we saw a really interesting documentary on PBS this weekend called "Eating." it was basically about why a plant-based diet is so good for your health, and how eating meat can destroy your health. i want to watch it again, so we've saved it on our DVR. the beginning starts off with this statement (totally paraphrased here): "more americans die of over eating than not eating enough." this was made in the 1950's. if that was the case back then, i can only imagine what those numbers look like today!!! it mostly talked about how eating a plant-based diet can not only keep you healthy, but turn your bad health into good health!! by eating meat, you are weakening your immune system, cuz our bodies are not meant to digest animal products. by eating veggies, fruits and whole grains, you are strengthening your immune system. this doctor did a study and actually had ppl's cancer go into remission by itself just from changing their diet (obviously the cancer wasn't aggressive or at an advanced state). it dispelled myths about calcium and protein that we've all been mislead to believe by wonderful marketing campaigns. sure, milk has a lot of calcium, but it also has a lot of iron which prevents the calcium being absorbed into the body. almonds and broccoli have a lot of calcium, and it is much easier for the body to absorb that calcium, so you can actually get more from eating those.
of course it touched on the environmental and ethical reasons to eat a plant-based diet. the environmental effects on the earth is just staggering. water is being taken away from our fields so that they can irrigate feed used to feed factory farmed animals. americans put in so much money effort to grow grains and feed to feed animals for slaughter, yet there are still millions of starving children all around the world. one of the parts i liked best was when the commentator talked about how americans work so hard and spend so much money on raising these animals for food, and these very animals are what is killing us. so in turn we torture and do senseless lab tests on other animals to find cures for these diseases that the animals we're eating are causing. it's like a never-ending cycle, but one that's so easily broken, but eating a plant-based diet!! americans don't realize the reason why meat tastes so good is because it's doctored up to look and taste good by being injected with flavor compounds and harmful dyes. a real carnivore goes out, hunts, kills, and eats fresh meat from the animal. they're designed to do so, their digestive systems are designed to digest this. they don't go out and kill the animal, chop it up into small pieces and cook it over an open flame and add seasonings before they eat it. humans do not have fangs and claws to go out and kill a cow or pig with our bare hands. and even if we used tools, we're not able to digest raw meat fresh from the bones of the animal you just killed. when i think about it this way, it makes no sense to me to want to eat meat. think about just how long that animal has been dead before you actually buy it from the store. gross.
if you really want to save the environment, stop eating animals!!! by eating one hamburger, you are burning more than 3000 gallons of fuel...the fuel used in the factory farms to process the meat, the fuel used to run all the machinery to make the animals' food, the fuel used to transfer the cow from the farm to the processing center, and then to the different grocery stores and markets around the country. that's a lot of fuel!!! and do you realize that cows fart out methane, a toxic gas that is killing us and depleting our ozone?
there was an interesting bit in the documentary about the government and marketing. back in the day, the tobacco industry went to the government asking for help on making cigarettes more popular, so the government helped them come up with a great marketing campaign, saying how good smoking is for you, and how everyone needs to pick up a cigarette and smoke. yeah, look where that got us. we hope that the same thing happens with the meat, pork and poultry industry too. right now, government subsidies of the meat industry make meat so cheap that if they stopped subsidizing, beef would cost $90/lb, and ground beef would be $35/lb. that's insane, no one would buy that. hopefully the money will run out for that, and ppl will open their eyes and realize that if they want better health, all they need to do is stop eating meat. i know it's not that simple for americans who are conditioned to think that meat is good for you, it gives you power and nourishment. but if you really do the research, you'll find that it really doesn't, and even some of the top athletes in the world are vegetarians and vegans.
here's an interesting article about fast food. a lot of it is taken from the book fast food nation which i read years ago. if this doesn't stop you from ever eating a fast food hamburger again, well then go on, continue eating your burger made of cancerous meat and possibly human parts. yum!
of course it touched on the environmental and ethical reasons to eat a plant-based diet. the environmental effects on the earth is just staggering. water is being taken away from our fields so that they can irrigate feed used to feed factory farmed animals. americans put in so much money effort to grow grains and feed to feed animals for slaughter, yet there are still millions of starving children all around the world. one of the parts i liked best was when the commentator talked about how americans work so hard and spend so much money on raising these animals for food, and these very animals are what is killing us. so in turn we torture and do senseless lab tests on other animals to find cures for these diseases that the animals we're eating are causing. it's like a never-ending cycle, but one that's so easily broken, but eating a plant-based diet!! americans don't realize the reason why meat tastes so good is because it's doctored up to look and taste good by being injected with flavor compounds and harmful dyes. a real carnivore goes out, hunts, kills, and eats fresh meat from the animal. they're designed to do so, their digestive systems are designed to digest this. they don't go out and kill the animal, chop it up into small pieces and cook it over an open flame and add seasonings before they eat it. humans do not have fangs and claws to go out and kill a cow or pig with our bare hands. and even if we used tools, we're not able to digest raw meat fresh from the bones of the animal you just killed. when i think about it this way, it makes no sense to me to want to eat meat. think about just how long that animal has been dead before you actually buy it from the store. gross.
if you really want to save the environment, stop eating animals!!! by eating one hamburger, you are burning more than 3000 gallons of fuel...the fuel used in the factory farms to process the meat, the fuel used to run all the machinery to make the animals' food, the fuel used to transfer the cow from the farm to the processing center, and then to the different grocery stores and markets around the country. that's a lot of fuel!!! and do you realize that cows fart out methane, a toxic gas that is killing us and depleting our ozone?
there was an interesting bit in the documentary about the government and marketing. back in the day, the tobacco industry went to the government asking for help on making cigarettes more popular, so the government helped them come up with a great marketing campaign, saying how good smoking is for you, and how everyone needs to pick up a cigarette and smoke. yeah, look where that got us. we hope that the same thing happens with the meat, pork and poultry industry too. right now, government subsidies of the meat industry make meat so cheap that if they stopped subsidizing, beef would cost $90/lb, and ground beef would be $35/lb. that's insane, no one would buy that. hopefully the money will run out for that, and ppl will open their eyes and realize that if they want better health, all they need to do is stop eating meat. i know it's not that simple for americans who are conditioned to think that meat is good for you, it gives you power and nourishment. but if you really do the research, you'll find that it really doesn't, and even some of the top athletes in the world are vegetarians and vegans.
here's an interesting article about fast food. a lot of it is taken from the book fast food nation which i read years ago. if this doesn't stop you from ever eating a fast food hamburger again, well then go on, continue eating your burger made of cancerous meat and possibly human parts. yum!
posted by joyce at
11:04 AM
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