JVNA's Veg Spotlight Shines on ... Never Too Late to Go Vegan
Book Review by Roberta Kalechofsky
We are in the midst of a food revolution, and a medical revolution, as well as multiple technological revolutions. All of us feel these revolutions, and all of our lives are being changed by them.
At first glance, it may seem as if these revolutions have nothing in common with each other. But they are all guided by the paradigms of science, industry and the machine.
Everything on Earth is affected by these paradigms, these revolutions, from bees to beans, from chickens to cauliflower.
Some, like cars, planes and robots, thrive under the influence of these paradigms; others do not, like chickens and cows.
In 1964, Rachel Carson wrote a foreword to Ruth Harrison's "Animal Machines," the first published book which described the industrialization of animals. Carson's foreword was an eloquent protest: “The question then arises: how can animals produced under such conditions be safe or acceptable human food?”
They can’t be and they’re not. Meat recalls multiply. The lead article in Consumer Reports for March 2014 is “Are Chickens Safe?”
Defenders of cheap meat point to recalls of spinach and strawberries contaminated with the deadly e:coli strain. Yes, but the most common source of e:coli is cow feces, which leeches into the land spinach or strawberries is grown in.
Books critical of how cows and chickens are mass produced in the machine model are growing in number. They are the writing on the slaughterhouse walls.
This is why "Never Too Late To Go Vegan" is a necessary book. Step by step it will guide the consumer on how to get out of this meat-as-machine-system. It is a practical guide, taking into consideration every aspect of this change in one’s life: how to manage the social scene, holidays and celebrations, our food relationships with friends and family.
The nutritional problems? There are practically none.
But we will not underestimate---or overestimate---the social problems.One of the chapters is titled “How to go Vegan: Your next major life decision. And it is.
One way to handle the social problems and family get-togethers is to bring your own food to dinners. I would add one more piece of advice: don’t tell the guests this is vegan food until after they have eaten the dish. Sometimes it sets them up for a negative reaction before eating. Let the food speak for itself. It usually does, and the authors have wonderful recipes to guide you in preparing vegan meals in the chapter, “Recipes for Everyday and Festive Eating.”
It truly is never too late to go vegan, as the authors suggest. We all should opt out of the machine model of meat production, regardless of age.
Never Too Late to Go Vegan; By Patti Breitman, Carol J. Adams and Virgnina Messina, MPH, RD. Published by The Experiment. 2014.