Towards Vegan Permaculture Food Futures

Link: https://spiralseed.co.uk/vegan-permaculture-food-futures/

Growing Beyond The Impossible Burger – Towards Vegan Permaculture Food Futures

Growing Beyond The Impossible Burger – Towards Vegan Permaculture Food Futures by Graham Burnett

“Radical agriculture seeks to restore humanity’s sense of community: first, by giving full recognition to the soil as an ecosystem, a biotic community; and second, by viewing agriculture as the activity of a natural human community, a rural society and culture. Indeed, agriculture becomes the practical, day-to-day interface of soil and human communities, the means by which both meet and blend.” – Murray Bookchin, ‘Radical Agriculture’.

Even as a small child in the mid-1960s I seemed to make the connection between the cows I’d see on a Sunday morning during walks in the countryside with my grandad, and the roast beef served up on my plate by my nan an hour or so later. At six or seven years old I was too young to articulate why, but I knew instinctively it wasn’t something I wanted to be a part of. I became vegetarian at the age of 16 in 1977, before finally joining the dots and making the step to veganism in 1984. Around this time I came across a small pamphlet written by then UK Vegan Society secretary Kathleen Jannaway called ‘First Hand First Rate’. This made clear to me the wider connections between animal farming and environmental damage, as well as raising my awareness of the hidden violence behind our food systems;

“Addiction to meat and dairy products and to factory processed food has got such a hold on the minds of people of the dominant Western culture that they find it difficult to question it in their own lives… This wasteful trend must be arrested if the famines of today are not to be repeated on an even more horrifying scale as the population of the world increases.”

Fast forward almost 40 years, and there has been a huge upswing in the availability of plant-based consumer food choices, with veganism now being pretty much mainstream. Of course, this is a good thing. I’m pleased that it’s a lot easier to obtain animal-free convenience foods when eating out or travelling than it was back in the 1980s. It’s great that I can grab a Greggs Vegan Sausage Roll when waiting on a draughty station concourse, and more crucially that conversations and awareness around cruelty-free living and animal liberation continue to open up to an ever wider audience.

Industrial soy production – is it time to move away from the monoculture?

But we also need conversations about how we grow. Going beyond the fact that the fast food chains and supermarkets are increasingly stocked with all manner of processed Impossible Burgers, Chik’n Nuggets and Tofurky, for me the vegan philosophy of compassionate living has always been about more than substituting the products of the slaughterhouse with plant-based (mainly soy, often GMO) ingredients when these are still part of the corporate globalised food production system. Behind the glossy packaging and ‘cruelty-free alternative’ eco-hype the patterns of land exploitation, industrialisation and human alienation from the actual means of production really don’t look so very different as far as I can see. Whether plant or animal based, the current capitalist agricultural model has massive social and environmental impacts and implications. The ‘conventional’ extractive farming methods providing most of the food we consume today are based around the twin goals of maximising output and profit, concerned only with meeting the financial ‘bottom line’ of the big corporations controlling resources and supply lines. Even if we were able to remove the horrors of the slaughterhouse and the factory farm from the equation, that hidden violence hasn’t gone away. Repercussions for human, social and planetary health include;

• Deforestation and loss of habitat, with vast areas of land cleared for soy production.

• Mass-scale soil degradation in the form of salination, waterlogging, compaction, declining fertility and erosion.

• Global water depletion, including the mining of aquifers and ground water sources for irrigation.

• Pollution, including nitrification of rivers and oceans caused by artificial fertilisers, and the release of systemic pesticides into the environment

• Increasing dependence on external inputs, forcing farmers and growers in the two-thirds world to use genetically modified seeds and hi-tech industrial farming machinery, rather than creating ‘closed loop’ localised growing systems and utilising appropriate technologies.

• Decline of genetic diversity through the erosion of food sovereignty and loss of locally distinctive varieties.

• Global inequality, poverty and continuing starvation in many parts of the world, as well as the exploitation and dispossession from the land of agricultural workers, in both the ‘west’ and two-thirds world.

• Perhaps most significantly in the long term, industrialised agriculture massively contributes to climate change. The global food system, including animal agriculture, is responsible for around half of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Vegan Permaculture: Cultivating a Harmonious relationship with nature

As the world becomes increasingly aware of the devastating effects of the climate crisis and the depletion of natural resources it’s clearer than ever that we need to find new ways of living in harmony with the earth. It’s time to move away from industrialised monocultural growing systems, and radically reimagine what an eco-vegan agricultural landscape could be like.

Permaculture is a design philosophy that mimics the relationships and systems found in natural ecologies, emphasising the use of renewable resources, diversity and cooperation to create sustainable communities and ecosystems. Underpinning all permaculture systems are fundamental ethical values around caring for the earth and its peoples, as well as the fair and just distribution of resources. To me these fit well with the vegan philosophy of compassionate living and the precept of ‘do least harm’. In seeking to exclude the use of animal products and cruelty as far as is possible and practicable, a veganic ‘take’ on permaculture asks whether it is enough to simply ‘care for’ our non-human fellow earth-citizens whilst our relationships with them continue to be exploitative, or should we actively promote their recognition as self-willed beings with an intrinsic right to exist free from unnecessary harm?

The Permaculture plot

In traditional permaculture, animals may be used for food, labour, and manure. However, in a vegan permaculture system, these functions are fulfilled through plant-based alternatives, eg, creating polycultures, agroforestry and forest gardening, greater use of perennial crops, and employing techniques such as green manures, vegetal compost mulching and other ways of using organic matter to enrich and rebuild soil health and encourage plant growth.

All of the kingdoms of life thrive in a healthy ecosystem

Yet some ask whether a completely animal-free permaculture system is actually possible. My response is, of course not, and neither would it be desirable. For how would we fence out the earthworms that build our soil and maintain its fertility, or the bees that pollinate our fruit trees and vegetables, and why ever would we wish to? In fact, we actively design in features that are intended to attract wildlife: Ponds for frogs, toads and dragonflies, log piles to provide habitat for slow worms, beetle banks and flowering plants to bring in the ladybirds and hoverflies that keep populations of potential pests like slugs and aphids in check, and are essential to maintaining healthy productive ecosystems. What we don’t include are those animals commodified as ‘system components’ that we believe perpetuate exploitative relationships with our non-human fellow earth citizens, such as pigs, goats and chickens, whose primary function is the production of meat, milk and eggs.

The Symphony of the Soil

So although veganic permaculture aims to create self-sustaining, resilient edible landscapes that are ‘stock free’, in actuality members of several of the Kingdoms of Life (plants, animals, fungi and bacteria) will be working together for mutual benefit. In a forest garden, for example, deep rooted comfrey plants mine nutrients from the subsoil, making them available to fruit trees and bushes. Mammals such as foxes and hedgehogs deposit fertility via their droppings whilst birds and bees buzz around the canopy layer. Meanwhile insects and arthropods patrol the undergrowth and leaf litter, checking and balancing pest populations and playing their role in the cycles of growth and decay. Fungi and bacteria continue the process, breaking down dead matter into rich humus via mycorrhizal networks, all players with their place in the symphony of the soil. Based on the structure of a natural woodland, the forest garden is a complex web of which humans too are an integral part, as we manage, maintain and harvest from these biosystems.

Vegan permaculture is People Care too!

And so vegan permaculture is also about people care, recognising the importance of community and cooperation. By working together, individuals can create sustainable systems that provide for their needs while also protecting the environment. This can take the form of community gardens, co-housing developments, working for social justice, addressing issues around food sovereignty, regenerative economics, ‘green’ transport and other aspects of collective living.

Another World IS Possible: What does veganic permaculture look like in the here and now?

An increasing number of growers and food producers worldwide are adopting the ethics and principles of Vegan Permaculture . Here is just a small sample. An extensive list can be found here.

Woodleaf Farm, Eastern Oregon, USA

Diverse veganic polycultures at Woodleaf Farm, Oregon

Woodleaf Farm is a 211 acre farm managed veganically by Helen Athowe and her family since 2016. 141 acres are maintained as a wildlife sanctuary, and animals are not used for food or manure in the orchards which have 600 peach, pear, apple, apricot, plum, hazelnut, and walnut trees nor in the living mulch vegetable, bean and grain fields. Ecological growing principles utilised at Woodleaf farm include;

• Diversifying the soil food web with crop polycultures & ground cover diversity.

• Minimising soil disturbance and creating year-round refuges for insect predators, birds, bats, frogs & snakes).

• Growing a living root system by feeding the rhizosphere, and recycling nutrients within the plant community, rather than importing mined nutrients, with a focus on slow-release, plant-based Carbon fertilizer amendments.

Farmageddon Growers Collective, Portland, USA

Thriving Farmer’s Market at Farmageddon, Portland, USA

Farmageddon Growers Collective was founded in 2006 by a group of individuals who recognised the need to re-connect with our food system, seeking to grow food in a collective structure that offers a supportive learning and sharing environment using organic and permaculture techniques. They grow around seventy varieties each season including Kale, cabbage, leeks, eggplants, and many other greens. In the words of co-founder Neil Robinson, Farmageddon is about “the spirit of cooperation. Collectivism is about hearing everyone’s voices. We share equipment. We share knowledge. We are learning together. It has been an incredible experience getting connected to the soil.”

Tolhurst Organic, Oxfordshire, UK

Building soils and biodiversity at Tolhurst Organic, Reading, UK

Tolhurst Organic is situated near Reading and consists of 17 acres in two fields and a 500 year old two acre walled garden, and distributes produce via direct sales and a thriving box scheme. It’s been organically managed for over 40 years, and has had no animal inputs for at least two decades. As with the other projects mentioned, Tolhurst utilises a ‘closed systems’ approach, building biodiversity to maintain fertility and naturally managing pest populations by encouraging predators by planting extensive hedgerows as wildlife habitat, using ‘green manures’ as cover crops to avoid any bare soil, and implementing agroforestry systems.

Organiclea workers co-operative, Lea Valley, north east London, UK

Working together at OrganicLea for healthy people, communities and planet

Starting out 25 years ago when a small group of friends took over a couple of abandoned allotment plots in Chingford, in 2010 the project relocated to Hawkwood, a 17 acre former City of London nursery site on the edge of Epping Forest. 24 employed staff and hundreds of volunteers now produce and distribute food and plants locally, and inspire, train and support others to do the same by bringing people together to take action for a more just and sustainable world.

The Challenge and the Vision

“We are faced with the challenge of providing for the needs of a rapidly increasing world population from the diminishing resources of a finite and endangered planet. Fundamental changes in the values and practices of the dominant world system, which has created a situation in which millions of people and animals already suffer extreme deprivation and die prematurely, is essential. What is needed is a trend towards compassionate living the vegan way, with the emphasis on the use of trees and their products. As people face the challenge of environmental crises, as the supreme importance of using awesome intellectual powers with compassion for all sentient beings is realised, an evolutionary leap will be achieved. An era of truly abundant living will dawn in which humans, at peace with themselves, with each other and with all living creatures, will reach heights of creativity as yet unimagined.” – Kathleen Jannaway, Abundant Living in the Coming Age of the Tree, 1991

Sign up to our Vegan Permaculture Design Course, led by Graham Burnett, author of the Vegan Book of Permaculture. Past guest speakers include no-dig expert and writer Steph Hafferty, KMT Freedom Teacher of May Project Gardens in South London, Iain Tolhurst of Tolhurst Organics near Reading, Jenny Hall of Climate Friendly Foods, perennial veg grower Mandy Barber of Incredible Vegetables plant nursery, Joe Kilcoyne and Heather Patrick of Wild Earth Farm and Sanctuary in Kentucky, USA, Paul Payne of Ecoworks community garden in Nottingham and many others. Find out more here

An edited version of this article first appeared in the summer 2023 edition of Growing Green, the magazine of the Vegan Organic Network

The Scarecrow

"Fiona Apple covered “Pure Imagination” for a Chipotle ad campaign criticizing factory farming. The video features a scarecrow witnessing the horrors of factory farming and animals undergoing hormone therapy, and in the end he starts his own business selling sustainable vegetarian food." ~ Carl Williott 

A Guide to Eating a Plant-Based Diet

Post written by Leo Babauta.

http://zenhabits.net/plants/

If I could make a single dietary recommendation to people looking to get healthier, it would be to move to a plant-based diet.

Eating plants has been the best change I’ve made in my diet — and I’ve made a bunch of them, from intermittent fasting to low-carb experiments to eating 6 meals a day to eating almost all protein to eliminating sugar (all at various times).

Plants have made me slimmer, healthier, stronger, more energetic — and have increased my life expectancy (more on all this below).

Of course, the diet is simple, but moving away from the Standard American Diet to a plant-based one isn’t always so simple for most people.

Changing your diet can be difficult, but in this guide I’ll share a bit about how to change, talk a bit about why, and what you might eat.

What’s a Plant-Based Diet?

The simple answer, of course, is that you eat plants. You eliminate animals and (eventually) animal products like dairy and eggs.

The less simple answer is there is an abundance of plant foods that most people never eat, and eating a plant-based diet means you might widen the variety of foods you eat. For example, some of my favorite foods include: tempeh, seitan, tofu, kale, broccoli, quinoa, ground flaxseeds, ground chia seeds, raw almonds and walnuts, raw almond butter, olive oil, all kinds of berries, figs, avocados, tomatoes, lentils, black beans, spirulina, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, organic soymilk, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, apples, peaches, mangoes, pineapple, garlic, red wine, green tea, brown rice, sprouted (flourless) bread, brown rice, steel-cut oats.

A “plant-based diet” is basically another way to say “vegan”, though in my definition it’s a little looser than “vegan” — you might eat some cheese on a salad if it’s been served by your gracious host, for example. So “plant-based” means you eat almost all plants, but depending on your preferences, you might eat something with eggs in it now and then without having a cow. My preference, though, would be to eat vegan all the time, ideally.

Why Should I Change?

There are a few important reasons to eat plants:

1. Health. The basis of this guide is health, and many people switch to eating plants because they want to lose weight, improve their heart health, stay healthy as they age, improve blood pressure or deal with diabetes. A plant-based diet has been shown to help with all of these things — if you also stay away from the processed foods. A diet of processed flour and sugar and fried foods isn’t healthy even if it’s all plants (more on this below). The healthiest populations in the world are plant based: the Okinawans (traditionally at almost all plants such as sweet potatoes, soybeans, lots of veggies, with a little fish and occasional pork), the Sardinians (beans & veggies, red wine, some cheese, meat only once a week), and the vegan Seventh-Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California who are the longest-living Americans. Eating plants is the best thing you can do to reduce your risk of the leading causes of death.
2. Environment. Honestly, while this is very important to me, it’s probably the least important of the three reasons on this list (for me personally, that is). But it’s huge: the biggest way to reduce your carbon footprint is to stop eating animal products — better than giving up a car (next best) or using less energy in your home or traveling by plane less or recycling or using solar energy or driving an electric car or buying fewer things. The animals we raise for food production use a ton of resources, eat way more plants than we do (which in turn also require resources to be grown), give off huge amounts of planet-warming methane, breathe out a lot of carbon dioxide, and create a lot of pollution. This 2006 United Nations report concludes that “Livestock have a substantial impact on the world’s water, land and biodiversity resources and contribute significantly to climate change. Animal agriculture produces 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalents), compared with 13.5 percent from all forms of transportation combined.” And it takes 4,000 to 18,000 gallons of water to make the beef for one hamburger, according to a recent report from theU.S. geological survey.
3. Compassion. For me, this is the most important reason to move away from eating animals. I’ve talked a lot about compassion on this site, but by far the most cruel thing any of us does each day is consume animals (and their products). The cruelty that is perpetuated on these living, feeling, suffering beings on our behalf is enormous and undeniable. If you don’t believe me, watch this video with Sir Paul McCartney. While I became vegan for health reasons, I stick with it for reasons of compassion — wanting to reduce the suffering of other sentient beings.

But … if you don’t do it to avoid pollution, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, increased death rates, animal cruelty, global warming, deforestation, and higher costs … maybe weight loss would do it. Vegetarians and vegans weigh less on average than meat eaters. That’seven after adjusting for things like fibre, alcohol, smoking … and calorie intake! Half of Americans are obese, but vegans tend to be much less obese (with exceptions of course).

That said, just going vegan will not necessarily cause you to lose weight. You could easily eat a lot of sugar, white flour, fake meats and fried foods and gain weight. If you eat whole plant foods, you’re likely to lose weight. Plant foods, for starters, have pretty much no saturated fat, low calories and tons of fiber, while animal foods all have saturated fat, lots of calories and zero fiber.

Beating Death: I highly recommend watching this video on uprooting the causes of death using a plant-based diet. It’s a bit long, but well worth the time.

How to Change

It will be no surprise that I recommend people start small and change slowly. A good plan is to make the change in stages:

1. Slowly cut out meat. This stage is actually several smaller stages. You might try starting with Meatless Mondays and then, over time, expanding to other days of the week. Another common idea is to start by cutting out red meat, and then poultry, then seafood, in gradual stages of a month or even six months. There is no rush — do it at the pace that feels good to you. Another important point is that, as you eliminate meat, don’t just fill it with starches (which don’t have that much nutrition). Try new foods, experiment with ethic recipes, and explore different nutrients as you make these changes.
2. Eliminate eggs. After you cut out red meat and poultry, you’ll be pescatarian (seafood). When you eliminate seafood, you’re vegetarian! If you’re eating eggs and dairy, that’s called a “lacto-ovo” vegetarian. You can then eliminate eggs — and no, they’re not cruelty-free. This is one of the easier stages, in my experience.
3. Cut out dairy. This tends to be harder for most people. Not because of milk (soymilk and almond milk are good alternatives that just take a few days to adjust to) … but because of cheese. I hear a lot of people say, “I can’t give up my cheese!” — and I empathize, as this was a sticking point for me too. It helps that there are better and better cheese alternatives these days (Daiya being a favorite of many). But for me, what made all the difference is not focusing on what I was giving up, but on the good things I could eat!
4. Eat whole, unprocessed foods. This is the phase that I’m in, and I wholly recommend it. You can go straight here if you have no problems changing your diet, but people eating the Standard American Diet will find it difficult, because the foods are very different than what most people eat. For example, most people in the U.S. don’t eat many vegetables, and find them distasteful, especially dark green leafy veggies, which are the best. I now love vegetables, and kale is my best friend. Most people dislike protein-rich plant foods like tempeh, tofu, seitan, and beans. Most people don’t eat raw nuts — they eat roasted and salted nuts. However, all of this can change over time, which is why I recommend that you move into this slowly. What exactly is this phase? See the next section for details.

What to Eat

So what do you eat when you’re on a plant-based diet that focuses on whole foods? Lots!

A few categories of foods to include regularly:

1. Beans and other protein. This means the regular kinds of beans, like lentils, black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, etc. But it can also mean soybeans (edamame), tofu, tempeh, and seitan (protein from wheat, not good for gluten-intolerant people). It can also mean soymilk, soy yogurt, and the like, which are often fortified. Get organic, non-GMO soy.
2. Nuts and seeds. My favorites include raw almonds and walnuts, along with ground flaxseeds and chia seeds, and hemp seed protein powder. Almond milk is also good. And quinoa — it’s like a grain, but really a seed, and full of nutrition.
3. Good fats. Fats aren’t bad for you — you should just look to avoid saturated fats. Luckily, not many plant foods have saturated fats. Plants with good fats include avocados, nuts and seeds mentioned above, olive oil and canola oil.
4. Greens. This is one of the most important and nutritious group of all. Dark, leafy green veggies are awesome, and full of calcium, iron and a ton of vitamins. My favorites: kale, spinach, broccoli, collards. Eat lots of them daily! They also have very few calories, meaning they pack a ton of nutrition in a small caloric package.
5. Other fruits and veggies. Get a variety — I love berries of all kinds, figs, apples, citrus fruits, peaches, mangoes, bananas, pears, bell peppers, garlic, beets, celery, cauliflower … I could go on all day! Get lots of different colors.
6. Good starches. Starches are not bad for you — but ones that have little calories aren’t great. So find starches that give you lots of nutrition. Sweet potatoes, red potatoes, squash, brown rice, sprouted whole wheat, steel-cut oats, among others.
7. Some other healthy stuff. I love red wine, green tea, cinnamon, turmeric, spirulina and nutritional yeast.

OK, by now you might be overwhelmed by all of this. How do you put it together? It’s not that hard once you get used to it. Start learning some recipes that combine some of these foods into meals, and over time, you’ll have a few go-to meals that you love that are full of nutrition.

Some examples that I like (but don’t limit yourself to these!):

• Tofu scramble w/ veggies: some organic high-protein tofu crumbled and stir-fried with olive oil, garlic, diced carrots and tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms, and spiced with tamari, turmeric, sea salt and coarse black pepper.
• Steel-cut oats: cook some steel-cut oats, then add ground flaxseeds, raw nuts, berries, cinnamon.
• Stir-fry: Here’s my secret … you can make an endless combo of meals by cooking some garlic in olive oil, then cooking some veggies (carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc.) and some protein (tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc.) and some greens (kale, broccoli, spinach, etc.) and some spices (turmeric or coconut milk or tamari & sesame oil, black pepper, salt).
• Veggie chili over quinoa: Black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans with olive oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, diced kale, diced carrots, tomato sauce, chili powder, salt, pepper. Maybe some beer for flavor. Serve over quinoa or brown rice.
• One-pot meal: Quinoa, lentils, greens, olive oil, tempeh (or a bunch of other variations). Read Tynan’s post on cooking this all in one pot.
• Whole-wheat pasta: Serve with a sauce — some tomato sauce with olive oil, garlic, onions, bell peppers, diced kale and carrots, diced tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano.
• Big-ass Salad: Start with a bed of kale & spinach, throw on other veggies such as carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower, snow peas, green beans, tomatoes … then some beans, nuts and/or seeds … top with avocado. Mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil, or red wine vinegar and olive oil, sprinkle on the salad. Yum.
• Smoothies: Blend some almond or soy milk with frozen berries, greens, ground chia or flaxseeds, hemp or spirulina protein powder. Lots of nutrition in one drink!
• Snacks: I often snack on fruits and berries, raw almonds or walnuts, carrots with hummus.
• Drinks: I tend to drink water all day, some coffee (without sugar) in the morning, tea in the afternoon, and red wine in the evening.

My Food Journal: If you’d like to see my food journal (admittedly not always perfectly healthy), I’ve started one that you can see here.

Frequently Asked Questions

I’ll add to this section as questions come in, though obviously I can’t answer everything.

Q: Isn’t it hard to get protein on a vegan diet?

A: Not really, as long as you eat a variety of whole foods, and not a bunch of processed flours and sugars (the white kind that has little nutrition). There is protein in vegetables and grains, and even more in beans, nuts and seeds. I often eat protein-rich plant foods like tempeh, tofu, seitan, edamame, black beans, lentils, quinoa, soymilk, and raw nuts. Read more here.

Q: What about calcium or iron or B12?

A: Again, it’s not difficult at all. I’ve calculated the iron and calcium in my diet at various times, and as long as I’m mostly eating whole foods, it’s really easy. Nuts and green veggies are your best friends, but there’s also calcium-fortified soymilk and tofu and the like. Eat some kale, quinoa, raw nuts, various seeds, broccoli, tofu or tempeh … it’s not difficult. Vitamin B12 is a bit more difficult to get from regular plants, as the main source of B12 is usually animal products — including eggs and dairy. But actually, vegans have figured this out, and now if you drink fortified soymilk or almond milk, or use nutritional yeast or a few other good sources like that, you will have no worries. More reading oniron, calcium and B12 for vegans.

Q: Isn’t soy bad for you?

A: No. That’s a myth. I would stick to organic, non-GMO soy, but actually soy is a very healthy source of protein and other nutrients, and has been eaten by very healthy people for thousands of years. More info here.

Q: I follow the Paleo diet and believe this is how humans are meant to eat.

A: Well, if you’re eating unprocessed foods and have cut out white flours and sugars and deep-fried foods, you’re probably healthier than the average American. I admire the Paleo crowd that focuses on whole foods and that eats lots of veggies and nuts and seeds, but when it’s just an excuse to eat lots of meat, it’s not as healthy. It’s also not true that hunter-gatherer societies ate mostly meat — the crowd that believes this has made a flawed review of contemporary hunter-gatherers. Most traditional societies eat, and have pretty much always eaten, mostly plants, including lots of starches — respected anthropologists such as Nathanial Dominy, PhD, from Dartmouth College say that the idea of hunter-gatherers eating mostly meat is a myth. I’d also warn against low-carb, high-protein diets over the long run — in the short term, you’ll see weight loss, but in the long run they’ve been shown to increase cardiovascular disease (from June 21, 2012 issue of British Medical Journal).

Q: It sounds difficult and complicated.

A: Actually it’s very simple — you just learn to eat a variety of plants. It does mean learning some new meals, but instead of seeing that as a hardship, think of it as something fun to learn. If you slowly change your eating patterns, it’s not hard at all. Be flexible and don’t be too strict — you’ll find that it’s much easier if you allow yourself an occasional meal with animal products, especially in the first 6-12 months.

Q: What about fake meats and cheeses?

A: There’s nothing wrong with giving them a try now and then when you’re having a craving for something, but in all honesty you don’t need them. They’re more expensive and less healthy. Basically, they’re convenience foods.

Q: What if I’m allergic to soy or gluten or nuts?

A: It’s still possible to get all the nutrition you need from a plant-based diets without a specific kind of food (like gluten or soy), from what I understand. More here.

Q: It sounds expensive.

A: Actually it can be a lot less expensive, if you stay away from the vegan convenience foods (which are fine on occasion). Meat is more expensive than beans or tofu, for example. While fresh, organic veggies can cost a bit, you should get these in your diet even if you eat meat — and in the long run, you’ll save much more on medical bills.

Q: There’s no way I’ll give up (eggs, cheese, ice cream, etc.)!

A: Well, you don’t have to. If you want to eat mostly plants but also eggs and cheese, that’s much better than eating meat. But there are cheese substitutes you can try, and vegan ice cream, and in the long run, you might find that giving these things up isn’t as difficult as you think.

Q: What about eating out at restaurants or social gatherings?

A: I’d recommend you take it slowly at first, and eat mostly plants at home, and be more liberal when you eat out, for a little while. You don’t want to make this too difficult on yourself. But actually, once you learn some simple strategies, it’s not that hard to find vegan food in restaurants — some are easier than others, and sites like Happy Cowmake it easy to find veg-friendly restaurants in your area. As for eating at friends’ and families’ houses, I’ve learned to offer to bring one or two vegan dishes, and it’s not usually a problem.

Q: What if my family and friends don’t support this change?

A: It’s best if you don’t start preaching — people don’t like it. This article might seem like a violation of that, but actually I rarely push veganism on this site, and when I do it’s only as a way to show others a healthy and compassionate alternative. Remember that those around you probably don’t know much about veganism, and are likely to react defensively. Take the opportunity, when they bring up the topic, to share what you’re learning, and the concerns you yourself had when you first learned about it. Show them some great vegan food. Share this guide with them. And always be patient.

More answers here: Vegan Outreach Q&A, Vegan Nutrition FAQ, Vegan Society FAQ.

Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change + Health

 





http://breakingnews.ewg.org/meateatersguide/at-a-glance-brochure/

Try Veg

• http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/

Saving Animals, One Bite at a Time Animal Cruelty on Factory Farms The Birds The Pigs The Cows The Aquatic Animals The Free-Range Myth Choosing Compassion Over Killing	Foods and Recipes For Your Grocery Cart New-to-You Foods Vegetarian Dining Vegetarian Recipes Meal and Snack Ideas Vegan Eatin’ on a Budget
Saving Ourselves, One Bite at a Time Healthy Eating Experts on Vegetarian Diets Benefits of Vegetarian Eating Is Milk a Natural?	The Easy Transition to Vegetarian Eating Transition in Three Steps Eye on the Prize Quick Tips  Leading by Example
Saving the Earth, One Bite at a Time Sustainable Eating Polluting the Water / Air Wasting Resources What About Fish? Choosing Sustainability	And more... Concerns About Protein Veg Diets: Doing It Right Protein, Iron, and Calcium Vegetarian FAQ Vegetarian Resources

Request your free Vegetarian Starter Guide – or you can
also download our Guide today in PDF format