Copyright 2021 by Rockridge Press, Emeryville, California
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Rockridge Press, 6005 Shellmound Street, Suite 175, Emeryville, CA 94608.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The Publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering medical, legal, or other professional advice or services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the Publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an individual, organization, or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the Publisher endorses the information the individual, organization, or website may provide or recommendations they/it may make. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (866) 744-2665, or outside the United States at (510) 253-0500.
Rockridge Press publishes its books in a variety of electronic and print formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books, and vice versa.
TRADEMARKS: Rockridge Press and the Rockridge Press logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Callisto Media Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Rockridge Press is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Interior and Designer: Lisa Forde
Art Producer: Meg Baggott
Editor: Van Van Cleave
Production Editors: Rachel Taenzler, Jax Berman
Production Manager: Riley Hoffman
Photography Peiling Lee/Shutterstock, .
courtesy of Trista Verhesen /Authentic Living Photography.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64876-660-2 | eBook ISBN: 978-1-64876-159-1
R0
FOR MY CHILDREN, Bly, Cedar, Willow, and Fern, who inspire me to be better. For Ren, who believed in me. For my parents, who called every day to see how the writing was going. And, as always, for the animals.
Contents
I spend every day helping individuals and families optimize their health with plants. Im a registered dietitian, and veganism has been the focus of my nutrition practice since 2014. As an expert in the field, I am pleased to be able to write a book sharing my knowledge with you as you embark on your journey to build a healthy vegan diet.
While I was studying nutrition in college, I read a book called Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lapp. I learned that we have enough food in the world to feed everyone; we just need to distribute that food differently, feeding plant calories directly to humans instead of to animals in the animal agriculture industry. That book inspired me to go vegetarian. It was an easy transition for me because I had always loved animals and I never liked the idea of eating them. I can remember being so upset as a child when my cousin shot a few rounds over the heads of some crows who were eating grain in my uncles fields. He was only trying to scare the birds, but I didnt like thinking of animals being shot.
When I decided to open my private practice as a dietitian, I began deeply researching the relationship between personal health and nutrition in North America. I was aware that Canadians and Americans were facing an epidemic of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, and I wanted to offer my clients a way to prevent these diseases and optimize their health. In my research, I discovered that eating a plant-based diet can reduce the risk of disease and increase longevity. I was convinced!
I went completely plant-based myself, first for just 30 days. I found it easy, and I felt good, so I kept going. I had worried about giving up cheese, but I found vegan food to be so satisfying and delicious that my cravings soon went away. Not long after going vegan, I watched some shocking videos about animal agriculture. After I understood the impact of animal agriculture on the planet and saw the mistreatment of animals, I committed to being vegan for life.
Your decision to go vegan probably reflects many of the things that influenced me. Veganism is growing as a movement for many good reasons. People are going vegan because they know it is better for the planet, better for the animals, and better for their personal health. I could write a whole book about why to go vegan, but this book is on how to go vegan, with a focus on personal health benefits. Whether you are already vegan, interested in going vegan, or looking to optimize your health by eating more plants and less meat, this book covers everything you need to know.
The first step to creating and following a nutritious and delicious vegan diet is understanding what veganism is and how it differs from other dietary approaches, such as vegetarian and plant-based diets. This chapter explores the meaning of veganism, its social justice aspects, and its health benefits. I also define other related dietary approaches to provide helpful context for your new lifestyle.
Veganism Defined
Veganism is a philosophy and way of life that extends far beyond diet. The Vegan Society defines veganism as a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, and any other purpose. Veganism is a social justice issue, and underpinning that issue is a belief that animals have rights, and their bodies are not ours to exploit.
In general, vegans practice a lifestyle that encourages protection and respect for the rights of species other than our own. This practice is in contrast to the idea of speciesism. In his book Animal Liberation, Peter Singer defined speciesism as a prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of ones own species and against those of members of other species. Speciesism has its origins in the view that humans are the apex of life on Earth and animals are here to serve the needs of humans. Speciesism also relates to how humans classify the value of different species of animalstreating their family dog much better than they would treat a pig raised for pork, for example.
