Friday, January 16, 2009

Food for Thought or Food Revolution

Food for Thought

Author: Steven F Sapontzis

Do animals really suffer in the production of meat? Does the pleasure of eating animal flesh outweigh any pain that might be involved for the animal? Is a vegetarian diet innately healthier than a diet that contains animal products? Do religious traditions teach that humans have a God-given right to sacrifice animals for our benefit or that we have a special responsibility to care for God's creations? For anyone who has ever wondered about the ethics of killing animals for food, this is the definitive collection of essays on the issue. Written by internationally recognized scholars on both sides of the debate, the provocative articles included in Food for Thought will provide both vegetarians and meat eaters with a thorough grounding in all aspects of this controversial topic.

After an introduction to the nature of the debate by editor Steve F. Sapontzis, seven sections examine the finer points of the subject. The first section reviews the history of vegetarianism. The discussion in the second section highlights the health issues and what anthropology has to tell us about human diet. Section three includes classic cases for and against vegetarianism and new essays rebutting these classic arguments. The fourth section examines religious teachings about eating animals drawn from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as Native American and Eastern traditions. Finally, in the last three sections, the authors debate the ethics of eating meat in connection with feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism.

The contributors to this insightful volume include Carol J. Adams, Neal Barnard, John Berkman, Stephen R. L. Clark, Carl Cohen, Randall Collura, Gary L. Comstock, Deane Curtin, Daniel Dombrowski, Johanna T. Dwyer, Jennifer Everett, Frederick Ferre, Richard Foltz, R. G. Frey, James Gaffney, Kathryn Paxton George, Lori Gruen, Bart Gruzalski, Ned Hettinger, Roberta Kalechofsky, Marti Kheel, Kristine Kieswer, Andrew Linzey, Franklin M. Loew, Evelyn Pluhar, Val Plumwood, Rod Preece, James Rachels, Tom Regan, Roger Scruton, and Peter Singer. Containing virtually a Who's Who of philosophers, social critics, environmentalists, feminists, and religious scholars who have participated in the vegetarianism debate over the past quarter century, this accessible collection provides the latest thinking on a subject that has provoked intense reaction among individuals and interest groups alike.



Book about: Retail in the European Union or Globalization Technological Change and Public Education

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

Author: John Robbins

Here, the man who started the "food revolution" with the million-plus-selling Diet for a New America, boldly posits that, collectively, our personal diet can save ourselves and the world. If, according to chaos theory, the beating of a butterfly's wing can cause a hurricane in another part of the world, try this out for chaotic cause and effect: monarch butterflies are dying in droves due to genetically-engineered corn growing in the Midwest. There is also a direct correlation between the Big Mac in your hand and the mile-wide river now running across the North Pole. Learn the truth about foods we are eating that are, in Robbins' words, "unsafe on any plate."

Publishers Weekly

Groomed to succeed his late father (cofounder of the world's largest ice cream company, Baskin-Robbins), bestselling author Robbins (Diet for a New America) chose to walk away from ice cream earnings for a "deeper dream," staying true to his belief in health and environment over corporate profit margins. Now chairman and director of several nonprofit organizations, Robbins offers compelling evidence to support his plant-based diet. Appalled by the proliferation of high-protein, fad diet books, he advocates eating locally, organically grown fruits and vegetables, incorporating whole grains and drinking lots of water while avoiding animal products and processed, refined and fatty foods. Divided into five ambiguously named parts ("Our Food, Our World"; "Our Food, Our Future"), this work nimbly covers such diverse topics as agricultural chemical pollution, the diet/disease connection, genetic engineering and inhumane corporate farming practices, while maintaining a conversational, nonjudgmental tone. Robbins's experience as a speaker and his use of personal anecdotes and persuasive arguments are complemented by several professional readers who frequently interject relevant statistics, information and research, both pro and con, including sometimes sarcastically read statements from the Cattlemen's Association, which will leave listeners thinking twice before picking up their next hamburger. Based on the Conari Press paperback (Forecasts, May 21). (Aug.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Robbins, author of the classic Diet for a New America, believes that plant-based nutrition and particularly vegan diets (free of meat, milk, and eggs) lead to long life and good health. Citing statistics, research studies, and selected quotes that extol the benefits of such diets, he also argues that animal products are responsible for such diseases as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. Robbins deplores the inadequate sanitation and inspection in meat-processing plants and argues that many of the illnesses and stomach ailments that people complain about result from animal agriculture and the pathogens it introduces into our bodies. He also raises concerns about the dangers of fad diets that advocate high carbohydrates, high protein, or high fat. Robbins's zealous advocacy of plant-based nutrition and his refusal to consider the need for animal products in human nutrition throws his book off balance. Nevertheless, those who want to know more about vegan diets will gain many insights from his provocative book. Recommended for large nutrition collections with a diversity of viewpoints. [For more diet and nutrition books, see Anne Tomlin's "A Balanced Diet of Nutrition Resources" in LJ's May 1 consumer health supplement. Ed.] Irwin Weintraub, Brooklyn College Lib., New York Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.



Table of Contents:
Forewordxiii
Acknowledgmentsxix
1 Introduction: What Is the Food Revolution?1
PART I Food and Healing
2 Healthy Heart, Healthy Life11
3 Preventing Cancer33
4 The Great American Diet Roller Coaster55
5 A Healthy Plant-Based Diet81
6 Got BS?97
7 Unsafe On Any Plate113
8 Policing the Pathogens135
PART II Our Food, Our Fellow Creatures
9 The Pig Farmer153
10 Old McDonald Had a Factory165
11 Misery on the Menu183
11 Eating with Conscience205
PART III Our Food, Our World
13 Choices for a Healthy Environment231
14 Once Upon a Planet253
15 Reversing the Spread of Hunger283
PART IV Genetic Engineering
16 Pandora's Pantry305
17 Farmageddon325
18 The Emperor's New Foods347
19 The Turning of the Tide365
20 Conclusion: OurFood, Our Future381
About John Robbins, EarthSave, and YES!387
Resource Guide389
Notes399
Index443

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