Veganist_ Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World - Kathy Freston [48]
In 2005 the world’s largest and deadliest outbreak of a pathogen called Streptococcus suis emerged, causing meningitis and deafness in people handling infected pork products. Experts blamed the emergence on factory-farming practices. Pig factories in Malaysia birthed the Nipah virus, one of the deadliest of human pathogens, a contagious respiratory disease that causes relapsing brain infections and kills 40 percent of people infected. Its emergence was likewise blamed squarely on factory farming.
The pork industry in the U.S. feeds pigs millions of pounds of human antibiotics every year just to promote growth in such a stressful, unhygienic environment, and now there are these multi-drug-resistant bacteria and we as physicians are running out of good antibiotic options. As the UK’s chief medical officer put it in his 2009 annual report: “Every inappropriate use of antibiotics in agriculture is a potential death warrant for a future patient.”
In the short term we need to put an end to the riskiest practices, such as extreme confinement—gestation crates and battery cages—and the nontherapeutic feeding of antibiotics. We have to follow the advice of the American Public Health Association to declare a moratorium on factory farms and eventually phase them out completely.
This was just mind-blowing to me, to hear how dangerous viruses are growing in meat and egg production facilities, and to know that animals are so dosed with antibiotics that resistant strains of bacteria are becoming out of control. It almost sounds like science fiction. Another excellent reason to shift toward a plant-based diet.
PROMISE 5:
You Will Save Money
Did you know?
You can satisfy your protein needs with an enormous variety of delicious vegetarian foods for just pennies per day.
The annual costs of meat-based diseases in the U.S., direct and indirect, are on the order of $1 trillion, and climbing—costs that show up in the exorbitant price of health care. We can only hope that when we cut out meat and dairy, by decreasing the amount of disease, we will eventually see lower medical bills.
According to the former World Bank economist Raj Patel, that “cheap” burger that costs you a few bucks at a restaurant actually costs over $200 to bring to your plate when all true resource costs are accounted for. Eating vegan also lightens your overall environmental debt.
As I talk to people about becoming a veganist, one common refrain I hear is that it’s too expensive. When funds are low, the cheap burger or basket of chicken can appear to be the best value—the greatest density of filling calories for the lowest price. We’ve been aggressively peddled the idea that a healthy diet is an expensive diet, something only for rich folks. And our experience seems to bear that out.
I understand the frustration. It doesn’t seem right that meat should be so cheap (it’s not, but more on that later) and fresh vegetables, especially organic ones, relatively expensive. But once you look into it, the true cost of eating animal protein is higher than you can imagine. And being veganist in your approach to food is not only healthier by every measure but it can be considerably cheaper as well. In fact, many staples of a vegan diet cost very little and can be found in any grocery store—not just in specialty markets. Whole grains like quinoa or barley or brown rice, legumes like chickpeas or soybeans, and other beans like black-eyed peas and black beans are very inexpensive—certainly cheaper than processed and packaged foods. Bought in bulk, whole grains and beans can cost just pennies per meal. And because they are full of fiber, they make you feel full and satisfied (put them into soups, stews, salads, burritos, etc.), without the dangerous saturated fat of animal protein. Fresh vegetables and fruits can be found at supermarkets and farmers’ markets for very reasonable prices (see money-saving tips at the end of this chapter). Organic and specialty stores are great, but it’s certainly not necessary to empty your wallet in order to eat healthy.