The Diane Rehm Show

Death is inherent in every meal, we may as well accept it. Plants are sentient beings too. I was a vegan for almost 7 years. I ate what I thought was a very balanced diet, but wound up so underweight, depleted, and sick, that I finally had to stop. The wake up call for me was having a miscarriage because I was so deficient in vitamin B's, despite having supplemented with all the usual algae, vitamins, etc that are recommended for vegans to replace B-12. I still think factory farming is deplorable, and I rarely eat meat. But I must say, I have felt much healthier since I've started including animal foods in my diet again. There is a HUGE difference between industrial farmed animal production, and local, sustainable animal farming, and I think it is irresponsible of Miss Brown to imply that they are one and the same thing. Furthermore, I'm curious to know miss brown's opinions on the ethics of soy production and consumption. Soy demands lots of water for cultivation, and is often shipped thousands of miles, is heavily processed, and packaged in multiple layers of plastic. How is this any better for our planet? Soy also contains potent enzyme inhibitors that block the body's ability to absorb protein, so not only do vegans not get any protein from the soy they eat, but they also won't get any protein from any other protein foods they may have included in their meals. Other foods that vegans enjoy such as avocados, cashews and coconuts, must also be transported thousands of miles, demanding the consumption of high amounts of fossil fuels. How is this sustainable? There is not a single indigenous population in the history of humans that has ever been completely vegan and healthy. While I think we would all do well to radically reduce the amount of animal foods we eat, and to be very conscious of where those foods come from, and how the animals are raised, from my own personal experience I do not believe that a vegan diet is healthy, or sustainable either.

hi there laryn!

It's easy to get Omega 3's from vegan sources. The fish you tout, for instance, get O-3's from algae--so I skip the middle man and get it from algae, too! I pop a supplement called "Ovega" every day. As for B-12, I just make sure to get it from my food, like nutritional yeast and supplemented almond milk and cereal. I'm joyfully healthy and fit and vegan, and I feel great inside and out.

There could very well be folks who aren't eating the right foods as vegans. But that's no reason to deride the vegan diet itself. Done correctly--and that's easy to do--vegans are the healthiest of folks.

You are one of the disconnected people she is referring to. No, you do not love animals. You love exploiting them for your purposes. Why breed when millions upon millions of dogs are already being killed in shelters every year?

This woman loves animals and is SAVING lives. I can understand how that threatens the reality you have created for yourself though.

I am grateful too. I am saddened and a little taken aback by the nasty comments by some of these people. It's like okay so you don't want to stop eating your "meat" but why are you so threatened and bothered by someone a) stating facts and b) telling her personal story of what she decided to do about what she learned.

They are so disconnected to the point they get angry for anyone to to ruin the illusions they live under.

To the guy on the phone who thinks he needs meat because he is an athlete.

http://veganbodybuilding.com/

http://www.greatveganathletes.com/

http://www.happycow.net/vegetarian_protein.html/

http://myvega.com/

I loved this program. I am from England and knew all this stuff already, but Americans need educating in this department. No one here really knows where their food comes from.
I have been vegetarian for 50 years and I am happy and healthy. I will definitely buy this book.

I feel the same way. Okay, go ahead and disagree with her position if you must, but let's appreciate, at least, her compassion for other species. That is something our world sorely lacks.

THANK YOU so much for lifting the veil on this crucial topic in the "mainstream media." I am still trying to eschew all living things in my diet, and I have pets that are carnivores, but in past many years have forced myself to view and read things about vivisection, factory farms, fur farms and the performing-animal outfits that I'm convinced only a tiny fraction of the populace knows about. What's interesting is that most people DON'T WANT TO KNOW and get extraordinarily ANGRY when enlightened. Why would knowledge be such a terrible thing? We all know the answer. ... I await more voices like Jenny Brown's. Even PETA (no, I'm not a member) has many voices of reason and missions that overlap with more "digestible" groups like Humane Society of the US. Speaking of which, how about Yale grad and nice guy Wayne Pacelle as a guest? He, too, will open minds that being an "animal lover" extends beyond liking dogs and cats.

Thank you, Diane, for giving animals a voice through this show. It's far too easy to forget that the plastic-wrapped package of flesh in the grocery store was once a living, breathing being who had a family and friends, a unique personality, and who didn't want to die. The meat industry treats animals (who feel pain and fear just as keenly as we do) worse than inanimate objects. I hope Jenny Brown's story inspires many listeners to show compassion every day by choosing healthy and delicious plant-based fare instead of meat, eggs, and dairy products.

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegan.

To the comments which suggest that Jenny Brown and vegans are extremists, I want to know how the cruelty of factory farms and slaughterhouses is not extreme?

To those who think vegans and animal rights activists think only of animals, I say this: if more people ate a plant based diet, more people in the world would not be hungry tonight. Do you know how much grain and water it takes to make one pound of beef? Google it!

Vegans also think about the impacts of factory farming on the environment.

Anyone here who took offense to Jenny Brown and the topics she raises here is ignorant. There is nothing narrow minded about her views or her actions. Narrow minded is avoiding hard truths, or knowing about them and still doing NOTHING to change.

Vegans are, sadly, in the minority, and though we are but a drop in a vast ocean, at least we are trying to do SOMETHING in the face of our declining culture and planet.

Finally, go ahead and eat the meat, the dairy and the eggs, but don't go crying about the rising costs of healthcare for yet another pill to lower your cholesterol, or to deal with your type II diabetes. Go ahead and buy the lies, because that's what the meat and dairy industry has fed you.

I'm vegan, healthy, happy and know that my choices are making life better for all.

Check out Forks Over Knives for some good research.

Thank you Jenny for your hard work. I've volunteered on your farm and the place brings much joy to everyone there, especially the animals who get to live a peaceful life.

If only everyone on the planet could be like Jenny Brown.

Compassion is always something to emulate, not deride.

Try it...

How can slaughter ever be humane? If euthanasia is the only humane way to kill a dog or cat--we certainly do not do this for farm animals. The industry standard is metal bolt to the brain for cattle, and slit throat for other animals. Humane?

Local farms are not necessarily better because they need to compete with large scale factory farms and tend to follow the same practices themselves. Organic also means simply means 'antibiotic free' and does not indicate how the animal is treated. It only means that if the animal becomes sick it must suffer without medication since treating it would ruin the cherished organic label.

Also, there is no real health benefit to eating meat. In fact it is health destroying-- Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Colin Campbell, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. John MacDougall, Dr. Neil Barnard, Dr. Micheal Greger, as well as the Physicians Committe for Responsible Medicine all talk about the relation between animal food consumption and the increase in all major diseases. The reason this information is not widely known or accepted is because the meat and dairy industry are so economically powerful with strong ties to the USDA. That is why a head of lettuce costs more than a burger.

People really need to wise up and become educated about what is really going on here. Maybe most people won't go veg (not at least until there is a major health concern to force them to) but people should at least decrease their meat consumption DRASTICALLY. The 40% of animal products that people eat in their typical american diet is unnecessary, unhealthy, and unsustainable!

Ms. Brown kept saying in during this show that a vegan diet is the optimal diet, and she kept saying it is backed by studies, but cited none. This got me thinking about what I've been (and most of the world has been) watching on TV. I wish I could have asked Ms. Brown that if a vegan diet is the optimal diet then why aren't all olympic athletes vegan. Each team (nay each individual athlete) has a team of nutritionists working to get their body in the best physical condition it can possibly attain. Furthermore, I don't see how it can be optimal seeing as how animal flesh has a higher caloric value and protein value per oz than any other food I know of. Finally, she also cited environmental reasons for having a vegan diet. Citing statistics about how much land it takes to cultivate feed for livestock. I do not disagree with these as I have done my research and I know this is a big problem. However, the idea that trucking the equivalent produce from all over the country and the world is going to help to make up for the reduction in meat sounds preposterous. I could get into the ethics and controversy of genetically enhanced food (almost all food is now) or raise the issue of what might happen if there were a blight or famine, but perhaps that is for another day.

Bravo! You could also cite the fact that the farmers (human farmers) that harvest these crops around the world are often not fair-trade and some I am sure are next to actual slavery which most likely includes child exploitation.

How many of the olympians right now are vegan? FYI they have nutritionists (people that dedicate their lives to knowing what is best for the body in any given situation) that plan out their diet.