Why we plant grass, kill dandelions and buy kale

I return from our summer travels to a garden invaded by tough shoots of invasive grass as the surrounding lawn tries to take over.

I walk down a street with sweeping square metres of berms planted with grass. Many animals eat grass, but of course they're not allowed here in the city suburbs, and mowing them has become a notable problem.

So what is it with the grass fetish?

History of Green Lawns

This comedy grass discussion with God highlights the insanity: GOD: "Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?" And much more.

The lawn as we know it today developed in Europe - then, as now, a quirk for people with enough money to maintain a purely decorative (nonproductive) stretch of land, with human labour. And apparently, we can also blame the Scots and golf!

Chickweed

It is common to poison dandelions, chickweed, and other "weeds" in the pursuit of a smooth homogeneous expanse of non-edible grass, regardless of the potential risk from the poisons.

Getting your Greens

You can't eat grass. But other dark green leafies are some of the most nutritious edibles around. The produce section of the supermarket is happy to sell you bunches of kale for your dinner. Garden centres carry out a thriving trade in salad green shoots of all varieties (to plant in dedicated gardens, not lawns, of course).

Kale is great (I have some in the garden), but those free pesky dandelion greens from the lawn compare very well with kale. Sure, dandelions have less vitamin C, but they have more iron, etc. And they grow even when you don't want them to!

And if you aren't convinced yet, in the supermarkets you can also buy bags of expensive mesclun salad...which will probably include dandelion greens.

Rethink Lawn Care

There are many alternatives to the traditional grass lawn. But even if you're not ready to dig it out and start again, next time you see a dandelion in your lovely lawn, go get some leaves instead of the weedkiller. And when you see a fluffy dandelion head, remember your childhood, make a wish, and blow.

 

• Edible Weed Photo Gallery
• Edible Weed Tips
• Edible Weeds - What not to do

Normal Vegans? Are you for real?

Voracious readers and voracious vegans, we have a real problem. Most books aren't written by vegans.

So most stories will, without any warning, launch into lingering descriptions of animal-based meals.

Food in Fiction

Revisiting childhood favourites like the Narnia adventures or Little House on the Prairie can be especially jarring for me. Vegetarians or the health-conscious are usually relegated to being the weirdo minor character, a target for the main characters' mainstream contempt. Remember Eustace and family in Narnia?

It's a rare treat to find even one sympathic vegetarian character in a book (eg, the tough FBI agent Dillon Savich in Catherine Coulter's romantic thrillers).

(Hey. I bet I'm not the only one reading escapist fiction as counterbalance to heavy activism.)

What a thrill to read Sweetheart Deal and meet lead character Lilly, who is a vegetarian so health-aware that she travels with boxes of organic trail mix bars for emergencies. This is a semi-autobiographical character for the author, Claire Matturro, and I'm sure rings a bell for many of us too.

Stereotyping is alive and well

However, we soon discover that lawyer Lilly is not only a vegetarian health foodie but also certifiably neurotic. She's obsessive-compulsive about germs and dirt and fears flying. She is constantly finding similarities between herself and her dysfunctional mother.

So we've advanced from odd vegetarian bit players to a strong, sympathetic, but still very odd vegetarian heroine. "Disappointing and unfair!" I thought. Boo! Booooo!

Or... is it?

Truth Stranger than Fiction?

I'm not normal. I'll happily stand up for my many abnormal choices. And I'm struggling to think of any vegans I know whose only quirk is in their diet. Thinking...thinking...

Instead, the vegans I know would agree with this: 

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. (Krishnamurti)

Does a vegan consciousness go naturally hand-in-hand with other social misfittings? 

Stand up and be counted...

Anyone out there want to raise their hands as vegans who are basically normal in all other ways?

Also, please share any cool fiction about vegans. I've almost finished my book.

The REAL reason not to eat animals is...

First, there was How the Health Argument Fails Veganism. Then, How the Ethical Argument Fails Veganism.

In honour of World Vegan Day (and Month), we are going to sort it out once and for all. The real reason not to eat animals is definitely:

The animals

Obviously, it's the animals!

Veganism means man has no right to exploit the creatures for his own ends. That was Donald Watson's whole point.

Every year, tens of billions of animals exist in hopeless conditions, are literally tortured by their keepers, and die horribly, simply to feed humans.When animals are bulk commodities, animal abuse for money will be the rule, not the exception.

How can you be an animal lover and eat animals?

Human beings

OK, we sure don't want to hurt animals, but not all farm animals are treated so badly - some farms are very kind. The human beings you know and love are more important. When your family and friends eat animals, they are much more prone to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, food-borne infection, and a host of other chronic and deadly diseases.

Photo: Kevin Carter

This is not only horribly sad for us, but impossibly expensive. In the US alone, healthcare costs are upwards of a trillion dollars and rising fast. We never seem to have enough money to do the important things. Let's save lives and money.

And what about the humans we don't know? 60% of humans in other countries (or even our own) do not have enough to eat. We're not helpless. From a Cornell ecologist...

"More than half the U.S. grain and nearly 40 percent of world grain is being fed to livestock rather than being consumed directly by humans..."

Plant foods simply cost less to produce, which means more people fed. Please, don't feed the animals, feed hungry humans instead. It's the least you can do, and the best.


The whole world

Actually, the big picture is paramount. We all have to have somewhere to live, or all these arguments about ethics and health just end up as details.

Intense animal agriculture is the number one reason for deforestation and soil runoff, and excess animal waste is polluting natural waterways and land alike. Farmed animals are crowding out native wildlife, upsetting the entire natural balance of the world.

There is no Planet B. Eating animals like this is unsustainable. That's what's important.

Arguments fail veganism

One of these viewpoints may well seem strongest to you - it may have been what changed your mind. But to turn the tide on animal consumption, we must stop competing for the right reason.

We are a tiny and underfunded minority, and can't afford to fight vegan wars. When we cleverly undermine other vegan points of view, we mostly provide ammunition for the mainstream to dismiss us entirely.

They're all good reasons. Each one appeals to different people with different values. Together, they're compelling. We need that wide appeal...if we want a vegan world (and not just World Vegan Day)

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer - Review

As far as I know, the only people I have inspired to be vegan are those I've given birth to. So I give full credit to any book which can "turn someone vegan" - as (most famously) Natalie Portman says Eating Animals did for her. Even more because this is not exactly a vegan book.

Unusually, the author, Jonathan Safran Foer, was a successful popular author before applying his talents to the discussion of our entrenched animal-eating culture. He reports being an off-and-on vegetarian and sometimes vegan (but probably not now).

He introduces the book with a touch of his family history - a personal demonstration of the habits and psychology of eating, and eating animals, which the rest of the book then takes global. The birth of his son focused his desire to understand food: for himself and his family.

Sad...

Us and them

The first major chapter discusses the hypocrisy of our relationship with animals. He illustrates this with a very ecologically sound argument in support of eating dogs (and cats), including a Filipino dog recipe.

He also points out the acceptance of the torture inflicted on fish even during the ever-popular sport of recreational fishing - damage that would draw outrage and charges if a dog were the victim. Why the difference?

Sexy...??

Then, industrial fishing. The companies involved advertise attractive images of traditional fishing while profiting via modern war technologies like radar, echo sounders, and satellite GPS. These methods kill many more sea animals for sale than ever possible before, but also many times their number in other sea animals (bycatch).

The state of our endangered seahorses is presented as one example of the shame Foer felt when facing the usually-hidden impact of our food choices.

Words, words

Foer next presents a glossary of terms used in the animal industry and in our everyday life. Starting with Animal, he uses this glossary to examine how our words and assumptions guide our choices.

"Language is never fully trustworthy, but when it comes to eating animals, words are as often used to misdirect and camouflage as they are to communicate. Some words, like veal, help us forget what we are actually talking about. Some, like free-range, can mislead those whose consciences seek clarification. Some, like happy, mean the opposite of what they would seem. And some, like natural, mean next to nothing."

You can check out my own musings on the language topic. Foer does a great job of inserting facts into the word definitions, educating in palatable bite-sized chunks.

Down on the farm

Next is a thrilling tale of Foer's visit to a factory turkey farm - accompanying an ex-poultry employee turned activist. This is punctuated by a "rescue" (killing a bird that was dying slowly), and some personal thoughts from that activist.

This is followed by an essay from a factory farmer. To keep it short, I can only say it contains no surprises given its source. At the end, the farmer recommends education before seeing, trusting your head and not your eyes, and starting from the beginning to learn about animals and farming.

Foer uses this as a transition to a very brief history of animals, humans, and the beginning of farming. We discover the genesis of factory farming and the animals they have created. And the last word about life and death comes from a very proud small turkey farmer.

Disease

Foer next leads us down the causative path of factory farming and foodborne human infections. If our overdue pandemic doesn't scare you, then the details of the (lack of) regulation of these concentrated farms should.

Then we learn about the correlation between eating even uninfected animal products and our top killers: heart disease, cancer and stroke. While the evidence is overwhelming, this crucial information is constantly distorted by the animal industry, even into the scientific and government groups who are tasked with caring for our health.

"...we are constantly lied to about nutrition...When I say we are being lied to, I'm not impugning the scientific literature, but relying upon it. What the public learns of the scientific data on nutrition and health (especially from the government's nutritional guidelines) comes to us by way of many hands."

He discusses Marion Nestle's insider exposes of the USDA, and her comparison of the food industry with the cigarette industry.

Can it get worse?

Yes - let's talk about slaughter and manure.

We learn about the slaughter procedure at an independent slaughterhouse, and about the pigs facing their deaths. Foer's own contradictory feelings are a story in themselves - as he meets nice pleasant people at the slaughterhouse, his personal connection with his hosts conflicts with his feelings about what they are doing to the intelligent pigs.

Then we visit a small traditional pig farm, and hear the impassioned pleas of this now-niche farmer against the rise of the factory farms - remember that your food choices and purchases are "farming by proxy." Ironically, that story closes with the news that a factory farm was starting up right next to the small farmer's retirement property.

Shooting the sh*t...

This leads seamlessly into the factory farms' waste problem. In short, thousands of animals, no toilets, poisoned earth, slaps on the corporate wrist, people keep voting with their dollars for cheap meat. And of course, we hear about the "lives" these factory animal products lead - and these horrors are not exceptions, but representative.

At the end of this chapter, Foer makes a few strong statements against all factory farming, and concludes firmly that he would not choose conventional meat - even, that it is indefensible. But he admits confusion when considering more traditional animal producers.

Could it be OK?

In this book, Foer overrepresents the views of the smaller operators (in their tiny minority) from the industry, presumably to resolve his confusion on whether animal production is acceptable on the smaller scale.

A visit  to a cattle ranch that is owned in part by a vegetarian produces much longwinded discussion peppered with inconsistencies: boiling down to the conflict between promoting animal rights (not using animals) and animal welfare (treating them really well while using/killing animals).

Next, Foer shows us the cows' trip to the slaughterhouse based on documentary evidence. Again, the horrors are such that they must either be ignored or rejected at some level.

He then asks whether there is a likely path for the success of the animal welfare side and those in the animal industry who work to promote it. His conclusion? No, a vegetarian diet is the only practical way to avoid animal cruelty (although he respects their efforts). As final punctuation, the owner of the cattle ranch featured in this chapter was forced to leave his own company due to differences over profit vs ethics.

"To accept the factory farm feels inhuman."

Foer wraps it all up with some more personal history, national traditions plus some realities of the global table, and a hope for new animal-friendly stories in his own family.

My Recommendation

Eating Animals is highly recommended for nonvegetarians. Vegans probably don't need to read it, but give it to your nonveg friends and family for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

For me, as a longtime involved vegan, Eating Animals presented nothing new and wandered about the topics too much. I also found the many interviews with the animal producers annoying because of their self-justifying illogic. And of course, Foer is still not quite on the side of ethical vegetarianism, much less veganism.

However, for anyone just learning about how our society treats animals, the information is presented perfectly. Telling interesting stories about real people interspersed with the factual horrors means it might just get read to the end by the unconvinced. The long winding explanations of the animal producers expose that faulty reasoning to a reader who may be supporting their own habits with similar arguments.

Dr McDougall's Starch Solution - What's in it for you?

Dr McDougall's gift is that diet no longer seems controversial. You can picture ol' Doc McDougall offering you a bucket of chicken wings, saying, "Do you feel lucky?"

Well? Do you? 

If you haven't already discovered Dr McDougall, The Starch Solution is this dietary medical pioneer's most complete and compelling work yet. Dr McDougall has the medical training plus decades of comprehensive references and real-life successes to make other food choices seem just a little dangerous.

If you're already a McDougaller, look no further to find out what his latest book has for you.

In Lani Muelrath's recent Teleclass with Dr McDougall, he said this might be his last book. "If you haven't got it by now..."

Getting It

A new book? What to do? I'm in deep decluttering mode, and I already have his 12 Days to Dynamic Health and A Challenging Second Opinion.

So I performed a public service and requested that our city library order The Starch Solution for Auckland, New Zealand. As an extra bonus, I got to be the first to read it.

As another public service for all you McDougall converts wondering what's in it for you - here's:
 

12 Days to Dynamic Health vs Starch Solution

12 Days	Starch Solution
History	History
McDougall's personal medical history, with illness leading him to medical study. When he finds he cannot make his patients better, he moves toward on dietary therapies instead of conventional drugs, and starts St Helena live-in program.	Same history with a few added extras. The fascinating story of the years in between: why McDougall left St Helena and successfully struck out on his own. McDougall comes out as a political activist.
Food Overview	Food Overview
Nutritional building blocks and dispelling food myths - comprehensive.	Starches and why we should eat them - includes reader testimonial for this simpler approach. Poisons in animal foods Food FAQ chapters: Protein, Calcium, Omegas (Fish)
Dietary Guidelines and Politics	Dietary Guidelines and Politics
No specific section	History of the USDA and what has influenced the guidelines.
Environmental concerns	Environmental concerns
None	"We are eating the planet to death" chapter - summary of latest consensus of livestock impact on the environment
Success Stories	Success Stories
Sam and Sally Waterman - in depth look at their 12 days of success. Very personal and moving.	About 10 inspirational Star McDougaller stories - longterm achievements
Vegans/Vegetarians	Vegans/Vegetarians
McDougall eats some meat every year to avoid the negative vegetarian label.	References to environmental impact of veg*nism Fat Vegan chapter - junk food veganism, dangers of isolated soy proteins in replacement meats/milks, recommendations for healthy veganism.
Supplements	Supplements
Recommends B12 to prevent rare cases of dietary deficiency	Chapter discussing latest research on risks of general supplementation - still recommends B12
Sugar and Salt	Sugar and Salt
Limits quantities	Chapter on history of these and current role as dietary scapegoats. Still limits quantities.
The Plan	The Plan
12 Days of Sam and Sally's progress - meal plan. Tips on social and kitchen preparation, shopping, dining out. Approved brands list	7 Days - meal plan. Tips on social and kitchen preparation, shopping, dining out.
Maximum Weight Loss	Maximum Weight Loss
None	Summary page
Recipes	Recipes
Lots of favourites - Healthy and richer listed separately	Lots of favourites
Medical Reference	Medical Reference
Mini Challenging Second Opinion guide	None
References section	References section
Fully referenced by disease	Fully referenced by chapter

Disappointments?

After reading this great new book, my only complaint is the same one I have about Dr T Colin Campbell.

Both unquestioned dietary giants have embraced the environmental cause but seem to fear entering the ethical arena, perhaps not wanting to be associated with weirdos who actually care about animals. Dr McDougall continues to distance himself from vegans and vegetarians, compared to the thorough research he invests in diet and now the environmental issues of industrial farming.

His environmental chapter is called "We are eating the planet to death." Kudos to you, doctor, for telling it like it is. How about a chapter called "We are torturing billions of animals every day"? That is another undeniable result of industrial farming.  

All the book's statements of gentle respect for vegans' sacrifices doesn't cut it. The ethical argument adds that crucial third leg of stability to the plant-based way of life. Readers deserve to hear it.

The Winner?

If you ask me which book to give to a friend you want to help, I'd say "whichever one you've got." The 12-Day book is still relevant, decades after publication.

But The Starch Solution is the book of today - it has more: more information from new research, more modern cover design, and more polish from those extra decades of Dr McDougall's writing and presentation experience. 

Get it for your local library (and your own)!

If Education Were the Answer - 5 things that would already be true

Heard this before?

We don't need to pass laws to make things better; we just need more education. If people knew better, they would do better.

I'm a writer. I'm all for information sharing. But telling the truth isn't enough.  If it were, we'd all already:

1. Eat more whole grains than refined grains
2. Eat 5+ fruits and vegetables every day
3. Exercise every day
4. Use public transport
5. Respect everyone, regardless of race, gender, religion, orientation, etc.

I'm accepting other entries for a list of 10, please submit in the comments section.

Education is the:

• talk in "Walk your talk"
• say in "Do as I say, not as I do"
• words in "Actions speak louder than words."

Inspirational educational messages can't beat real world experience.

There you see what is really valued. Money wins over health, environment, and peace. Most people will soon recover from any new lesson and go back to doing exactly what everyone else around them is doing - a much stronger educational lesson.
  
While the government and large corporations work together to maximise profits, educational truths are dangerous and unacceptable counter-culture.

Not convinced? Here's a prime example: the USDA and Maybe Meatless Monday.

Until society takes strong cooperative action to make the better choice the easier choice (instead of folding under pressure), the talk about what's good for us will remain...just talk.

Beat 7 traps for healthy kids

How do you and your kids rate on the 4-Leaf scale?  Modern life can make it very hard to keep to a simple and healthy diet for your family. Once you're in the know, you can at least avoid these common traps.

1. Wholegrains have too much fibre for kids

It's only recently that we could be wasteful enough to refine foods, and it wasn't a positive step for anyone, healthwise.  Not only fibre but also vital nutrients get stripped out.

Yet...

"Too much fibre fills up kids' stomachs and they don't eat enough..."

"Too much fibre stops nutrients being absorbed, so kids will suffer..."

Where is the evidence for these endlessly repeated theories?   I can't even find the study which apparently started it all, where a child was unwisely given lots of high bran cereals and fibre supplements (not wholegrains).

This review of the scientific literature asks: should we worry about high fibre for children? Answer: No, we should encourage more fibre.

That could be the last word, but it's worth noting the media hype of a recent UK study on nursery food and nutrition - when they found that nurseries were feeding children lots of fruits and vegetables and not much fat and saturated fat, did they applaud in relief?  No, their nutritionist said this risked the children's health.

Headlines include

• Starving toddlers mistaken for "healthy eating"
• Too much fibre bad for toddlers 

This study did not examine a single child for starvation, poor nutrition, or poor development.  The food served was simply held up against the current nutritional recommendations (strongly influenced by food lobbies for meat, milk, and sugar) and declared wanting.

Some great advice from PCRM - they recommend you encourage a taste for whole grains and avoid sugars and highly processed foods.  It's much harder to get into the whole foods habit if you've always had the softer, sweeter version, but here are some tried and tested hints for transitioning to whole grains.   

2. Kids shouldn't be on a lowfat diet

Humans do need some fats, and young children do need more than adults.  One important natural source of fat for young children is breast milk.  I follow the WHO's recommendations to continue breastfeeding until age 2 and beyond, and one reason is so my children get this vital source of perfectly-designed fats and other nutrients.

But foods today are fattened up in the factory like foie gras geese. If children need more fats to grow, does it follow that we should remain unaware of a child's fat consumption?

You decide....

• New Zealand (2006/7) - 1 in 5 children overweight; 1 in 12 children obese
• USA (2008) - 1 in 3 children overweight; 1 in 5 obese 

A healthy diet means far more than just fat levels.  But fat has 9 calories per gram compared to 4 for carbohydrates and protein.

Some healthy fats come from whole grains, nuts, seeds, and avocados.  But most are refined fats added to processed foods to improve both the mouthfeel of the foods (so your child will want more) and the profit margin for international conglomerate food companies.

So reducing fat in a child's diet is hardly medically risky or child abuse - quite the opposite.

3. My kids aren't fat or unhealthy

Congratulations!  Your kids are young and active, and they're burning off the calories they eat so far.

But their taste buds have been in training since birth.  They taste the flavours of the food their mother eats when they drink breast milk, and they learn to like the solids they're fed thereafter. They won't always be tiny power racers!

Again from PCRM -

"Eating habits are set in early childhood...Children raised on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes grow up to be slimmer and healthier and even live longer than their meat-eating friends."

4. My kids won't eat healthy food

Perhaps not. Mine do eat healthy food as well as more traditional treats, and here's how it happened.  Only you know your family's eating story, but consider the following:

• Do they see you eat and enjoy fruits, vegetables, roots, and whole grains every day?
• Do they get to choose to eat the fruits and vegetables they like?
• Do you present them with care and attention?

As per school rules for healthy eating, I prepared a fruit platter for my son's class for his birthday. They were truly excited to see fresh pineapple, watermelon and cantaloupe (rockmelon), cherry tomatoes, and grapes.

You have power over this - even over strong advertising messages. 

5. If you make kids eat good food, they will just rebel later

OK, I see how that works!

• If you make your kids play outside or do sports, they'll become couch potatoes later.
• If you make your kids learn their school lessons, they'll never read or write again.
• If you make your kids be polite and kind and clean up after themselves, they'll become really rude messy teenagers... OK, slippery slope there.

We show our kids habits when they're young, and they're more likely to continue whatever habits they learned - healthy or not.

Parental influence is very important - learn what works and what backfires.

6. If you restrict unhealthy foods, they will only want them more

While there is some psychological truth to the forbidden fruit theory, remember, that was fruit.

There is a famous study from the 1930s showing that children given a range of basically healthy foods to choose from will eventually select a variety of balanced nutrition.

But your child is in the uncontrolled study called life - and often a child is presented with far more unhealthy choices. There is no natural appetite limiter for refined sweet and fatty foods like doughnuts, chocolate, and fries.  By the time your body says enough, you've already eaten too much.  It's worse for a child, who has more enthusiasm and a smaller stomach.

Of course, like an adult, each child has different tastes - enjoying food is key. 

7. All the other kids eat this way 

Remember what your mother said:

If all the other kids jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?

Peer pressure can help you. Young children are particularly likely to eat what their peers are eating, and that goes for vegetables too.
Crucially, you and your kids can be the change we need to see - wouldn't it be great if all the other kids could be eating (and enjoying) healthy food too?

How do you encourage your kids toward your dream of a healthy diet?

Your Thanksgiving Turkey - now in living colour!

I grew up with turkeys on my dinner plate or as cartoon figures drawn around five little fingers.

Like any animal, there's always so much more to learn!

Like the Native Americans (Indians), turkeys are another victim of colonial naming confusion so great that I hope you can explain it to me. 
 
400 years ago, the English market confused the American bird with an African bird that they already called a turkey - because it was shipped via Turkey.

Turkey life....

Wild turkeys live in woods in parts of North America.  They were introduced to New Zealand (where I live) around the 1890s.  The large park near my parents' house generally hosts a flock of wild turkeys.

They spend their days foraging for food like acorns, seeds, small insects and wild berries.  They spend their nights in low branches of trees.

Yes, wild turkeys get to fly!

They weigh about 8 kgs and can live up to 13 years (average 3-4 in the wild).  Turkeys have sharp full colour eyesight and fast evasive action when in danger including running (up to 29 km/hour) and flying (up to 88 km/hour).

Turkey talk...

Wild turkeys communicate using a wide array of different vocal calls, including gobbles, clucks, putts, yelps, and whistles. Strutting is also used by males as a form of communication, to attract females and intimidate other males.

Turkey love...

Each spring male turkeys try to befriend as many females as possible.  Male turkeys puff up their bodies and spread their tail feathers (just like a peacock).

They grunt, make a "gobble gobble sound" and strut about shaking their feathers to attract females for mating.

Turkey family
After the female turkey mates, she prepares a nest under a bush in the woods and lays her tan and speckled brown eggs.  She incubates as many as 18 eggs at a time.  It takes about a month for the chicks to hatch.
 
When the babies (known as poults) hatch they flock with their mother all year (even through the winter).  For the first two weeks the poults are unable to fly.  The mother roosts on the ground with them during this time.

Turkeys protect their poults from predators by hiding them in long grass.  Turkey mothers will band together to attack hawks.

Basically, turkeys are large, intelligent birds.  They are as varied in personality as dogs and cats.

Your holiday turkey
No prizes for guessing that farmed turkeys get the same raw deal as other farmed animals.  Yes, the story is horrible.  There is no happy ending...or beginning or middle.  If you buy a supermarket turkey, you owe it to him to read this.

Factory Farm Turkey Life

Your turkey was bred, fed, drugged, and genetically manipulated to grow as large as possible as quickly as possible.  He needed to be market size when he was slaughtered at 5 months - a tiny fraction of his natural lifespan.

Turkey feed generally contains antibiotics and animal by-products, and commercial turkey feed is designed to promote fast growth.

• In 1970, the average live turkey raised for meat weighed 8 kgs. 
• Today, he weighs 13 kgs.

According to one industry publication, modern turkeys grow so quickly that if a 7-pound human baby grew at the same rate, the infant would weigh 1,500 pounds at just 18 weeks of age.

He never once got to fly.

Factory Farm Turkey love

Your turkey's mother was artificially inseminated because her male partners were too big to mate with her.

Factory Farm Turkey family

Your turkey was hatched in a large incubator and never saw his mother. When he was only a few weeks old, he was moved into a filthy, windowless shed with thousands of other turkeys, where he spent the rest of his life.

To keep your turkey from killing others in such stressful conditions, parts of his toes and beak were cut off, as well as his snood (flap of skin under his chin) - with no pain relief.

Factory Farm Death

Millions of turkeys die in the first few weeks of life in a factory farm from "starve-out" - they stop eating because of stress.  Others die from organ failure or heart attacks because they're unnaturally big and fat. And slow-growing turkeys get killed right there in the shed by farm workers - so that unsaleable turkeys won't waste any more food.

Your turkey survived long enough to get to slaughter.

Factory Farm Slaughter

He was thrown by his legs into a large crate packed with other turkeys.  He was lucky because his legs didn't break like other turkeys in the worker's hands.  He also avoided dying during his truck trip with no food, water, or temperature control - millions of other turkeys aren't so lucky.

At the slaughterhouse, he was hung upside-down by his weak and crippled legs and his head was dragged through an electrified "stunning tank," which immobilized him.

Your turkey should be thankful to be successfully stunned - some of his neighbours dodged the tank and were completely conscious when their throats were slit. If the knife misses, they are scalded alive in the tank of hot water used for feather removal.

Conscious choices

If you struggle to feel thankful for that bad taste in your mouth, remember that these millions of turkeys are only mistreated because people keep buying them. 
 
Even if it is a long family tradition, you still have other choices.

Free range/organic turkeys
I don't wholeheartedly recommend this, because:

• I'm vegan
• You won't always know how much better a free range or organic turkey is, compared to the standard factory farm product.  You will need to do your research.

But investing in an alternatively raised turkey is a blow struck against indefensible factory farming.

Go easy and cheap - go vegan
Yes, you can skip the bird and still celebrate until you burst!

Here are just a few samples:

• VegWeb recipes
• PETA recipes 
• VegKitchen recipes

I'm a huge mushroom fan, so these huge mushrooms get my vote! 

And of course, you can't go past my Frugal Vegan Stuffing - anyone can make this.

Children are our Future - Teaching Plant Food and Health

My son's school requested "parent experts" to help their 12 year old students in various topics - including nutrition and health, and sports nutrition!  With my recently acquired Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition with Dr T Colin Campbell, I felt bold enough to volunteer my amateur and certified expertise.

During my study, I was inspired by Dr Antonia Demas's Food is Elementary project, which takes a full curriculum on plant-based nutrition straight into the heart of schools.  So this offer was too good to refuse.

My offer was quickly and encouragingly accepted - my declaration of knowledge in Plant Based Nutrition apparently did not trigger any alarm bells.

What to Say?  How to Say It?

Starting from scratch, I enjoyed the challenge of creating a presentation that was comprehensive but not overwhelming.

I designed a friendly lead-in allowing the children to show what they already knew about healthy food.  When I asked, these smart kids already knew that an apple is healthier than a burger, vegie soup healthier than a meat pie, and a potato is healthier than chips.  What a relief!  We were already friends...

The Presentation

Essential topics included:

• Food and New Zealand Health
• Nutrition and Confusion
• What makes a food healthy
• Plant vs Animal food nutrients
• Protein, Iron, Calcium Myths
• B12
• Milk as the Perfect food (got in the breastfeeding angle here)
• Genes
• Processed Foods and Food Extracts
• Are Humans Omnivores?
• Calorie Density
• Healthy Eating Basics
• Making Changes
• Health in Later Life
• Sports Nutrition (with Vegan Champions!)

...and more!

This was a special interest group of 7 children, which created a friendly atmosphere.  All the children were attentive and several readily responded to prompt questions as well as reacting to various points I made.  

Afterwards

This tested out as a full hour presentation and I did not have quite a full hour - it got quite rushed and there are areas that need adjusting.  There was no time for questions but it didn't feel like there were any - probably because there was so much new information to absorb and everybody had already heard the bell.

The teacher's response was very encouraging - she was able to relate very well to the health information I presented.  She seemed even more pleased after my presentation than before, and I admit I had some fears that my plant-based message might seem threatening.

Lessons for me

• With handholding and encouragement, people can accept the new idea that plant foods are always better than animal foods.
• This presentation was still aimed too old.  When I revisit this presentation, I want the kids to be as interested as the teacher.
• This presentation would be great at other schools.

The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn - Book review

OK, so from the first chapter about firefighters, leaps from a burning apartment building, screams and injuries, it’s obvious this isn’t your typical vegan diet book.  Heck, it’s obvious from the cover!  Engine 2… 

This book is unique in its genuine appeal directly to men who believe that real men must eat meat, and it’s a new approach that is desperately needed in the plant-based diet movement.  I noticed my husband reading it without any prompting from me, and he has seen more than his share of plant based diet books already.

About Rip

Rip Esselstyn is a Texas firefighter and a lifelong athlete, and he is also the son of the esteemed Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, who initiated a major study on reversing heart disease through diet and wrote Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (2007).

After the book’s fiery beginning, we learn Rip’s personal story and family history.  Like many such experts, Rip grew up eating lots of animal foods and changed only in 1986 because of his father’s research and examples of other successful vegetarian and vegan athletes.

What's Engine 2?

Engine 2 is the firehouse where Rip works.  The Engine 2 program happened because of a bet between the firefighters over cholesterol levels leading to a healthy lunch wagon.  The successes for the participants are truly motivating.  The plan allows either a Cadet (gradual) or Firefighter (immediate) option to adopt a plant-based, low fat, whole foods, animal free diet for four weeks.

Why is this Texas firefighter qualified to sell a book on diet and health?  I didn’t realise that firefighters are trained as Emergency Medical Technicians and are as likely to be performing medical rescues as fire rescues.  So he has personally seen how common the familiar list of diet-related diseases (heart attack, stroke, diabetic attacks, severe asthma, obesity) have become for the population at large.  You can learn the strategy for moving people who are over 400 pounds from this edgy book.

The basics and more...

In only ten pages, Rip provides a fully illustrated exercise program that requires only you and your own body weight (plus a chair or two).  I admire this – but even when I learn this type of workout, I never continue as it is not very interesting.

Rip debunks food myths (e.g. “Carbohydrates make us fat”) and gives you an attitude checkup and a physical health checklist (weight, cholesterol, etc.).  He provides practical shopping advice via Jeff Novick’s label-reading rules.  Then he whips your kitchen into shape before listing more than 100 pages of recipes, split into meal categories and guided by a weekly planner.

Exciting stuff!

The book is spiced with participant quotes and colourful language throughout:

“If you were to hold a triathlon based on the quantity of nutrients in each food, plants would cross the finish line and get a massage before meat, dairy, and eggs even had a chance to get off the bicycle.”

“Many of the Engine 2 Study participants also reported improved potency, including one who said that his erections “are now like blue steel.””

“[The myth that] Vegetarians are weak wusses who can’t play sports!”

"[The food manufacturers] could give a rat’s rump about your health.”

Truly an enjoyable read!

Food for thought

I particularly enjoyed seeing the foreword by Dr T. Colin Campbell, as I’ve just finished his Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition.  That study, like this book, focuses particularly on human health and nutrition and does not address animal issues.  At least one recipe lists honey as one option for a sweetener.

Some vegans will object to this.  But I suggested to the tutor and participants of the Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition that they consider animals not just as bad food choices but living beings, and I likewise suggest to you that if your own health is not a major factor in your vegan diet choices, you could learn a lot from this book.
 
Written originally for V Mag, Vegan Society of New Zealand, Spring 2011, The Environment Issue.

Christchurch Vegetarians still shaken

Auckland made the news briefly for our small unexpected earthquake on July 6th.  It was very shallow (9kms) and practically on my doorstep (1-2kms away).  Of course most earthquakes are unexpected, but Auckland really isn't known for them.  The last one I felt was more than 20 years ago.

This was just one shake.  It was over before anyone could even think about being scared.  But Christchurch has continued to suffer multiple daily aftershocks larger than this for months on top of the two major earthquakes that devastated the city and destroyed their Vegetarian Centre on Feb 22nd.   

Please respond if you can to this appeal for help from our mates down in Christchurch.  There is so much need in Christchurch that it is quite overwhelming.

Health education with Dr T. Colin Campbell - weighing in

I've passed my stage 2 study of Diseases of Affluence from Dr T Colin Campbell's Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition and will start stage 3 in a couple of days!

While I'm sharing some of the discussion questions with all of you, I can't even begin to scratch the surface of the multi-level discussions that develop from so many student perspectives on these crucial health issues.  We are also being trained to focus, focus, focus our message and developing other communication skills so that we may be successful even when we are not "preaching to the choir".

Remember, any of you could have a opportunity tomorrow to share a healthy eating message in any of these areas.  Just yesterday I responded to the reporter of this article about a cancer sufferer who was rejected from Jenny Craig.  I hope she will pass on the information to the woman involved.  In any case, being on this nutrition course has us all fired up to spread the word where we can.

Question

Much of America's population has strayed from the optimal range on the BMI (Body Mass Index) scale.   The statistics are ominous. Two out of three adult Americans are overweight and one-third of the adult population is obese. Diabetes often accompanies obesity, and it too is rising.

A lot of effort has gone into educating the public about the dangers of being overweight, and people have responded by trying to slim down. Many now believe that "thin is healthy" and use a wide variety of techniques--including bariatric surgery--to help take off the weight. Others try to drop pounds and fail many times, some stop trying, and some decide not to try at all, embracing excess weight: "fat is beautiful."

1. Identify a weight loss strategy that you do not think is health supporting.
2. Imagine a publication you enjoy, featuring an advertisement for the weight-loss intervention you identified in one. Write a brief (one or two paragraphs) letter to the editor to challenge the weight loss strategy and recommend a better strategy to help people struggling to lose weight--or to maintain a positive self-image at a weight heavier than ideal--begin to imagine a more health-promoting outlook on weight loss.

Answer
Dear Editor:

Upon reading your excellent publication, I noticed an advertisement for Weight Watchers. With 2/3 of our population overweight and 1/3 obese, I applaud the encouragement to your readers to regain a healthy weight. However, you may not know that the success shown in these ads is not typical of this system. Only a few percent of Weight Watchers' customers maintain their weight loss.

The Weight Watchers' system supplies very expensive special food and a complicated system of points allowed. Portions are very controlled to control calories, and no human being can control calories that way for their whole life. The focus is on calorie counting instead of how food supports your health.

There is another weight-loss method your readers might try: a highly successful one that is promoted by many doctors. Studies show that vegetarians and vegans are about 10 to 30 pounds slimmer than nonvegetarians. Plant-based foods, close to their natural state, are more satisfying, so you are genuinely able to eat all you want (with no complicated calculations). These foods are also the best choice for your health - full of fibre and antioxidants and low in fat. They also increase your metabolism. So weight loss is natural, healthy, and delicious with (for example) a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, a huge whole-wheat sandwich for lunch, and a pile of tasty potatoes for dinner - with as many snacks as you need to fill you up.

You can eat this way for the rest of your life and you will only get thinner and healthier. You and your readers can learn more about this at http://www.drmcdougall.com/free.html.

Health education with Dr T. Colin Campbell - science confusion

I'm now well into my stage 2 study of Diseases of Affluence from Dr T Colin Campbell's Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition and it's really ramping up.  A lot of my writing energy is going into my nutrition study, and here's another sample of the thought-provoking discussion from the first stage, Nutrition Fundamentals.   These discussions are really making me get my stories straight.

Question

Significant design differences between the China Project and the Harvard Nurses' Health Study led researchers to some very different conclusions. Controversy reigns at the highest levels of scientific inquiry. Describe to a confused acquaintance how you evaluate contradictory science to guide your dietary choices.

Answer

These days, you can find a study that says ANYTHING about food and health. You will hear countless experts with the secret to your health problems, and they will cite the studies to prove it. Lots of people I know have just given up trying to find any answers. “Everything causes cancer.” “There are no bad foods; I just use moderation.”

I believe that food affects your health profoundly, and I believe we already know the answers to the major health problems in Western society. How am I so certain with all those contradictory studies out there? The media loves to give you the latest sensation. Well, after 15 years I have a few guidelines when I hear the “latest” about nutrition.

Who did it?
A laboratory is just a laboratory, but who is running the study? What is their professional history and what are their credentials in nutrition? Most importantly, are they independent health researchers, or are they employees of some sector of industry? A cynical fact is that if there is food industry money behind a study, there is a bias toward a study result that favours the industry.

A classic example is the study on cholesterol level and eggs; used to “prove” that eggs don’t raise cholesterol when in fact they are a major contributor (along with other animal foods) to existing high cholesterol levels.

Who confirmed the results?
For most studies, the press release comes before any independent review. Instead, look for peer-reviewed studies, where peer experts of the researchers examine the methodology and results. These peers have a responsibility to report biases and mistakes in the study.

The doctors I trust: Dr Campbell, Dr McDougall, Dr Ornish, and more, all have multiple peer-reviewed studies in respected journals. Other qualified doctors who promote dietary advice which contradicts the plant-based diet never have peer-reviewed studies supporting them.

How many studies?

One study is one study – it returns results for the particular variables under inspection, and that’s all.

For example, the Nurses’ Health Study indicated that reducing animal fat in the diet did not improve breast cancer rates. This has widely been quoted as “fat levels make no difference to breast cancer,” which contradicts all epidemiological evidence about fat consumption but is reassuring to people who want to sell high-fat foods or eat them.

Yet more accurately and importantly, this study established that eating the same or more total animal food (with its protein and cholesterol), even with lower fat levels, contributed to breast cancer. And that result matches Dr Campbell’s own laboratory research on animal protein promoting cancer.

For me, the media darlings, the “groundbreaking” studies that contradict all previous evidence, are automatically suspect. If all previous studies say X, and a new study says Y, odds are the new study is biased or mistaken.

Real food?

Experts I trust like Dr Campbell and Dr McDougall believe that science’s preference for isolating and studying individual elements can lead to misunderstandings for nutrition in real people.

Both:

• studies that involve isolated nutrients (e.g., a vitamin or a type of fat) and
• studies on diets made up of foods that are composed of refined food elements instead of whole foods

often return unhelpful or even misleading results (see Nurses’ Health Study) in the context of nutrition and health. However, studies like the China Health Study show consistent results for dietary health. These results can also be reliably applied to individual patients, as Dr McDougall and Dr Ornish do, with verifiable success.

Say no to drugs

Lots of health news is about amazing new drugs to treat the sad variety of disease we suffer from. While drugs can be effective, and sometimes necessary, remember that the media release will never discuss the side effects that all powerful drugs cause along with their stated purpose.

I already know through verified studies that a plant-based diet is more successful at treating heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes than any drug, with no side effects. I already know from personal experience that it is an effective longterm weight loss strategy (which no drug is).

There may be more to learn from dietary research, but I don’t need to wait around for it. I know enough to improve my health now.

Health education with Dr T. Colin Campbell - the plant-based message

 

I'm thrilled to have passed the first stage of Dr T Colin Campbell's Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition!

I've corresponded with students all over the world searching for nutrition enlightenment for a fascinating variety of reasons.  I've also viewed wonderful lectures by Dr Campbell and Dr Pam Popper.

Next, I study Diseases of Affluence.  But first, here's another installment of the thought-provoking discussion on this course.

Question

Dr. Campbell proposes that there are no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better obtained by plant-based foods. Explain to an interested acquaintance how science supports this premise.  Consider how eating a 'plant-based diet' differs from 'being vegan'.

My Answer

When you've eaten food from animals all your life, a plant-based diet can seem very strange. But did you know that every single nutrient that comes from animals is available from plants and is better for you? I haven't had animal foods for 15 years and I'm strong and healthy - and have two children who have (almost) never eaten animal foods either.

I know you hear you need meat, milk, and eggs for good quality protein.

But almost any plant food has protein, and some beans are just as high protein as any meat - but no cholesterol or saturated fat, and lots cheaper! Plant foods easily supply a human's need for protein. Science has shown that that the protein in meat raises your cholesterol levels even more than the saturated fat and cholesterol. And animal protein helps cancers grow. Healthy people all over the world eat a diet low in animal protein, and people who eat lots of animal protein have high rates of diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Most of us worry about our fat intake and don't know how much is actually healthy or needed. It's actually pretty easy: animals have more fat, and that is the saturated fat that is linked with heart disease and stroke and plants have not only less fat but it is also the healthier unsaturated kind.

Other essential nutrients like iron, calcium, and B12 are also obtainable without the cholesterol or saturated fat from animals.

And all these plant foods also have things you need that animal foods don't have at all: complex carbohydrates metabolise perfectly for natural energy, fibre fills you up and cleans you out, and antioxidants help you stay younger and even fight cancer growth.

You can live a long and active life like so many people around the world on a plant-based diet, and have a much lower risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Plant based diet and veganism

Differences
Proponents of a plant-based diet consider its nutritional advantages to be of primary scientific importance. Dr Campbell makes some mention of the environmental benefits as well. Like Dr. McDougall, though, he intentionally avoids the labels "vegetarian" or "vegan". A plant-based diet does not imply any restriction on the use of animal products for non-food uses.

Vegans may avoid animal foods (and often all other animal products) primarily because of ethics surrounding animal rights. They may have no specific interest in nutritional health. Other vegans give equal weight to animal rights, nutritional health, and the environment.

Common Ground
Although vegans may not have health as their first priority, they have as a population achieved the improved health which is the primary aim of plant-based diet supporters. Vegans have known that improved health is a natural effect of their diet centuries before any scientists could watch cancer cells grow in a laboratory.

The willingness of vegetarians and vegans to suffer negativity and persist in their eating patterns is what has brought an animal-free diet to the foreground. What appears in a restaurant, even on a plane? Vegan and vegetarian options. Jeff and Sabrina Nelson's website is called VegSource "Your source for all things vegan and vegetarian!" and it has done more than any other I know to promote the plant-based health message. Even from doctors who dislike the vegan label!

The distaste for those people who avoid animal foods because they care about the animals reminds me of the point I made in my last discussion post: people generally are more comfortable with selfish motivations. But there are always many right paths to the right goal. Ethical vegans enjoy improved health, and plant-based diet aficionados are also helping save animals.

Strength and success
As mentioned in this VegSource video on doctors who disagree, success will come from celebrating our common ground and working together, not focusing on our differences and dividing.