I didn’t stop eating farm animals for my health or for the health of the planet. The reason I stopped eating them is because my seven year old daughter did. When one member of the family you cook for refuses to eat meat, it causes you to think about “it” at every meal, constantly made aware that the food on your plate isn’t really a hamburger, a steak or a pork chop; it’s an animal. To my husband’s dismay and disappointment, it wasn’t long before our youngest daughter, Rachel, joined us, leaving him the lone meat eater in our family.
Although the three of us stopped eating meat, we didn’t stop eating cheese or drinking milk. In fact, we weren’t really vegetarians at all. We were “cheeseatarians.” We just substituted cheese for meat, eating very few vegetables. Several years later I found myself suffering from health issues. I was overweight, my hair was thinning, my skin was blotchy, my heart had palpitations, I was fatigued and often felt depressed. More than anything, I was confused. I thought we would all be healthier by just not eating meat, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It wasn’t until I saw the documentary Forks over Knives that I realized that dairy was actually one of the worst things we could consume! Forks over Knives did a great job explaining the health hazards attributed to both meat and dairy, including coronary artery disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer. It went on to explain the benefits of a whole food, plant based diet based on historic observations compiled in The China Study. Finally I understood what I had been doing wrong, but I was angry. Why didn’t I know about this? Why had my husband and I pushed gallons of milk and pounds of cheese down our daughters throats for years, assuming they needed the calcium and protein that only fresh dairy products could provide?
Last Thursday evening, I attended the Hollywood Premiere of a new documentary, Plant Pure Nation, produced and written by some of the same people who made Forks over Knives. This film exposes the politics perpetuating this misinformation. What kind of a politician puts his or her career above the health and well-being of the people they represent? Those funded by one of the most powerful and earth destroying lobbyists in the nation: “Big Ag” or the meat and dairy industry. As Plant Pure Nation proves, the only body milk does good is the body of politicians in the pocket of the mighty “Big Ag” lobbyists.
Plant Pure Nation will be released nationwide on the Fourth of July. To find an upcoming screening near you, please visit the Plant Pure Nation website: http://plantpurenation.com