Category Plant-Based Eating

I saw a quote on social media few days ago, and am sharing it here. While I was searching for that one, I came across a couple of others, that I am sharing as well. Happy Monday!

These quotes are relevant in all of the areas that we talk about here – development, food, sustainability and others. As we all deal with this pandemic, and the climate crisis, our collective failure to listen to experts – who have been calling for massive changes to prevent a climate crisis for decades – can not be ignored. Changes to our choices – individually and collectively – need to be radically rethought, so that we come out of this pandemic with a Green New Deal (in various forms, locally and globally), with related changes to how we live, work, eat, use energy, get from place to place and support each other collectively, among others.

And a couple more…

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We have to wake up: factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics: Covid-19’s history is not yet fully known, but the links between animal and human health could not be clearer Guardian

NOTE: During this pandemic, and always, immediate safety, health and other concerns come before discussion on other related issues. Discussion on policies during the pandemic, their implications and choices we make collectively for the future do not, in any way, minimize the impacts of the present crisis.

While this pandemic continues, and most of the world remains locked down, it feels imperative to me to try to look at root causes, as a way to reduce the chances that this happens again. This does not minimize the work that countless people are doing to find a treatment etc. However, I think we can all agree that working to prevent the next pandemic is at least as important as addressing the current crisis. To be clear, information on this current pandemic is rapidly changing. I am focusing on a combination of what we know about this pandemic in the present, as well as what seems to be clear about trends, related to animals, food systems and climate change, in broader terms.

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Following up from a few days ago, there is more evidence that factory farming – and the general systems through which most of the world gets animal products (including meat, dairy and eggs) is an overwhelming contributor to the disease spread which leads to pandemics and the type of crisis that we are in right now.

Pathogens do not respect species boundaries, either. Influenza and coronaviruses move fluidly between human and animal populations, just as they move fluidly between nations. When it comes to pandemics, there is not animal health and human health – not any more than there is Korean health and French health. Social distancing works only when everyone practises it, and “everyone” includes animals. (Bold mine)

Guardian

So, the evidence is clear, The question is only related to how we respond to the clear risk to our own health (personally, communally and for the climate), that this evidence presents to us.

To reduce risk of pandemics for ourselves, our gaze needs to turn to the health of animals. In the case of wild animal populations, such as the bats that scientists have theorised as a probable origination point for Covid-19, the best solution seems to be to limit and regulate human interaction.

In the case of farmed animals, though, the lack of public understanding has allowed unscrupulous corporations to move policy in exactly the wrong direction. Across the globe, corporations have succeeded in creating policies that use public resources to promote industrial farming. One study suggests that the public is providing $1m per minute in global farm subsidies, overwhelmingly used to prop up and expand the current broken model. The same $1m a minute that promotes factory farming also increases pandemic risk. (Bold mine).

Guardian

What other systems are allowed to remain so pervasive in every day life, with consequences that are so profound, yet so unspoken? So, here’s today’s challenge. Let’s come out of this pandemic with at least one silver lining. Let’s make sure that we change our systems so that we have reduced our risk for the future. What does that look like practically?

Here are some next steps to consider. Pick, choose, adjust for your individual circumstances. 🙂

1) Stop eating animal products. Use up what you currently have in your fridge/freezer, and commit to not buying more after that.

2) Commit to only eating animal products from very small farms (eg a few backyard chickens etc), where the disease risks can (presumably) be managed, and we are not interfering with nature/wildlife (eg hunting etc). For overall climate emissions, a total consumption reduction is in order (especially for meat), but this is one way to still use eggs, for example, without the disease risks that come from larger operations.

These two are the fastest pathways to change, and are best for both disease prevention and climate health. Systems change, from a policy perspective, is very difficult, especially when large players are making money on the status quo.

Especially during this shutdown, stocking up on dried legumes and rice etc is not only easier and more sustainable, it’s also more cost effective. A large bag of brown rice and a few bags of dried lentils and chickpeas goes a long ways. 🙂

3) In addition to the above, a secondary level of change work is related to advocacy and policy change. After significantly reducing/eliminating the market for animal products from factory farms etc, creating strong policies to ensure better practices for the future is much easier, although it still often takes a long time.

Let me know what changes you are making in response to this challenge. I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

Hope everyone is staying safe!

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NOTE: During this pandemic, and always, immediate safety, health and other concerns come before discussion on other related issues. Discussion on policies during the pandemic, their implications and choices we make collectively for the future do not, in any way, minimize the impacts of the present crisis.

While this pandemic continues, and most of the world remains locked down, it feels imperative to me to try to look at root causes, as a way to reduce the chances that this happens again. This does not minimize the work that countless people are doing to find a treatment etc. However, I think we can all agree that working to prevent the next pandemic is at least as important as addressing the current crisis. To be clear, information on this current pandemic is rapidly changing. I am focusing on a combination of what we know about this pandemic in the present, as well as what seems to be clear about trends, related to animals, food systems and climate change, in broader terms.

Here is a bit of what I’ve been reading:

Coronavirus: Outbreak puts wildlife markets in the spotlight. Aljazeera.com

Surely the link between abusing animals and the world’s health is now clear Guardian

How did coronavirus start and where did it come from? Was it really Wuhan’s animal market? Guardian

The boast that “when the facts change, I change my mind” is a proud one. “When the facts change, I reinforce my prejudices” is truer. If you want proof, look at the coronavirus that has changed everything and consider the undisputed fact that it spread because of humanity’s abuse of animals.

Imagine a world where facts changed minds. The United Nations, governments and everyone with influence would now be saying we should abandon meat or at a minimum cut down on consumption. Perhaps my reading is not as wide as it should be, but I have heard nothing of the sort argued. Making the case would be child’s play and would not be confined to emphasising that Covid-19 probably jumped species in Wuhan’s grotesque wet markets. The Sars epidemic of 2002-04 began in Guangdong, probably in bats, and then spread to civet cats, sold in markets and eaten in restaurants. The H7N9 strain of bird flu began in China, once again, and moved to humans from diseased poultry.

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Diseases have always jumped species, but the Covid-19 pandemic may be a sign of an ominous acceleration. A paper this month in the Proceedings of the Royal Society suggests the rate of new infections could be rising as humans cram into every corner of the planet. The loss of habitat and the exploitation of wildlife through hunting and trade increased the risk of infectious “spillover”, it said. Ferocious punishments for the use of “exotic” animals for food and medicines are required. Once again, though, that is too easy a slogan for people in the west to chant and feel virtuous as they chant it. We should be examining our own diets.

Guardian – Bold mine

Without adding to much length here, and turning this into a dissertation (or a rant :)), it is abundantly clear that our relationship to animals and food needs to change, to protect individual and communal health, as well as the environment. Actions and results are inter-related in countless ways – individual and communal health, climate change impacts from heavy consumption of animal products, impacts on climate and health from factory farming and markets, impacts from the entire process from beginning to end.

To be clear, that does not mean that there is an inherent problem with someone raising a few chickens in the backyard. I am talking about systems here – most people in the world get most of their meat etc from factory farms and/or from live markets. If we removed that from our global food systems, we would be looking at a very different world. So, given where we are at, what will it take to create change? Does a change to our food systems seem like a worthwhile trade off to reduce the chances of a future pandemic?

Even if individuals change, the dominant culture makes demands for society to change appear ridiculously utopian. Imagine a politician campaigning for stiff restrictions on meat consumption. Critics would accuse him or her of punishing the poor – for people who barely think of the poor always invoke them when their pleasures are threatened. They would be damned for wanting to ban the good old Sunday lunch and the joy a Big Mac brings. Our grandchildren may look back and find our abuse of animals incomprehensible. For the moment, arguments to stop abuse provoke incomprehension.

Guardian (Bold mine)

So far, in Canada at least, one unusual outcome of this pandemic has been a rush on yeast and other baking supplies, with a related increase in people baking bread and other things, far beyond what the average was before the pandemic. In fact, many grocery stores are completely out of yeast. Perhaps eating more rice and legumes and nudging more towards plant-based eating, with a matching change/decrease to our factory farms and other large-scale animal-related food systems, is another change that will come out of this. 🙂

Hope everyone is staying safe. 🙂

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CBC

We are head into another weekend, and getting ready for another week of isolation in Canada, with schools and many other things shutdown. Rick Mercer’s most recent rant is a reminder that looking for loopholes to recommendations to maintain physical distancing will not help anybody. The best thing we can all do, for our collective good, is to stay at home as much as possible.

As a reminder, physical distancing does not mean social distancing. We are not only allowed to still maintain relationships while we are distancing, it is encouraged! Set up remote coffee break chats with people, use texting apps such as WhatsApp or others to set up group chats with various people (if you haven’t already) to keep in touch, and do anything else that comes to mind that maintains, and even builds, relationships. 🙂

Plus, as a bonus, if you stocked up on things like rice, flour, oats and dried beans before things shut down (we always have lots in our cold room), you have an opportunity to experiment and find some new favourite veggie recipes, or pull out an old favourite. (Of course, don’t let that add more stress to an already stressful day. Only add it in if it feels right. :))

Happy weekend everyone! 🙂

Hi all,

I’ve been away for a bit, as other plans have been continually adjusting over the last week or two. I have also debated whether to write about the pandemic, or avoid it/take a break, and focus on something else. So, as a compromise, I’m going to do a bit of both. I’m going to focus on how we can use this pandemic to reset parts of how we operate, to ensure that we come out of this into a local and global community that is better than it was before.

NOTE: We have been at home, as a family, for almost 2 weeks, since school was shut down here. No known exposure to anything at this point, and we are all healthy so far. We are going for walks around the block etc, but not much more than that. We are grateful for our cold room (well stocked with flour, oats and lots of other good things), our bread machine, dehydrator and instant pot, and the fact that we have been able to order things online for delivery.

Pandemic and Climate Crisis:

Without wanting to minimize the very significant impacts of the virus in any way, I think that there is a lot that we can learn from this crisis, in order to avert further climate damage before it’s too late. If there is any silver lining, a massive global Green New Deal, with massive action to avert the worst of the climate crisis, is it.

The Covid-19 crisis is a chance to do capitalism differently: Guardian

Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus?: Guardian

What could change look like?

To be clear, I am not proposing that nobody ever leave their house again. However, there is a lot that we can keep from this shutdown that could help deal with the climate crisis.

SUVs second biggest cause of emissions rise, figures reveal: Guardian – If we can leave our big vehicles at home more in the future, and use public transit/drive a smaller EV etc, the impact would be significant. Likewise, if companies have adjusted and found ways to get work done with less driving/flying to meetings, there is to reason to go back to status quo when this is over.

‘Individual actions do add up’: Christiana Figueres on the climate crisis: Guardian

Toronto Star: Did free cash drive people to quit work? Not according to a new study of Ontario’s basic income experiment. (Star) – This pandemic is yet another reason for countries to implement a universal basic income, starting ASAP. 🙂

No putting meat on expenses, says property firm: BBC News – I actually saw this one before the pandemic, and it is an interesting, if somewhat complicated response to impacts of food choices on climate and business. 🙂

And, naturally, it goes without saying that I am not supportive of fossil fuel subsidies, or bailouts of large companies that are making massive profits at the expense of people or creation. I support workers, and retraining for anybody who wants, and a universal basic income. 🙂

Doing nothing will lead to more crises in the future. Let’s use this crisis as an opportunity to build the better world that so many people have been seeking for so long. 🙂

… And why that matters for the health of people, and the planet. 🙂

FOK website

NOTE: I am not a certified nutritionist. This is general information only, to the best of my knowledge.

At various times, such as in presentations or conversations, the question of dairy, carbs or other specific food items comes up, particularly as plant-based eating is often part of the discussion at hand.

One of the ones that has been raised is that of dairy – a result of the heavy industry marketing-influences on the earlier versions of the Canada Food Guide. Many people still hold the belief that dairy is essential for health, and that whole-foods plant-based (WFPB) eating is leading them astray.

In a similar manner, sometimes the question of carbs comes up in discussions, as being contradictory to common fad diets, such as keto, paleo etc. To the best of my knowledge, there can be value (from a digestive health perspective, for example, and also from a spiritual perspective), to the practice of fasting (intermittent or other), while done carefully and with proper guidance.

However, the idea of eating a heavily animal-based protein diet (regardless of what it is called eg keto or paleo etc), seems problematic to me – both for individual health and for the health of the planet. There is strong science backing up both the health and environmental benefits of a WFPB diet, and likewise, strong evidence of the damage, to people and planet, caused by a heavily animal-based diet.

I do not know all of the background of how the low-carb trend took off, but there is a quick summary here, which is a shorter version of some of what is in the updated China Study book. Here are a few quotes:

The human body, which does not have the ability to make food from the sun, also happens to use carbohydrates as its main energy source. For example, our brain and red blood cells depend specifically on glucose (a carbohydrate) for normal functioning and energy.

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By telling people to avoid or significantly limit carbs in general, the low-carb movement has erased the crucial distinction between unprocessed and processed foods—creating an entirely new paradigm that goes against everything we know about nutrition and health.

Long-Term vs. Short-Term
If you eliminate carbohydrates from your diet and put your body into a state of ketosis, whereby it’s forced to burn fat to make ketones for energy, it can lead to short-term weight loss. But keeping your body in a state of ketosis is neither sustainable nor healthful, and it does not fulfill the long-term promise of effective weight loss. Indeed, observational population studies show that high-protein, high-fat diets are associated not only with more health problems but also obesity. (Bold mine)

When looking at long-term and sustained weight loss without mandated exercise or calorie restriction, the most effective eating pattern has been shown to be a whole-food, plant-based diet (low in fat and high in unprocessed carbohydrates).

FOK website

Going further into details regarding the rise of the Atkins and other similar low-carb, high (animal) protein “diets”, the writer says:

The chair of Harvard’s Department of Nutrition said that the Atkins diet was “nonsense” and “dangerous.” The prestigious Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics called the diet “unbalanced, unsound, and unsafe.” But no amount of criticism stopped the diet’s popularity and the newfound fear of carbs it perpetuated. (Bold mine.)

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That may be why cardiologist Dr. Kim Williams vigorously promoted a plant-based vegan diet during his tenure as president of the American College of Cardiology, and once famously said, “There are two kinds of cardiologists, those who are vegan and those who have not read the evidence.” (Bold mine).

FOK

In light of the health and environmental impacts of heavy consumption of animal-based foods/proteins, both individually and communally, it’s time to find ways to add more low emissions, whole/plant-based foods into how we eat. Let’s find ways to celebrate amazing rice bowls with veggies and tofu, homemade granola with plant-based milk and all of the other endless options that are available to us in the plant-based world – not as a sacrifice, but as one small, joyful step towards ensuring that we all have enough healthy food to eat, and a thriving planet, that we all share, to live on. 🙂

Forks Over Knives

More reasons to leave cow milk consumption in the past – for health and environmental reasons, with meat in the same category. 🙂

The review summarized here looks at the relationship between dairy and both weight loss and bone strength, as well as the environmental impacts of the dairy industry. This is further evidence that the past claimed health impacts of dairy are not accurate. It should be noted that the Canadian food guide has now (finally) removed dairy as a category – although the messaging from earlier versions seems to still be very much a part of how most of the country views dairy consumption. There has been a definite shift in the last number of years, but dairy milk/cheese/yogurt is still dominant in grocery stores etc.

In addition to health concerns, the review examines the environmental costs of meeting the USDA’s dairy-intake recommendations. The authors note that the impact of industrial dairy production on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, water use and pollution, and antibiotic resistance is 5 to 10 times greater per unit of protein than the production of soy and other legumes as well as most grains. The authors suggest that limiting dairy production could benefit us globally, making it easier to reach international greenhouse-gas targets. (Bold mine).

The report concludes that milk is not an essential part of the diet, and calcium can be obtained elsewhere—and not just from obvious dairy alternatives: “Some people want to consume a white liquid, and there are now many options, such as nut milk, oat milk, and soy milk,” says Willett. “It is important to use one without added sugar. However, white liquid consumption is not nutritionally necessary, and adequate calcium can be obtained from many other foods, especially greens such as kale and also broccoli.”

Link

I’m currently reading the updated China Study – haven’t looked through their work in detail since reading the earlier edition many years ago.

In addition to the overwhelming environmental evidence in support of a whole foods, plant-based diet, this adds in comprehensive health information regarding the benefits of ditching meat, dairy and eggs, while emphasizing the benfits of fruit and veggies, legumes (and other plant-based protein) and whole grains, such as brown rice etc. It’s a detailed read. If you are looking for quicker options, the website and apps, as well as the movie etc, are much faster ways to access the information.

Happy Reading! 🙂