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My Favourite ‘Why Vegan?’ Books

The other day I was asked which books in particular have engaged and inspired me on my plant-based path.

It wasn’t a book that influenced me to GO vegan – because there weren’t really any books on the subject twenty-five years ago, just maybe a couple of sad recipe books showing how to make a very bland nut roast and other cliched vegan meals – that FYI – vegans almost NEVER eat. I can’t remember the last time I had nut roast; I’m not knocking it, there’s just NO reason it should ever have been the poster meal for vegans.

How things have changed, hoo boy!

How lucky we are now to have so many vibrant, creative and fun recipe books, and amazing voices speaking about this subject.

The recipe books I’ll post about another time. In this post I’ll cover my favourite ‘why vegan’ books.

The great thing is, today’s plant-based voices are from such a diverse crowd. It doesn’t matter who you are, there is a book/author that will appeal to you.

I can’t possibly write about all the books on the subject that have impressed, thrilled and re-inspired me, there are far too many.

But these are the ones that frickin’ BLEW MY MIND, and that I still refer back to even today:

 

1. ‘The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Change the World‘ by John Robbins

This was, I think, the first book I read that laid out ALL the reasons for ditching animal products. Until I read this, I just thought people went vegan for the animals and for some health issues.

Every impact that an animal product-based diet has, is explained here in a very accessible way.

It is full of powerful quotes and stats, and Robbins is also very knowledgeable about the food revolutioncorporate forces that have an interest in keeping us unaware of the damage meat, dairy, fish and egg farming do to us and the environment; and about the cruelty involved.

How do we know John Robbins is the real deal? As if this well-researched book crammed full of science and evidence isn’t enough for you to take his words on board, you’ll be interested to know that John Robbins was heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream company, but turned his back on it when he realised that the dairy ice-cream industry is not only part of the health problem, but also environmentally unsustainable and cruel.

Random excerpt:

…there is one question the meat, dairy, and chemical companies do not want people to ask, It is a question however that I find important. How much less cancer and suffering would there be if people were spreading information about true prevention with the same passion and zeal with which they are telling women to get mammograms and raising money for chemotherapy research?

 

2. ‘The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony‘ by Dr Will Tuttle.

THIS book is probably the one that had the most impact on me. We know the three reasons WHY vegan, but this book actually talks about even more wide-reaching and mind blowing impacts.

A main theme of the book is this:

The beliefs that make us think it’s ok to abuse and kill animals for meat follow the exact same thought patterns that legitimise sexism, racism, homophobia etc in the minds of the sexist, racist and homophobic. Every form of hate is the same. The object of hate – be they an animal, a world peacewoman or a Jew – is ‘other’ised by the hater.

We see all the differences between us and animals, and think it’s these differences that give us the right to use them. This is exactly what whites did to blacks during days of slavery, and what some men unfortunately still do to women.

Tuttle is saying that as long as we are maltreating ANY being in our society, we will never have world peace. This isn’t a new idea, Tuttle himself uses the quote by Isaac Bashevis Singer ‘As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together’, but he explores this in such depth and with such academic rigour (though it’s still very comprehensible, I promise!), that we are left in no doubt that this is a universal truth.

He talks about our ‘herding culture’ that led us to where we are today in terms of our beliefs and rituals around animal foods; and the meat-medical complex which actively pushes our continuation of these meat and dairy eating habits to support their interests.

So much more is covered, way too much to elaborate on here, but you end up seeing how the livestock industry and our animal ‘other’ising culture are actually connected to most of the worlds ills. Tuttle makes you see just how this fact is very intricately hidden partly with deliberate masking by various commercial powers, but also by general social conditioning which blinds us to it.

Random excerpt:

Refusing to see animals as commodities, we are able to see through countless other pretenses. And, as transformative as this is for an individual, it would be infinitely more transformative for our culture to do so, and to evolve beyond the absolute orientation that sees animals as mere food commodities.

 

3. ‘Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World‘ by Kathy Freston

I love Kathy. She must have influenced sooo many people into going plant-based with her accessible, compassionate, easy-going approach. If you want to help someone go plant-based but don’t want them to feel overwhelmed, intimidated, blinded with science or academics, this book is ideal.

It is set out in a simple, enjoyable way, with eight ‘promises’ – eight benefits you will see by veganistgoing plant-based.

Kathy is all about what she calls the ‘lean’ – leaning into a plant-based diet; doing it in an incremental, manageable way, so it is more likely to stick.

Like the other authors mentioned here, Kathy also talks about ALL the reasons for going vegan.

However, she is savvy enough to know that weight and health is a concern for lots of people, and that they may come to veganism for these reasons. She consults with experienced, very eminent plant-based doctors and lays out her interviews with them, but also uses stories by ordinary people whose formerly bad health has been transformed by a plant-based diet.

She offers very practical and implementable advice for optimising the weight maintenance and health benefits.

Random excerpt:

SO why have these high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets (think Atkins, the Zone, and Eat Right for your Blood Type) stayed around for so long? Probably because most of us have developed a great love for the taste of rich, fatty food and gratefully follow the advice of anyone who says it’s okay to keep eating it. Simple as that, really; we want to be told it’s okay (and good!) to keep doing what we’re doing.

 4. ‘The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet‘ by Alicia Silverstone

This book is great. Alicia is funny, entertaining, and just says it like it is. You COULD say this kinddietbook is for a younger crowd – that’s probably what the book publishers thought, but I think her style would appeal to any open-minded person with a sense of humour.

Again, she’s used her connections to the best plant-based doctors to help answer all the main questions people have and to dispel all the common myths.

Also like Kathy, she is compassionate about the different paths people are on and suggests three approaches according to what you think you can do:

Flirt – Try plant-based meals a few times a week, and switch out some animal products for plant-based products. When and if that feels ok, take another step

Vegan – Concentrate on going vegan first for as long as is necessary, before adding a whole foods health-based approach

Superhero – A whole foods, plant-based diet

There are also lots of recipes at the back of the book for every level of plant-eater!

Random excerpt:

…Maybe we should ask ourselves if we really even want to be meat-eaters. The carnivores of the natural world have quick, precise energy, but then they’re tuckered out and sleep for days. They are aggressive hunters with very little endurance. The herbivores, like horses or giraffes, not only have long-lasting energy and strength, but are generally a peaceful lot. Hmmm…

 

Other highly recommended books:

The China Study by Dr T Colin Campbell – This book talks, among other things, about how during research Dr Campbell undertook in China, it was discovered that upon injecting plant protein into a mouse with a tumour that the tumour decreased in size; but by injecting it with animal protein the tumour grew.

Dr Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs by Dr Neal Barnard – Does what it says on the tin; a MUST-READ if you or a loved one has diabetes.

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure by Dr Caldwell Esselstyn – Does what it says on the tin: a MUST-READ if you or a loved one has heart disease.

The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn – A ‘How to’ book. Will appeal to anyone, but particularly those men that think veganism is just for women 🙂

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman & Kim Barnouin – Very colloquial and humorous book about going vegan – not just to maintain a good weight, but for all the other reasons too (these are cleverly hidden behind the books pretext!).

 

When you’ve read all about ‘WHY’ vegan, you’ll  need to know the ‘HOW.’

You betta know I’m here to coach you, hold your hand and help you transition healthily to this joyful, mindful and compassionate lifestyle! I’ll show you just how easy it can be!

 

Vegan Before 6? Hahahahaha – I’m Celibate Before 6!

Sit down. Strap in. Caffeinate (if you’re into that).

I gotta get something off my chest.

Anyone reading my posts for a while will know that I’m not one to shy away from speaking out about bull***t.

I know it’s great to always be positive and if you haven’t got anything nice to say then don’t say anything and blah blah blah…

I like to think I’m raising awareness of the BS so you can dodge it, which IS positive! 🙂

The particular piece of BS I’m referring to this time is a book called ‘VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6.00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health For Good,’ by a populist ‘author’ called Mark Bittman. It actually came out in 2013. I initially ignored it and just spewed fire inwardly whenever I heard about it, but it’s actually still being talked about and just, well…enough is enough already.

As the title indicates, Bittman reckons that being vegan before six pm, and eating as you please after this time is the way to go to lose weight, gain better health and promote environmental sustainability.

The summary is:

 If you’re one of the millions who have thought of trying a vegan diet but fear it’s too monotonous or unfamiliar, or simply don’t want to give up the foods you love to eat, VB6 will introduce a new, flexible, and quite simply better way of eating you can really live with . . . for life.

I know Bittman has some prominent vegans who support this, but I just can’t get behind it.

YES I DO see that this means that some people will eat fewer animal products and I get the argument that any move in this direction is good, I really do, and it IS, but, well…let me explain.

These are my issues with it:

  • I feel it will ultimately stop a lot more movement than there could be in this direction. Bittman is a respected, high-profile food writer, and him saying that vegan before 6 is a good idea will totally give lots of his fans the excuse to not go fully vegan. Some of them may not have ever gone vegan anyway, admittedly, but with the force of compelling information consistently trickling in their direction, some may have gone vegan that now won’t. I believe Bittman has stolen some future vegans from the universe!
  • It reinforces the myth that veganism is too hard, and says that being partially vegan is so much more manageable. How does Bittman know this if he has never tried to go vegan?
  • It reinforces another myth, as seen in headlines like this ‘Mark Bittman’s New Vegan Mantra Leaves Room For Play,’ that there is no ‘play’ or joy in being 100% vegan, that a vegan diet cannot satisfy our need for decadent indulgent food. As a twenty-five year vegan, I find this headline offensive and excruciatingly misinformed.
  •  I imagine that Mark Bittman KNEW that interest in veganism was growing exponentially year on year. I imagine he also knew that the zillions of meat-loving types who are maybe aware of the arguments for going fully vegan but clinging to old traditions and habits out of ignorance of the delicious reality of a plant-based diet, would be looking for any way they could to avoid making this change. Rather than helping to inform the world of the fact that a plant-based diet is not remotely ‘monotonous and unfamiliar,’ which would have earned him less cash and kudos, certainly, but would have been the truthful thing to do – it really feels like Bittman chose to exploit the meat-addicted market and cashed in. Ugh!
  • More evidence that this could have been just about the dosh for Bittman? One of the main motivations that he lists on the front of the book is losing weight. OBVIOUSLY if you tell people they can lose weight but still eat what they want every single day (just after 6) you’ve got yourself a New York Times best seller debuting at number one! In the words of Dr John Mcdougall, people love to be told good news about their bad habits! Sure, I write about losing weight with a plant-based diet and of course I hope to draw people in with this message, because:

A) it’s TRUE! The scientifically-proven, OPTIMAL way to lose weight is with a whole-food, plant-based diet. Flexitarians, (which is really the only word to describe adherents to VB6) according to research studied by Dr Michael Greger are, on average, STILL generally overweight!

B) If it’s what first attracts people’s interest to eating plant-based – that’s fine, it was one of my first motivations. But I couldn’t NOT write about all the benefits of vegan diet – they are all interconnected. For example; if you lose weight, get healthy, feel better about yourself, you’re gonna treat other people better, and your compassion is freed up to become extended to other living beings, like non-human animals.

  • Bittman says in an interview in Shape Magazine:

Shape: If someone is extremely active, working out for more than an hour a day, should they be concerned about the amount of protein in their diet when following VB6?

MB: Concentrate on eating protein at every meal. Nuts, legumes, and tofu are vegan foods that have plenty of protein. If you need more concentrated sources of protein, have a steak at night.

Ugh, this totally sends the ERRONEOUS message that only specific plant-foods have protein, and that some people just NEEEEED steak to complete their protein needs. Bittman clearly isn’t aware that nobody NEEEEDS steak, or any type of meat for protein. It’s irresponsible of him as someone with a relatively big profile, to have written this book and be giving advice without being adequately informed.

  • Bittman has seemingly co-opted the word ‘vegan’ because it’s zeitgeisty and benefits his agenda. Vegan actually means someone who eschews all animal products, at anytime, ever. NOT JUST BEFORE 6. I know that going vegan is a process, and we can all understandably slip up sometimes. But Bittman isn’t even espousing attempting this process in any meaningful way, just in a way that you can feel a bit better about yourself but carry on screwing up the environment and having animals killed for you AFTER 6.  I wish someone owned the word vegan and could sue his (what appears to be) mercenary arse off for this.
  • And isn’t vegan before 6 like saying sober, or pregnant before 6? And what does this mean in terms of quantities of meat, dairy and eggs after 6? The whole thing seems to be so ambiguous and vague, check this from Bittman’s website:

Q. There are a lot of common diet mistakes people make. Why is this easier to commit to?

A. Well, I think the cheating is built in. One of the first questions people ask me is “Can I put milk in my coffee? I can’t live without putting milk in my coffee.” And the fact is, I put milk in my coffee and I break the rules all the time. But it’s a common-sense thing. There’s a big difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of milk or cream in your coffee and two cheeseburgers or a large fry….. but if you follow it [VB6] 60 percent, you’re probably still eating twice as well than if you’re eating a sort of standard American diet. So there’s a lot of wiggle room in here and I think people need to look at the strategy and say, “How do I make this work in my life and how strict do I want to be?” Obviously if you break every rule five times a day, then you’re not doing it. So there’s got to be some adherence to the principles of the strategy, but it doesn’t seem right to say, “Do this or it doesn’t work.”

So you can put milk in your coffee in the morning if you want, and as long as you don’t break EVERY rule FIVE times a day it’s cool.

If the cheating is ‘built in’ and not something that just happens occasionally, what will you really achieve?

‘It doesn’t seem right to say ‘Do this or it doesn’t work’

– Um, but it DOESN’T work if you don’t do this!

‘There’s a lot of wiggle room in here..People [can] say, “how do I make this work in my life and how strict do I want to be?”

– So you really don’t have to be anywhere close to being vegan at ANY time at all then?

And ‘I break the rules all the time,’

– So what is the cotton-pickin’ point then?

This ain’t really being vegan before any hour, let alone 6pm.

It really sounds like Mark Bittman doesn’t want to lose a single sale.

  • And saying ‘it’s a common-sense thing?’ – It’s common sense to know that if you eat crap, you get ill and fat. If common sense was an inherent characteristic in us all, there wouldn’t BE so many obese people or people that do dumb things. And what’s common sense to one, ISN’T to someone else. Sense really isn’t that common, it turns out.

We (ME INCLUDED – lest you think I’m being a judgeypants) NEED guidelines and some kind of a structure to thrive. Living plant-based isn’t draconian, it’s just eat anything that grows in the ground (do you even know how many things this includes??) and no being that had life, or their secretions or periods (ha!). That’s it!

Ok, I think I’m all ranted out now! As you were 🙂

 

How To Stick To Your New Years Plant-Based Resolutions

talking leopard

 

So, in case you’ve made resolutions of the new year kind, and in case they are to do with going more plant-based (or if you are already vegan and want to go in a more healthful direction, i.e. eliminating sugar), then here are 5 pointers to aid your resolutin’ :

1. Only you know you.

You probably have a pretty good idea by now whether you’re a ‘cold turkey’ or a ‘step by step’ kind of person. Don’t try and be a hero and change your lifestyle overnight if this has not traditionally been your way of doing things. If you make a change in the way that really suits your character, it is way more sustainable.

If you are going from meat-eater to plant-based overnight, this is great, only please be sure you have enough information on nutrition and all the incredible foods available to you. Take a week or so beforehand to plan and learn. If you need my help on this, here’s how to get it (there’s lots of other amazing vegan resources online, and in bookshops too). If you make the change quickly and end up only eating the same few things over and over, you will get very bored and possibly ill. You can learn ‘on the job’ as it were, but you’ll need some good varied meal ideas for at least the first few days.

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See what I did there?

If you’re a ‘step by stepper,’ don’t be afraid to go as slow as you feel you need to. Intention and consistency are key, so if you feel that going meat, dairy or sugar free for one meal, one day a week is as fast as you’d like to go for now, that’s great, as long as you are consistent with that. Set a future date when you’d like to increase that to two meals, then another for three, and so on. Maybe you could be meat/sugar free every other day, or on weekdays – of course there are endless permutations, just find one to suit.

 

2. Frame it helpfully, in your mind.

Whether you make a big change overnight, or you are making small changes over a longer period, DON’T think of words like ‘eliminating’ and ‘forever.’ You are not so much eliminating as adding an abundance of new tasty food to your life, and crowding the old stuff out with delicious alternatives.

If you are changing your lifestyle in a way you know will be a personal challenge; thinking in terms of ‘forever’ will be intimidating and off-putting. Rather think ‘this is what I am doing today, I’m seeing how it goes, and will reassess tomorrow.’ Yes, I know this is an AA strategy, but if it works – why the heck not apply it? And, as we know, sugar and casein (in cheese) are addictive, so it seems pretty appropriate to me. For those making big changes rapidly, take it hour by hour if you need to.

 

3. Slip up? Fall off the wagon? A chocolate bar/chicken nugget fall into your mouth?

So what? Yes, you heard. So the hell what?

Listen, if you beat yourself up about it, or feel guilty, you are never gonna live up to your standards, and you’ll risk falling into the mind set of ‘weeell, I’m never gonna be able to do it, I’m not good enough, so why bother…?’ You CAN do it, and you may well slip up, but a slip-up does NOT a failure make. The important thing is to just quietly acknowledge and accept what happened and move on. As in the previous point, you can take it hour by hour, and what you did in the last hour is not relevant to what you are going to do in the next hour. Try and find out why you were tempted, and ensure you are not in that situation again, i.e. making sure you have plentiful snacks on you at times when you may be tempted, or not walking the aisle in the supermarket with the tempting thing that’s calling your name.

Confession: In my first year of being vegan, I lived in Paris, and one day I was walking past a deli that had chickens on a rotisserie outside on the wall. This particular day the smell of them was too tempting, and I caved and bought one. I ate too much of it, was grossed out, and was never tempted by meat again. I think that as slip-ups go, that was a pretty hefty one for a vegan!

 

4. Remind yourself why.

At times when you feel despondent, or feel it’s too much effort, or that you don’t have the strength to do it, go back and remind yourself why you made this resolution in the first place. If you went vegan – read up on all the health, environmental and ethical reasons. If you are cutting down or eliminating sugar, take half an hour to read of the multitude of health benefits, and diseases that you are at less risk of contracting.

 

5. Reward yourself!

No matter whether you’re 4, 34, 94, we all need to be rewarded for effort. Give yourself a time period, and a treat to enjoy at the end of it. For example, if you are going plant-based from an average diet, have a dark chocolate bar/vegan cupcake/small pack of beetroot crisps every day or every other day.

If you are already vegan and trying to dodge the sugar, make sure you have a maple syrup, agave or brown rice syrup based treat to enjoy at certain times along the way.

7 Random Unsung Benefits Of Being Vegan

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So we’ve all heard about the weight loss, great skin, higher levels of energy and disease-prevention that comes with a whole food, plant-based diet.

What are some of the less sexy benefits, those we don’t talk about too often but you’ll be darn glad of once you experience them?

Here’s a few to ponder on:

 

1. No more constipation

Let’s just get this one out the way first. I’ve heard of people who don’t have a ‘proper’ visit to the bathroom for up to a week. I can’t even imagine how awful they would feel after a couple of days, never mind seven!!! Once we’ve ingested food, it needs to travel through our body in an expedient amount of time – long enough for us to absorb the nutrients we need, but quick enough that it doesn’t stagnate and fester in our intestines. For this we need to be eating plenty of fibre. A whole food plant-based diet is pretty much ALL fibre. Animal products contain NO fibre. You do the math.

And guess what? After going vegan, your ‘proper’ visit to the bathroom will be much quicker. No need for books, phones, or indeed any in-toilet entertainment at all. You’ll be in and out in a jiffy.

Added Bonus: As the whole ‘process’ is easier and more efficient as a vegan, you are also at much less risk of hemorrhoids.

Phew! I’m glad I got through this without once saying ‘poop.’

Dammit.

 

2. The, um… ‘aftermath’ of the ‘proper’ bathroom visit is not as bad if you’re vegan

You want proof?

Ok!

What smells worse, a dog’s business or a horses?  Which is the herbivore (vegan), which the carnivore?

A corpse of any animal smells bad, even fresh, the smell is weird (does anyone actually like the smell in butchers shops?) and when it exits your body – having been cooped up in this hot, sticky environment for two to three days (a meat dinner can typically take this long to digest) it makes sense that it’s gonna reek pretty horrendously. You have no in-body refrigeration to keep it cool.

By contrast, if you eat vegetables and fruits, they’re out of your system in less than 12 hours.

I’m categorically NOT saying that vegans always smell like a rose garden, far from it, but like it or not – they stink less. Fact.

 

3. No more heartburn/acid reflux

Here’s my short, sweet story. I remember having terrible heartburn as a kid. Since becoming vegan 25 years ago, I’ve not had it once – even at the beginning, when my vegan diet wasn’t particularly healthy. I’ve not actually had ANY digestion issues at all – unless I’ve been a total dolt and eaten something stodgy just before bed – but that’s MY fault, and of course I know not to do this now. I do remember how uncomfortable heartburn was, and am so grateful it’s a thing of the past.

The umbrella term for heartburn, acid reflux, and acidic burning in the throat down to the upper stomach, is Gastro Esophagul Reflux Disease (GERD). If left untreated, it can cause even nastier problems such as esophagul cancer. Meat and dairy are acidic foods, lots of people report being cured of GERD when they remove animal products from their diet. Indeed, the eminent Dr John Mcdougall advises this as a first step to ridding yourself of this problem.

 

4. Periods get easier

Look, sorry, but someone has to write about this. Just scroll down if you’re a dude.

If you’re not eating meat and dairy, you are not taking on the hormone load from animal food, so you only have to deal with your own estrogen levels. This makes for less upheaval in your body at the time of menstruation.

If, also, you are eating a whole food diet (where refined starches and sugars are minimised or eliminated) this will ease discomfort even more, as sugars, too, can mess with hormones. I can attest to the fact that it’s possible to have a pain-free, mood-swing free, easy time of the month, with energy levels kept consistent throughout.

 

5. Your mind gets clearer

Yay, this one’s not icky!

It’s hard to put into words though.

‘…but I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit.’ 

-William Shakespeare (via Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Twelfth Night)

Unlike Shakespeare, I don’t mean plant-based peeps are cleverer per se, though by virtue of their choice to eat plant-based in a meat-loving world they are definitely free, independent thinkers, which does denote a certain level of cleverclogsyness. Hee.

What I really mean is, after a while of ingesting no animal products (and this happens quicker if you are particularly conscious of the ethical reasons for doing it) all other injustices become clearer to you and seem to appear before you in full technicolour. You begin to understand how all oppressions work, and see vividly the constructs that support them.

If you think this is a not a benefit and that it’s too overwhelming to think about all the hate in the world, you have a point.

BUT, there is most definitely a flip-side to this.

While you do empathise more with the terrible oppressions and brutality other beings suffer, equally,  you also feel deeply connected at soul level to all the natural beauty in the world, and you realise in a very primal way that you are of it. There is nothing like being in nature and forgetting who you are; just sensing and being part of the wonder.

 

6. Fewer to no episodes of food poisoning

Back to the ick.

You know that feeling. I remember it well. You’ve had a meat or fish based meal, and a few hours later you start to feel a bit off. This feeling escalates into nausea, and carries on until you are begging sweet Jesus for your body to puke already. You puke. If you’re really unlucky you may even have elimination action going on at both ends. For a short while you feel good again…until the slow waves of nausea hit you once more. Rinse, repeat for at least forty-eight hours.

The bacterias that cause food poisoning all come from pathogens in animal’s intestines.  Why then, have we heard of tomatoes and spinach that have been recalled because of e coli and salmonella scares? Not because veg produce these bacteria, but because we have a big problem with intensive farming, and animal manure (which contains the pathogens) ends up contaminating fruit and vegetables. If you are careful to wash your fruit and veg you should be fine.

I’ve not had a single episode of food poisoning since being vegan – my partner neither.

 

7. Vegans smell sweeter in general*

OK, another silly (yet true) one.

We know that high meat protein diets such as Paleo and Atkins are based on achieving a state of ketosis in the body, where the body burns fat instead of carbohydrates, and the fat releases ketones into the body. Aside from ketosis being an unnatural and unhealthy state, one of the side effects of this is halitosis. More specifically, breath that smells of acetone. Yeah, good luck with that one!

This study, (Dr Michael Greger talks about it here) shows that men who ate red meat smelled less attractive than male vegans. Do you think Julien Blanc (you know, the guy that no-one wants in their country who ‘coaches’ sad sacks how to get girls) knows this? 🙂

Eggs contain concentrated amounts of choline. This compound can cause you to smell of rotting fish. Nice.

Lots of whole, unrefined carbohydrates, nuts, beans, legumes, seeds and plenty of fruit and veg will keep you sweet and fragrant!

 

*unless they’ve just eaten a ton of garlic/onions/marmite!

 

What To Do With Redundant Halloween Pumpkins

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I have two confessions to make –

1. I’m not a fan of Halloween.

2. I dislike pumpkin.

I hate that I don’t like what’s become a really popular, cool holiday.

In my defence, and to prove I’m not totally boring, I really dig the idea of Dia de Los Muertos (day of the dead), celebrated in South America around the same time as Halloween – I could really get behind that. But Halloween just doesn’t do it for me.

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Halloween tat

When I see plastic pumpkins and spider webs in the supermarket I just imagine them in landfill a couple of weeks after and can’t help but do the biggest, most obnoxious, attitudey eye roll ever.

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More Halloween tat

I also really hate that I dislike such a beautiful (not to mention nutritious) vegetable, especially when I love all the other squashes – even the ones that look very similar to pumpkins, but I’ve just never liked actual pumpkin any way I’ve tried it.

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WTF?

Perhaps it’s because my very first encounter with it was not a good memory.

I was nineteen, living in Bordeaux as an au pair, and had met some Canadian girls who invited me to a Halloween party. I was excited to go, but had no idea what to expect. At that time we didn’t really celebrate Halloween in the UK, and if anyone DID ever dress up, it was as a ghost or a witch.

I wasn’t prepared for all the Scooby Doo and Incredible Hulk costumes, and I distinctly remember one guy dressed as a shower, with the shower arm strapped over his head and the curtain surrounding him on a rail. That was hilarious, admittedly, but I never got why none of the costumes were related to Halloween. I remember wondering how it became a thing in North America to wear any old costume, and not a Halloween themed one.

At some point during this party, someone handed around a pumpkin pie. I wasn’t vegan at the time, so when it got passed to me I took a slice, looking forward to trying this strange, new (to me) treat.

It was grooooooossss! Yes, I think the cook had just screwed it up, I really don’t think it was the pumpkin’s fault, but that taste memory kind of sticks.

To try and get over my silly aversion, for the last few years I’ve bought a pumpkin around this time, planning to make a soup or stew.

Shamefully, these pumpkins have always ended up going mouldy in the fruit bowl – and that’s no small feat, do you know how frickin’ long pumpkins last?

Last year I bought a small pumpkin, determined to make myself like it.

I figured that if butternut squash wedges were good, pumpkin wedges had to be too, right?

WRONG! They were disgusting.

I’ll try again sometime. I WILL like pumpkin, I MUST like pumpkin – how can I not love something called ‘pumpkin’? That’s just ridiculous.

I love pumpkin seeds, so I’m half way there right?

Of course I feel completely hypocritical asking you to make sure you use up any pumpkins you may be carving or painting for your Halloween celebrations.

But I’m going to do it anyway.

Huge powerhouses of vitamin A, it would be a waste not to use your Halloween Jack o’lantern once it’s served its scary purpose. After carving, they can last up to five days. But what do you do with it after the big day?

Here’s an idea.

Pumpkin puree is the basis for many, MANY autumnal culinary treats. From vegan pies, to soups, to smoothies, you are gonna want some of this stuff in your freezer. The canned or jarred stuff just isn’t as good as if you make it yourself….ahem…apparently.

What you do.

– If you’ve carved your pumpkin you’ll have already scooped out the stringy innards and seeds – if not, do this now, and cut off the stem.

– To boil your pumpkin; quarter it, peel each quarter, then chop each quarter into chunks. Boil them for around twenty minutes, or until chunks are tender. Drain, let cool, then blitz chunks with a food processor/blender and transfer puree to a fridge-friendly container. It will keep in the fridge for three days or in the freezer for three months.

Or you can cut it in the same way and steam the chunks – this should take around forty – fifty minutes.

Or – and this may prove to be tastier, you can roast it.

– To roast – pre-heat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Cut pumpkin in half from top to bottom.  Lay the two halves flesh side down on a greaseproof paper lined baking tray, and bake for thirty – forty-five minutes, or until you can easily insert and remove a paring knife. Test with the knife in several places, to ensure it’s roasted well all over.

– When cooled, scoop the flesh away from the skin and blitz it in a food-processor. If it’s a little thick, you can add water until it achieves puree consistency – though add a very little at a time – you don’t want it to end up too runny.

– Store the same as boiled pumpkin puree.

– Peruse vegan pumpkin recipes on the world wide web.

And do not forget to eat the seeds!

Pumpkin seeds are jam-packed with nutrients. They are an excellent source of zinc, magnesium, iron and manganese; and contain vitamin E – a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent free radicals from doing dastardly things to your body.

You’ll have noticed the seeds come out of the pumpkin looking white. The white bit is the shell, with the green seed (that you may be more used to seeing) inside.

You can hull your seeds, but it’s easier to just roast them as they are, then you can eat them whole, seed and all.

It’s SUPER easy.

Here’s how it’s done:

The seeds come out of the pumpkin covered in orange fibrous crap. Put seeds in a sieve and wash the fibrous crap away as best you can.

Boil your seeds in water for around twenty-five minutes, then strain them and lay them out on a clean tea-towel to air dry for half an hour or so.

When they’re dry, put them in a bowl. Add half a teaspoon of olive oil; salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste, and mix it all up so the seeds are well coated in oil and flavouring. Then lay them out on a baking tray and roast at 350 degrees fahrenheit for twelve minutes. You’ll know they are done when they are golden brown and they sound like they are crispy when you jiggle the tray (you’ll know what I mean when you do this!)

Once cooled, eat them fresh or keep in an air tight container and they’ll last a week or so.

A great snack or salad topping any time!

Elmo says happy Halloween!

 

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What Do Religious Texts Suggest About Vegetarianism?

Torah from Flickr via Wylio
© 2009 Lawrie Cate, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

Don’t *they* say, never talk about religion or politics?

Oops.

Full disclosure – I’m not remotely Bible ‘y’ or Jesus ‘y’. I believe there is beauty and truth at the heart of all religions, and they were no doubt pure at their origin, but organised religions of today leave me cold. Through the ages they became super patriarchal, and thus don’t really speak to me. They ‘other’ise women, and I don’t believe that God would want ANY living being to be seen as ‘other,’ and treated as if they were ‘less than’ because of whatever ridiculous human/social construct.

(Luckily, organised religions don’t have a monopoly on God, so we are free to believe as we choose – yay!)

I studied religion for my MA, which required the reading of lots of religious texts. One thing I learned is that they have two elements. One consists of the verses that are ‘universal’ – that is to say, they transcend era, and can apply to anyone, anywhere (these are the verses that seem to hold truths); and the other element consists of more ‘contextual’ verses. These verses are often proscriptive, relating to conditions at the time they were written, and when read with modern eyes, some are clearly outdated and unjust, and not in the spirit of the text as a whole – the verses about slavery and the uncleanness of women for example.

What point am I trying to make? This one.

I have read so many anti-vegetarian arguments that cite religion as a justification for eating animals, like – you’re not a proper (X) if you don’t eat meat. As far as many people within organised religions are concerned, being vegetarian (let alone vegan!) is almost akin to anarchy and being a ‘heathen’. Many believe it is divinely ordained that people eat meat, and if we go against this, we are disrespecting God.

When we look at any religious verse, we have to consider three things – the language (all possible translations of each word), the historical and political context in which it was written, and whether it fits into the spirit of the text as a whole.

If we focus on the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), there are verses in all the texts that would seem to promote vegetarianism, but there are also some that appear to permit eating meat.

The first peoples in the Christian and Jewish texts appear to have been vegetarian, hence Genesis 1:29-30

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

But meat-eating seems to have become permitted after the great flood (yes, the one with Noah and the ark!). See Genesis 9:2-4

The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.

But this permission came with caveats. In the book of Leviticus, we are taught only certain animals are permissible, and no blood must be left in the animal to be eaten. This does not exactly suggest that eating meat is ideal, just that it is permissible. More like: ok, if you must, but do it in *this* way.

Some scholars believe that it was only permitted after the flood as there was no more vegetation left on earth, so it was, in effect, temporary permission, and made difficult, so people wouldn’t eat too much of it.

Many Christians believe Jesus was vegetarian, and Seventh Day Adventists and the Bible Christian Church are largely vegetarian.

Which verses in the Bible seem to promote vegetarianism?

This one is my favourite:

Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Ecclesiastes 3:19-2

And don’t forget:

Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 20:13

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.  Psalms 36:6

The Lord is good to all and His tender mercies are over all His creatures.
Psalms 145:9

A righteous person regards the life of his or her animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
Proverbs 12:10

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. Luke 12:6

It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
Romans 14:2

And get this, from the book of Daniel. Daniel is being held captive in the king’s court with three other guys, and he does his own dietary study!!

Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed [over him and three others] “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food [rich meats and wines], and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. Daniel 1:11-17

Now of course there are verses that mention meat or fish, but often, scholars have argued that the word meat has been wrongly translated from a Greek word (broma) that actually means just ‘food.’ Similarly, it is argued that in some verses, the word fish is actually a mis-translation of the Greek word for seaweed.

                        ————————————————————-

In Islam, which came five hundred years after Christianity, meat-eating is permitted, again with very strict conditions attached. When we look at the life of the Prophet however, he did not eat meat often; at a celebration maybe, or at a time when no other vegetable food was available.

Consider these verses from the Qur’an:

And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] communities like you. We have not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they will be gathered. Al-An’am 6:38

And the earth, He has assigned it to all living creatures. Ar-Rahman 55:10

While the Qur’an is the holiest text in Islam, also holy are the Hadith, which are accounts (many first-hand) of the sayings and actions of Muhammad. Muhammad explicitly forbade hunting animals for sport and there are so many accounts of him chiding those who mistreat animals that I cannot list them all here. Here are some Hadith on that subject:

Whoever is merciful even to a sparrow, Allah will be merciful to him on the Day of Judgment. Imam Malik’s Muwatta Chapter No: 26, The Aqiqa

A good deed done to an animal is like a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as cruelty to a human being. Mishkat Al-Masabih has concluded this Hadith from Bukhari and Muslim

Whoever is kind to the creatures of God is kind to himself. Narrated by Abdullah bin ‘Amr

The Companions said,”O Allah’s Messenger! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?” He replied: “There is a reward for serving any living being.” Bukhari, narrated by Abu Huraira

Many Muslims believe that though meat is permitted, healthful food is preferred. Many Sufis and Shi-ites are vegetarian, believing this to be the Islamic ideal.

———————————————————–

There are many Jews who also believe that a vegetarian/vegan diet is the one preferred for them by God, and that the complexity of the laws surrounding consumption of meat was explicitly intended to discourage people from eating it.

There are several Mitzvahs (commandments) that inform this belief.

One is tza’ar ba’alei hayyim, which prohibits causing pain and suffering to living creatures.

Another is bal tashchit, which is an injunction not to be wasteful. Many understand this to mean a prohibition of unnecessary environmental and animal waste. As more of the earth’s resources are used to produce animal foods, and as we don’t need animal products to thrive, it is less wasteful to be vegetarian.

Judaism also stresses the importance of health and not doing anything to harm yourself. We know beyond doubt that animal products are harmful to our health, contributing to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. Many Jews believe that eating animals while knowing this is not the ideal way.

Incidentally, Israel has more vegetarians, per capita than any other country!

While I don’t pretend to have the answers – scholars have been arguing for hundreds of years on these subjects (I’m not gonna sort it out in a blog post!) it does seem to me that the fundamental tenets of these religions (indeed all religions) are love, compassion, justice, health and life FOR ALL, conservation of natural resources, and peace.

It is fair to say that vegetarianism and veganism is in alignment with all these teachings.

 

The Most Inspiring & Delightful Vegan Related Quotes

Fancy some bite-size motivation from the past? Some nuggets of wisdom to reinforce your resolve and keep you on the plant-based path?

Do you need something you can hold on to and pull to the forefront of your mind those times when you are reminded that – although interest in veganism is growing exponentially year upon year and will only ever continue to do so – there are still a lot of uninformed individuals spouting crap and reinforcing ancient myths, and that this is gonna take a long time to disappear?

Here’s a little something to remember. Being vegan, or making the move to be so, means that you are in most eminent company.

From Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci and Pythagoras, to Tolstoy and Mark Twain; a holy boatload of philosophers, writers, poets and artists – and even a polymath or three – have had words of wisdom to share on diet, health, and how we view non-human animals.

I do wish there were some quotes by women. I DID find some quotes by women but I had no idea who they were, and seeing as I’ve used quotes by VERY accomplished and well-known male figures, I didn’t want the unheard of women to seem like token female voices. We have to remember that women have traditionally had NO voice, and that their voices still don’t have the profile that men’s do. There were no doubt loads of female veggies – they probably just didn’t make a song and dance about it! 🙂

In short, a lot of bloody cool people have said a lot of bloody cool stuff about a plant-based diet. It’s good to know that these people came before us, and had the same thoughts we did about the ethical, sustainability and health issues surrounding food choices.

They would surely have been regarded as odd by many, especially as in many societies through the ages, meat and animal products have been considered indulgent luxuries, and so anyone deliberately abstaining from them would have been perceived as strange.

Thank goodness they had the courage to speak the truth!

I’ve verified from reliable sources the origin of each quote. Unfortunately some of the most well-known veggie quotes cannot actually be traced to the supposed speaker.

You may have come across some of these quotes before, but I thought I’d assemble lots of my favourites into one place for you, for maximum motivational effect.

Some are a bit long, admittedly, but there was such good stuff in them, I couldn’t bear to edit them down!

 

As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love ~ Pythagoras (Greek polymath, c. 570-c. 495BC)

But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy ~ Plutarch (Greek historian, c. AD46- AD120)

King of the animals–– as thou hast described him–– I should rather say king of the beasts, thou being the greatest––because thou doest only help them, in order that they give thee their children for the benefit of the gullet, of which thou hast attempted to make a sepulchre for all animals; and I would say still more, if I were allowed to speak the entire truth…now does not nature produce enough simple (vegetarian) food for thee to satisfy thyself? ~ Leonardo Da Vinci (Italian polymath, 1452-1519)

It is true that the reluctance to abstain from animal food, in those who have been long accustomed to its stimulus, is so great in some persons of weak minds, as to be scarcely overcome; but this is far from bringing any argument in its favour ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley (English romantic poet, 1792-1822)

There is no disease, bodily or mental, which adoption of vegetable diet and pure water has not infallibly mitigated, wherever the experiment has been fairly tried. Debility is gradually converted into strength, disease into healthfulness: madness, in all its hideous variety, from the ravings of the fettered maniac, to the unaccountable irrationalities of ill-temper, that make a hell of domestic life, into a calm and considerable evenness of temper, that alone might offer a certain pledge of the future moral reformation of society. On a natural system of diet, old age would be our last and our only malady ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

It is found easier, by the short-sighted victims of disease, to palliate their torments by medicine, than to prevent them by regimen ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

The most fertile districts of the habitable globe are now actually cultivated by men for animals, at a delay and waste of aliment absolutely incapable of calculation ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

NB: Yes, I like Shelley. Can you even believe that Shelley already knew that livestock farming was a completely wasteful and unsustainable way to produce food? What a dude!

 

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace ~ Albert Schweitzer (French/German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician and missionary, 1875-1965)

Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind independent of the one prevalent among the crowd and in opposition to it, a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end determine its character. It is only an ethical movement which can rescue us from the slough of barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals ~ Albert Schweitzer

Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit. The roots of cruelty, therefore, are not so much strong as widespread. But the time must come when inhumanity protected by custom and thoughtlessness will succumb before humanity championed by thought. Let us work that this time may come ~ Albert Schweitzer

The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another, even the lowliest creature; to do so is to renounce our manhood and shoulder a guilt which nothing justifies ~ Albert Schweitzer

Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation ~ Albert Schweitzer

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral ~ Leo Tolstoy (Russian writer and philosopher, 1828-1910)

The wrongfulness, the immorality of eating animal food has been recognized by all mankind during all the conscious life of humanity. Why, then have people generally not come to acknowledge this law? The answer is that the moral progress of humanity is always slow; but that the sign of true, not casual Progress, is in uninterruptedness and its continual acceleration. And one cannot doubt that vegetarianism has been progressing in this manner ~ Leo Tolstoy

People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing to the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times ~ Isaac Bashevis Singer (Polish/American writer, Nobel prize winner, 1902-1991)

As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together ~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

Society does not want individuals that are alert, keen, revolutionary, because such individuals will not fit into the established social pattern and they may break it up. That is why society seeks to hold your mind in its pattern and why your so called education encourages you to imitate, to follow, to conform” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti (Indian writer, speaker, philosopher, 1895-1986)

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity ~ George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright, 1856-1950)

(On being asked why he was vegetarian) Oh, come! That boot is on the other leg. Why should you call me to account for eating decently? If I battened on the scorched corpses of animals, you might well ask me why I did that ~ George Bernard Shaw

A dinner!
How horrible!
I am to be made the pretext for killing all those wretched animals and birds, and fish! Thank you for nothing.
Now if it were to be a fast instead of a feast; say a solemn three days’ abstention from corpses in my honour, I could at least pretend to believe that it was disinterested.
Blood sacrifices are not in my line ~ George Bernard Shaw

I was told that my diet was so poor that I could not repair the bones that were broken and operated on. So I have just had an Xradiograph taken; and lo! perfectly mended solid bone so beautifully white that I have left instructions that, if I die, a glove stretcher is to be made of me and sent to you as a souvenir ~ George Bernard Shaw

(In response to author Archibald Henderson asking him how he looked so youthful) I don’t. I look my age; and I am my age. It is the other people who look older than they are. What can you expect from people who eat corpses and drink spirits? ~ George Bernard Shaw

When a man of normal habits is ill, everyone hastens to assure him that he is going to recover. When a vegetarian is ill (which fortunately very seldom happens), everyone assures him that he is going to die, and that they told him so, and that it serves him right. They implore him to take at least a little gravy, so as to give himself a chance of lasting out the night ~ George Bernard Shaw

We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions and organs with our own, and fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain and fear ~ Robert Louis Stevenson (novelist and poet, 1850-1894)

Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

One farmer says to me, ‘You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make the bones with;’ and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying himself with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle ~ Henry David Thoreau (American polymath, 1817-1862)

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages ~ Thomas Edison (American inventor, 1847-1931)

It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind
~ Albert Einstein (German physicist and philosopher of science, 1879–1955)

So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It always seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore ~ Albert Einstein

You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity
Ralph Waldo Emerson (American essayist, poet, Transcendentalist, 1803-1882)

Gosh, I think I’m gonna have to do a Part Two!

 

The Most Important Movie Ever Made? Please Watch ‘Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret’

I don’t know how to persuade you to watch this movie.

If the title is putting you off, I’m not a fan of it either – it sounds a bit ‘tin foil hat brigade,’ or ‘woo woo.’

I can assure you the film is neither of these things.

Kip Anderson, the film maker/narrator, is searching for answers on why, when UN and FAO research points to livestock agriculture being the prime cause of climate change (in fact you find out during the film that livestock agriculture is the biggest culprit in ALL forms of environmental degradation), the major environmental charities – Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Amazon Watch etc., aren’t even talking about this issue.

What he discovers is shocking. I knew a lot of this info before, but it’s sobering having it all in one place, and being validated by so many eminent people like Dr Richard Oppenlander, and ‘Mad Cowboy’ Howard Lyman.

The movie is easy to watch; it’s pretty, there’s no ‘over-the-head’ science and everything is explained in a highly accessible way with fun infographics to keep you engaged. Kip is softly spoken, calm, measured and highly likeable.

I heard of this film a while back before it was made, when Kip was looking for online crowd-funding. I thought it looked interesting and even posted links to Twitter and Facebook (but wasn’t in a position to donate myself at the time).

You learn the reason why Kip had to end up getting the film crowd funded (Spoiler Alert: A major backer pulled out due to fear of reprisals from the meat industry).

At the end of the film Kip is clearly endorsed by the Bill Gates and Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter) backed company, Beyond Meat, who make meat alternatives. You know these guys are incredibly business-savvy (understatement!) and would not have anything to do with this movie if the information in it wasn’t proven and credible. And what an advertising opportunity for them too – who can blame them?

You know those dumb pictures and quotes about children that people post on Facebook saying ‘…Share (this) if you love your children/grandchildren’?

These things are way obnoxious any way you look at it; suggesting as they do that if you DON’T share the stupid thing you obviously don’t love your children or grandchildren.

Well, maybe it would be more intelligent and fruitful if we shared THIS FILM if we love our children and grandchildren. After all, they will inherit this planet, and I shudder to think what will be left if we don’t spread the word, educate ourselves and act against this.

Best thing you can do immediately? Do like Kip did at the end of the film – go vegan!

 

The Paleo Diet. SIIIGGHHH. Alright, Let’s ‘Ave It.

Dinosaurs and Cavemen from Flickr via Wylio
© 2010 Orin Zebest, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

‘…but I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit.’ 

-William Shakespeare (via Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Twelfth Night)

 

I’ve mocked the referred to the Paleo diet in a couple of previous posts, so I thought I should probably just devote an entire post to it already and be done!

Just in case you don’t know (but I’m sure you do,), the Paleo diet – which has now been around for a few years – is the latest in a long line (Atkins, Zone, South Beach) of low-carb, high-animal protein diets; yet this time the premise is that it’s good to eat like Paleolithic peoples, who were hunter gatherers that ate lots and lots of meat, fish, some nuts and seeds, and some non-carby, watery veg and fruit. According to the inventors of the diet, they ate no grains, beans or legumes either. The benefits of eating this way, supposedly, are increased health and easy weight maintenance.

The only silver lining is that it also prescribes eliminating dairy and processed foods.

These guys (1, 2, 3,) have made all the scientific points against Paleo in much greater detail than I have space for, so if you are seriously considering trying Paleo, or just need info to convince a friend or loved one NOT to try it, please, PLEASE take time and go click one of these links.

But, in a nutshell (ok, a bloody HUGE nutshell), these are the reasons why eating like Captain Caveman (I adored him, by the way!) does not make sense:

 

  • There is NO EVIDENCE that Paleothithic people ate this way!!!
  •  This diet is heavy on the meat. All meat contains cholesterol and saturated fat, which contribute greatly to heart disease. See this study; published in the British Medical Journal in 2012, that concludes that low-carb, high-protein diets (such as Paleo) are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. As we know,, there is also overwhelming scientific evidence that meat consumption puts you at risk for lots of other chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cancer, strokes and Alzheimer’s disease. Some people initially feel great on a Paleo diet because it excludes dairy, refined starches and processed food. This does not mean a Paleo diet is good. It means the person’s previous diet was extra crappy. In the long term, to consume meat, and at the levels prescribed by the Paleo diet, as mentioned above can be seriously detrimental to health.
  •  It is way too resource intensive. If everyone ate meat like cave people supposedly did according to the creators of the Paleo diet books, there wouldn’t be enough land on the planet to accommodate this. And the more meat you eat, the more you are contributing to all forms of environmental damage, including climate change, topsoil loss, air and water pollution.
  • No beans and no whole grains? Are you kidding? Beans are full of necessary fibre, and are a good source of protein and iron. They lower cholesterol and help eliminate excess hormones. Whole grains provide us with the perfect fuel. They also contain fibre, vital vitamins and minerals, and help the body secrete waste and metabolise protein. To miss out on these two incredible food groups is utter crazypantedness (the correct medical term).
  • You are probably a caring, compassionate person who would like to live in alignment with your values of not participating in or contributing to cruel practises. Some Paleo types hunt animals, believing they are emulating their Paleolithic ancestors. Hunting when there is no need nutrient-wise for us to do so IS unnecessary and cruel. But even if they don’t hunt – the amount of meat they eat? Well that’s just a whole lot of needless slaughter.
  • The Paleos that hunt feel this is a more authentic, primal way of eating. However, after hunting, they probably go back to their air-conditioned or heated house, put the meat in the fridge, check their social media accounts, and watch Top Gear or some dudely sport on the TV (yes, I’m stereotyping. Totally wrong but I can’t resist it). Anyway, my point is; waaaay to be selective with all the primalness and authenticity.
  • Paleolithic peoples probably did lots of other stuff too. Why would you pick ONE thing you THINK they did (except they didn’t), and use it as a gold standard in one area of your life?
  • EVEN IF it were found to be true that Paleolithic peoples had eaten a shit tonne of meat – why are we looking at the past? We know now that we don’t need meat to thrive and that in fact it’s extremely problematic for our health, the environment, and all beings. Shouldn’t we be aiming to PROgress, not REgress?

It’s pretty easy to see why Paleo caught on. In the face of rising awareness of vegetarian and veganism, when meat consumption in the ‘west’ has significantly dropped as we become aware of the health and environmental harm it causes; this diet validates and justifies the continued consumption of meat. It gives those that are so emotionally invested in meat a pretext for continuing to eat it (sure, you have to clean your diet up a bit – but you can still eat meat – yay!)

What next – the Bronze Age diet? The Ancient Egyptian diet? The Restoration diet?

 

All Vegans Are Preachy, Holier Than Thou, And Think They’re Superior.

dark angel from Flickr via Wylio
© 2007 Alosh Bennett, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

I wasn’t sure whether this post should be part of the ‘Dumb Comments Vegans Get‘ series, but seeing as how the above accusations are all in the same vein (associating vegans with religious zealotry), and all spewed forth with the same intention (to make vegans sound as off-putting as possible so no-one will be expected to have to become one), I thought I’d tackle them in a post on their own.

In any online comments thread on ethical  veganism or plant-based diets, there will always be some ‘super genius’ that will claim that vegans act ‘holier than thou.’

I’m not even sure that the people who keep parroting this know what it means. It feels like they’ve heard someone ELSE say it, and thought ‘yeah!’ without really thinking about it, and can’t wait to regurgitate it at the next opportunity.

You can also replace ‘holier than thou’ with ‘superior,’ and add to this the WELL-worn old trope ‘vegans are preachy.’

These are such lazy, hacky, put-downs. The same people that use these will also often resort to ‘…well, Hitler was a vegetarian.’ (He most categorically wasn’t – but we’ll look at that in another post!).

Obviously nobody wants to be thought of as preachy or holier than thou, and certainly not as being like Hitler.

These words and associations are so loaded, that for omnis who are scared that a vegan might remove them from their state of comfortable stasis by making them think; they are a quick and easy way for them to end a discourse by de-legitimising the concept of veganism by making it sound as repellent as possible to their audience. If the audience is just you (a vegan) then these words serve to silence you, because by nature of the fact that you are telling a truth, you will be self-conscious that you ARE embodying them, even though you’re likely not.

If the omni orator were brave enough to be truthful – they’d say something like this… ‘Shut up. If you speak any more I’ll have to think. I don’t want to think because then I’ll have to change my lifestyle – which I don’t want to/am scared to do. I don’t want to be different, I want to coast along and be part of the status quo. Therefore I’m going to project these words onto you which will a) make everybody else not want to be like you either, thereby giving me the comfort of the crowd, and b) shut you up because you won’t want to be associated with them.’

It is soooo boring to read this particular type of comment, again and again and again. Some omnis are truly unimaginative and predictable. Please note that I said SOME. I’m perfectly aware that not all are. But it is apparent that SOME omnis think all vegans are the same. Are all meat-eaters the same in anything other than their food choices? Of course not. Well, breaking news: neither are vegans.

It would be fine if it was JUST boring. We’d move on. But it’s also pretty harmful and damaging. Who wants to be thought of as preachy? Holier than thou? Superior?

Is there any truth to these accusations?

  • Vegans think they are/act like they are ‘holier than thou’

Do vegans act (or think) they are holier than anyone else?

Maybe some do, I don’t know. I can’t speak for all vegans. If a vegan goes around acting this way, then chances are it’s because they’re an asshat, not because they’re vegan.

What I DO know is this:

The ONE thing AND ONE THING ONLY that vegans are (more than non-vegans), is informed. That is all.

Vegans have applied critical thinking to their diet and lifestyle, not just blindly accepted societal norms. They have educated themselves on the most sustainable way (for all concerned) to nourish themselves.

Does this make them holier?

Of course not. Don’t be silly. Vegans are multi-dimensional and each is informed by a million different influences, just like everybody else. A vegan can be as disconnected from God/Source/The Universe (pick what suits!) as anyone else.

Does it mean they have a higher ethical stance?

If they are vegan for ethical reasons, and not just doing it to lose weight (though I have no problem with this – it still has the same result of fewer animals being killed), then yes. You can’t really get away from this one.  In the same way that a person who doesn’t rape and murder human animals has a higher ethical stance than one who does; those who have widened their circle of empathy and compassion to non-human animals and have therefore chosen to NOT have them raped and murdered for their pleasure, have a higher ethical position than those that do.

This does NOT, however, translate to acting ‘holier than thou.’ If someone needs to label vegans as ‘holier than thou’ to make themselves feel better because they are not one, they may want to ask themselves why they feel so insecure in their current lifestyle choices.

  • Vegans think they are superior

Anyone who says this has completely missed the point, and has not grasped the concept of veganism. People who stop eating animals and their products for ethical reasons do so exactly because they know they are NOT superior to any sentient being.

By nature of killing and eating animals, you have to believe you are superior to those being eaten, so this silly comment may need to be redirected elsewhere.

  • Vegans are preachy

Yes, a vegan that really does go around advocating in inappropriate ways and situations could be a royal pain in the arse, but anyone speaking out on any subject who has the wrong intentions and attitude could be.

The reason the ‘p’ word gets hurled at vegans in particular, whether online or in person, is because people realise vegans are sharing a universal, undeniable truth – that going plant-based is best for animals, the planet and us. Truths are so often hidden from us, that we have learnt to be suspicious of them. And when they are exposed, it’s natural for someone to feel nervous and a little defensive at the moment they realise their life isn’t aligned with them. But, remember, vegans too had that moment of realisation. Not many people have been vegan since birth. There is no need to attack.

Assuming the vegan in question is talking (or writing) in an appropriate situation, and being compassionate and understanding to their listener(s), then to attack by using the word ‘preachy’ can only mean that, again (similar to those that use ‘holier than thou’), someone is very insecure with their lifestyle choices.

As a vegan, I feel I am often ‘preached’ to about the new deity that appears to be bacon. And If I turned on the TV, then commercial after commercial would ‘preach’ to me about the wonders of burger outlets, fried chicken joints, and sausages. But because non-human animal eating is currently the dominant paradigm, spouting the ‘p’ word would not carry the same weight as it does when used against vegans.

Whoever you are, vegan or not, not everyone will agree with your lifestyle choices. But it’s helpful to know what informs comments like these, so we don’t get held back by them. We can just deflect them and move on.