321 Response 30 Day Vegan Challenge

I went to see Colleen Patrick- Goudreau speak about her book The 30-Day Vegan Challenge: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Cleaner, Getting Leaner and Living Compassionately, at 4:30 PM at Dewberry Hall North on Friday, September 23, 2011.

Goudreau was very entertaining and informative. She did a spectacular job at presenting her case for veganism by delivering a solid argument. Her speech touched on everything from providing a scientific foundation in favor of veganism, to discussing the social issues related to veganism, and also provided tips for if someone wanting to do so. I was really impressed at how well she sold me on everything she had to say. The end of her speech was very inspirational and motivating, so I’ll start with that as it relates to the question of social values and traditions that Goudreau related to a meat and dairy free diet. According to Goudreau, to not stand up for your vegan values denies one’s own values and other people’s potential transformation.

Goudreau discussed some of the reasons and excuses people use to not adopt a vegan diet, which I, as someone who has tried to avoid meat and milk, have given. Many people say veganism is too time consuming and that they don’t have time to chop vegetables and prepare the meals, her response was, “if you don’t have time to be sick you have time to chop vegetables,” which makes a ton of sense.

Also, Goudreau talked about how food is “emotional” and we do what is comfortable and familiar to us; we think of vegetables as side dishes and just don’t feel right about not having meat on our plate. Actually, many non-western cultures don’t think of vegetables as side dishes and meat as a main course.

In addition, Goudreau believes that we have been indoctrinated to think that drinking cow milk is normal and it isn’t. Only 10 percent of the human population can actually properly digest milk (in certain parts of Scandinavia) but after a certain age, even breast milk cannot be digested properly. Why are we drinking cow milk when the thought of drinking milk that our own species produces disgusts us?

In addition, the USDA doesn’t have to report the number of aquatic animals killed for food, but 10 billion land animals are killed annually.

Salmon and other fish contain dangerous heavy metals and get their nutrients from algae. We should skip the “middle animal” and get everything we need the same way animals do without all of the harmful toxins; doing so makes sense ecologically, ethically and physically. We are purposely “un-encouraged” to be aware of these facts in order to maintain the industries. Omega 3 fatty acids come from algae, not fish. Also, one tablespoon of flax seed provides all the benefits of Omega 3s, in addition to reducing Omega 6s (which are bad for us). Her mantra regarding the absurdity of a diet that includes meat and dairy is basically, why go through the middle animal when you can get everything you need from the source without all the bad stuff?

Another interesting fact I learned from Goudreau’s speech is that Hyenas actually have more calcium in their milk than cows, but because cows are herd animals and easier to control, we stick with theirs. We also have become accustomed to drinking cow milk because so many of our ancestors have done so for centuries.

One thing I was extremely curious about and wish she would have explained more was what she referred to as the “China Study,” which she told us to research online. She told us of the “China Study” and how scientists literally created tumors in cells by injecting them with cow milk and removed the tumors by extracting it; she told us that the calcium in cow milk is a definite carcinogen.

The other thing I’d have liked to have a clearer response from the author on relates to the cost of a vegan diet. A guy in the audience asked how people with a small food budget could afford to eat healthier and the author gave a clever answer; she said that there are more costs to consider than just a monetary cost of adopting this diet. However, her response still did not properly answer the question. The cost of produce is much higher than fast food and other over processed cheap foods that contain animals by products and I’d like more information on how to compensate for this.

Goudreau ended her speech on an inspiring note, which I will paraphrase as follows: To not stand up for your vegan values denies one’s own values and other people’s potential transformation. Every action has some type of result and will inevitably affect change, so we all must choose what kind of difference we make.

Class Question:

How do you think one’s personal ideas of veganism are related to our traditional and cultural status quo, and do you think this status quo has prevented you from considering a vegan diet?