a month and a half ago, on feb 24, we moved into our new apartment. (still obsessed, by the way.) after a whole day of moving our stuff in, we decided to go eat at red robin for dinner. we shared a crispy chicken salad and an appetizer. that night, i got extremely sick. i'll spare you the gory details but suffice it to say i was either in the bathroom or writhing in pain in bed. i don't know why, but all night i kept thinking, "it was that nasty chicken. it's rotting inside my body." (fyi, the chicken didn't taste nasty.. we both enjoyed in, and james didn't get sick.) it was just my intuition telling me the chicken caused my sickness.
fast forward to probably 3 weeks later. i had read somewhere about jonathan safran foer's book called "eating animals." i had previously read everything is illuminated and loved it. i don't think i realized it was a nonfiction case for vegetarianism, but rather thought it was a cool indie book with a pretty cover. well, i started reading and within a chapter or two i was resigned to the fact that i'd probably go vegetarian by the end of the book -- an idea i didn't fear, as i've never been a huge meat lover. then i came across this passage in the section about food borne illness:
"Why aren't more people aware of, and angry about, the rates of avoidable food-borne illness? Perhaps it doesn't seem obvious that something is amiss simply because anything that happens all the time -- like meat, especially poultry, becoming infected by pathogens -- tends to fade into the background.
Whatever the case, if you know what to look for, the pathogen problem comes into terrifying focus. For example, the next time a friend has a sudden "flu" -- what folks sometimes misdescribe as "the stomach flu" -- ask a few questions. Was your friend's illness one of those "24-hour flus" that come and go quickly: retch or crap, then relief? The diagnosis isn't quite so simple, but if the answer to this question is yes, your friend probably didn't have the flu at all.
He or she was probably suffering from one of the 76 million cases of food-borne illness the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated happen in America each year. Your friend didn't "catch a bug" so much as eat a bug. And in all likelihood, that bug was created by factory farming."
my mind immediately took me back to the red robin incident. and i was convinced. meat is disgusting.
i don't remember where i went from here, but somehow i got the idea to order alicia silverstone's book, "the kind diet." basically, it talks about why meat, dairy and eggs are nasty (meat: contributes to heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis, it's full of hormones, it's horrible for the environment, and obviously it's really sad for the animals in these conditions. dairy: linked to cancer, makes you fat, causes allergies and asthma, CAUSES osteoporosis, nasty to the planet and cruel to the animals.) i didn't list all of the harm meat and dairy cause, if you want to know more, check out alicia's book. she then goes on to mention all the perks of veganism. to name a few: lose weight, your skin glows, you have more light energy and are more peaceful (some people believe you take in the fear and depression of the animals you eat), save the environment, animals, and yourself from many diseases. her book is also helpful to people flirting with veganism because she debunks all the myths: how will i get my protein? iron? vitamin b12? at the end, she has recipes for all types of vegan and "superhero" foods, and they all look fantastic.
finally, i was referred to colin campbell's book, and the longest nutritional study to date, "the china study." this one basically confirms all of what alicia claims but in a more detailed, scientific way. bottom line: protein from animal-based foods CAUSES cancer. and heart disease. and obesity. etc. as you can imagine, the chinese eat a mainly plant-based diet and they have much lower numbers of these "western" diseases. they also weigh less, but consume around 30% more calories than we do! magic.
i'm not done with the book yet, but one of the coolest thing i've read so far is the study dr. caldwell esselstyn conducted. he took 18 people who, in the previous eight year before the study, had a combined total of 49 coronary events including agina (chest pain), bypass surgery, strokes, heart attacks, and angioplasty. these were broken hearts. for the next 11 years, dr. caldwell only subscribed one thing: a plant-based diet focused on avoiding "oils, meat, fish, fowl and dairy products." can you guess what happened? they cured themselves. they not only haulted the heart disease, but reversed it. 70% of his patients saw their clogged arteries open up. in other words, dr. caldwell CURED HEART DISEASE. again, MAGIC!!
aside from all of these health benefits, i really just want to save the animals. they live in the most unbelievably horrible conditions and frankly, it's not fair. they are innocent beings and they don't deserve that. it makes me sick and so sad. if you don't know anything about this, please watch "meet your meat" videos on youtube or watch the amazing documentary, "earthlings." you can watch it online for free here. we need to know this stuff. (and can you imagine treating your dogs and cats like this? not cool.)
FINALLY, for those of you who are thinking, "but, in the bible it says that God ordained animals for our use." to that i say, no. it is my personal belief that God has cursed the eating of animals. yes, it was initially a blessing and a need, but when we abuse blessings they become curses unto us. and we have COMPLETELY abused the system of animal husbandry. we are killing the earth God gave us and we are mercilessly slaughtering billions of his beautiful animals every year, needlessly. back in the hunting and gathering days they ate tons of meat, and did they get cancer or heart disease? no. as far as i know, things like e. coli and swine flu are new phenomenons. God is pissed!! this is not how it's supposed to be. and the bottom line is, we need to STOP these crazy ways or we will all die.
end scene.
and that's why i became a vegan.
5 comments:
i'm so glad you posted this. i, too, read eating animals and own the kind diet. i decided to become vegetarian for many of the same reasons. i have not gone all the way to veganism, mostly because i still live at home and it is too hard right now. i think about it a lot and i'll probably do it in the future.
the only thing i've had issue with is the word of wisdom part, but i've had thoughts similar to yours that we have come to abuse that resource. i truly think that we don't need to rely on animals for sustenance because we have so many other foods at our disposal.
have you tried any of alicia's recipes? which ones were good?
thanks brit. i'm glad you're flirting with veganism too! let's change the world.
the thing that's cool about the word of wisdom is that is actually says, "Yea, aflesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; (which we don't display) nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
And it is pleasing unto me that they should NOT BE USED, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine. (parenthesis and caps added) AKA, not eating meat is cool too. aka, it's totally not necessary like so many people believe it is.
i haven't tried any of alicia's recipes but have taken ideas from them and made similar things. i'll let you know when i actually make something straight from the book!
Kim and I became vegan (the China Study kind of vegan) as of December 31, 2010. We read the China Study and have been devouring Alicia's book.
For conference we had a family over for my first every vegan brunch, most of which came from Alicia's book.
I became vegetarian for health reasons (high cholesterol) 8 or 9 years ago. Eating food is a joy and exciting to figure out how to eat a "a whole foods, plant-based diet, minimizing refined foods, added salt, sugar, and added fats.".
Welcome to the world of delicious and healthy food, while being kind to the animals!
Thanks for being honest. I eat meat all the time but am considering reducing the amount. I've heard way too many testimonies of how much healthier one feels on a plant-based diet for me to ignore. I also can't ignore the fact that it's our american culture that tells us that vegans or vegetarians are weird. Eating little or no meat in other places in the world isn't strange at all.
hey adrienne! you did such a great job on this post, i really loved reading it! have you seen the movie Food, Inc.? or Food Matters? I love learning about this kind of stuff and i think everyone should be better educated about what we're actually putting into our bodies. i support your decision 100% and think it's great that you're doing it! :)
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