The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World - Brossura

Robbins, John

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1573244872 ISBN 13: 9781573244879

Casa editrice: Conari Pr, 2010

Riassunto

In 1987, John Robbins published Diet for a New America, which was an early version of this book, and he started the food revolution. He continues to work tirelessly to promote conscious food choices more than 20 years later.

First published in 2001, The Food Revolution is still one of the most frequently cited and talked about books of the foodpolitics revolution. It was one of the very first books to discuss the negative health effects of eating genetically modified foods and animal products of all kinds, to expose the dangers inherent in our factory farming system, and to advocate a complete plantbased diet.

The book garnered endorsements by everyone from Paul Hawken to Neal Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson to Julia Butterfly Hill. After ten years in print, The Food Revolution is timelier than everand a very compelling read. The 10th anniversary edition has an updated, new contemporary look and a new introduction by the author.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull?autore

John Robbins is the author of the bestselling The Food Revolution, Diet for a New America, and No Happy Cows. His life and work have been featured on PBS.

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THE FOOD REVOLUTION

HOW YOUR DIET CAN HELP SAVE YOUR LIFE AND OUR WORLD

By JOHN ROBBINS

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

Copyright © 2011 John Robbins
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-57324-487-9

Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction to the 10th Anniversary Edition
1 Introduction: What Is the Food Revolution?
PART I Food and Healing
2 Healthy Heart, Healthy Life
3 Preventing Cancer
4 The Great American Diet Roller Coaster
5 A Healthy Plant-Based Diet
6 Got BS?
7 Unsafe On Any Plate
8 Policing the Pathogens
PART II Our Food, Our Fellow Creatures
9 The Pig Farmer
10 Old McDonald Had a Factory
11 Misery on the Menu
12 Eating with Conscience
PART III Our Food, Our World
13 Choices for a Healthy Environment
14 Once Upon a Planet
15 Reversing the Spread of Hunger
PART IV Genetic Engineering
16 Pandora's Pantry
17 Farmageddon
18 The Emperor's New Foods
19 The Turning of the Tide
20 Conclusion: Our Food, Our Future
Resource Guide
Notes
Index
About John Robbins

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

What Is the Food Revolution?

I was born into ice cream. Well, not literally, but just about. My father, IrvRobbins, founded, and for many years owned and ran what would become the world'slargest ice cream company: Baskin-Robbins (31 Flavors). Along with my uncle,Burt Baskin, he built an empire, with thousands of stores worldwide and saleseventually measuring in the billions of dollars. We had an ice cream cone-shapedswimming pool, our cats were named after ice cream flavors, and I sometimes ateice cream for breakfast. Not all that surprisingly, many people in the familystruggled with weight problems, my uncle died of a heart attack in his earlyfifties, my father developed serious diabetes and high blood pressure, and I wassick more often than not.

None of that showed up on the balance sheets, however, and my father wasgrooming me to succeed him. I was his only son, and he expected me to follow inhis footsteps. But things did not develop that way. I chose to leave behind theice cream company and the money it represented, in order to take my own rockyroad. I walked away from an opportunity to live a life of wealth to live adifferent kind of life, a life in which, I hoped, I might be able to be true tomy values and learn to make a contribution to the well-being and happiness ofothers. It was a choice for integrity. Instead of the Great American Dream offinancial success, I was pulled forward by a deeper dream.

Explaining that kind of thing to my father, a conservative Republicanbusinessman who sometimes drove a Rolls Royce and never to my knowledge went aday without reading the Wall Street Journal, was not easy. At one point I toldhim, "Look, Dad, it's a different world than when you grew up. The environmentis deteriorating rapidly under the impact of human activities. Every two secondssomewhere on Earth a child dies of starvation while elsewhere there are abundantfood resources going to waste. Do you see that for me, under thesecircumstances, inventing a thirty-second flavor just would not be an adequateresponse for my life?"

My father was not pleased. He had worked hard his whole life and had achieved alevel of financial success most people can only fantasize about, and he wantedto share his success and his company with his only son. From his point of view,I am sure, he got the only kid in the country who would turn down such a goldenopportunity.

But turn it down I did, and, hungering for connection to the natural world andlife's deeper rhythms, I moved with my wife, Deo, in 1969, to a little islandoff the coast of British Columbia. There we proceeded to build a one-room logcabin, where we lived for the next ten years, growing most of our own food. Wewere financially poor, some years spending less than $1,000 total, but we wererich in love. Four years into our time on the island, our son Ocean was borninto my hands. Deo and I are still lovingly together all these years later, bythe way—a rarity in our generation.

During this time we began to live by the values that would culminate, in 1987,with the publication of my book Diet for a New America. I was learning toperceive the immense toll exacted by the standard North American diet—and thebenefits that might be gained by a shift in a healthier direction. I waslearning that the same food choices that do so much to prevent disease—that giveyou the most vitality, the strongest immune system, and the greatest lifeexpectancy—were also the ones that took the least toll on the environment,conserved our precious natural resources, and were the most compassionate towardour fellow creatures.

In Diet for a New America I described what it was that pulled me away from thepath my father had envisioned and prepared for me, and set me instead on the oneI took:

"It's a dream of a success in which all beings share because it's founded onreverence for life. A dream of a society at peace with its conscience because itrespects and lives in harmony with all life forms. A dream of a people living inaccord with the natural laws of Creation, cherishing and caring for theenvironment, conserving nature instead of destroying it. A dream of a societythat is truly healthy, practicing a wise and compassionate stewardship of abalanced ecosystem.

"This is not my dream alone. It is really the dream of all human beings who feelthe plight of the Earth as their own, and sense our obligation to respect andprotect the world in which we live. To some degree, all of us share in thisdream. Yet few of us are satisfied that we are doing all that is needed to makeit happen. Almost none of us are aware of just how powerfully our eating habitsaffect the possibility of this dream becoming a reality. We do not realize thatone way or the other, how we eat has a tremendous impact."

In Diet for a New America, I attempted to show in full detail the nature of thisimpact on our health, and in addition on the vigor of our society, on the healthof our world, and on the well-being of its creatures. I had no idea, whilewriting that book, that it would become a bestseller. I never suspected that Iwould receive 75,000 letters from people who read the book or who heard me speakabout its message. And even if I had known how widely the book would be read,and how deeply it would impact the course of many people's lives, I don't thinkI could ever have imagined that it might help to impact choices on a largerscale. In the five years immediately following the book's publication, beefconsumption in the United States dropped nearly 20 percent.

But in the last few years there's been a backlash. Fad diet books have soldmillions of copies telling people they can lose weight and obtain optimum healthwhile eating all the bacon and sausage they want. The U.S. meat industry hasmanaged to divert attention away from the fact that the animals raised in modernfactory farms are forced to endure conditions of almost unimaginable cruelty anddeprivation. The USDA is proposing to irradiate increasing numbers of foods tocombat the deadly food-borne diseases such as E. coli 0157:H7 that increasinglybreed in today's factory farms and slaughterhouses.

Rather than clean up the conditions that produce these pathogens in the firstplace, the U.S. meat industry has strongly supported food disparagement lawsthat make it illegal to criticize perishable food products, and then has usedsuch legislation to sue those who challenge their control over your wallet. Theyeven sued Oprah Winfrey for saying that, based on what she'd learned about meatproduction in the United States, she was never going to eat another burger.

Meanwhile, the chemical industry has mounted an aggressive campaign to discreditorganic food. And without the knowledge or consent of most Americans, two-thirdsof the products on our supermarket shelves now contain genetically engineeredingredients.

The debate about animal products and genetically engineered foods, and abouttheir impact on our health and our world, is not going to go away. It will befought in courtrooms and the media, but it will also be fought in people'sminds, hearts, and kitchens. In the process, those seeking a more humane andsustainable way of life—for themselves and for our society—will be criticizedand attacked by the industries that profit from activities that are harmingpeople and the planet.

As the discussion intensifies, so will the amount of information floatingaround. Some of it will be valid and rigorously accurate. And some of it will bethe product of the public relations machinery of the industries that are sellingunhealthy food and exploiting our world. I have written The Food Revolutionbecause I believe that, given a chance, most people can tell the differencebetween the propaganda of industries whose entire intention is to promote andsell products, and data from researchers and scientists whose focus is thepublic interest.

I have written The Food Revolution to provide solid, reliable information forthe struggle to achieve a world where the health of people and the Earthcommunity is more important than the profit margins of any industry, where basichuman needs take precedence over corporate greed. I have written this book sothat you might have clear information on which to base your food choices. Itwill show you how to attain greater health and respond more deeply from yourconnection to all of life.

There is still strong in our society the belief that animals and the naturalworld have value only insofar as they can be converted into revenue. That natureis a commodity. And that the American dream is one of unlimited consumption.

There are many of us, on the other hand, who believe that animals and thenatural world have value by virtue of being alive. That Nature is a community towhich we belong and to which we owe our lives. And that the deeper Americandream is one of unlimited compassion.

In 1962, Rachel Carson dedicated Silent Spring to the "host of people" who are"even now fighting the thousands of small battles that in the end will bringvictory for sanity and common sense." I have written The Food Revolution becauseI believe that virtually every one of us, if given a chance, would choose to beone of those people and would make our lives, if we knew how, into statements ofcaring and compassion.

I believe there is within every human being a desire to make choices that helpcreate a healthier future for ourselves, for our children, and for ourbeleaguered planet and all the life it holds. This desire may be buried, it maybe twisted, bent, and broken, it may seem all but destroyed, but it stillremains, driving each of us even if from afar, hungering for an opportunity tobe seen and heard and felt.

Judging by what appears in the mass media, it would be easy to think that peopleare only interested in the most shallow and trivial of concerns, that all wewant is to eat our burgers, that we couldn't care less about how our food isproduced and what the consequences will be to our health and to the wider Earthcommunity. But that's a grievous lie, and it dishonors who we are. The truth is,most people care about world hunger, they are deeply concerned about globalwarming, they abhor cruelty to animals, they know the planet is in crisis, theysense much of the food we eat in this society is unhealthy, they are alarmedabout the uncertainties of genetic engineering, and they are looking for ways toexpress their caring and concern.

I don't care whether you call yourself a vegetarian, a vegan, or an asparagus. Icare whether you live in accord with your values, whether your life hasintegrity and purpose, whether you act with compassion for yourself and for allof life.

I don't care whether your diet is politically correct. I care whether your foodchoices are consistent with your love. I care whether they bring you health,uphold your spirit, and help you to fulfill your true nature and reason forbeing alive.

The truth, as has been said countless times, will set you free. But what is saidfar less often is that sometimes it first will make you confront habits ofbehavior and thought that might be limiting you, so that you might attain theawareness to use your freedom for the benefit of your greater self and all oflife.

Not that long ago, the average American mother would have been more concerned tolearn that her son or daughter was becoming a vegetarian than to learn that heor she was taking up smoking. Not that long ago, organic food products couldonly be found in specialty stores. Blood cholesterol levels of 300 milligramsper deciliter were considered normal, and patients in hospital coronary careunits were fed bacon and eggs, and white toast with margarine and jam forbreakfast. Not that long ago, people who ate food that was healthy,environmentally friendly, and caused no animals to suffer were considered healthnuts, while those who ate food that caused disease, took a staggering toll onthe resource base, and depended on immense animal suffering were considerednormal. But all this is changing.

The revolution sweeping our relationship to our food and our world, I believe,is part of an historical imperative. This is what happens when the human spiritis activated. One hundred and fifty years ago, slavery was legal in the UnitedStates. One hundred years ago, women could not vote in most states. Eighty yearsago, there were no laws in the United States against any form of child abuse.Fifty years ago, we had no Civil Rights Act, no Clean Air or Clean Waterlegislation, no Endangered Species Act. Today, millions of people are refusingto buy clothes and shoes made in sweatshops and are seeking to live healthierand more Earth-friendly lifestyles. In the last fifteen years alone, as peoplein the United States have realized how cruelly veal calves are treated, vealconsumption has dropped 62 percent.

I don't believe we are isolated consumers, alienated from what gives life, andcondemned to make a terrible mess of things on this planet. I believe we arehuman beings, flawed but learning, stumbling but somehow making our way towardwisdom, sometimes ignorant but learning through it all to live with respect forourselves, for each other, and for the whole Earth community.

I have written The Food Revolution in the belief that—wounded and human as weare—we can still create a thriving and sustainable way of life for all. Therestorative powers of both the human body and the Earth are immense.

When I walked away from Baskin-Robbins and the money it represented, I did sobecause I knew there was a deeper dream. I did it because I knew that with allthe reasons that each of us has to despair and become cynical, there still beatsin our common heart our deepest prayers for a better life and a more lovingworld.

When I look out into the world, I see the forces that would bring us disaster. Isee the deep night of unthinkable cruelty and blindness. But I also look withinthe human heart and find something of love there, something that cares andshines out into the dark universe like a bright beacon. And in the shining ofthat light, I feel the dreams and prayers of all beings. In the shining of thatbeacon I feel all of our hopes for a better future, and the strength to do whatwe are here to do.

May all be fed. May all be healed. May all be loved.

CHAPTER 2

Healthy Heart, Healthy Life

Has anyone in your life ever had a heart attack or suffered from serious heartdisease? If you answered Yes to that question, you're not alone. In fact, mostpeople in our society would be with you.

I would. I'm thinking at the moment about my uncle. Burton Baskin was myfather's brother-in-law, and also his business partner. Together, they founded,owned, and ran the Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Company. A talented man with a greatsense of style, my Uncle Butch, as we called him, touched countless lives withhis expansive spirit. His fatal heart attack struck while he was still in hisearly fifties, with a loving wife, two incredible kids, a wildly successfulbusiness, and everything in the world to look forward to.

Tact was never my strong suit, and maybe I should never have mentioned it, but afew years later I asked my father whether he thought there could be anyconnection between the amount of ice cream my uncle had eaten and his fatalheart attack. Given that my uncle had weighed something like 220 pounds and thathe had certainly enjoyed the family product, the question seemed a reasonableone. But my father was not particularly interested in such reflections. "No," hesaid. "His ticker just got tired and stopped working."

I can now understand why my father would not have wanted to consider thequestion. He had by that time manufactured and sold more ice cream than anyother human being who had ever lived on this planet, and he most definitely didnot want to think that ice cream might be harming anyone, much less that itmight have contributed to my uncle's death. Besides, not nearly as much wasknown, then, about the effects of saturated fat and cholesterol on the humancardiovascular system.

To this day there are a number of people in my family who are angry at me formentioning any of this in public. They tell me that when I bring this up I amdishonoring my uncle's memory. But I disagree. Burton Baskin loved life, and Ibelieve that he would want his story told, if in the telling it might helpothers to be more aware of the choices they are making, and more able to live ina way that brings greater health and happiness into their lives.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from THE FOOD REVOLUTION by JOHN ROBBINS. Copyright © 2011 John Robbins. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: Conari Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1573244872
• ISBN 13: 9781573244879
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Lingua: Inglese
• Numero di pagine: 453
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile