Basically, I want to document how many people in the US can be fed on various types of diets (I’d really like to be able to show the number who can be fed on a factory-farmed diet, on a grass-fed organic meat-centered diet, on an organic vegetarian diet, and on an organic vegan diet).

I want to show people with verifiable numbers how we can eliminate hunger and reduce disease while restoring the earth and returning more of our land to nature.

I also notice that someone commented above that they didn’t know how to eat a plant-based diet without centering protein around soy. Some people are sensitive to soy, just as some people are sensitive to wheat, corn, peanuts, etc.

The other common complaint I hear from organic locavores is that vegan diet centers around processed foods. This isn’t any more true than the statement that omnivorous diet centers around factory-farmed meat and processed foods. The idea that the plant-based diet must include highly processed soy products simply isn’t true; a truly healthy diet always and only includes fresh whole foods. Plants provide everything the human body needs for optimum health.

B12 comes from plant sources first; it’s not true that red meat is the source of it. Cows get their B12 from the yeasts attached to the plants they eat. Kale contains more bioavailable iron than red meat. Calcium is more plentifully available (again, better bioavailability) in beans and dark green leafy vegetables than in animal milk.

It’s a simple matter to learn how to eat a healthy plant-based diet of whole organically grown foods. Google “Vegan Nutrition Basics” and you’ll draw 3 1/2 million web pages on the topic.

The Physician’s Committee on Responsible Medicine offers a lovely free 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program with daily menu plans, step-by-step nutritional information, cooking videos, and a host of other resources. You can find it at http://www.pcrm.org/kickstartHome/. They’ve also got a Facebook page where you can meet others who are switching to a plant-based diet.

Thanks again for providing this information. I will eagerly await hearing about the sources of your calculations so that I can work on my article.

Go Vegan- for compassion, for nonviolence, for the people, for the planet, for the animals!

Barb

If you google some of the numbers in the article you will find lots of posts on the internet that says the same thing:

http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/showthread.php?t=5118

PETA: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/meat-and-environment.aspx

Peta’s article: “Would you ever open your refrigerator, pull out 16 plates of pasta, toss 15 in the trash, and then eat just one plate of food? How about leveling 55 square feet of rain forest for a single meal or dumping 2,400 gallons of water down the drain? Of course you wouldn’t. But if you’re eating chickens, fish, turkeys, pigs, cows, milk, or eggs, that’s what you’re doing—wasting resources and destroying our environment.

A recent United Nations report concluded that a global shift toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change. And the U.N. is not alone in its analysis. Researchers at the University of Chicago concluded that switching from a standard American diet to a vegan diet is more effective in the fight against climate change than switching from a standard American car to a hybrid. And a German study conducted in 2008 concluded that a meat-eater’s diet is responsible for more than seven times as much greenhouse-gas emissions as a vegan’s diet is. The verdict is in: If you care about the environment, one of the single most effective things that you can do to save it is to adopt a vegan diet.

According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off U.S. roads.

Many leading environmental organizations, including the National Audubon Society, the Worldwatch Institute, the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and even Al Gore’s Live Earth—have recognized that raising animals for food damages the environment more than just about anything else that we do. Whether it’s the overuse of resources, global warming, massive water or air pollution, or soil erosion, raising animals for food is wreaking havoc on the Earth.

The most important step you can take to save the planet is to go vegetarian. Order PETA’s free vegetarian/vegan starter kit for tips and recipes to get you started on an Earth-friendly vegan diet today.”

Have a lovely vegan day.

Best wishes,
Tina Noga

J.E.

Ann, there is no need or reason to eat soy. I have a friend with a similar problem. There are a so many healthful recipes that don’t include soy. Beans nuts legumes. Make ‘gravy’ simply by boiling lentils until soft, add a few spices (such as turmeric & cumin) and mash. There’s our protein. Iron; There is a lot less iron in meat than we’ve been led to believe. Research shows that through the cooling, freezing and then cooking process, more than 50% of the iron content is lost. In other words, there is more iron in spinach. O
Oh yes, we need far less protein than the food industry has programed us to believe. In fact, excess protein is harmful. And the country’s with the highest dairy intake have the highest rates of oesteoporosis. Did you know what the US spends on health care in 10 days is equal to what was spent in one year in the 1950′s; (inflation etc were factored in) About 70% of the health problems are avoidable through good nutrition. Did you know that the number of people who die from the problems related to overeating has equalled the number of deaths from starvation.

I have always had very high cholesteral and upon consulting a holistic dietician was advised that grains and many carbos should be avoided in my diet, not fat as most people think. Following this diet, my cholesteral dropped 100 points in 2 months and I lost 20 lbs!!!! Many animals eat meat; that does not make them evil.