Achievement: DeMaris' love of health food, and her many outlets for spreading her dietary doctrine, make her a world-class advocate for healthy eating. In addition to creating a healthy cooking club at Valley Forge, DeMaris hosts a public-access TV show, is writing a book and filming a documentary, all about the beneficial effects of healthy eating. DeMaris specializes in macrobiotic dieting, which emphasizes organic whole grains without dairy, meat, or sugar.

Question: How did the first year of your "Healthy Kids in the Kitchen" class go? Did the kids really take to eating and cooking healthy?

A: It's been great, the kids really love it. Parent donations take care of the groceries, so the kids go out with their parents to Whole Foods, they learn to shop healthy, and then they come in and cook full, healthy meals, which feeds students staying after school in a homework program. We've also been filming the classes and airing them on the school district's TV station.

Q: How did you get involved with advocating health foods, and macrobiotics specifically?

A:I became a vegetarian when I got out of grad school at William and Mary. I moved home and couldn't find a job in guidance, so I took a job as a manager at a health foods store. I started taking cooking classes at the macrobiotics center in Philadelphia, and, about 10 years ago, I started going to Europe to teach macrobiotics cooking classes.

Every year or two, I go back to Europe, or somewhere, to teach or speak, sometimes at macrobiotics conferences, sometimes at cooking schools. I just went to Tokyo and taught at the Tokyo United Nations building at a vegetarian festival last summer.

Q: How did you get involved with the TV show, Tea With Sheri?

A: Four years ago I was an assistant on Christina Cooks [Christina Pirello] cooking show on PBS, and I would help her out on the show. I was actually sitting at the Wooden Iron restaurant in Wayne and a manager at Radnor Studios 21, the local TV station, approached me and asked if I was interested in doing a cooking show. I've been doing Tea with Sheri ever since.

For more information on Sheri's projects, or macrobiotics, check out teawithsheri.com.

She has classes scheduled on Jan. 21 and 28 at 3:30 p.m. at Kimberton Whole Foods, 2140 Kimberton Rd., Kimberton (610-935-1444). Classes last 90 minutes, include a meal, and cost $25 per person. You must sign up before 2 p.m. on class day.