Dr. Carney, and team, were hired again for this third health retreat program in Austin, Texas conducted in February of 2011 by Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Diet Immersions, again at the Travaasa Austin resort. The place certainly began to grow on us! By this program we found that many of the participants were arriving excited, in advance, about the changes they were about to experience. This was a welcome change which came about because of a year of valuable word of mouth communications from previous participants who had been through these programs, or similar ones. Our group was not the only group conducting similar programs for Employees of Whole Foods Market. Some programs were also being conducted in California by John McDougall, MD and also on the East Coast by Joel Fuhrman, MD.
For awhile the health programs in Austin were bringing back one 'model' participant from the previously conducted retreat who had made great improvements. These people were a source of encouragement to the new groups of participants. That was a wonderful touch!
Again we had such plant based celebrities as Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., MD, Rip Esselstyn, Dr. Pam Popper and Jeff Novick MS, RD. We also were fortunate to have two new speakers at this progrem both of whom have played significant roles in helping people to learn about, and to adopt, plant based nutrition. One of these speakers was T. Colin Campbell, PhD the Author of the book The China Study which provides the rationale for plant based nutrition in a very scientific manner. We also had the privlege of meeting John Robbins, an author whose books have played a large part in helping many people, including Dr. Carney's husband, to adopt a plant-based lifestyle. His book Diet for a New America was one of the earliest and most compeling books regarding the impact of our animal based diets on our health. John Robbins also writes about the impact on the environment and animals rights.