It’s so great to know this information is getting more exposure in all the right places. Viva la vegan! (And thanks to Cynthia Morgan for sharing).
I’ll admit I’ve been guilty of thinking certain celebrities know everything. As if they’re born with an inner knowing of the best way to do things; carrying with them buckets of life-enhancing advice, pouring it out to star-struck interviewers who pass on their golden words to beguiled fans.
But as I was watching Top Chef the other night, I was jolted out of my celebutastic faze when guest judge, vegetarian Natalie Portman, stared at a plate full of vegetables and remarked something along the lines of: “Where’s the protein? As a vegetarian I find it hard to get my protein and this dish doesn’t supply it.”
Say wha? Does the widely adored once-vegan not know that vegetables, especially the raw variety, are packed with enzymes, which are amino acids that contain protein? And that you can actually have too much of the stuff? That it’s just a big ol’ myth that those on a vege-based diet will never be golden protein children like our meat-eating pals? That man made protein powders are über bad for you? That protein is a word that has been over-hyped and over-sold by companies trying to make big bucks from us unsuspecting plant people? Apparently not.
While I still think Nat is a great role model for those considering a plant-based diet, I know that my favourite celebs, vegan, vegetarian or otherwise, aren’t always armed with the right or best info. It’s up to me to do my research, and not whip out to the shops to pick up the latest vegan-tastic product, that’s guaranteed to make me live longer and stronger, just because a movie star told me to.
Natalie searches for her protein
How’s Rocco, the meat-loving cowboy who Dr Oz put on a vegan diet for 28 days, doing? After being on death’s door only a month ago, he has embraced the vegan diet and has no plans to change back to his old ways, thanks to his new lease on life. Rocco says if he can do it, anyone can. Watch his transformation here:
I don’t have a strong stomach. I’ve never been able to watch more than 10 minutes of docos such as Meet Your Meat (see video below) or Earthlings.
So to switch on the television today and be confronted by cows being slaughtered on a British show called Kill It, Cook It, Eat It, I was immediately sickened — yet intrigued — to see exactly what the message of the show would be.
A group of men and women were brought to see the slaughter process, from viewing the live animal to watching the cows throats being slashed (courtesy of “Steve the Slaughterman”) and finally to the flesh served up on a plate before them (sliced and diced by “John the Butcher”).
I agree with the aim of the show, which is to connect people with the animal they’re eating, and then gauge their reactions to see if they will still eat the meat once they’ve seen how it gets to their plate. Yet I think the show missed two critical steps.
1) The audience briefly saw the animals through glass and didn’t get to personally interact and connect with them;
2) No one participated in the killing themselves.
Despite seeing heads being sliced off and gallons of blood loss (which I saw through tear-soaked, hand-covered eyes), the slaughtering was done at the hands of others, therefore removing any of the participants from the real process.
Of course, you can be certain the volunteer line for something like that would be shorter than a queue to buy ice in Antarctica. But I strongly believe if we want to eat animals, we should be prepared to kill them ourselves (and do so consciously).
Chef Ed Baines was one of the onlookers, who, despite working with meat, had never witnessed a slaughter.
“Before it began I told myself I’d happily give up eating beef if it disturbs me,” he said. “I was initially sad, but once the head was cut off, it became beef.”
Some other quotes from Kill It, Cook It, Eat It:
“It was fine at first. Seeing the cow kicking put me off. I will now think about where beef comes from.”
“I could sense death, so couldn’t see the process.”
“The guys who were going through the whole process had such wonderful craftsmanship.”
“The meat is wobbly because rigamortis hasn’t set in yet. When it does it’s firmer to work with.”
Dr Oz has dished up just the medicine for rotund Rocco, a cowboy whose diet of animals and junk food has put him on death’s door.
What is the medicine that is Rocco’s only hope? To follow a vegan diet.
A scan of the cowboy’s plaque-jammed heart, which resembles that of an 85 year old’s, shocked him so much that he’s giving up animal products to save his life.
“I can’t look back, I’ve gotta look forward,” Rocco told Dr Oz. “I’ll make the best out of a bad situation.”
While Dr Oz did well highlighting what many of us know (eating animals and animal-derived products is a death sentence), he misses the point by introducing meat back into Rocco’s diet during week four of the 28-day challenge he set for the cowboy.
The doc also recommends Rocco eat soy products, but should have mentioned soy needs to be fermented before consuming.
Despite these two not-so-wise recommendations, Dr Oz has put the attention squarely on the overwhelming benefits of a vegan diet — and that can only be a huge positive for people, animals and the planet.
Watch the show here…
