Food Choices: Plant based Diet
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I have been a committed vegan for about 10 years now, and I have never felt better. It was one of the best decisions in my life.
About 4 years ago I saw a note on my neighborhood Nextdoor group asking if there were any vegans in Los Gatos. I was thrilled to meet some other dedicated vegans in my neighborhood, and together we decided to form a nonprofit to educate our community about the advantages of a plant-based diet and to advocate for policy change in the town government.
Plant Based Advocates website link: http://www.plantbasedadvocates.com/
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Benefits of a Plant Based Diet
There are enormous environmental benefits of a plant based diet. Eating lower on the food chain saves a lot of resources, uses the least amount of energy, produces much less waste and pollution, and creates fewer greenhouse gas emissions. A Plant based diet uses far less land, and frees up land for wild animals. Livestock production takes up almost 80% of all agricultural land. A plant-based food system would decrease our agricultural land use by 75%, allowing for the rewilding necessary to maintain our ecosystems. In addition, according to Oxford University, cutting meat and dairy products from one’s diet reduces an individual's carbon footprint from food by up to 73 percent. Eating a plant based diet is also beneficial for human health since a diet heavy in animal products has been linked to heart disease, certain types of cancer, and diabetes.
Lisa Wade, Founder, Plant based Advocates
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Kathleen Kastner, M.S., has been vegan since 2002 and is certified in plant-based nutrition with the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine: www.pcrm.org.
www.kathleenkastner.com
Compassionate Eating
A plant-based vegan diet represents the yoga philosophy term of ahimsa, non-harming, while providing a wide variety of health benefits. Plant-based foods have ZERO cholesterol and are high in fiber. Animal products, such as meat, fish, shellfish, dairy and eggs, are high in cholesterol and have ZERO fiber. Lowering your cholesterol and increasing your fiber can help you reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, by keeping your arteries, cells and colon clear of fatty plaque. If you want to lower your cholesterol or blood pressure, replace animal products with fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes, and keep the oils and fats low in your diet. A plant-based diet can also help lose weight and keep it off permanently. By practicing this compassionate way of eating, you are also helping to save the ten billion farm animals and trillions of fish, who are killed in the U.S for food yearly. Farm animals and fish, like our beloved companion animals, feel fear, pain, love and affection. There are thousands of delicious plant-based food options available that don’t cause harm to animals. You can substitute beans for meat, chickpeas for tuna, hearts of palm for crab and tofu for eggs. There are lots of plant based milks and yogurts made from soy, oat, rice, almond, cashew, coconut, hemp and peas. Miyoko's Creamery is a popular vegan brand for cheese, cream cheese and butter. Animal agriculture is also taking its toll on the planet, with high greenhouse gas emissions and
the use of a tremendous amount of land and water. Rainforests in the Amazon are being cut down to grow soybeans to feed farm animals instead of feeding starving people. As the human population grows, our resources are being depleted. According to National Geographic, it takes 1800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, 468 gallons for a pound of chicken, 576 gallons for a pound of pork, and 880 gallons for a single gallon of milk. In a time of great drought, these numbers are even more significant.
There are hundreds of vegan blogs and books to help you navigate this way of eating and living. Forks Over Knives, Oh She Glows and Nora Cooks. Recommend watching the inspiring documentaries, Forks Over Knives, What the Health, Game Changers and Cowspiracy.