Victoria LaFont, 25, is seriously stunning. Gorgeous skin, totally cute hair, natural style, calm inner beauty. It’s all part of her all-natural, self-sustainable lifestyle. LaFont works as a handywoman at the Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center. She’s also a doula, a natural nutrition counselor and she’s studying to be a midwife. And now she’s stepping up to direct this Saturday’s production of The Vagina Monologues. (7 p.m., March 8, Paducah Tilghman Auditorium.)Victoria La Font, you are cute, cute, cute, no doubt about it! Your hair! You have the world’s cutest hair! Who does it?
I cut my own hair.
Nooooo!
Yes! I had dreadlocks up until October. I’d had them for five years. It was time for a change, so I decided to cut them off.
Why?I’d just come back from living in Hawaii and it wasn’t as common in Paducah to have locks, especially when I was interviewing for jobs. People wouldn’t deal with me – they’d deal with my dreadlocks. And my family hated it.
What did you do with all the hair you cut off? Did you make a pillow or something?
Blond dreadlocks are actually an ancient ayurvedic cure…. I’m just kidding.
What took you to Hawaii? Aloha, by the way!
Aloha! I was at the University of Oregon in Eugene, studying creative writing. I loved Eugene, but I was unhappy in school. I just wasn’t good in a traditional academic setting. I don’t learn well that way. I was so burned out, I wasn’t healthy and I was kind of depressed.
A friend was going to Hilo on the big island of Hawaii, so I went along with a backpack and all the money I’d saved.
What did you do there?I hitchhiked around – I really had no clue what I was going to do! I eventually heard about Pangaia, which is a self-sustaining raw food and permaculture community. And I ended up there.
Raw food and permaculture? You mean a commune?
Well, commune has a bad connotation, and Pangaia is more of a community. At Pangaia we ate raw food – even some raw animal foods. This can be shocking to some people, but it is very common in all cultures of the world to eat raw animal foods. And the health benefits are incredible! I began to feel better than I’d ever felt in my life.
We also practiced permaculture, which means permanent culture. It’s a way of living, farming and even doing business that is sustainable – that can last.
I had a work-trade situation. Each day I’d work for four hours clearing trees, doing animal husbandry, gardening, beekeeping, preparing food or even accounting in return for room and board. I lived in a cute little hut.
I’m sorry. Back on the raw food. Raw meat?
I know! I was a vegan when I got there, which means no fish, dairy or any sort of animal product. And when I saw them eating raw animal foods, I thought, ugh!
But I’d always been a little depressed. I was not in great health and I was not happy with my body. And these people were incredibly fit, happy and healthy. And I could see the difference between them and me. Finally, I snuck open the meat fridge and gave it a try.
What was your first meal?I drank raw goat’s milk with raw eggs and honey.
Sounds a little like Rocky Balboa, minus the milk and honey.
Well, straight raw eggs is definitely an acquired taste! But raw milk, eggs and raw honey is fantastic…the original milkshake. And meanwhile, my skin and hair got shiny and beautiful. And, believe it or not, I lost so much weight!
I’d lose weight, too, if only raw meat were on the menu. Yick! Can you keep up that diet here in Paducah? I mean, do you order raw steaks at Doe’s?
I have to admit, it is a little harder to eat the way I’d like here. But places like The Golden Carrot, and my friends Toby and Debby Dulworth of Dogwood Farm in LaCenter, who raise organic grass-fed beef, keep me stocked up with the best food ever.
And you lived in a hut?
I know it sounds primitive. But it is so hot and muggy in Hawaii that living in a sweet little hut with no walls is perfect!
No walls? Raw meat? Lord-a-Mercy! So you came back here to civilization….
Yes, I moved back and forth between here and Hawaii a few times. I got my degree – actually two degrees – from Murray State in 2006 in anthropology and in creative writing. I moved back to Hawaii one last time after graduation and worked for Pacific Quest, which is an outdoor therapeutics place that helps at-risk kids. I’d met a man there. But that didn’t work out. So I came back.
Well, we’re glad you’re back! What do you do at the Merryman House?
I’m officially the facilities management assistant. I help Tammie Lynne, the facilities manager, with the painting, plumbing and tile work. We cleared fallen limbs during the recent storm. I try to help out by doing anything that needs to be done. Oh, and I’m also the cook!
Ack!
I don’t serve raw meat there! Eventually, I want to incorporate the work I’ve done with at-risk youth. I’m starting training for more in-depth work there in March.
And you’re directing The Vagina Monologues!I just can’t stay away from it. As long as I see injustice happening with women and children, I always want to do something to fight it. I started The Vagina Monologues at Murray in 2004. We had a budget of $50 and we managed to raise more than $3,000!
Rock on! I hope you do that this Saturday! So the show starts at 7 p.m., March 8, Tilghman Auditorium?
Yes, and it’s going to be great. This cast is amazing. Even though I’ve seen the show so many times, this cast manages to entertain me as if I were hearing them all for the first time.
Why do you think the show still ruffles so many feathers?
Our culture does not allow us to talk about things that are taboo. Sexuality is one of those taboos – even if people are talking about sexuality in a healthy way like we are with The Vagina Monologues. People don’t want to hear about vaginas.
What do you love about the show?
I love that the show breaks through cultural norms…it shows the beauty of all women, not just ones that our culture says are beautiful. Beauty, attractiveness, sexual desire…all these are different for every person. And that should be reflected in our surroundings, but it’s usually not.
What do you hope the show this Saturday accomplishes?
If only one person feels affected positively, then the show has accomplished its goal. However, personally, I want the show to help women find their inner strength. It is so hard to be a woman (or a man!) in a patriarchal culture. And for a woman to see that she has worth ‑ that is a righteous cause.
Right on! So much of what you do is women-focused. Tell us about your Kentucky Roots Market.I offer whole foods nutrition counseling, fertility awareness and sustainable living options. Basically, if you are curious about how to increase your vitality and overall quality of life, I can help. There’s a lot you can do to help lose weight, feel better and fight chronic fatigue just by switching things around.
Like what? Can you give a basic, easy example of something we can start doing now?
Use butter! We are so conned by the “statistics” that vegetable oil is a “heart healthy alternative.”
And what about the fertility part?
I believe it’s linked greatly to diet and lifestyle. 2.1 million married couples in the U.S. are infertile, and there’s a good reason for that. There’s a big difference between actually nourishing your body and just eating food. Our ancestors ate whole foods: butter, eggs, healthy meat and rich vegetables. We eat boxed cereals and pasteurized, homogenized milk. When a couple changes their diet, usually in a very simple way, they can have great success.
And once they do, you’re still here to help!Yes, I’m currently studying to become a certified midwife. I’m already a doula, which means I assist women with their childbirth.
Speaking of fertility, how’s your love live?
I love dating! But only casually. I’m not looking for anything serious, but if it happens, it happens.
What kind of guy would you like to find?
Somebody who is really funny. Someone who can make me laugh so hard that my teeth hurt. And, of course, I want to be attracted to someone! A working man. My father was a hunter, and I was raised around a farm. I want someone who’s down to Earth and not hoity-toity.
No suits?If I met someone, and we got along and he wore a suit, I wouldn’t snub him! But I’m more attracted to someone in overalls with a beard. But then at night, I’d like him to clean up nice.
He’d probably need to use some self-sustaining goat’s milk soap or something, huh?
Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap smells great! I love that.
Well, Victoria LaFont, you victoriously darling, goat’s milk, raw eggs and all. If sustainable living means looking as lovely as you, I’m ready to grow dreadlocks and whip up a big ol’ plate of raw cow liver. Raw on, Mz. LaFont!
