
what we often say is swap out the meat for
a legume and you're going to find cost savings. Yeah,
you can get higher end produce, you can get fancy
(10:38):
looking lettuce and other things. But to do this in
the simplest way, the most convenient and cost effective way,
you don't need to go out of your way to
do that. We often I mean, I love organics because
it's good for the food system, good for our farm workers,
but you don't have to go buy organic produce in
order to get the health benefits. The most important thing
to reduce toxin exposure is actually to stop eating animal
(11:00):
and start eating more plant foods. So yeah, there's a
lot of little tricks here and there.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So in September, your Jumpstart program begins again. Talk about
the program and what you offer.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
So the Jumpstar program is designed to be for anybody
from any dietary background to come in and take a
month to get support, and we actually have live virtual
sessions every week of that month where we teach you
all about what it means to eat a plant based
diet in a whole food form, and we have live
(11:31):
cooking demos, We have live educational sessions with dietitians and doctors.
We go deep into mindset and goal setting and visioning
because change isn't just about what we know, it's about
how we feel. And then we also include peer mentorship
because the relationships that we have really matter. So we
put you in a smaller group of participants from our
(11:52):
full cohort and you get to work with a mentor
or two from our community who has already been there,
done that, and as a result, you know, we hope
that our goal for you is to come out on
the other end and really understand how to do this
for yourself for the long term, whether or not you
do it perfectly. We're not here for perfection. We're here
to help you get to the place where you want
to be and then to be able to sort of
(12:14):
navigate the weathers around us as we go through our
lives and understand social situations and how we want to
prioritize our health and the kinds of foods that we eat.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
You also have a special program for Latino communities.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yes, we also offer the jump Start in Spanish, and
we call it the Reto Salud abase Plantas, which is
a health challenge, and our Spanish program is completely conducted
in Spanish. We have Spanish speaking mentors who support you,
and we feature physicians and dieticians from across the Latin
American world who are really tremendous experts alongside our folks
(12:49):
in North America. So I'm very excited to be able
to offer both options because we know our communities need
different cultural entry points and even in our English jump starts,
we're often bring different cultural recipes to the table. We've
had Southern soul food, We've have afrocribbean dishes, We've brought
in Indian flavors. And the beauty of the Plant Kingdom
(13:09):
is that we find so much diversity across all cultures.
So we try to bring that to bear for all.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So when does the program start in September and how
much does it cost?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Yes, so our first program begins on September eleventh, and
we will have three programs this fall, two in English,
one in Spanish, and they'll be returning of course also
in twenty twenty six. The cost is designed to be
accessible to people who are in the community of different
socio economic backgrounds, so we'll have a tiered pricing model.
There's a full price of one hundred and fifty dollars
(13:40):
and a fifty dollars discounted rate. We don't ask any questions.
If that's the price for you, sign up. Nobody's going
to be a gatekeeper. And then of course for folks
who feel generous and can sponsor, we have a sponsor
rate of two hundred and fifty dollars. We also have scholarships, though,
we have scholarships for folks who have chronic kidney disease.
If you have stages three, four, or five kidney disease,
you can enter the program for just fifteen dollars and
(14:03):
even receive a cash bonus for active participation in the program,
because we want to do more to support people who
are at that advanced stage of disease to get their
disease under control thanks to a better a sponsor.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
If you happen to miss this time the September classes,
how often do you offer them?
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Yeah, we'll be back in January for that New Year's reset.
We'll be back in the springtime. We try to offer
our programs at least six times a year, and we're
working on expanding them to reach more people as well.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
To wrap up just quickly, maybe you could tell us,
as people are sort of thinking about this and percolating
about the classes, can you give us your favorite dish,
maybe a favorite restaurant and a favorite tip to get started? Great?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Okay, so my favorite dish anything that's a bean stew
I've got, you know, if it's like a vegan chili
or some kind of china masala. Love that kind of
flavor favorite restaurant. I can't play favorites because we have
an initiative at Plant Powered Metro neur called plant Power Plates.
Go to the shore if you can find lots of
great restaurants that are offering whole food plant based dishes,
(15:05):
mostly in the city, and we'll be sort of expanding
that base over the course of the year. And my
best tip, I mean, I feel like it's be compassionate
with yourself. If you know that health is important to
you and you know that you can't be getting on
this path as fully as you want to be right
at the beginning. That's okay. We want to meet you
where you are and come along at any stage. So
(15:27):
take that first step. Maybe it's a one healthy swap,
maybe it's you know, some people do like the meatless Monday,
or they're trying different kinds of eliminations. We can get there,
and I think that self compassion is a key piece
of all of this.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
You just got to start, That's right. Leanna Levine Reisner
is President and network director of Plant Powered Metro New York.
The website is plant Powered metroany dot org. Thank you
for being going to get connected.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Awesome This is great. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
This has been get connected with Nina del Rio on
one IO six point seven light Fm. The view us
and opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the
views of the station. If you missed any part of
our show or want to share it, visit our website
for downloads and podcasts at one O six seven lightfm
dot com. Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Get Connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly
conversation about fitness, health and happenings in our community on
one oh six point seven Light FM.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thanks for listening to Get connected. In times of rising
chronic disease and all the challenges, costs and threats to healthcare,
Plant Powered Metro New York, a leading nutrition and health
focused nonprofit, offers a powerful solution to treating and preventing
chronic diseases. Our guest is Leanna Levine Reisner, President and
Network director of Plant Powered Metro New York, to talk
(00:34):
about plant powered diets as an evidence based approach to
well being and their jump Start program to introduce community
members to a whole food plant based diet. Leanna Levine Reisner,
thank you for being on Get Connected High Pleasure. You
can find out more about the organization at Plant Powered
Metro ny dot org. Let's start with the organization, Leenna.
(00:55):
When was it founded in what inspired you to get
started on this program?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Sure so, plant Powered Metro New York was founded in
twenty nineteen. A few colleagues of mine were out in
the field trying to talk to people about plant based
nutrition and realizing that there was a real big opportunity
here to do this in a more thoughtful way, in
a strategic way, to bring out a bigger narrative around
health and healing through how we eat and how we live.
(01:23):
And so we came together. I was working in Manhattan
with a colleague, took a guy from the Bronx, a
woman from Queens and a friend of ours from Long
Island and we all came together to co found the organization.
And since that day, you know, we've been building this
network of educators and volunteers and folks who can go
out and really teach this in in a mindful way,
(01:44):
noting that it's not a message that everybody's ready to
hear yet.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
We will talk a little bit about, you know, people's
challenges with a plant based diet. But this is a nonprofit.
Why was a nonprofit the way you wanted to do this?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
As one of our co founders and Recasaka always likes
to say, she says, it's everybody's right to know that
what we eat has the power to heal us or
the power to make us sick. And so we felt
that a nonprofit framework was the right way to go
about this. There's so many people out there trying to
make quick money out of our health and well being
(02:18):
at many different levels of society, and we just thought,
we want to have authenticity. We want to be talking
to people a person to person and guide them on
the path to change and figure out how to do
this in a way that's culturally relevant and that could
be done at scale as well. And so all of
these pieces sort of pointed us toward founding a nonprofit.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And I understand that you have some personal story that
kind of is baked into why you followed this path.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yes, when I was well, I'm still raising my kids.
I have three children, and at the time I had two,
and I was really trying to understand how do I
feed these kids so that they can grow well, be
happy and healthy. And at the same time, was in
my early thirties. My husband and I were starting to
feel the aging process in some way. Why do we
(03:04):
feel this way when we didn't before was the big question,
and so we were trying to figure out how to
make the changes, any changes that would make sense. But
to go down the path of understanding nutrition was a
real big rabbit hole. As you probably may guess, right,
there are thousands of nutritional ideas. In the marketplace, everybody
has a certain dietary plan or supplements or things they
(03:27):
want to sell you, and I got lost in all
of that as just a lay person trying to make
sense of all of this. And I had the time
and the privilege when my kids were little to be
able to go on this journey and understand. So when
I found the evidence based behind whole food plant based nutrition,
it was really refreshing. It was simple. It was the
big idea that when you have unprocessed plant foods as
(03:51):
the predominant form of your calories and your diet, you know,
putting nutrient density as the core of the big idea,
then health can emerge. And so for me, what I
found is that I used to have endometriosis, which is
a very common hormonal condition that many women face, and
within weeks my symptoms were gone, which was the most
(04:12):
crazy thing I could have ever experienced. Growing up as
the daughter of a physician, you know, I talked to
many people along my path and nobody had ever said, well,
did you know that food has something to do with
your hormones? And so when I had this light bulb
go off about food and hormones. It really drove me into,
I guess this place where I'm just totally passionate about
(04:33):
the lifestyle, not just because it helped myself, but because
I have seen so many people with many different kinds
of conditions, whether it's diabetes or gastrointestinal issues or heart disease,
everybody can benefit and I think that was what really
spurred me into going from making it a personal project
into a communal project.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Our guest is Leanna Levine Reisner. She's President and network
director of Plant Metro New York. You can find out
more about them at plant powered metrony dot org. You're
listening to get connected on one oh six point seven
Light FM. I am Nina del Rio. Leanna Levine Reisner
has a certificate in plant based Nutrition from the T.
Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and Ecornell. She is
(05:18):
a certified Vegan Lifestyle coach an educator through main Street
Vegan Academy. She's also a member of the American College
of Lifestyle Medicine. I mention all those things because clearly
you've done a very much a deep dive into this
work and this lifestyle, but you would also acknowledge I
think just being a vegetarian or a vegan doesn't necessarily
mean you're eating healthy food. A diet of pizza or
(05:40):
chips and gatorade is not going to do it. So
to kind of drill down a whole foods plant based lifestyle,
we don't mean the grocery store chain. What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yes, the way we define it is a diet that
is predominated by whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes which are
chick peas, peas, lentils, beans of all varieties, and then
also nuts and seeds. And when you put all the
pieces together, with these kinds of building blocks, we have
an anti inflammatory diet. We have an antioxidant rich diet.
(06:13):
We have an anti cancer diet, we have a heart
healthy diet. All the pieces really come together, and I
think I often tell people at the core of these
building blocks is fiber. Plants give us fiber. We can't
find fiber in animal foods, and in many processed plant foods,
the fiber has been stripped down. And so when we
build a fiber rich diet, we're feeding our gastro and
(06:34):
testinal microbiota, all these amazing organisms that live in our system.
And through that health emerges. It's just remarkable to me
how we have gone so far afield from the historical
human diet, where I think many people thought as hunter
gatherers in our earliest days, that we were out hunting
animals a lot, and that was a core piece of
(06:55):
our nutrient makeup. But in fact, plants have always been
through the piece. And if we look around the world
at communities that live long and live well, they're usually
eating a predominantly plant based diet in whatever form it
appears in that part of the world.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So let's talk about a couple of hurdles for people,
and you sort of refer to one that is germane
to where we are today. People are so busy, we've
gotten away from eating plant based foods and things that
take a little longer because they feel inconvenient. Inconvenience is
a challenge.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I think that there are certainly aspects of this lifestyle
that you need to learn how to do in order
to create the new convenience for you. But there are
we need to also build a convenience mindset within our
food system to make it easier for people to make
healthy choices. But one of the things I always like
to say, is look, you can eat simply. You don't
have to make the gourmet dish for it to be
(07:49):
a you know, presentable to you. My husband is really
the master of this. He's like, just don't prepare it
for me, I'll eat it raw. Like that's great for you,
but it's not right for everybody. So the simple things
like putting sweet potatoes in the oven roasted whole. You
don't have to even wrap them in aluminum foil. You
can just have them and they're delicious. Or you can
(08:10):
cut them up and put them on the side and
have them ready to mix in with a whole grain.
Maybe you've made some brown rice, maybe you have some
beans out of a can, no salt added, just to
keep that sodium low. And then you're adding in some
chopped of carrots or tomatoes, and you suddenly have a
wider variety of a meal. And for us, we often
teach about how you make simple homemade dressings just to
(08:33):
make it easier to get flavor put in. We talk
a lot about herbs and spices, citrus, vinegars, the kinds
of more natural flavorings that we can add to make
food really pop without all of the additives that are
predominating in our food system. But convenience is hard for
many many people. I mean, I even hear physicians telling
me you're the way that you eat is amazing. I
(08:55):
don't think I can do it, And I think what
we often say is it just takes that extra time.
If you can invest just a few weeks to figure
out how to make this work for you, you will
find how infinitely easier it is for you, and then
you'll have those tricks up your sleeve so that when
you're traveling you know you can get there.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And of course the Jumpstart program, which we're talking about
in a moment, kind of gives people the tools to
get started. That's what it's designed to do. Another thing
people do talk about, though, is, of course they don't
like green things. If you don't like them, what do
you do?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, well, yes, there are plenty of people who don't
like vegetables, or maybe you've never eaten certain vegetables and
don't know how to prepare them. What I often say
is start with the things that you love. This is
a strengths based approach to dietary change. If you already
eat something like you know, like you like potatoes, okay,
but you're used to having them fried with lots of
(09:46):
salt on them. Try them in different ways and so
we can build up from there. It helps adults, it
also helps picky children. That's a big question I often
get asked. And then you can slowly layer in other foods.
And what often happens is as we change what we're eating,
our taste buds change, and that opens up a whole
new world because then we can try new foods and incorporate.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Those a new One more question, expense, Tell me about
the average grocery bill for a meat eater versus a
non meat eater.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Good question. I don't think I have those details at
my fingertips at the moment, but it certainly is the
case that a pound of meat is more expensive than
a pound of dry beans. So if cost is a concern,
what we often say is swap out the meat for
a legume and you're going to find cost savings. Yeah,
you can get higher end produce, you can get fancy
(10:38):
looking lettuce and other things. But to do this in
the simplest way, the most convenient and cost effective way,
you don't need to go out of your way to
do that. We often I mean, I love organics because
it's good for the food system, good for our farm workers,
but you don't have to go buy organic produce in
order to get the health benefits. The most important thing
to reduce toxin exposure is actually to stop eating animal
(11:00):
and start eating more plant foods. So yeah, there's a
lot of little tricks here and there.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So in September, your Jumpstart program begins again. Talk about
the program and what you offer.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
So the Jumpstar program is designed to be for anybody
from any dietary background to come in and take a
month to get support, and we actually have live virtual
sessions every week of that month where we teach you
all about what it means to eat a plant based
diet in a whole food form, and we have live
(11:31):
cooking demos, We have live educational sessions with dietitians and doctors.
We go deep into mindset and goal setting and visioning
because change isn't just about what we know, it's about
how we feel. And then we also include peer mentorship
because the relationships that we have really matter. So we
put you in a smaller group of participants from our
(11:52):
full cohort and you get to work with a mentor
or two from our community who has already been there,
done that, and as a result, you know, we hope
that our goal for you is to come out on
the other end and really understand how to do this
for yourself for the long term, whether or not you
do it perfectly. We're not here for perfection. We're here
to help you get to the place where you want
to be and then to be able to sort of
(12:14):
navigate the weathers around us as we go through our
lives and understand social situations and how we want to
prioritize our health and the kinds of foods that we eat.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
You also have a special program for Latino communities.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yes, we also offer the jump Start in Spanish, and
we call it the Reto Salud abase Plantas, which is
a health challenge, and our Spanish program is completely conducted
in Spanish. We have Spanish speaking mentors who support you,
and we feature physicians and dieticians from across the Latin
American world who are really tremendous experts alongside our folks
(12:49):
in North America. So I'm very excited to be able
to offer both options because we know our communities need
different cultural entry points and even in our English jump starts,
we're often bring different cultural recipes to the table. We've
had Southern soul food, We've have afrocribbean dishes, We've brought
in Indian flavors. And the beauty of the Plant Kingdom
(13:09):
is that we find so much diversity across all cultures.
So we try to bring that to bear for all.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So when does the program start in September and how
much does it cost?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Yes, so our first program begins on September eleventh, and
we will have three programs this fall, two in English,
one in Spanish, and they'll be returning of course also
in twenty twenty six. The cost is designed to be
accessible to people who are in the community of different
socio economic backgrounds, so we'll have a tiered pricing model.
There's a full price of one hundred and fifty dollars
(13:40):
and a fifty dollars discounted rate. We don't ask any questions.
If that's the price for you, sign up. Nobody's going
to be a gatekeeper. And then of course for folks
who feel generous and can sponsor, we have a sponsor
rate of two hundred and fifty dollars. We also have scholarships, though,
we have scholarships for folks who have chronic kidney disease.
If you have stages three, four, or five kidney disease,
you can enter the program for just fifteen dollars and
(14:03):
even receive a cash bonus for active participation in the program,
because we want to do more to support people who
are at that advanced stage of disease to get their
disease under control thanks to a better a sponsor.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
If you happen to miss this time the September classes,
how often do you offer them?
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Yeah, we'll be back in January for that New Year's reset.
We'll be back in the springtime. We try to offer
our programs at least six times a year, and we're
working on expanding them to reach more people as well.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
To wrap up just quickly, maybe you could tell us,
as people are sort of thinking about this and percolating
about the classes, can you give us your favorite dish,
maybe a favorite restaurant and a favorite tip to get started? Great?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Okay, so my favorite dish anything that's a bean stew
I've got, you know, if it's like a vegan chili
or some kind of china masala. Love that kind of
flavor favorite restaurant. I can't play favorites because we have
an initiative at Plant Powered Metro neur called plant Power Plates.
Go to the shore if you can find lots of
great restaurants that are offering whole food plant based dishes,
(15:05):
mostly in the city, and we'll be sort of expanding
that base over the course of the year. And my
best tip, I mean, I feel like it's be compassionate
with yourself. If you know that health is important to
you and you know that you can't be getting on
this path as fully as you want to be right
at the beginning. That's okay. We want to meet you
where you are and come along at any stage. So
(15:27):
take that first step. Maybe it's a one healthy swap,
maybe it's you know, some people do like the meatless Monday,
or they're trying different kinds of eliminations. We can get there,
and I think that self compassion is a key piece
of all of this.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
You just got to start, That's right. Leanna Levine Reisner
is President and network director of Plant Powered Metro New York.
The website is plant Powered metroany dot org. Thank you
for being going to get connected.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Awesome This is great. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
This has been get connected with Nina del Rio on
one IO six point seven light Fm. The view us
and opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the
views of the station. If you missed any part of
our show or want to share it, visit our website
for downloads and podcasts at one O six seven lightfm
dot com. Thanks for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!