ย “God led me on a journey to healing. Making me aware of what I was putting in my body as far as food goes, but then the journey deepened. I started to realize it’s not just what I put in my body, it’s what I’m putting in my mind.”
Lauren Von Der Pool
In a world of competition, it’s refreshing to converse with someone who shows up as their authentic self and is confident in the vessel God chose for them to show up in. Someone who knows there’s no need to compete against anyone because they are perfectly made in God’s eyes. My interview with Lauren Von Der Pool aka The Queen of Green embodiesย what all rags to riches stories are made of.
Lauren grew up as a foreigner in Washington DC during the time it was the murder capital of the world. Her mother’s family came from South America and her father, although born in New York, is Cuban. The area Lauren grew up in felt more like a war zone versus a neighborhood. A lot of people didn’t make it out, but through the grace of God Lauren navigated her way out of the hood.
California fruit salad
Lauren and I talked about her sense of awareness that led to enlightenment that led to freedom. Dubbed “The Queen of Green” Lauren is best known for her food artistry and conveying the importance of healthy eating through vegan cuisine. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu and has worked with many notable chefs, including Marcus Samuelsson and Wolfgang Puck. Lauren has also worked as a personal chef for many prominent celebrities such as Stevie Wonder, Common, Venus and Serena Williams, Patti Labelle, and the list goes on. One of the most significant highlights in her career occurred in 2009, Former First Lady Michelle Obama invited Lauren to work for her obesity prevention campaign. Lauren has also curated menu’s for prestigious events like the Oscars, Grammy’s, and most recently she curated the menu for the 2022 Met Gala.
Chicago is fortunate to have The Queen of Green come to town for the National Restaurant Association show going on May 20 – 23rd. You can catch Lauren’s culinary demo on Saturday, May 20th from noon to 12:45pm. Right afterwards she’ll be signing autographs for her top selling book, “Eat Yourself Sexy: Eat your way to shiny hair, glowing skin and weight loss.โ
If you want to learn more about Lauren, vegan cuisine, and her exciting 21 day eat yourself sexy journeyโฆread on below for our exclusive one on one interview.
Photo Cred: @Radiantsun9
Tavi J. One on One Interview with Chef, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and Artist: Lauren Von Der Poolย
Can you tell us about your background growing up and then fast forward to your culinary journey?
I grew up in Washington DC when it was the murder capital of the world. One of the things that changed my life was the awareness of the power of food. I went to the corner store every morning and grabbled a blue juice, funyons, sugar wafers and some mike n nikes candy. I then tried to go to school and function as a normal person. In truth I wasn’t even getting enough oxygen to my brain to think or function and this was what I was doing consistently. It was causing a major distortion within my physical body. When I was introduced to healthy food I began to realize that food also had the ability to heal. There are enzymes in papaya’s that will help with your skin and help to digest your food. There are herbs like dandelions that are great for your liver. When I began to discover the power of plants from the earth I was fascinated.
I was a young girl who was a resilient fighter, but I was channeling that energy in the wrong direction which got me sad in my head and I almost died when I was 15 years old from a traumatic incident. One of the biggest wake up calls was my life because somehow it opened my eyes, and I was able to see things from a different vantage point. I was able to see the distortion in my environment and I was able to see the pain that was translated into drug addiction that was translated into prostitution, that was translated in everyone, especially the adults, being completely off balanced so much so that they could not take care of us. The beauty of it all was I began to see with compassionate eyes instead of anger.
Some people go to therapy, but how did you receive your enlightenment?
Photo Cred: @Radiantsun9
God. God led me on a journey to healing. Making me aware of what I was putting in my body as far as food goes, but then the journey deepened and I started to realize it’s not just what I put in my body, it’s what I’m putting in my mind. My thoughts become things. Words are medicine. When I speak my words are potency as a driving force. I can choose to use my feelings, my words, and my thoughts and combine it with the knowledge of the food and now we have a really beautiful vessel. Now we’re on our way. Its a journey of growing and learning and evolving and releasing and forgiving. A lot of people have come into my life to plant seeds and to drop jewels to help clear the path. Meditation was also a huge thing. Being able to sit still and be quiet and to hear the audible voice of God. It’s a choice to find happiness and to find the lesson in all of this.
What does a typical day of eating with the Queen of Green look like when you’re not fasting?
I eat for power. I really don’t eat that much. I have my tonics in the morning to power me up and energize me.ย I mostly eat raw. I’m 80% raw 20% cooked and that consists of a ton of vegetables and plants and things like that. I do have cravings for things. I love a good Vegan pizza if it’s done right. To be honest I don’t really eat out. I make my own food or eat from people that I know. It’s not really bougie, it’s just particular. I’m old school. I need to see who’s washing their hands.
I see you were just in Costa Rica leading a retreat. Is there a particular place that you call home or where you just love to be at?
Egypt
I am a child of the world. I travel a lot for work and wherever I go is my home. We have the entire planet to explore. It’s interesting how societal constructs encourage us to believe I’m from DC or you’re from Chicago. You may have been born there but we have the entire planet available to us that is OUR home. And the best home is within ourselves. So i’m always home.
Is there a staple Vegan dish for someone who’s new to the game?
I would say to keep it simple and balanced. Stick with a ton of veggies and quinoa. Instead of reaching for just brown rice bowls, go for some black rice or red rice. Keep it very simple and learn about food combining. That’s something people have issues with. Some people complain when they went Vegan they had bloating or gas…but theyโre eating watermelon with bread and that’s a horrible combination. You’re going to create fermintation in your body which causes bloating. I always recommend getting a consultation with me or reaching out to an expert to be guided if they want to embark on this journey.
You offer numerous services. One-on-One Consultations, event catering, culinary classes and retreats. What really interest me is your 21 day eat yourself sexy journey program. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Oh my God it’s amazing! I’ve been doing it consistently for 3 years. The transformations are outstanding. The program is 3 weeks. The first week is 80% raw and 20% cooked. The second week is 100% raw and the third week is liquids. That’s just the food part. We also approach this from a holistic stance. Each day we have different instructors that are experts in their field that will guide you through different classes such as meditation, financial literacy, and even a class called the breathable orgasm. Right now we’re mostly women but we are launching the men’s version, which I’m really excited about for the brothers.
During the 21 days you’re learning how to integrate what’s going to be helpful into your everyday life. The classes crescendo so to speak. Youโll start off with maybe a yoga class, we have a crop medicine class where you learn how to make your own herbal medicine. These are things that are not only valuable for yourself, but for your legacy. These are things that you can pass down to your family members. I teach a living from vision course which teaches you how to navigate and manifest the life you want to live. I started from the trenches and from there its led me to catering the Oscars, the Grammyโs, working with Michelle Obama, Stevie Wonder… all of these amazing opportunities that I’ve been blessed with by just changing my mind and changing my heart. And of course, meditation was a huge tool for me, so that’s something that I offer as well.
You curated menu’s for several high profile events, but one that really stood out to me was the Met Gala. YOU looked fabulous! Most of us have no chance in life of attending. Can you describe your experience?
2022 Met Gala
You know what I was so shocked to get the email from Ana Wintour herself. I’m like WHO AM I. I was in charge of the six hor d’oeuvres for the cocktail party. So everyone else had one dish they had to do and I had six. It was a great thing for me because I went in on them. All of my dishes were plant based. What was really funny, and I can’t believe I did this, but you know I had to put it down for the indigenous people. People who would never have the opportunity of being there, my ancestors that are proud that I can be there. I believe that everywhere I go and everywhere I walk is holy ground because God is with me.
I had to submit my recipes. So let me give you a snapshot…it’s brilliant and genius…The first dish I called โThe Underground Railroad.โ The description I wrote was “This dish reminds me of the deep south. Southern roots elevated into a fine-dining experience. Often times in America and around the world using the scraps created some of our favorite dishes to date. This thing called waste not want not still rings true to this day and I wanted to highlight traditional southern ingredients to pay homage to the foundation of America which stems from the dark past of slavery and the liberation there of.โ
The dish for that description was a corn bread waffle, pulled pork (made of jackfruit) topped with crispy basil, microgreens, and squash blossoms.
Their feedback was they really loved the recipes and all the descriptions I provided, but they wanted me to change the name of the dishes because some people may take offense. The servers were mainly Caucasian so I got where they were coming from. A Caucasian brother walking up to you asking if you would like โthe underground railroad.โ I really push the envelope and that’s why I’m a good artist. To submit that to the Met Gala you have to have some guts. I had to sit and laugh with that one.
Youโre coming to Chicago for the National Restaurant Association Show. What should we expect from your culinary demo?
I don’t know what you should expect to be honest. I’m an artist and I don’t move like that. My intention is to make my Queen of Green bowl, have some fun, sign some books. My goal is just to connect with people. It’s not just about me being on stage and having this performance. I’m present beyond the show and performance. I commited my life to this work 24 years and still going so it’s not about being on TV. The only purpose of TV to me is to gain more exposure to the things that Iโm sharing. I’m going there to share, have some fun, and some good vibes.
How familar are you with Chicago?
I love Chicago! Chicago is one of my favorite cities in America and I’ve spent so much time there. Actually after culinary school I crushed Chicago. I was crushing Chicago so much. I went there for a festival called “The African festival” to work with some of the artists there and I stayed for 3 months because I was getting so many gigs back to back. Some of my favorite people on the planet are from Chicago.
My last question for you is what’s next for the Queen of Green? What projects are you working on now and what projects are you excited about that are upcoming?
We have my book “Eat Yourself Sexy” which we are revamping and relaunching. I’m really excited about that. I have a couple of other books that I’m working on because as an artist I write many books at once. It’s just kinda what I do. I have my hands in many fires. I’m working on my first food/art exhibition which I’m kind of keeping hush hush because I just would hate to have someone try to steal my idea. I’m keeping this a little hush because no one has ever done what I’m about to do and I’m really excited about it. The exhibition will debut at Art Basel in Miami and in New York for New York Fashion week.
Also weโre launching the 21 day journey for men and I have the dopest male instructors. I’m excited that it’s giving our brothers from all walks of life and all races the opportunity to heal. The women have it on lock with so many groups, and sister circles but the men need to catch up.
Another thing I’m really excited about is just elevating myself and my business. I’m taking a women’s leadership course at Oxford University to continue to learn, elevate, and educate myself so I can be a great leader in my community. God has blessed me with all the teachings and the lessons. I want to take it to another level and do a better job at leading. This is a new adventure for me going back to school.
Iโm going to have a vegan caviar launching and my knives will be launching. We have a couple of wellness retreats coming up. All of those dates are going to be posted on my instagram and my website in the next few weeks.
I love how God is at the center of your focus for everything we talked about. You can’t go wrong if God is at the center. Lauren, you are so inspiring and I can’t wait to meet you and see your future journey unfold.
Follow Lauren Von Der Pool on social media
Instagram @queenofgreen
www.laurenvonderpool.com
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