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Elijah Joy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Erik C. Nedd (1985-05-15)15 May 1985 (age 39) |
| Career | |
| Country | United States |
| Website | myspace |
Elijah Joy (bornErik C. Nedd) is an Americanvegancelebrity chef,green living advocate,emcee, television host, singer, and writer. He is the founder of Organic Soul, Incorporated, a vegan lifestyle and multimedia company based inTakoma Park, Maryland, and the creator of Go-Go Greens, araw food vegan deli product. Organic Soul was a sponsor ofAl Gore's 2009 Green Inaugural Ball.[1]
Joy was the personal chef forIsaac Hayes and became a semi-regular feature onWRKS'The Isaac Hayes and Friends Show in 1997. He would later become a live emcee atB.B. King's Blues Club and Grill and debuted Go-Go Greens atMoby's vegetarian eatery and tea shopTeany, both in New York City.[2]
Joy was a featured voice-over artist on singerMýa Harrison's albumFear of Flying.[3] His work has also been featured onThe Wendy Williams Show,E! Entertainment Television,Bravo, andMTV.
In 2010, Joy mass-produced Go-Go Greens for wider distribution to coincide with the publication of vegan nutritionistTracye McQuirter's bookBy Any Greens Necessary. That year he also opened Organic Soul's first retail outlet inUnion Station, Washington, D.C., as a veganpop-up store. In 2012 he opened his second vegan pop-up retail location inOakland's Chinatown.[4]
On October 28, 2011, Joy appeared onOprah's Lifeclass speaking about lessons of forgiveness and joy in the wake of his parents' death by murder-suicide.[5]
Since moving back to his hometown of Washington, D.C., Joy has been partnering with civic and nonprofit organizations to provide culturally focused farm-to-table food solutions to food-insecure areas in the city'sWard 8. His work in cooperative development was featured in the October 2016 issue ofYes! Magazine[6] and has been documented in a short film series by students fromAmerican University's Center for Media and Social Impact.