DAY 21

Vegan for the WIN!

GOAL FOR THE DAY: Learn how to pep yourself up when the world seems hopeless and you feel like no one cares or understands. It’s time to learn a little bit about how far we’ve come and why the future looks so bright. Know in your heart that everyone’s going vegan, baby!

My next-door neighbor is a fisherman, and I smell the dead fish every time he comes in from a haul. The man down the street raises lambs and turkeys to eat, and as the holidays approach, I watch the number of animals dwindle. I do my best not to count. Other than my husband, my entire family eats animal products—and lots of them, too. And just like you, I’m bombarded by billboards, TV commercials, radio ads, magazine covers, and fast-food restaurant signs urging everyone else to do the same. It’s enough to make you wish you could just nestle in bed with your slipper socks, a blankie, and a batch of warm vegan cookies, and shut the sadness out for the rest of your life. This is why I sometimes casually refer to being vegan as having the “disease of compassion.” It’s fun, it’s delicious, and it’s easy, but dammit, does it hurt sometimes. Worrying about the world’s health and happiness is a heavy load to carry. If the less-than-compassionate actions of others bring you down, I want you to know: you’re not alone. And listen up, I’ve got some great news for you. If you’re ever feeling blue, I know how to turn that vegan frown upside down. So chin up, buttercup, the glass is more than half full; it’s about to overflow!

Cue the trumpets and fanfare, folks! We’re on the cusp of a paradigm shift, and I’m darn tootin’ excited about it. And I’m not just tossing around “paradigm shift” as a catchy buzz phrase here. It’s really happening, in the biggest, most wonderful way. We’re living in a period of great upheaval, when existing ideas are replaced with radically new ones, because the anomalies we’ve been witnessing over countless decades can no longer be explained away. And that’s exactly how great paradigm shifts occur, so enjoy the ride.

HISTORY IS ON OUR SIDE

Thousands of years ago, Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy believed Earth was at the center of the universe. Thanks to gravity, anything someone dropped from the air fell toward Earth. They didn’t have telescopes back then, so with only rudimentary observations, it’s no surprise folks thought Earth was the center of their entire world. But as observations became clearer and data more precise, Ptolemy’s findings became shaky. Folks began to see planets seemingly moving forwards and backwards, which didn’t make any sense if they all revolved around us. Instead of people changing their beliefs, though, scientists simply adjusted their diagrams and mathematical formulas to keep the geocentric believers happy. Bottom line? People’s minds were made up: everything revolved around our planet, so scientists dutifully accommodated their false belief.

Flash forward a few thousand years to the mid-sixteenth century, and you’ll find Renaissance astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus seeing things in a whole new way. Copernicus believed the Sun was the center of the universe, but despite writing an entire book proving this was so, he was too scared to publish it for fear of scorn. People were, and arguably still are, used to being the most important beings, at the center of everything, and for the most part, rebel against change even if it evolves from solid facts (sound familiar?). The revelation that we’re simply passengers on a planet that rotates around the sun, no different than all the other planets, was a tough pill to swallow. (Earth? No more important than the other planets? Say it ain’t so!) Copernicus’s work, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, illustrating that Earth revolves around the Sun, wasn’t published until the year of his death, decades after he developed his heliocentric theory. The book was forcefully removed from circulation, but not before Galileo Galilei managed to read a copy (thank goodness!), only to find himself slapped with an injunction forbidding him from teaching or defending heliocentrism. People fought tooth and nail to maintain their traditional views. So much so that Galileo was put on trial, convicted of heresy, and imprisoned under house arrest for the rest of his life, simply because he agreed with Copernicus! They both knew, as we all know, Earth does indeed revolve around the sun.

All of the adjustments to data, threats of imprisonment, and banned books, however frequent or widespread, could not stop this paradigm shift, or any others, from occurring. When it comes to laws of nature, in the end, truth always prevails, and this should give you some comfort. Humankind may be powerful, but we are not omnipotent.

Paradigm shifts have happened numerous times in our history. Einstein’s theory of relativity replaced Newtonian physics in a likewise manner, and there’s the crazy drama surrounding three thousand years of bloodletting, which was eventually replaced by modern medicine. Yes, it’s true; doctors used to cut people open and drain their blood because they thought it healed them of just about everything, even pneumonia. They pressed little brass boxes with spring-loaded blades against patients’ bodies, and they used leeches, too.1 Bloodletting wasn’t just practiced by fringe doctors—it was widespread. In the 1830s, 5 to 6 million leaches per year were used in France alone.² It comes as no surprise that many patients died because, well, having your jugular slit to heal you is quite simply very hazardous, wouldn’t you agree? And yet somehow doctors practiced the wacky treatment, and repeatedly rationalized it, for thousands of years, just like scientists rationalized the Sun rotating around Earth.

So what does all this history trivia have to do with you and me, and our desire to create a better world? It illustrates that time, truth, and change march on, with or without everyone’s blessing. Anomalies that occur time after time, that can no longer be explained away, coupled with a magnificent “tipping point” that’s quickly approaching, are creating an unstoppable and exciting dynamic. Fueled by solid research, compassion, and common sense, the entire world is going vegan. The shift is happening before our very eyes, right here and right now!

HEALTH

Our modern-day “bloodletters” keep clamoring that we must do one thing, while clearly research and facts teach us to do otherwise. Over the years we’ve been told we must eat animals for protein; we must drink milk for calcium; we must consume fish for omegas; but none of these statements is true. All of these claims have been made, over and over, and yet despite all of the twists and turns of research and media blasts, the truth just won’t go away. We don’t need to eat animals or their by-products, to be healthy! I’m not convinced the meat and dairy industries even believe their own assertions anymore. As they say, you can’t wake up someone who’s only pretending to be asleep. They may be greedy, but they’re not stupid; they know what’s going on. As do the masses.

People are changing their diet, and fast. They want to be healthy and they’re making smart choices to ensure that they will. Just look at what happened when the World Health Organization announced that processed meats are indeed carcinogenic, placing them into the same category occupied by cigarettes and asbestos. Within just two weeks, sausage and bacon sales plummeted by over $4 million dollars in England alone.3 That’s not because meat suddenly didn’t taste good anymore, it’s because people don’t want to die. There’s a reason why McDonald’s is closing more restaurants in the United States than it’s opening—shutting the doors on seven hundred locations throughout the world.⁴ The appetite for wellness is surpassing that for cheap, greasy food. Take Unilever, owner of Hellman’s Mayonnaise: It dropped its “unfair competition” lawsuit against Hampton Creek and their eggless “mayo,” then a few months later wowed the crowd with Unilever’s other company—Ben and Jerry’s—timely announcement that due to popular demand, it’s creating a new cholesterol-free ice cream line with “no animal products of any kind, including eggs, dairy, or honey.”⁵ Unilever decided to create its own vegan mayo, too! It’s called Best Foods Carefully Crafted Dressing & Sandwich Spread. They’re not dummies. If you can’t beat those leading the way to a more compassionate and sustainable world, stop bickering and just join ’em!

And folks aren’t just flocking to vegan food at the stores; they’re seeking all things vegan in droves on social media, too. Pinterest, which is more popular among U.S. adults than Twitter, announced that “Vegan Recipes” was one of the “Top 10” most-searched terms in 2015.^6,7 And when vegan- and vegetarian-related content was tracked across mainstream social media for ninety days, it revealed a whopping 4.3 million mentions, surpassing even Coca Cola’s 4.1 million mark.⁸ The overwhelming interest in the once unfamiliar word, vegan, shouldn’t come as a shock; the positive association between “vegan” and “wellness” has been in the making for a while. After all, when’s the last time someone went to the doctor to treat chronic heart disease or cancer—the leading causes of death—and was told they’re dying because they didn’t eat enough animal products? “Well, Fred, that’s what happens when you don’t eat enough meat, eggs, and dairy,” scolded Dr. Jones. Nope. No one says that. Today, it’s laughable. Can you feel the shift?

ANIMALS

Over the years, people have repeatedly made false claims to justify the use and abuse of animals, too. Misguided folks have promoted the odd belief that animals are simply like “clocks,” incapable of reason, judgment, or pain, clear back to Descartes’s ponderings in the 1600s and beyond. Because animals couldn’t express themselves in a language people understood, it was assumed that they weren’t aware of anything at all.9 Today this belief sounds crazy, yet at the time, it was repeatedly rationalized. Thankfully, the truth finally emerged, and is accepted. Animals do indeed feel pain, just like humans do; after all, we’re animals, too. When’s the last time you took a dog or a cat in for surgery and the veterinarian said, “I’ll save you a few bucks and skip the anesthesia; after all, animals don’t feel pain”? No one says that. But folks are saying, and doing, a heck of a lot that affirms we’re moving towards a kinder, more compassionate world. Here’s a few examples:

The last medical school in the U.S. still using live animals to teach students surgical skills just joined nearly two hundred other medical schools and ended the practice. Feld Entertainment, owner of Ringling Brothers, announced that after 144 years, it’s finally retiring its elephants, while many cities have banned animal circuses altogether.¹⁰ In response to the public outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion, more than a dozen major airlines halted the transport of wildlife “trophies,” quickly followed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to give African lions protection under the Endangered Species Act.¹¹ After six hundred years of bloodlust, bullfighting in Barcelona has come to an end.¹² While here in the U.S., the military announced a halt to the use of live animals in military training, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is retiring all of its chimpanzees from biomedical research and sending them off to a sanctuary.¹³ With the Senate’s recent passage of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act—legislation that finally requires that alternatives to animal tests be considered and used—we’ve embarked on a road that will likely lead to the end of cosmetic testing on animals as well. And although it’s far from idyllic, Nestlé, the largest food company in the world, is switching to cage-free eggs. This falls on the heels of Panera, Starbucks, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Dunkin’ Donuts, Taco Bell, and McDonald’s all pledging to do the same. Is it to cut costs? Improve flavor? Be healthier? Nope. According to Nestlé, the move is in response to consumer demand, and their “commitment to the health, care, and welfare of animals raised for food.”14 It’s happening. Can you feel the shift?

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

In the 1950s, family farms in the United States began to transition into Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs): aka factory farms. CAFOs produce over a billion tons of waste each year, which is 130 times more poop than the entire U.S. human population poops out.¹⁵ Although we have treatment plants for human waste, none exists for the animals, but it’s got to go somewhere, right? Sadly, it’s often liquefied and then blast into the air over cropland, spreading viruses, bacteria, antibiotics, and heavy metals.¹⁶ Or it sits stagnant in enormous toxic manure lagoons, where it often leaks or bursts after being flooded, drenching neighboring soil and groundwater. Accompanying the millions of gallons of piss and shit are pathogens such as E. coli, growth hormones, cleaning chemicals, blood, stillborn animals, hair, pus, antibiotic syringes, vomit, random body parts, and silage waste from the feed.¹⁷ Just last summer a father and son died simply by inhaling the fumes at a CAFO manure pit in Iowa. The stench from the poisonous mix of hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and volatile compounds can kill you within just a few seconds; it’s that toxic.18 Similar deaths have occurred in Wisconsin and Virginia, too.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES: THE HIGH PRICE OF EATING ANIMALS, DAIRY, EGGS, AND FISH¹⁹

Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day.

Five percent of water consumed in the U.S. is by private homes. Fifty-five percent of water consumed in the U.S. is for animal agriculture.

Animals used for food cover 45% of the earth’s total land.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.

One-third of the planet is “desertified,” with “livestock” as the leading driver.

It takes almost 900 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of cheese.

For every 1 pound of fish caught, up to 5 pounds of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill.

Scientists estimate as many as 650,000 whales, dolphins, and seals are killed every year by fishing vessels.

Some may think, “Well that sure sucks for those who live near—or work on—factory farms,” and indeed it does. However, the pollution doesn’t stay put; it’s a carte blanche world traveler. The environmental devastation caused by Big Ag spreads far beyond the immediate soil, water table, and air—the runoff finds its way to streams and rivers, too. The Chesapeake Bay is just one example of over four hundred “dead zones” where runoff from these toxins has taken a catastrophic toll. Anyone interested in picking up the estimated $19 billion dollar tab for cleanup?²⁰ Folks are still bickering over who should pay for it. Keep in mind, that’s just the price tag for one location. The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is 5,052 square miles: nearly the size of Connecticut.²¹ And in Iowa, manure-scented rivers lead to lakes so toxic that officials have been forced to post warnings advising swimmers to avoid splashing around in the E coli.²²

The fish in the Potomac fair a bit better—they’re still alive, but I wouldn’t say they’re doing well. Researchers who studied a sample of male smallmouth bass found that 85 percent were growing eggs inside their testicles.²³ It comes as no surprise that hormones washed downstream in factory farm waste are suspect.²⁴ And this is not an isolated incident.²⁵ We also know that raising animals for food pollutes our environment more than the entire transportation sector combined, and that’s not just cars and trucks; it includes planes, trains, and ships, too! Like I said, that Big Mac costs a heck of a lot more than what you dole out at the counter. Check out the list of Environmental Consequences on the previous page for a taste of what else that cheeseburger does to our planet. Although folks will always argue over numbers, there’s no debating the fact that eating animal products harms our environment, worldwide, in a very big way. The truth is out, and it’s not pretty. And most important, it can no longer be explained away.

Those toxins may be spewing, but supersized change is near, my dear. A few things have lined up quite nicely in the past several years. Thanks to the incredible work of doctors, educators, scientists, lawyers, filmmakers, and the relentless effort of advocates across the world, we now have fantastic data and documentation that smashes the lies we’ve been fed regarding our health and the world around us. You’ve read a few solid tidbits in this book, but I’ve only shared the tip of the iceberg.

It’s also well documented that in order to achieve great change, we must protest what we oppose while building alternatives that enable us to create the world we wish to see.²⁶ You don’t need everyone to rise up and oppose the “old ways”—just enough so that they can no longer be ignored. Or as Founding Father Samuel Adams put it, “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds,” and it’s true. After studying every nonviolent movement to overthrow the government or regain territory over the last one hundred years, renowned political scientist Dr. Erica Chenoweth found that every nonviolent resistance movement was successful if the amount of people who were actively involved was 3.5% or greater. That’s it: just 3.5% of the population! Once they hit that mark, victory was assured, each and every time. Folks tend to join in to create change once a “tipping point” is reached where actions are perceived as social norms. Although we like to think we’re independent, humans tend to follow the crowd.

Dr. Chenoweth noted something else, too: those who want change need to come from a wide segment of society, so the opposition can’t target one pocket. It upsets their strategy when the minority becomes part of the whole. I know of vegan politicians, soldiers, musicians, nurses, educators, millionaires, ballet dancers, students, Olympians, lawyers, baristas, sheesh … need I go on? What section of the population doesn’t have any vegans these days? Heck, even non-vegans are joining in to help vegans. After tweny-five years at the golden arches, McDonald’s president and CEO Don Thompson just jumped ship to join the board of directors at 100 percent plant-based Beyond Meat.27 Can you feel the shift?

As for the two necessary elements for change—it’s pretty evident that lots of folks, including myself (and hopefully you!), are protesting what we oppose in a variety of ways (some big, some small, all are important!). What’s super awesome is now, finally, the alternative “system” for our beautiful and healthy new world is being built—and fast! You want a plant-based doctor? There’s a database full of them—there’s even a vegan medical center!²⁸ Need a vegan interior designer? They exist, too! Your kids want a school with 100 percent vegan food, at every meal, every day? It’s out there. You long for a new Ferrari with vegan leather seats? Not a problem. Well, getting a new Ferarri may be a problem, but at least their new premium Mycro Prestige vegan leather won’t be! BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Tesla now offer non-leather seats, too! You want vegan meals in outer space? Say what?! Yeah, that’s right. No biggie. That’s what NASA is preparing for astronauts on their two-and-one-half-year voyage to Mars in 2030. They’ve created over one hundred vegan recipes so far, including vegan pizza.²⁹ I kid you not. So if you decide to go to Mars, you’re all set! Is this really all happening? Pinch me!

As you’ve read over the past 21 days, vegan everything is booming! Mintel tracks global market spending across thirty-four countries, and according to their 2016 food and drink report, new protein sources are now appealing to the “everyday consumer, foreshadowing a profoundly changed marketplace in which what was formerly ‘alternative’ could take over the mainstream.” Yep, that’s right. Vegan food is quickly becoming the norm, not the exception. It won’t be too long before it’s more difficult to find a restaurant to please a “meat” eater than one that satisfies a vegan.

WHAT’S SO COOL ABOUT A PLANT-BASED SCHOOL? EVERYTHING!

Last summer I had the opportunity to explore MUSE, a Southern California school that only serves 100 percent plant-based food—and let me tell ya, it rocks! Innovative sisters Suzy Amis Cameron and Rebecca Amis founded the school to inspire “students, teachers, staff and community to live sustainably in the classroom, at work and at home.” Not only is the food 100 percent vegan, they do their best to ensure it’s primarily local and organic, too. Upon arrival, Jeff King, the school’s head, invited me to hop on a golf cart for a little ride, and boy, was I in for a treat! Jeff zipped me up a steep dirt road to their organic garden nestled on a hilltop with spectacular views, where they grow and harvest fruits and veggies to complement the school food. Any leftovers from the meals are placed into the compost, and then go back to the earth where they belong. So simple, clean, and healthy!

The pre-K to twelfth-grade school has two ecofriendly campuses, where they encourage students to follow their passions while providing a nurturing environment in which to do so. How cool is that? Five giant thirty-three-foot-tall sunflowers, with fourteen petals made from solar panels, adorn the school! Brainchild (or flower child?) of film director James Cameron, the sunflowers are designed to move with the sun just like real flowers do, enabling them to meet 75 to 90 percent of the school’s energy needs. I’m sensing a blueprint for the future here, folks. Um, can I be a kid again, please? I’m ready for class! www.museschool.org

If you’re still bummed that Hunter Hank and Bacon Bob will never change, listen up. Think of anyone who still eats or abuses animals in any way. Where will they be in one hundred years? The same place as you and I. Every single one of them, and it won’t be here. As Max Planck said, “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”30 Out goes those who cause pain, misery, and destruction, and born are those who foster compassion, as they are embraced and nurtured by the kindness that unfolds anew in the world each day. If there’s any bright side to death, this is it.

You know, it wasn’t too long ago that ads featured babies suckling soda bottles, and doctors recommended cigarettes on TV.³¹ Six-year-old kids were as familiar with Old Joe Camel as they were with Mickey Mouse.³² Magazine ads urged women to douche with Lysol, and “DDT is Good For Me” promos claimed the now-banned toxin made homes “healthier.” My, oh my, how things have changed, just within the past several decades. Are you ready for the next few? I know I am. They’re going to be “vegantastic!”

AND ON THAT NOTE, I LEAVE YOU WITH THREE LITTLE REMINDERS:

□ Remember, you can’t be a perfect vegan, so just do your very best and keep moving forward.

□ Strive to become a healthy vegan by eating lots of fresh, whole fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts, beans, and legumes. Remember: Health is wealth!

□ And last, remember to relax now and then. Inhale the good. Exhale the bad.

□ And always keep that chin up, buttercup! I need you, and the entire world does, too!

Now go whip up some yummy vegan food, wiggle that booty around a bit, and let that healthy, happy glow of yours shine a beacon of light and love for others to follow. And as you close this book, may you go about your way bursting with inspiration and steadfast determination, just as I did when that friendly stranger closed my little car door twenty-eight years ago. It’s a whole new world, my warmhearted friend. Enjoy!