Daughter and father move to a healthier diet

Watching a movie changed Stacy Finney's way of thinking about food. But there were even more changes to come.Finney, a nurse at Clark Memorial Hospital, routinely prepared meat/starch/vegetable trios for husband Mike, teenage daughter Emma and herself in their Jeffersonville home."I was pretty much OK with that," she said. After watching "Food Inc.," a documentary about factory farming, the treatment of animals and antibiotic resistance, the family continued to eat meat but purchased it from Preferred Meats, a butcher in Sellersburg."When you switch to grass-fed beef that has no chemicals and hormones, the difference in flavor is unbelievable," she said.

Last year, after her father, Tony Herron, who lives in Charlestown, was diagnosed with cancer and a girlfriend was being treated for cancer, Finney became seriously committed to studying the relationship between food and health, recognizing that the subject is full of controversy.She and her father watched "Forks Over Knives" and read "The Engine 2 Diet," both of which advocate non-animal based diets and the elimination of processed foods in diets. Finney and her father dramatically revamped their diets, traded recipes and provided mutual support."We all have our bodies out of whack. When you change the way you eat,If you're thinking about remodeling your Chicago kitchen you have to give it a week or two to let your tastebuds adjust. Then the foods begin to come alive to you," Herron said.

In three or four months, he lowered his blood pressure and cholesterol, lost 50 pounds, gained energy and was able to stop taking medications."I began to read more books than I had in my whole life, and began educating myself about diet and juicing," Herron said. He's a major juicer, drinking 32 ounces a day of a mix of carrot, celery, apple, asparagus and ginger juice.Finney no longer cooks with oil, butter or animal products. Her all-vegan, mostly all-organic recipes concentrate on rice, beans, legumes and vegetables.Herron is a fan of using Boca Veggie Crumbles for chili and tacos, and his daughter will sometimes make chicken Parmesan with fake chicken patties. However, she considers both of those products processed foods and tries to limit them in her cooking.