What's your favorite book!
Posted by leesuzanne on Jan 03, 2007 · Member since Apr 2004 · 13 posts
I was just wondering what some of your favorite veg*n books are and what book inspired you to "take the plunge".
The World's Largest Collection of Vegetarian Recipes
Years & years ago PETA published a book, "101 Things You Can Do to Save the Animals." The chapters were very short -- 1 or 2 pages, but it was the hardest reading I've ever done. I could only read 1-2 chapters at a time but would still end up in tears. But I learned sooooooo much. I was aghast at how pervasive animal cruelty & exploitation is in our society.
I remember reading a particularly heinous "experiment" Loreal performed on some mice. It was revolting & inhumane beyond belief. How anyone could carry out that experiment I simply do not know. And we claim to be the speices with a soul. I would never buy Loreal even if they went totally vegan.
Reading Dr. McDougall's books kind of informed me of what effects meat has on our bodies and such, but I think that was after I became vegetarian. The real reason I became vegetarian was because I met this guy on an airplane back from Las Vegas and he told my sister and I all about being vegetarian and we were so open and asked him TONS of questions. That really got me thinking about it and it made sense!! I love being vegetarian.
The China Study by (Dr.) T. Colin Campbell was what inspired me to become a vegan "cold turkey" (sorry for the pun) ::) from being an omni. It's packed full of numerous, world-wide, relavant, and impressive studies that show the correlation of animal products on our health.
Right now I'm reading The Food Revolution by John Robbins (his father founded Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream) which deals with the world-wide environmental benefits that come from choosing a veg*n diet, and it is very inspiring, also.
Although I have always loved animals, I came at it from the health side first, but am everyday more and more "in it" for the animals. Different people are motivated by different priorities and because I am a firefighter and in the Midwest where there are a lot of conservatives (meat-eaters and a bit less open to changes), I prefer to respond to the questions and doubts with facts that deal with the health and then environmental aspects since I know that they will blow me off as a "lunatic" if I were to use only the animal non-cruelty aspect. People tend to not try to dispute my choice as much when I base it on the proven health benefits, I've noticed. ( I do try to make sure I don't preach, but I will definitely happily answer why I choose to eat the way I do. ;))
Mad Cowboy..esp for my bf. He was impressed since he worked in the industry.
Mad Cowboy was such an excellent book! Howard rocks! The chapter, Bovine Planet, should be required reading. The final paragraph in that chapter is a portent we should heed.
I read "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins after about 4 years of being vegetarian. Even though I was already on board, it somehow changed me forever, and my roots in veganism are now very deep because of that book. My husband read it recently and quit eating meat too. So did another friend of mine. I refer to it a lot still, and recommend it to people all the time!
My is Diet for a Small Planet. At least, that got me started. It was not a vegan book in the time I read it, but may be in the newer versions.
What started me out when I was 15 is that it was subversive, unusual, a hippie, earth mother thing to do. I don't think I saw it quite in those terms. In the end, I am an earth mother type, a bit of a hippie, rather subversive and I enjoy being different.
I was thinking about saying something sorta stupid, like you know half of Hollywood is vegan / vegetarian and I want to feel glamorous and rich like all of them! Forgive me, I am slap happy. I get paid by the line, so I count how many lines I type at work. Full time is 1000 lines a day, I type about 1400 to 1600 in around 4 or 5 hours. Today I had to work a full 8 hours (imagine that) and I plunked out 2600 lines. I was a speed demon, but now I am tired! Slap happy means you can go ahead and slap me if it makes you happy. :-\
Thanks for everyones suggestions. I wanted to narrow the field a bit b/c of the minute amount of time I get to read for pleasure d/t to a full course load, 2 kids, a husband, and a full time job. Thanks again :D
Sorry for the late reply...here a several cookbooks that I use.
The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley
A somewhat macro-biotic influenced book with some nice dishes in it.
Some dishes have dairy stuff in it. Most do not. ISBN 0-06-039295-9
The Indian Vegetarian By Neelam Batra
I like Indian food and this has some good suggestion into getting the
flavor right. Also...Some dishes have dairy stuff in it.
Love, Eric (Delicisou Vegan Macrobiotic Desserts) by Eric Lechasseur
A short cook book of only deserts. Very tasty things made with no dairy.
Published in 2005, it has nice pictures and the dishes are broken out by
season (very macrobiotic!). ISBN 0-9772937-0-X
The Book of Whole Meals by Annemarie Colbin
A classic. Entire menus with lots of nutritional info. If you are interested
in healthy eating with a macro-biotic influence this is it. No Dairy in
the reciepies. This was originally published in 1978. ISBN 0345332741
3 Bowls...Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery.
by Seppo Ed Farrey w/Myochi Nancy O'Hara. ISBN 0-395-97707-x
so i'm currently reading Diet for New America and its amazing. i just learned that the same author, john robbins wrote Food Revolution. Has anyone read both? does food revolution have a lot of the same info found in diet for new america? thanks
Keep in mind that John Robbins wrote Diet For A New America 20 years ago.(1987) That book convinced me to become vegatarian. I still try to read it every couple of years. It's just got so much good information. The Food Revolution - written in 2001, has much current info - fish farming, genetically altered animals, GM foods, factory farming, e-coli, and updates on what is happening enviornmentally. For me - both books are important but The Food Revolution brings the reader up to date on the realities today. It's an eye-opener!! And makes a great gift.
Fast Food Nation and Marion Nestle's Food Politics had a huge effect on me. So did Diet for a Small Planet.
so because we are all telling are story i thought i would give mine. the reason i became a full time vegetarian is because of health after tipping in and out for years. i was tipping the scale at a alarming rate so i gave up the meat that i was eating. that was a little over a year ago and I'm still going strong.
people who influenced me though were health teachers i Had in school who pointed out all the bad health brought on by meat eating.
i have not read a whole lot of books on the subject though i did and you can laugh if you want read vegetarian for dummies. it was a quick read that answered a lot of questions on what to eat and how.