Hello, everyone. My name is Chad Bunch. I live in the Midwest, in the St. Louis area. I have worked in the culinary field for close to 20 years. Although I eat much more for my health than most other colleagues in the business, I still struggle.

One challenge is being constantly surrounded by food in my role as a chef. Working for a large food service contracting company, part of my job is to purchase and prepare mass-produced, commodity "foods" and make them look good. Another part of my role as a chef is to constantly taste the foods we serve to ensure quality. You can imagine how I struggle to maintain a healthy diet.

Another challenge is living in the Midwest. Most of the literature I have read in books and online about the vegan/raw food lifestyle is from the West Coast. I will say that the St. Louis region has made incredible strides over the past decade or so in introducing more locally grown produce into the community and farmer's markets are popping up all over the place, but a typical winter in this region includes months of consuming thick stews and limp produce.

I look forward to meeting other members and gaining some knowledge about improving my health and my life. My goal right now is to become about 90% vegan and go from there. Thanks for reading my post.

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