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17th out of 142 books
—
214 voters
Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth
by
John Robbins
From John Robbins, a new edition of the classic that awakened the conscience of a nation. Since the 1987 publication of Diet for a New America, beef consumption in the United States has fallen a remarkable 19%. While many forces are contributing to this dramatic shift in our habits, Diet for a New America is considered to be one of the most important. Diet for a New Americ...more
Paperback, Second Edition, 448 pages
Published
April 14th 1998
by HJ Kramer
(first published June 1st 1987)
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Oct 21, 2008
Morgan
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who already don't want to eat animal products
Recommended to Morgan by:
Bark & Grass zine
The experience of transitioning into veganism was, for me, one of "coming out." Over the course of a week in March of 1993, I stopped wanting to eat dairy, eggs, sugar, chocolate, or anything artificial. I didn't completely know why I was I doing this other than it was what my body needed. The first books I read about veganism were cookbooks that focused on recipes and a smattering of nutrition. I figured I'd get around to learning about the moral, ethical and environmental merits of veganism la...more
May 30, 2007
Lisa Vegan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
compassionate people, vegetarians, everyone
Shelves:
vegan,
lifechanging,
vegetarian,
animal-rights,
reviewed,
non-fiction,
philosophy,
nature,
science,
altta
This is the book that introduced me to veganism. It makes compelling arguments for eliminating animal products, and happily living on all plant products for all you consume. Talks about the ramifications of animal vs. plant products concentrating on 3 aspects: for the animals, for the earth, for human health. If you care about the future of the earth and its inhabitants, you'll be interested in this book.
This book was a very detailed depiction of where our food comes from here in America and how it affects our diet, our health, our community, and the effect it has on our planet. The book starts with stories of human encounters with animals in which animals prove to understand more than what most people think. It is clear that animals have the capacity to show love, gratitude, and friendship toward people, however, it is even more clear that they feel pain and they hurt just as humans do when the...more
I first read this in high school, shortly after it came out (showing my age), so this is a re-read. I found it at the second hand store recently and thought I should add it to my library, more because it's a classic than anything else.
The first part is about factory farming and animal cruelty. It has some cutesy animal stories that are much maligned by some of the reviewers on here, but I liked them. Then again, I like James Herriot as well, so that might be part of it. It is fair to criticize t...more
The first part is about factory farming and animal cruelty. It has some cutesy animal stories that are much maligned by some of the reviewers on here, but I liked them. Then again, I like James Herriot as well, so that might be part of it. It is fair to criticize t...more
I have been 95% vegan now for two years and finally got around to reading this classic expose of American factory farming, food industry propaganda and brainwashing, and environmental destruction, plus so much more.
Written in 1987 by the heir to the Baskin-Robbins empire, Robbins' book was highly influential and shocking at the time. These days, with Fast Food Nation, Michael Pollan's proselytizing on organic produce, and, really, the Internet's vast stores of information on feedlots and food p...more
Written in 1987 by the heir to the Baskin-Robbins empire, Robbins' book was highly influential and shocking at the time. These days, with Fast Food Nation, Michael Pollan's proselytizing on organic produce, and, really, the Internet's vast stores of information on feedlots and food p...more
John Robbins was born into one of the most powerful corporations in America–Baskin-Robbins. A company based entirely on selling animal products. Yet he took it upon himself to investigate the reality of animals products and their impact on Americans, American land, and the world overall. This book summarizes his extensive research, including personal visits to factory farms.
There are books that you read that are so incredibly powerful you are left almost speechless. Simply wanting to hand out co...more
There are books that you read that are so incredibly powerful you are left almost speechless. Simply wanting to hand out co...more
When I first started reading this book, I felt it was overly sentimental. I'm not one to be moved into great emotion or change by stories of smart animals or their friendliness or human-ness. However, in the end, this book turned me vegan overnight.
Though the book opens with the sentimental, it moves onto information on how food affects the body, the environment, and the social impacts it makes to the world at large. The latter two were what affected me most.
While I've had lapses into lacto-ovo...more
Though the book opens with the sentimental, it moves onto information on how food affects the body, the environment, and the social impacts it makes to the world at large. The latter two were what affected me most.
While I've had lapses into lacto-ovo...more
Even as a vegetarian and given the fact that this book was written in the 80's, I was still shocked by the statistics. It was an easy read that definitely was written for the shock value but still gave a good argument for avoiding the meat industry. It, once again, made me realize how selfish and overindulgent some Americans are. We constantly think of nothing outside our little suburban realities. if only half of us would have some compassion, enough to make a lifestyle change, it would have a...more
I know I should love this book, or at least consider it life-changing, but I just could not muscle my way through it. The typos and poor grammar had me questioning everything (if you can't bother to proof-read, did you bother to fact check?). And the individual anecdotes, cute though they were about dogs tracking hundreds of miles to find their owners and hens who surrogate parented ducks did not have the intended effect of making me see animals as more like "us." In fact, the whole idea of cond...more
Reading Diet for a New America was painful, to the point of making me cry at some points. But that's not a bad thing to be so affected by what a book has to say. This book convinced me to choose to be vegan for a while. Unfortunately, that did not appear to be the best for my body in the long term. I expect that some of the things said in this book don't hold up to the light of our most current scientific knowledge, but that is to be expected of such a book over time. It did have a lasting influ...more
though it's an older book (1987), every point it makes is compelling and potentially life changing. my local library didn't have a copy of his newer book, "the food revolution," but i may try to find it in order to get more recent facts and information. nevertheless, the core arguments are timeless: a diet based on animal products is not only harmful to individual health, but also to the environment, the economy, starving people all over the world, not to mention the intelligent creatures that a...more
I don't know why I even picked this book up and started to read it, but I did. It's kind of like "Fast Food Nation" for people who don't have to read it for a college class. It's well-written, straight-forward, and clear. I enjoyed reading a good book about the best way to eat for the planet by someone who is genetically related to one of the Baskin-Robbins' Robbins. And, you know what? I felt good about the way I ate after I read it. Usually you feel guilty when you read books about what you "s...more
Dec 23, 2008
TrenTren
added it
This is actually the grandson of the inventors of Baskin Robbins, ironically. He did a lecture at Southampton College while I was studying for my masters and I read his book shortly after seeing him. His lecture and his book really changed the way I saw the FDA, the meat and dairy industry and the way I ate. Though a positive experience, reading this, he tends to be just a little fanatical and overboard (I think there were some pretty graphic animal farm photos in there if my memory serves me)-...more
So interesting that I couldn't put it down. With some of these non-fiction books, skimming them is the only way to get through them. But not thius one. John Robbins does a great job of telling all the facts and convincing one that fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, ect. is the way to better health. Live longer, feel better and do it by becoming a more compassionate human being. Maybe not everyone is interested in becoming a vegetarian, and I'm sure many aren't, it is still good to know all th...more
What a wonderful book! I have been a vegetarian for over 9 years and this book just convinced me to be a vegetarian until the day I die.
I read "The China Study" a few years ago and was amazed to see all the benefits of having an animal-free diet. For one, there is a drastic reduction in cancer rates among vegetarians, they have lower cholesterol, healthier hearts, bodies, and live longer and healthier lives than their meat-eating counterparts.
This book, unlike The China Study, delves further in...more
I read "The China Study" a few years ago and was amazed to see all the benefits of having an animal-free diet. For one, there is a drastic reduction in cancer rates among vegetarians, they have lower cholesterol, healthier hearts, bodies, and live longer and healthier lives than their meat-eating counterparts.
This book, unlike The China Study, delves further in...more
I didn't realize that this book was published in 1987. So I sort of skimmed through the bits about factory farms (sad they've been around that long) and mainly read up on the health issues in the back.
Things that I remember:
Vegan breastfeeding moms have way way way lower contamination in their breastmilk than meat eating moms. In a New England Journal of Medicine article the vegan mothers who had the highest level of breastmilk contamination was way lower than the lowest level of contamination i...more
Things that I remember:
Vegan breastfeeding moms have way way way lower contamination in their breastmilk than meat eating moms. In a New England Journal of Medicine article the vegan mothers who had the highest level of breastmilk contamination was way lower than the lowest level of contamination i...more
This is one of the pivotal vegetarian advocacy books. Now I understand why. Reading this book made me a vegetarian all over again. My understanding of the issues that led to my decision to become vegetarian is only a fraction of what this book covers. I was truly astonished by what this book revealed. I really understood how so much of the meat industry depends on ignorance and deception.
It starts out by going straight for the heart. It talks about what animals are like--what they're really like...more
It starts out by going straight for the heart. It talks about what animals are like--what they're really like...more
I have been married to a vegetarian for 25 years and have been encouraged to eat a healthy vegetarian diet during all of these years. This has been based on scientific health supporting information. During my years with this wonderful intelligent woman I have attempted to become a vegetarian numerous times. Each time I have felt better and seemed healthier. Nutrition and diet have been important in our raising of our 6 children and I can say that my wife has done an incredible job. Not only are...more
Everyone should read this book. The beginning is a little sappy and there is some "outdated" info, but it's one of the most eye-opening books I've read. If my whole family would agree, I think I'd easily become vegetarian. There is just too much risk in eating any meat, and it's so horribly contaminated, much worse than I ever thought. Not eating meat really saves a lot of the Earth's resources. It's astonishing to me how wasteful we are because of how carnivorous we think we need to be.
An absolute must read for all - so important to know where your food is coming from, what you put in your bodies. Every time we make a decision to eat something, we are responsible for the consequences of those decisions - both on humans, non-human animals and on our environment. This book made me change my eating habits to vegan - and ultimately took me on a path that made eating and cooking something I grew to love, rather than just something I did when I was hungry.
What was I thinking? It seems to me I recall reading this in Connecticut. I can picture the bookcase, book, and conversation. Yet, I can't justify the time with that image. This book was written in 1987. I wouldn't have been in that house at that time. Hmmm . . .
I do know I have read it. I wasn't impressed other than Robbins gave up his inheritance. I do think this is where I learned that we needed far less milk in our diet if we reduced our meat intake.
I do know I have read it. I wasn't impressed other than Robbins gave up his inheritance. I do think this is where I learned that we needed far less milk in our diet if we reduced our meat intake.
I enjoyed this book for it's information on the cruelty that goes on in the meat industry. I also appreciated the information regarding hormone injections, pesticides, and the unsettling things the meat industry feeds cattle and poultry. Because of what I read, I decided to make the switch to a vegan diet. The book also contained very helpful information about the nutrition in fruits, vegetables, and grains. It showed me that I can be a vegan and still get enough calcium and protein.
I would like...more
I would like...more
Jan 27, 2012
Jeannie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone should read this book at least once!
Shelves:
i-own
The subject matter contained in this book is even more important today than when it was written 25 years ago. A lot of it is hard to read, not only the plight of farm animals but those who inhabit our oceans and our skies, but even harder for me was realizing that life hasn't changed much for the animals who share this world with us. I find that so very sad. Robbins makes valid points about the way food is produced in this country and speaks loudly for making better food choices. Robbins is very...more
I was close to being a vegetarian and now I will try to be complete ( EXCEPT FOR BACON, CHEESE - sorry Robbins has done a lot of research and the bibliography is extensive and I am sick about eating meat because of the resources used, the pesticides , the treatment of living beings, the dehumanizing of the meat workers and us,the hormones used on the animals, etc. and hoping that we can get complete protein without meat
This book was the first time I was introduced to the concept that the food I ate had an immediate and long-lasting ramification for the environment and the world around me. Before that, food was a day-to-day choice. Some of the arguments made here are a bit heavy-handed, but it started a long and crucial journey for me where I started to explore the way I interacted with every aspect of my lifestyle.
Diet for a New America was a little sappy in the first few chapters. Robbins offers up a few quirky animal-themed anecdotes that are meant to tug at the hearts of animal lovers who may not have made the connection that beef, pork, and chicken come from the adorable, doe-eyed creatures cuddled at petting zoos. He finally starts to make some sense about a quarter through the book. He basically lays down the plot-line for his second book, Food revolution; a
book, I feel, was more organized and had...more
book, I feel, was more organized and had...more
Another great book on why meat eating is not only harmful to yourself but also to the environment. This author was actually entitled to the inheritance of the Baskin and Robbins empire but couldn't do it because he knew the food he was selling was going to be killing people. This European has a sense of morals and I respect him for that. Definitely recommended.
It is strange to re-visit this book after so many years. I read it 20 years ago or more and became vegetarian for ten years. During this time my health declined. I think this book is very important for making people think about where our food comes from. Unfortunately a vegetarian diet is not healthy for everyone----though a whole foods diet might be....
A good starting point for anyone interested in the U.S. food system. John Robbins is the son of the co-founder of Baskin-Robbins. He was jolted onto another path after his uncle Burt Baskin suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 54.
After the chapter on chicken I promptly walked to the freezer, through out the Tyson, and never looked back!
After the chapter on chicken I promptly walked to the freezer, through out the Tyson, and never looked back!
May 25, 2011
Aviva
marked it as to-read
I read excerpts from this my sophomore year in college and stopped eating meat (until Peace Corps). I just came across the printout (from a dot-matrix printer with the holey edges still attached) and thought maybe I should read the book. I remember being really struck by how many more people could be fed if we weren't busy growing plants to feed animals.
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“...The real cause of hunger is a scarcity of justice, not a scarcity of food. Enough grain is squandered every day in raising American livestock for meat to provide every human being on earth with two loaves of bread.”
—
3 people liked it
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Mar 12, 2012 06:23pm