This week, the Author of The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, Lierre Keith, joins me to dispel the three pillars vegetarians lean on to justify their dietary and lifestyle choices. Her book, published in 2009, is still widely discussed and referenced today. In this stirring discussion, Lierre reveals that just six corporations (who she calls grain cartels) own the world’s food supply and how they deceitfully market industrial by-products in the form of soy-based products, how global warming is NOT caused primarily by ruminants but rather by large-scale agricultural practices, and how modern agriculture is destroying our topsoil and our land in general. But she doesn’t stop there! She goes on to explain how proper use of grazing ruminants could actually be a solution to or environmental problems. That’s a message we all need to hear!.
What makes her story even more amazing is that Lierre was a practicing vegan for years. Luckily she realized she was slowly destroying her body by not consuming the vital nutrients necessary for good health. So, will going Vegan save your life and save the planet as is so widely believed? Listen to this podcast before you answer that question.
Key Takeaways:
[4:27] Why Lierre chose to go vegan.
[6:44] How the grain cartel used deceptive marketing to sell the industrial by-product of soy.
[12:01] The cult-like elements of Veganism.
[17:00] Will Veganism save the environment?
[26:21] Moving away from government subsidies and towards grass-based farms.
[32:13] Lierre describes the carbon sequestering process of soil and how global warming started.
[42:44] Lierre shares the moral dilemma brought about by her personal gardening experience.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Wonderful podcast!
Thanks Mellie!
It’s not the first time I hear Lierre talk, but each time it reinforces the idea that we need to resume our place in the nstural world instead of exploiting it. Wonderful podcast. Thank you to both of you.
Well said Francoise! We need to resume our place in the natural world instead of exploiting it. I’m going to use that phrase. I love it!
I could not have said that better.
I really enjoyed this podcast but I am unclear why she felt her health declined as a vegan. Would you please explain? thank you.
Hi Pam. Sorry if we didnt cover that in the podcast. She has talked before about how her energy was awful, her menstrual cycle was a mess, and she was having joint inflammation troubles among other things. It’s amazing she sufffered for as long as she did!
Pam, she explains all her health issues and the nutrient imbalances that contributed to them in this youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFm2QLLuh6I
Absolutely loved every word of this, but I’m keto-paleo. Now, to convince my vegan friends to listen to it!
Thanks for your comment. Good luck with your friends!
Animal welfare is important, I am an animal my welfare, safety, health matters.
Human animals deserve the same compassion as any other animal, including carnivore animals.
Most vegans I have met feed their dogs animal based food, so they accept the principle of animals eating other animals.