Food, Inc. / Forks Over Knives / Books
 

Have you all seen Food, Inc. and Forks Over Knives? Very powerful stuff.

What books have you read that really motivate you to turn or stay veg?

Any great blogs you follow? I love Peas and Thank You and I hear Ellen has a new vegan blog. Not all low carb stuff, but good ideas!

I've watched a few movies and Food Inc., Food Matters, Future of Food, Corn Kings, etc., but I haven't seen Forks over Knives. I just put that on my list.

I watched Food inc last night on Current TV - they are showing a few good docs at the mo. I found it inspiring - although i have read the associated books. it certainly made me realise that my choice to eat vegetarian is a wise one.

Although it focuses on the food situation in the states, I do think it is relevant to the UK as well. it tends to be a case of where the US goes - we eventually follow and high intensity farming is already commonplace here anyway.

I watched this with my husband who is not a vege. He found it interesting but I got the feeling he doesn't really think that it applies to him.

Michael Pollan and Eric Shlosser are not vegetarians either (when they wrote their books at least) but have made a conscious decision to only eat meat which they are sure is raised and killed humanly. For most of us that is impossible. it is too expensive and not everyone has a farm on their doorstep. For the me the only thing i can do is not participate in the industry at all.

I watched Deconstructing Supper. It was about a Chef who went around to find out where our food actually comes from. It was interesting, but short, only about a half hour long.

I also watched Radically Simple, but it was a bit on the boring side and I found it hard to pay attention to it. Mosty, the guy was promoting his book.

I became a vegetarian as a child without any impetus from knowledge of the food industry and (lol!) have stayed away from a lot of the materials on the subject because I am so darn squeamish, but a book I recently read that I really loved was Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I think I loved the book because his conclusion jibes with my own world view that an individual should basically "do their best" within their means and abilities - that the humane labeling system even is not perfect etc and ones ability to eat humanely may not be perfect, but that every bit one does "counts". I am a huge believer that we are all "works-in-progress".

On a more practical note, this book opened my eyes to the agricultural practices involving dairy - cows and egg-laying chickens - and has changed my purchasing habits 100%. Thankfully, the thought of eating meat or poultry makes me physically ill. In the perfect world, I would give up my occasional fish too and be a vegan. I am just not there yet.

great great book - worth reading -

:love:

Pauline

I have to admit that the more reading I do the more limited i become in the foods i choose to eat! I just read Gary Taubes The Diet delusion (sold as Good Calories, Bad calories in the US) and it gave very good reasons not to eat sugar and to adopt a low carb lifestyle. As we all know!

However, it does limit our food intake somewhat if meat ifs off the menu. I don't eat fish either (never have).

I am also against the poultry industry and therefore don't feel like eggs are the best thing in the world. I limit myself to organic eggs only - but i still feel bad about the fact that male chickens are simply killed because they aren't useful.

As a low carber - eggs are pretty important. I just have to do my best I suppose.

I watched Food Inc. a few weeks ago and am still completely grossed out...can't even think about eating meat now. Eggs will probably have to do that now for me - at least they will be local and free rangers.

cherbear I recently changed to pasture-raised eggs over the "cage-free". the hideous food industry even finds way to call eggs cage-free that still includes inhumane conditions .. thing is, the pasture raised eggs are like $6 a dozen, lol. Nice that you can find local free range ones!!!

I think we have some free range local egg farmers a few miles from me. I'm going to check them out. Right now I buy free-range organic eggs from trader joe's. After reading about 20 books on vegetarianism in college for a research paper, I just can't stomach any more, so I avoid watching those documentaries.

I just started a vegetarian low-carb food blog, please check it out. Low Carbing Veghead

Checking out your blog Sherril - thanks :high5:

Yes, I saw it recently, was brilliant !

I follow : Vegan Soapbox, Vegansaurus, My Vegan Journal, Veganacious, In a gadda da vegan, One green planet and Wheatfree diet plan, all by feed.

Thanks for the suggestions. i'll check them out later this week. I've been looking for vegetarian spots and I like reading all the recipes and reviews.

My motivation to eliminate meat didn't start with a book or a movie. The first book that helped me learn how to replace the animal proteins with complementary proteins, instead of just eliminating the animal proteins as I was doing, was a little paperback called "Diet for a Small Planet" by Frances Moore Lappe. :heart: A few years later, Lappe did an intro for Ellen Buchman Ewald's "Recipes for a Small Planet", which was my 2nd book and full of recipes (paperback too). :heart: I have no idea if either of these are still in print, but they were my main source of inspiration in the early days and will always have a prominent place on my book shelves :love: along with many of the more well-known books.

edited to add: However, neither of these are low-carb!

They still have the recipe book on Amazon in the used books. I just went and checked since I might want to order one.

I watched this movie .. and it totally grossed me out too.. I have tried the Organic grass fed ground beef and chicken breast but.. lately I just can't seem to want to eat that either.. the thought of it makes me ill too..
Then in the stores You see everyone buying all the meat and stuff from a pkg.. I just want to yell out.. STOP.. lol and explain why they should not eat it.. but.. Ya can't very well do that.. but once in awhile I do or will get to talking to someone and of course mention it.. and if a few others happen to over hear.. I include them in the conversation lol.. then I explain that I've lost 32 pounds since not eating meat and flour and anything that comes from a pkg or a can.. only fresh or frozen..
I also don't buy eggs from the store.. I try to buy them from an Amish Farm up near the lakes because I am not far from there..
I didn't see the Forks over knives but.. perhaps will see if they have it at the library..

OLD thread but I'm glad I found it. I just watched Forks over Knives. It wasn't the first documentary I'd watched along these lines but it was impactful just the same. I am finding these on Netflix (I just have the streaming membership, not DVD rentals) and they really make you stop and think.

Then again, I can't help but notice how skewed everything is to support their argument. All the graphs and data are blindingly supportive and it's a wonder how we aren't all on this same path, cured of all our ailments, at a healthy weight, in no need of caffeine or other stimulants and solved all of the ills that the earth suffers from. :dunno:

Still, I find myself searching for the right WOE. I've done Atkins successfully but when I go off, I go WAY off. I'm way off right now and I can't seem to make myself go back. I do maybe 2 weeks strong and then I derail.

I've also done homeopathic hcg (the pellets) and had success, but it's the day-to-day eating that brings me right back to this same place. An unhappy, unhealthy, painful place. I don't plan to come back here but it happens when I am not doing something consciously.

So after watching this documentary, I am wondering if I adopted this style of eating, if it would fix me for good. It's worth considering and I don't mind the idea of being humane to animals. I love all the little creatures and I probably even have a dairy allergy. If I do this plan, I want to do it all the way.

Is there anyone else who is thinking about this or eating this way (vegetarian, whole-foods, no dairy) and feeling a difference? I have pain in many parts of my body and I'm so miserable. After eating things that I shouldn't, I wake with stiff and swollen hands, painful knees, I have shin splints, foot pain, back pain, and I'm just a mess in general. I'm so tired of it.

I'm almost 51 and over 200 lbs again. I need a radical change in my life. I'm wondering if this might be what I need. PS: I have always heard that a colorful diet is what delivers the most health benefits. With this plan, no colorful food is off limits.

If I eat carbs, esp. white carbs, then I feel bad for about 3 days after.
It is so not worth it. I do get physical pain from it as well as a constant tiredness.

What helps me is to eat mostly everything fresh. I haven't given up dairy but I eat a lot less of it these days.

I made homemade v-8+ juice and if I miss it a few days, I notice that I have less energy.

There is an excellent book called Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston- It is the whole package- a whole way for healthy living but emotionally, spiritually and physically - a good read. I really try to eat vegetarian but it is very difficult on the low carb diet.