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Image by Nikola Majksner

Why Go Plant Based?

Learn more about plant based lifestyles

Plant Based Lifestyle Definition & Facts:

A plant based diet completely or mostly excludes foods from animal sources including meat, fish, poultry, dairy, eggs and honey. (Beware. The term "plant based" is used liberally to mean anything from 100% plant based, to "mostly" plant based to "has plants in it". If you're looking for a pure plant based food product, you need to confirm the ingredients or look for a vegan certified label.)

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A plant based, eco-friendly lifestyle is about healthy, compassionate and sustainable living. 

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Veganism, according to The Vegan Society, "is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose." Therefore, a vegan diet excludes foods from animal sources including meat, fish, poultry, dairy, eggs and honey. Vegans also avoid wearing or using animal derived textiles (wool, silk, leather, etc) and avoid activities that exploit animals such as circuses, zoos, rodeos, etc. 

Facts

Health Facts

  1. The World Health Organization has classified processed meats as carcinogens and red meats as probable carcinogens. Processed meats include hot dogs, bacon, sausage, ham, and deli meats. Red meats include beef, pork, lamb and goat. (source: cancer.org)

  2. Plant based diets are nutritionally adequate for all. Foods from animal sources are not required for health, and in fact, are detrimental to health, and the environment, according to the largest network of dietitians in the world (The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics).

Environment Facts

Animal Agriculture, Plastics, Fashion

  1. Raising animals for food produces more greenhouse gasses than cars, planes, ships, and the entire transportation sector combined.

  2. 70% of the world's land dedicated to agriculture is used to rear animals.  

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

  4. We could see fish-less oceans by 2048.

  5. Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon rainforest destruction.

  6. 82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries.

Animal Facts

  1. Trillions of farmed animals are killed every year for our pleasure. Whether you buy free-range, grass-fed or "certified humane", they are forcibly impregnated, their babies are stolen, their lives are cut extremely short and the slaughter process is horrific.

  2. Millions of WILD animals are killed every year for being destructive to the agriculture industry. The US federal wildlife-killing program targets wolves, coyotes, cougars, birds and various other wildlife. They killed 2.3 million animals 2017.

  3. Farmed fish suffer from severe depression and sometimes “drop out,” or float around lifelessly.

Resources
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Plant Based Lifestyle Resources:

Below are some of my favorite resources for those interested in learning more.

Environment Resources

Documentaries:

VegMovies.com is the largest directory of vegan-friendly movies. Some of my favorite environment  movies  include:

 

Countdown to Zero

Cowspiracy

A Plastic Ocean

Seaspiracy

The True Cost

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Books:

Comfortably Unaware

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Podcasts:

Hope for the Animals

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Websites:

BluePlanetSociety.org

Cowspiracy.com

FoodIsPower.org

OneGreenPlanet.org

PlantBasedData.org

PlasticOceans.org

PreventYearZero.org

TrueCostMovie.com

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Instagram:

@NicholasDCarter

Food
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Plant Based Lifestyle FOOD (Recipes & Meal Planners):

"What the heck should I eat?" is a question often asked. I had no clue initially! I've never been one of those people who can just whip up some rice and beans - I've never eaten that in my life. Do I just open a can of beans? Do I add any seasonings? I needed to be taught exactly what to do! 

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The easiest thing is to explore the  many amazing plant based meat alternatives created by innovative companies that can be found in grocery stores and restaurants. They're delicious, and I highly recommend trying all of them!

 

I was vegetarian for 20 years before giving up dairy after reading The Whole Foods Diet by John Mackey and Doctors Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman (from the Forks Over Knives documentary). This comprehensive, engaging book shocked me with health facts, so much so that we went plant-based immediately after reading it. However, the reason we were able to do so is because it provided a comprehensive 28-day meal plan, which we followed exactly. The recipes were excellent, we began to build up a collection of our favorites, and have since tried so many delicious, flavorful vegan recipes that our food is WAY better than it ever was!

 

We've also tried various online meal planners which have all been excellent - we rotate through meal planner subscriptions, enjoying the variety of recipes and the convenience of the apps. Many meal planners provide recipes for the week, grocery lists, and well laid-out prep and batch cooking instructions. Below are some of my favorite resources for recipes and meal planners.

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