Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Fettinger.
Hi Tracy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m Tracy Fettinger, a former public school educator turned plant-based lifestyle educator and author. I’m also certified in Plant-based Nutrition. But really, who cares about all that?
It’s really more about MY personal STORY.
I started just where you are. I grew up eating the standard American diet. I was “healthy” according to the food pyramid, but I was definitely not functioning optimally. I was on that same upward trend we all seem to face…you know – weight increases as age increases. I checked all the numbers on those little nutrition labels and thought I was eating right. I was fairly active, and like most under loads of stress. Then one day I ended up in the hospital and after a week of test after test got what at the time was a frightening diagnosis…
“Mrs. Fettinger, you have Multiple Sclerosis.”
Faced with the “facts” that I would continue to debilitate and be on meds for the rest of my life I started searching. I read everything I could get my hands on and started watching documentaries about health. It was a confusing world with lots of contradictions to say the least.
THEN I WATCHED FORKS OVER KNIVES AND MY LIFE CHANGED!
Of course it didn’t happen overnight, but I started taking steps down a new path on my health journey which led down a rabbit hole of learning as much as I could about self-healing through plant-based nutrition and lifestyle changes.
After just a few changes I started feeling so much better and was hooked. It went against almost everything I “knew”. I mean you have to have meat for protein and dairy for calcium or there will be major health consequences, right? The media really does play a huge role in what we think we know!
This paradigm shift gave me three gifts.
Not only the permission to not have to eat the animals I love for protein and calcium, but evidence that I’d actually be healthier and leaner with plant protein and calcium sources that my body can more easily use. I had a choice to stop eating animals and be healthy. The power to fight the disease that debilitates so many and actually THRIVE instead of just survive was on my plate! My genes – my diagnosis – are not my fate.
I wasn’t perfect – still am not. I take it one small sustainable step at a time. After all health is NOT a destination but a journey! And you know what…..
I maintain a healthy weight without really trying, have so much extra energy that I, the one who used to fain asthma to get out of any kind of running as a teenager, started jogging in my 40s, and I’m living a vibrant, active, joy filled life in alignment with my values.
Huge bonus, many of my family are much healthier too. Though they are not 100% plant-based, they’ve benefitted from being plant strong discovering they feel better on so many levels, reducing many medications, and completely cutting others.
I want this for YOU, your families, and pretty much everyone on the planet. I want a healthy family and planet for your grandchildren’s grandchildren! So, now I teach healthy cooking classes where children (and even adults) LEARN to cook & LOVE their veggies in my portable education kitchen. Based out of Camden County, but covering a 3 county territory mostly in GA and a little in Fl., I go where I need to go to help anyone that wants to take a step forward in their health journey. However, my favorite part of what I do, and what I do the most, is my after-school cooking clubs for kids ages 5-12. I feel it is important to start them early and find my strategy of exposure, interest through creation, and positive peer pressure work wonders to get many kids to try things the “never” would! I have also worked with a few teenager groups, but seem to be most targeted at ages 5-12.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have had many obstacles to overcome, detours to take, and things to learn. Being an educator I’ve always considered myself a life-long learner and I do love a challenge. The learning curve has been large and the challenge a little more than I expected. At one time I said, ” I am not a business person.” I was a teacher. I didn’t have to do marketing or advertising. I dint have to wonder if I’d have enough students. I just planned my lesson, showed up, and taught. I mean that is over simplified, but I’m sure you understand. Now I say. “I am becoming a business person!” I have just grown so much through becoming a small business owner/entrepreneur, but I have sought out help from my local Chamber of Commerce, SBDC, SCORE mentors, and a LOT of prayer to accomplish that growth. The Lord allowed me to consistently grow over the first 5 years – even through the covid shutdown, but I have learned there is always an ebb and flow to business and you have to constantly prospect, pivot, and WORK hard to make it happen.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
What is VegeCooking? We are the only mobile educational kitchen in the area and we teach kids & adults to learn to cook and love their veggies! What sets up apart from other cooking classes? We are the only ones that incorporate nutrition education and of course we also have fun related activities to help people make better choices on their own plates. We show our students, no matter what their skill level is, how to cook easy, healthy, and delicious meals they will enjoy.
I’m known as the veggie lady… the one that can help anyone learn to love veggies!
VegeCooking classes are hands-on, purposed-based cooking education classes for kids to educate them about the benefits of eating more veggies, how to live more sustainably, with less waste, and how to create delicious healthful meals, which is a vital skill they’ll use throughout their lives. We are completely plant-based, making the portable kitchen much safer while making the meal much healthier (plants give you the most nutritional bang for your food buck). I mean no one needs help learning to love burgers and nuggets, right? We want to help kids (and adults) put more veggies on their plates and in their belly so they can experience the best health and so their best life!
Any big plans?
I don’t have visions of grandeur or becoming a millionaire…I don’t even want to become a company of more that 4 people. I simply want my business to grow to a level where I can consistently pay my bills, pay my people well, put a little away or retirement, and enjoy life a little now. I absolutely love what I do and I am really close to reaching this goal. It is the consistency part that I struggle with the most. Some quarters are phenomenal and some are in the gutter so that it usually evens out, but consistency is my greatest goal!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vege-cooking.com/camden
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vegecookingcamden/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VegeCookingCamden
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VegeCooking
