Horsham nutritionist is finalist in PETA’s Most Beautiful Vegan Over 50 contest

Julie Stewart is one of 12 finalists in the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) contest which aims to celebrate those over the age of 50 promoting the vegan lifestyle.

The winner – as voted for by the public – will receive an award-winning ‘Les Plantes’ vegan tasting menu for two at top London restaurant Gauthier Soho.

Julie, who is also an NHS primary care commissioning officer, said: “I was delighted when I heard but also quite shocked as it was a very last minute entry.

“My friend who is a keen photographer had just taken some nice pictures of me in my back garden so I thought why not!

“I would be absolutely thrilled to win as this would provide an opportunity to promote a vegan lifestyle to more people and raise awareness of some of the horrific injustices that go on in the world when it comes to how we view and treat our fellow beings.”

The 51-year-old went fully vegan eight years ago after a slow two-year transition, and then decided to train as a nutritionist having discovered ‘the power that diet and lifestyle can have on health and wellbeing’.

She balances her time between NHS commitments and her private therapy work based at Park House in Horsham, and she was honoured to deliver a series of nutritional webinars throughout lockdown to her NHS colleagues as part of a staff wellbeing group.

She said: “Like most vegans, when you start to feel the amazing health benefits, and learn about the impact of our diet choices on animal welfare and how it affects the environment, you cannot turn a blind eye and want to shout about it, so I use every opportunity I can to share my experience with others.

“I personally transformed from a lifetime of health struggles and reversed chronic disease and obesity, step by step by switching my old habits for new healthier ones.

“It is my view that raising awareness for animal welfare can take many forms and we can use our individual talents together to generate some much-needed awareness to make the world a kinder place for animals.

“My work focuses on how what we eat can have a profound effect on our health, our families, our communities, animals, the health of our planet and to take care of our spirits and our bodies - which may even have the knock on effect of making all of us a bit kinder to each other

Julie also held talks at Horsham’s first vegan fair and will again offer free advice about eating a plant based diet when VegFest Horsham returns outisde the Drill Hill on Saturday, October 24.

Elisa Allen, PETA director, said: “With her huge heart and courageous spirit, Julie is a hero for animals through and through.

“All the finalists of PETA’s Most Beautiful Vegan Over 50 competition are setting an admirable example of compassion for younger generations to follow.”

David Finney from Brighton, 57, is also a finalist in the competition. He has spoken at schools and universities about animal rights, has attended animal rights marches, and is the membership secretary of Greens for Animal Protection.

Voting is open until 5pm on Monday, September 7, and the winner will be announced by Friday, September 11. To vote, visit https://secure.peta.org.uk/page/66342/data/1

For more about Julie’s work, visit https://juliestewartnutrition.com/

For more about PETA, visit {https://www.peta.org/|}

___

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.