Ms. Melina was born in Vancouver, Canada on March 13, 1942, and was given the name Louise Elizabeth Goranson. Her parents, both born in British Columbia, were physiologist Dr. Ed Goranson who specialized in diabetes and in cancer research and teacher Margaret Goranson (née Humble). Vesanto's sisters are Toronto actress Linda Goranson who was lead actress, with Gordon Pinsent, in the Rowdyman and Paris stuntwoman Leslie Goranson (Leslie Rain, Annie Oakley in Disneyland Paris and a partner of Mario Luraschi [1]. Ms. Melina studied nutrition at the University of London, England and the University of Toronto, Ontario (1960—1964) and completed a Masters Degree in Nutrition at the University of Toronto, Ontario (1964—65). She married her childhood sweetheart and mathematician John Crawford in 1964 and they had two children, Christopher (Xoph) Crawford in 1968 and Kavyo Jennifer Crawford in 1970. They were divorced in 1973.

She taught nutrition at the University of British Columbia from 1965 to 68 and did research with Thomas L. Perry MD on the inborn error of metabolism homocysteinurea, including an article that was published in the Lancet in 1968. (1) She again taught nutrition at the University of British Columbia in 1973-74. Between 1975 and 1978, she was a nutritionist with the health department of the government of British Columbia in Kelowna. Between 1978 and 1981 she lived in India and Nepal; becoming vegetarian in 1978 and becoming vegan in 1993. She legally changed her name to Vesanto Melina.

She returned to teach nutrition at the University of British Columbia and at Vancouver's Langara College, and at Seattle's Bastyr University. She became increasingly interested in the topic of vegetarian nutrition and foods and began teaching popular classes in vegetarian cooking and nutrition. She received the Clintec award for leadership in dietetics. Vesanto Melina was co-author of the American Dietetic Association's (ADA's ) and Dietitians of Canada’s joint 2003 Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets, plus its associate [2]. (2) The ADA's current (2009) position paper can be seen here. She is a member of Dietitians of Canada, College of Dietitians of British Columbia, the American Dietetic Association, and Washington State Dietetics Association.

Her first book, Becoming Vegetarian, published under the name of Vesanto Melina and co-authored with Brenda Davis and Victoria Harrison, grew from these classes.(3) It was published in 1993 in Canada, in the US in 1994, and in French (Devenir Végétarien) and Portuguese (A Dieta Saudável dos Vegetais) translations; it was entirely revised in 2003 with co-author Brenda Davis, in the US as The New Becoming Vegetarian and in Canada as Becoming Vegetarian.(4) Vesanto Melina's other books are Cooking Vegetarian with chef Joseph Forest; Becoming Vegan with Brenda Davis; Healthy Eating for Life to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine; Raising Vegetarian Children with Jo Stepaniak (also in Traditional Chinese as???????); the Food Allergy Survival Guide with Jo Stepaniak; the Raw Food Revolution Diet with Cherie Soria and Brenda Davis; and Becoming Raw with Brenda Davis.(5-11)

Ms. Melina is a speaker and consultant, and lives at WindSong cohousing community in Langley, British Columbia. Her partner is Cam Doré. Her website is http://nutrispeak.com

Notes:1. Perry T.L. et al. Treatment of Homocystinuria with a Low Methionine Diet, Supplemental Cystine and a Methyl Donor. The Lancet ii: 474, August 31, 1968.

2. American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada. Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian Diets. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 2003;103:748.

3. Becoming Vegetarian by Vesanto Melina, Brenda Davis, and Victoria Harrison (Macmillan Canada 1994, The Book Publishing Company 1995)

4. The New Becoming Vegetarian (The Book Publishing Company 1995); Becoming Vegetarian (Macmillan Canada 1994); both by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis

5. Cooking Vegetarian by Vesanto Melina, and Joseph Forest (John Wiley and Sons 1998, Macmillan Canada 1996)

6. Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina (The Book Publishing Company 2000)

7. Healthy Eating for Life to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, Wiley 2002)

8. Raising Vegetarian Children by Jo Stepaniak and Vesanto Melina (McGraw-Hill 2003)

9. Food Allergy Survival Guide by Vesanto Melina, Jo Stepaniak, and Dina Aronson (Healthy Living Publications 2004)

10. The Raw Food Revolution Diet by Cherie Soria, Brenda Davis, and Vesanto Melina (The Book Publishing Company 2008)

11. Becoming Raw by Brenda Davis, and Vesanto Melina (The Book Publishing Company 2010)