Diana Rodgers RD - Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat: Why Well-Raised Meat Is Good for You and Good for the Planet

PRAISE FOR SACRED COW

Diana and Robb have answered the burning question about meat. Sacred Cow proves Its not the COW, its the HOW. The answer to our broken food system is not no meat, its better meat. If you are concerned about red meats impact on your health and the planet, this book is for you.

Mark Hyman, MD, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine

Public perception surrounding the environmental impacts of red meat is at the center of our food debates, and Diana and Robb have precisely and approachably laid out the science on how grazing animals are critical to the future of sustainable agriculture. They also definitively refute the claims that meat is unhealthy and make a convincing case that eating meat can be done in an ethical manner. I highly recommend Sacred Cow for anyone who eats.

Mark Sisson, New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet and founder of Primal Kitchen foods

Humans have been eating meat for at least 2.6 million years, and it has played a critical role in our evolution. In this important book, Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf use the most recent scientific evidence to make the nutritional, environmental, and ethical case for better meatand to debunk increasingly common myths and misunderstandings about the role of animal products in our diet.

Chris Kresser, New York Times bestselling author of The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine

Sacred Cow: The Case for Better Meat is a comprehensive, well documented treatise that provides us with all the scientific data we need to make informed choices about how to eat that will benefit BOTH ourselves and our planet!

Frederick Kirschenmann, PhD, Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University

Abandoning animal agriculture might well be the greatest mistake humanity could ever make. Todays science cannot give definitive answers to the complex questions of human nutrition and ecological integrity. However, the scientific evidence indicting animal agriculture is weak, and evidence defending animal-based foods and farm animals as essential for human health and agricultural sustainability is strongas clearly documented in Sacred Cow. Perhaps the most important truth in this well-written, highly readable book is that the continuation of life depends on death: We are all part of a food web and the inevitable cycle of life, which includes death.

John Ikerd, PhD, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri

The current war against meat eaters and livestock farmers promises ethical, ecological, and health benefits from fake lab meat and plant-only diets. Sacred Cow debunks every utopian promise with precision missiles from science and a deep understanding of how life and the planet actually work.

Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm and editor of The Stockman Grass Farmer

The shift in agriculture, from one based on biology to one based on chemistry, and the resulting shift in our diets from whole foods to highly processed foods have resulted in nutrition-related disease, obesity, and environmental destruction. Diana and Robb fully understand the problem and the solution: we must change our diets and regenerate our soils, and well-managed grazing animals are critical to this transition.

Allan Savory, president of Savory Institute and chairman of the Africa Center for Holistic Management

So much of the confusion about creating a sustainable future is based on a misunderstanding of ecology, evolution, and our place within the natural world. Much of our confusion has to do with our increasing separation from nature, especially how our food is produced. This book clearly explains how it all fits together, and how the interwoven evolution of ruminants, grasslands, and homo sapiens is not something to be left in the past, but to be celebrated and reclaimed.

Mark A. Ritchie, PhD, executive director of the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute

I once stopped eating meat because I thought it would keep me free of disease, release the worlds food animals from incomprehensible suffering, and save the planet from destruction. Twelve cavities, two root canals, and an assortment of anxiety disorders later, I realized this choice had come at the expense of my own health. If I had known about a healthier way to eat meat, one that respects animals and can support the health of the planet, I may have saved my health a lot of trouble. If only Id have had access to Sacred Cow! Diana and Robb have written a tour de force making the case that meat can be good for our bodies, the animals, and the earth. Sacred Cow is the antidote to miserably meatless mondays and impossibly impotent impossible burgers. The cure is an ethical approach to eating animals, giving them their rightful place in our ecology.

Chris Masterjohn, PhD, former assistant professor of Health and Nutrition Sciences at Brooklyn College

ALSO BY DIANA RODGERS, RD

Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go

The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook

ALSO BY ROBB WOLF

The Paleo Solution

Wired to Eat

This book is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for professional medical advice. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of any information contained in this book. A health-care professional should be consulted regarding your specific medical situation. Any product mentioned in this book does not imply endorsement of that product by the author or publisher.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and BenBella Books was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial capital letters.

Sacred Cow copyright 2020 by Diana Rodgers and Robert Wolf

Interior graphics by James Cooper (ONIC Design), unless otherwise credited.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: July 2020

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020001636

ISBN 9781948836913 (hardcover)

ISBN 9781950665112 (electronic)

Editing by Claire Schulz

Copyediting by Miki Alexandra Caputo

Proofreading by Lisa Story and Cape Cod Compositors, Inc.

Indexing by Amy Murphy

Text design and composition by Aaron Edmiston

Cover design by Emily Weigel and James Cooper

Cover photo Shutterstock / jagoda (landscape) and Dreamstime / Gpgroup (bull)

Printed by Lake Book Manufacturing

Distributed to the trade by Two Rivers Distribution, an Ingram brand www.tworiversdistribution.com

Special discounts for bulk sales are available.