Animal Vs. Plant Based Diets / Food Systems

When I was growing up I was taught how to hunt, fish and trap animals for food as well as being fed an omnivorous diet, but today I have found that I no longer need animals in my diet. The Vegetarian Times recently found that out of the 311 million people in the US, 7.3 million eat a vegetarian based diet and 22.8 million eat a vegetarian inclined diet. Over the past century people have begun looking into the health implications of plant based diets as a way of improving their health and increase their longevity. This research paper is intended

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, written by Michael Pollan, gives light to the question, “What should we have for dinner?” that he thinks Americans today cannot answer simply due to the fact that there are too many food options. This book serves as an eye-opener to challenge readers to be more aware and accountable of what is consumed daily. In order to understand fully where our food comes from, we must follow it back to the very beginning. Pollan goes on to discuss three different modern food chains in which we get our food: the industrial, the organic, and the hunter-gatherer. By tracing our food back to the beginning, we can understand that most of the nutritional and health problems America is going through today can be found on the farms that make our food and the government that can decide what happens. America deals with many food related illness such as, heart disease, obesity, and type II diabetes. Majority of a human and animals diet consists of being corn-fed leading to a high cause of obesity in the United States these are just some of the many diseases that come with over processed foods and diets we are unaware of. In this study, we will highlight the environmental and health issues and impacts related with modern agriculture and how these systems can be made more sustainable.

Forks Over Knives, directed and written by Lee Fulkerson, examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. This film follows multiple doctors and their experimental process of attempting to understand the connection between the human diet and the many human ailments that occur in the world. Forks Over Knives creates a very persuasive case for eliminating meat and dairy from the dinner table.

Replacing all the meat in the human diet with vegetables and fruit is difficult. At the expense of refraining from eating meat, we are expected to partake in excessive

The facts that were talked about in the film were questionable; they seemed highly exaggerated to the point where the validity of the facts were sceptical. For example, the documentary stated that if people changed to a plant based diet, patients of diabetes and cancer would not need their medications; rather, they would be cured by just the plant-based diet (Andersen & Kuhn, 2017). Furthermore, they tried to convince the audience that the plant-based diet was a perfect diet for everyone of all body types and health conditions, not just diabetes and cancer patients. However, this is not true, everyone has a different genetic build; therefore, each individual needs a specific diet designed particularly for them (NTNU, 2011). As well, they claimed that high carbohydrates and sugars aren’t the leading cause for diabetes (Andersen, et al., 2017), however there are various studies stating otherwise. The study conducted by Richard Feinman argued that carbohydrate causes increased in blood sugar, which can potentially

The second focus of Forks Over Knives is ‘a whole-foods, plant-based diet is the solution.’ The documentary has already effectively proven that something about Americans’ eating habits needs to change. Half of Fulkerson’s burden is complete. Viewers are scared by the unhealthiness of America and the possibility of surgery for themselves. They have seen the cost of their diet and even scientific studies showing that the diet promotes cancer growth.

In the article, “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan, he argues that, “people that eat the Western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases.” Since meat is available everywhere in the United States, everyone is able to get their hands on meat and processed meat on a daily basis. We can eat more than double our weight of meat in the entire year, that just shows us that we tend to eat a heavy meat diet on a daily basis but we are too stubborn to change that. Pollan also states that, “the flood of refined carbohydrates has pushed important micronutrients out of the modern diets.” We live in a world that wants stuff to be done as fast as possible and well that includes food. Since we mass producing meats with the use of drugs and other forms of processing it causes some of the important nutrients that we need to leave the food. In Pollan’s article, it states that, “since healthcare is an industry, it stands to make profit on new drugs and procedures to treat chronic diseases than people changing their eating habits.” Not only are we harming ourselves in not making the proper eating choices but the healthcare industry will stay idly by in order for them to release a new drug to make money. In order for us to improve our health we have to take the first move into that direction

. . 30 to 40 percent of all cancers are caused by diet”(Davis and Melina 32). The consumption of meat has also been liked to Osteoporosis; “When you eat meat, your blood becomes acidic . . .In order to balance all the acidity, your bones come to the rescue by releasing some of their minerals”(Silverstone 17). “Diets”, in America revolve heavily around meat and dairy products; no wonder cancer is the second leading cause of death.

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself: what are you really eating? Recently, I’ve come to the realization of what I’m eating on a daily basis isn’t entirely healthy for me. Michael Pollan, who is the author of the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, has opened my mind. While reading the first couple of chapters of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I’ve realized that I don’t know much about the food I eat daily. For example, I didn’t know that farmers not only feed corn but also antibiotics to their animals (Walsh 34). In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan makes a strange statement, “You are what what you eat eats, too” (Pollan 84). Pollan continuously emphasizes this remark through various examples and he’s right, because strangely enough the food that our food eats not only affects them but us as well.

“Forks Over Knives”The documentary “Forks Over Knives” discussed the work of two researchers thatexamined the connection between a plant-based diet and a significant improvement in overallhealth. More specifically, the researchers put food to the test and not just any foods but a Wholefood, plant-based diet instead of animal-based foods. Campbell and Esselstyn served as pioneersfor their research on the claim that most ailments that afflict us today such as Cardiovascularissues, diabetes, cancer can be reversed or controlled by the way we eat. Dr. T. Colin Campbellis a Nutrition scientist and brought up an interesting observation which was that wealthierchildren who consumed higher amounts of animal-based foods were more prone to becoming illor diagnosed with liver cancer. In addition, Dr. Esselstyn, a Top surgeon and elite healthcareprovider, stated that most of the diseases that he treats are not as common in other parts of theworld where the diet is different.

Lastly, another clear point of controversy in Forks Over Knives, is protein. Protein is something that many know we could not survive without. Animal protein is the main source many think is the main and only way humans can get protein. In the documentary, everyday people are asked why consuming animal meat is important. They answered, because of the high protein. Not knowing that consuming animal meat does not only mean they are getting protein, but many other detrimental effects to health. Why do we assume that animal meat is the way they can get their protein? I blame it on the early claims that milk and animal meat is what people need to survive. It is the extreme consumption of red meats and processed foods that are destroying lives.

Snakes in the Garden Forks over Knives is a film that exposes the dangers of eating meat and dairy and its dire consequences on the human health. According to the documentary the three leading causes of death in the U.S. which entail heart disease, hypertension and diabetes can be reversed by altering our diet and diminishing animal products. The concept of food as medicine is brought to life by researchers, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. T Colin Campbell. The film further demonstrates how the intimate relationship between the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the food industries i.e meat industry that influences the guidelines set by the agency and in turn endangering the American public. The average American person is led to believe by the media that dairy and meat are the only and main sources of protein and that lacking these items would be detrimental to the human body.

The rats fed more protein had more cancer growth, which proved to Dr. Campbell that people need to eat less protein. The documentary also gives the success stories of many people. Men and women who have diabetes meet with these doctors, follow their diet for just a few months and no longer are diabetic. The narrator and director of the movie, Fulkerson, had high cholesterol levels and other health problems, so he started a whole-foods, plant-based diet. At the end of the film, Fulkerson had much safer levels of cholesterol and was far healthier. The entire documentary is closed with a shot of every main character eating salad together, celebrating their health. It also seems that they are celebrating a convincing documentary. Fulkerson, and the other crew members, successfully argue that Americans should adopt a whole-foods, plant-based diet. They do so using the rhetorical devices, especially logos and pathos.

Which diet works, is a question many ask in today’s world of conflicting health news. High protein diets have become a popular method to lose weight amongst those seeking a simplified version to healthy eating; however, Dean Ornish contributor of “The Myth of High-Protein Diets,” in The New York Times, March 23, 2015, sets the record straight about the “so called” benefits of a diet heavy in protein. Ornish offers information to educate the general population regarding some misconceptions with high-protein diets, and he sets the record straight that high-protein diets cause harm to the body and a plant-based diet restores health, prevents disease and nourishes the body for years to come.

Can it be morally permissible to eat meat when plant-based foods are available? In this paper my aim is it to explain why this is morally wrong to do. One problem with eating meat is humans are putting animals in unnecessary pain. Another problem is that the majority of our environmental destruction on our planet is due to agriculture. Philosophers Peter Singer and Tom Regan, both back up this view with their own arguments.