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Avery Yale Kamila is an American journalist, vegan columnist and community organizer in the state of
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
.


Biography

Kamila was born in
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bucki ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
in the 1970s and grew up on an organic farm in Litchfield,
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
. Kamila adopted a
vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
diet in 1991 after reading “ Diet for a New America,” while she was a freshman studying journalism at Syracuse University's
S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic ...
. She graduated from
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) is a public research university in Syracuse, New York focused on the environment and natural resources. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) s ...
in 1995 with a degree in Environment Policy and Management. Kamila is married to Adam Hill and they have a son. She lives in Portland, Maine.


Journalism

Kamila is a journalist who wrote the ''Natural Foodie'' column for the
Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...
in
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
, the largest newspaper in Maine, for many years starting in 2009. At one time, she wrote the ''Society Notebook'' column for the Maine Sunday Telegram. Kamila currently writes the ''Vegan Kitchen'' column for the Portland Press Herald food & dining section. A column Kamila wrote in 2018 about the lack of
vegan school meal A vegan school meal or vegan school lunch or vegan school dinner or vegan hot lunch is a vegan option provided as a school meal. The meals have become part of the menu in some public school districts. Vegan school meals most reported on by the med ...
options convinced the Portland Public Schools to add hot vegan choices. The column upset some readers. The district's superintendent endorsed the idea on Twitter. The national media coverage of the vegan school lunches in Portland cited them as part of a national trend. Kamila's recipe for pumpkin seed croquettes with shiitake mushroom gravy is included in the "Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook: 200 Recipes Celebrating Maine's Culinary Past, Present & Future," compiled and edited by Margaret Hathaway and Karl Schatz and published by Islandport Press. In 2020, Victoria Moran interviewed Kamila on her Main Street Vegan podcast about Maine's vegetarian history. Moran said: "Recently, she’s been researching the
history of vegetarianism The earliest records of vegetarianism as a concept and practice amongst a significant number of people are from ancient India, especially among the Hindus and Jains.Spencer, Colin: ''The Heretic's Feast. A History of Vegetarianism'', London 1993 ...
in her home state and uncovered a rich past full of meat-free and plant-based eating that has been ignored and buried for more than 100 years." Kamila's research has uncovered information about Dr. Hoarce A. Barrows, Rev. Henry Aiken Worcester, and James Gower, born in 1772 and the great-great-great-great grandfather of Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
. The
American Vegan Society The American Vegan Society (AVS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes veganism in the United States. It was founded in 1960 by H. Jay Dinshah. The date of the earlier The Vegan Society (UK)'s founding, November 1, is now celebr ...
said Kamila's history claims that nut milk is America's first milk because of the history of
plant milk Plant milk is a plant beverage with a color resembling that of milk. Plant milks are non-dairy beverages made from a water-based plant extract for flavoring and aroma. Plant milks are consumed as alternatives to milk, and often provide a crea ...
making within the Wabanaki tribal nations "shows how the historical record was unwittingly distorted to mask this proto-vegan tradition." She has written about the history of
Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and i ...
prophet who was raised in Maine
Ellen G. White Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she wa ...
and stated in 2022 that White's "lasting influence on vegetarian food in the United States continues today." In 2015,
Loma Linda University Loma Linda University (LLU) is a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in Loma Linda, California. , the university comprises eight schools and a Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist educatio ...
said a profile Kamila had written about White's contributions to religion and health was an "example of the wider cultural recognition of Ellen White’s continuing impact on contemporary life."


Community activism

In 2015, Kamila and Maggie Knowles co-founded a grassroots group called Portland Protectors. In 2017, Kamila was featured as a speaker at the March for Science in Portland, Maine. The group convinced the Portland City Council in 2018 to pass a strict pesticide ordinance that mandates organic lawns and gardens within the city.


References


External links


Avery Yale Kamila's Vegan Kitchen
column, Portland Press Herald {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamila, Avery Yale 1970s births Living people Writers from Portland, Maine American veganism activists American women journalists Activists from Portland, Maine People from Litchfield, Maine Journalists from Maine 21st-century American women S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry alumni