Glorious Vegan Book Review in today's Ottawa Citizen

[Guest guest]

The Ottawa Citizen

July 28, 2000, Friday, FINAL

 

SECTION: Gardening Life; F10

 

There is life after meat

 

BYLINE: Louise Crosby

 

At a time when high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are all the rage,

you'd think a book on veganism -- the strictest form of vegetarianism --

wouldn't have much of a chance. But Foods That Don't Bite Back: A Book of

Vegan Recipes and Philosophy (The Evergreen Publishing Company) by Sue

Donaldson will probably do just fine.

 

Most vegetarians give up meat because they have taken a stand on the health,

environmental and cruelty-to-animals issues involved, and they aren't about

to abandon their principles for a fad diet that could easily be discounted

next year. And with growing public concerns about the safety of our food,

including deadly E. coli bacteria in hamburger meat and our water supply,

there may even be an increase in the number of people who turn to

vegetarianism.

 

I don't know what proportion of the population is vegan, but it can't be very

high. You have to be disciplined and organized to stick to a diet like this,

a challenge for those of us with busy lives. While vegetarians do not include

meat in their diet, vegans do not eat any animal products, including eggs and

dairy products. It means no Parmesan cheese on your pasta, no mozzarella or

feta or goat's cheese on your pizza, no butter on your popcorn, cookies and

cakes made with margarine or oil, eating beans and tofu (and even tempeh, God

forbid) on a regular basis. Eating out can be a problem. That's not to say

you can't eat well as a vegan -- the recipes in this book sound good -- but

the reality is that you have to spend more time thinking about what you put

in your mouth than non-vegans do.

 

Ms. Donaldson, who lives on a farm in Perth Road Village just north of

Kingston, addresses all these challenges in her book and presents the reasons

for becoming vegan in a compelling way.

 

Take the health issue. The typical North American diet is high in animal fats

and protein, and low in complex carbohydrates and dietary fibre, contributing

to a host of ''western'' diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Switching

to a vegan diet solves all these problems, she says: Fat intake drops to

healthier levels, cholesterol is reduced to zero, fibre increases.

 

If the pesticides on all those fruits and vegetables are worrying you, you're

no better off eating meat, given the pesticides sprayed on the feed crops

that end up in our meat and dairy products. Besides, you can always reduce

the pesticide levels by washing your vegetables or buying organic. And

finally, if you think you won't get enough protein, it seems we overestimate

the amount required for a healthy diet. Over-consumption actually leeches

calcium from the body.

 

Foods That Don't Bite Back also presents a case for veganism on environmental

grounds. Modern livestock farming -- and dairy farming isn't much better --

takes a huge toll on the environment, requiring an estimated 10 times as much

land to feed a person on a meat-based diet as it does to feed a person on a

plant-based diet, leading to the degredation of land world- wide.

 

Livestock farming also consumes huge amounts of electricity and water; a

shocking 50 per cent of water consumed in the United States is the result of

livestock farming. All the chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides used to grow

feed crops lead to serious environmental contamination and contribute to

greenhouse gas and global warming. Animal waste can pose a serious health

risk.

 

Only by drastically limiting our dependence on meat can we develop a

sustainable relationship with the environment, says Ms. Donaldson.

 

But in her view, the most powerful reason for becoming a vegan is the cruelty

inflicted on animals by modern farming practices. Read this section of her

book and you'll feel really badly as she describes factory farm chickens

crammed together in metal cages, barely able to move, pigs unable to walk on

the metal-slat flooring of their pens that permits urine and feces to fall to

the reservoir below, veal calves kept in the dark in tiny stalls and fed an

iron-deficient diet to induce anemia so their meat will be tender and white,

the trip to the slaugherhouse in freezing trucks, the panic of the animals.

 

Vegetarians are fighting the main currents of modern life. Whether it's the

neatly packaged drumsticks in the supermarket, the daily entrees in our

cafeterias, the menus in our restaurants or the cooking shows on television,

meat is an everyday part of our lives and we don't often stop to consider the

story behind it.

 

Veganism is even more difficult, but for anyone thinking of taking these

vows, this book is essential reading. And it's not all uphill; Ms.

Donaldson's tangy black beans a l'orange, Thai noodles, vegetable couscous

with sundried tomato pesto, and lazy daisy cake all sound good. There is life

after meat.

 

Tangy Black Beans a L'orange

 

Serves 4

 

- 1 tablespoon (15 mL)olive oil

 

- 1 large onion, sliced thinly

 

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

 

- 1 red bell pepper, chopped

 

- 1 14-ounce can tomatoes

 

- 1 cup (250 mL) black beans, uncooked

 

- 3 cups (750 mL)vegetable stock

 

- 1 bay leaf

 

- 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) black pepper

 

- 1 teaspoon (5 mL)vinegar

 

- 1 whole orange, washed and sliced in half

 

- 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt

 

- 2 stalks celery, chopped

 

- 1 carrot, chopped

 

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Saute onions, garlic and pepper until

onion is soft. Add beans, stock, bay leaf, black pepper and vinegar. Take off

stove and let sit, covered, for one hour.

 

2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, with lid ajar, for two to three

hours more, until beans are tender.

 

3. Remove a ladleful of beans, mash them, and return them to the pot to

thicken the mixture.

[Guest guest]

 

" Maynard S. Clark " <vrc

Sat, 29 Jul 2000 12:34:02 -0400

(Recipient list suppressed)

Glorious Vegan Book Review in today's Ottawa Citizen

 

 

>

> The Ottawa Citizen

> July 28, 2000, Friday, FINAL

>

> SECTION: Gardening Life; F10

>

> There is life after meat

>

> BYLINE: Louise Crosby

>

> At a time when high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are all the rage,

> you'd think a book on veganism -- the strictest form of vegetarianism --

> wouldn't have much of a chance. But Foods That Don't Bite Back: A Book of

> Vegan Recipes and Philosophy (The Evergreen Publishing Company) by Sue

> Donaldson will probably do just fine.

>

> Most vegetarians give up meat because they have taken a stand on the health,

> environmental and cruelty-to-animals issues involved, and they aren't about

> to abandon their principles for a fad diet that could easily be discounted

> next year. And with growing public concerns about the safety of our food,

> including deadly E. coli bacteria in hamburger meat and our water supply,

> there may even be an increase in the number of people who turn to

> vegetarianism.

>

> I don't know what proportion of the population is vegan, but it can't be very

> high. You have to be disciplined and organized to stick to a diet like this,

> a challenge for those of us with busy lives. While vegetarians do not include

> meat in their diet, vegans do not eat any animal products, including eggs and

> dairy products. It means no Parmesan cheese on your pasta, no mozzarella or

> feta or goat's cheese on your pizza, no butter on your popcorn, cookies and

> cakes made with margarine or oil, eating beans and tofu (and even tempeh, God

> forbid) on a regular basis. Eating out can be a problem. That's not to say

> you can't eat well as a vegan -- the recipes in this book sound good -- but

> the reality is that you have to spend more time thinking about what you put

> in your mouth than non-vegans do.

>

> Ms. Donaldson, who lives on a farm in Perth Road Village just north of

> Kingston, addresses all these challenges in her book and presents the reasons

> for becoming vegan in a compelling way.

>

> Take the health issue. The typical North American diet is high in animal fats

> and protein, and low in complex carbohydrates and dietary fibre, contributing

> to a host of ''western'' diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Switching

> to a vegan diet solves all these problems, she says: Fat intake drops to

> healthier levels, cholesterol is reduced to zero, fibre increases.

>

> If the pesticides on all those fruits and vegetables are worrying you, you're

> no better off eating meat, given the pesticides sprayed on the feed crops

> that end up in our meat and dairy products. Besides, you can always reduce

> the pesticide levels by washing your vegetables or buying organic. And

> finally, if you think you won't get enough protein, it seems we overestimate

> the amount required for a healthy diet. Over-consumption actually leeches

> calcium from the body.

>

> Foods That Don't Bite Back also presents a case for veganism on environmental

> grounds. Modern livestock farming -- and dairy farming isn't much better --

> takes a huge toll on the environment, requiring an estimated 10 times as much

> land to feed a person on a meat-based diet as it does to feed a person on a

> plant-based diet, leading to the degredation of land world- wide.

>

> Livestock farming also consumes huge amounts of electricity and water; a

> shocking 50 per cent of water consumed in the United States is the result of

> livestock farming. All the chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides used to grow

> feed crops lead to serious environmental contamination and contribute to

> greenhouse gas and global warming. Animal waste can pose a serious health

> risk.

>

> Only by drastically limiting our dependence on meat can we develop a

> sustainable relationship with the environment, says Ms. Donaldson.

>

> But in her view, the most powerful reason for becoming a vegan is the cruelty

> inflicted on animals by modern farming practices. Read this section of her

> book and you'll feel really badly as she describes factory farm chickens

> crammed together in metal cages, barely able to move, pigs unable to walk on

> the metal-slat flooring of their pens that permits urine and feces to fall to

> the reservoir below, veal calves kept in the dark in tiny stalls and fed an

> iron-deficient diet to induce anemia so their meat will be tender and white,

> the trip to the slaugherhouse in freezing trucks, the panic of the animals.

>

> Vegetarians are fighting the main currents of modern life. Whether it's the

> neatly packaged drumsticks in the supermarket, the daily entrees in our

> cafeterias, the menus in our restaurants or the cooking shows on television,

> meat is an everyday part of our lives and we don't often stop to consider the

> story behind it.

>

> Veganism is even more difficult, but for anyone thinking of taking these

> vows, this book is essential reading. And it's not all uphill; Ms.

> Donaldson's tangy black beans a l'orange, Thai noodles, vegetable couscous

> with sundried tomato pesto, and lazy daisy cake all sound good. There is life

> after meat.

>

> Tangy Black Beans a L'orange

>

> Serves 4

>

> - 1 tablespoon (15 mL)olive oil

>

> - 1 large onion, sliced thinly

>

> - 2 cloves garlic, minced

>

> - 1 red bell pepper, chopped

>

> - 1 14-ounce can tomatoes

>

> - 1 cup (250 mL) black beans, uncooked

>

> - 3 cups (750 mL)vegetable stock

>

> - 1 bay leaf

>

> - 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) black pepper

>

> - 1 teaspoon (5 mL)vinegar

>

> - 1 whole orange, washed and sliced in half

>

> - 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt

>

> - 2 stalks celery, chopped

>

> - 1 carrot, chopped

>

> 1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Saute onions, garlic and pepper until

> onion is soft. Add beans, stock, bay leaf, black pepper and vinegar. Take off

> stove and let sit, covered, for one hour.

>

> 2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, with lid ajar, for two to three

> hours more, until beans are tender.

>

> 3. Remove a ladleful of beans, mash them, and return them to the pot to

> thicken the mixture.

>

>

>

>

> Post message:

> Subscribe: -

> Un: -

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>

> Shortcut URL to this page:

> /community/

>

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