Interview With Me

Posted Fri, 04/16/2010 - 10:36 by Melissa

Have you read Let Them Eat Meat? It's a rather audacious blog written by ex-vegan Rhys Southan who now eats paleo. He skewers vegan pseudo-science, obsession, and guilt-mongering. He also posts some awesome interviews both with happy vegans/vegetarians and those who have found that the vegan diet didn't work for them. It's fascinating food for thought- philosophically and as an anthropological study of what people eat and why. Today he interviews yours truly. Take a look!

 

Comments

As a hunter who used to be a

by Tovar Cerulli - 04/22/2010 - 20:14

As a hunter who used to be a vegan, I'm glad to have found your website as well as Rhys's!

Hi Melissa, just wanted to

by Wayne Yuen - 04/17/2010 - 12:42

Hi Melissa, just wanted to drop you a note about the Let them Eat Meat interview. I think you're a great person, doing great work, and I hope you're not taking any of my arguments personally. In all honesty, I don't have a huge problem with your diet (nor do I have a huge problem with anyone's diet), I just didn't like your ethical arguments. Someone on a paleo diet could be getting their meat from Factory Farms.... You're obviously not, since you're working with the animals and can attest first hand how they are treated (hopefully very well). I on the other hand, am like most Americans who are pretty far removed from the food that they eat in terms of production. So I really have no assurance that the meat I buy would be ethically raised. I'd love to be a paleo, and I really miss meat, but I think the position that I and most Americans are in, require me to be a vegetarian at the least.

Cheers!

Hey Wayne. I HOPE people

by Melissa - 04/17/2010 - 14:46

Hey Wayne. I HOPE people eating paleo are not eating meat from factory farms. Since I am an assistant organizer for the local group, I met a lot of paleo dieters and none of them buy factory farmed meat. In fact, during potlucks people will ask where the meat is from and not eat it if the person doesn't know.

I know most of my farmers personally and we run a meat buying club where we visit farms. If you ever visit NY I can give you a tour of some local farms.

Factory farmed meat isn't just bad for animals, communities, and the environment...it's bad for people too! It's loaded with hormones, environmental contaminants, and bad fats.

Evolutionary medicine is a holistic philosophy that addresses these issues. If someone is eating factory farmed meat, they are not going their best to emulate an evolutionary diet.

I'm against ANY diet where people are disconnected from the causes and effects of their food. A diet of local food is the least disconnected, whether it's vegetarian or not.

As a vegetarian I assume you are eating dairy and eggs. Dairy and egg farms are often MORE cruel than meat farms and I would encourage you to connect with good food sources as a vegetarian. I am especially vigilant when I eat dairy because of the horrors I have seen on bad dairy farms. Even an organic farm can be bad. You should call some local farmers or talk at the local farmer's market and maybe even visit them.

I can even hook you up with your OWN chickens if you live in NY :) They aren't so difficult to keep.

I try to get my eggs either

by Wayne Yuen - 04/18/2010 - 16:30

I try to get my eggs either from my parents (who raise their own chickens) or I get fertilized eggs.... They're supposedly treated better than "cage-free" eggs. Maybe you can attest to that? But I don't eat many eggs. I do have to admit I'm guilty on the cheese account.

Good interview. Ideas about

by Matthew - 04/16/2010 - 14:49

Good interview. Ideas about food, like veganism, can have so much emotion behind them they rarely seem to be discused open minded way. I like the idea of having interviews with both sides of the debate on that site.

Cool photo by the way. The bear obviously won that fight :)