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Why You Don't Need Meat
The up-to-the minute latest news about meat-eating that our government and themeat lobby does not want us to--How likely is it that mad cow disease could happen here?--What are the latest additives being added to our livestock feed?--Why our our children being bombarded with hours of meat advertisements a day?--How can your family gradually cut down your meat consumption?--What do some researchers think that some Alzheimer's patients really have something else?
- GenresNonfictionHealth
Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 21, 2014
I still remember literally to the day when I read this book. That is because this book irrevocably changed my life. The change was traumatic at the time, but it was the best thing I have ever done, and quite possibly the best thing I ever will do, and I am so glad I did. It was Friday, February 11, 2005. I was in the public library, and You Don't Need Meat was on the "Librarian's Picks" shelf, eye-catching with its big, bold hamburger graphic. I had experimented with going vegetarian for a month a few years before, and I knew on some level if I wasn't ready to learn more about why I didn't need meat, I wouldn't dare pick it up and crack the cover, but I did. And you know what? It turns out Peter Cox is right-- I really don't need meat.
I sat and I read it cover to cover over the following weekend. I cried. I put the book down and stared into space. I thought to myself, "I can't take this." No question, Peter Cox doesn't pull any punches. But I was compelled to pick it up again and kept reading. It was too gripping. I cried some more. I kept reading. I finished the book on Sunday, February 13, 2005. And then I thought, "I can't be a part of this machine anymore. I can't and I won't." I thought that over and over, hundreds of times over the next month. Peter Cox is right-- I really don't need meat.
The next day was Monday, February 14, 2005. It was Valentine's Day. I celebrated with an act of love. I stopped eating animals. That very day. I couldn't stand the thought of putting another bite of dead flesh in my mouth. I made my boyfriend eat all the leftover meat that was in the house and went shopping for new groceries even though I really had very little idea of what to eat instead of meat. I subsisted on pasta and PB&J for the first few weeks.
Interesting things happened after I quit eating meat. Within about 3 weeks, my frequent migraines, which had plagued me for years, virtually vanished. I stopped refilling my migraine medication because I didn't need it anymore. I also noticed that after an initial period of mild GI upset, my poo and my gas, although slightly more voluminous, was a lot less odorous. I guess you could say my shit literally doesn't stink, haha! I've now been vegetarian 9+ years, and have never regretted it. Peter Cox is right-- I really don't need meat.
Cox hits all of the major non-religious reasons not to eat meat, which I categorize as roughly tripartite, with two subcategories in each:
1. Health:
a. The problem of infectious disease
b. The problem of chronic disease
2. Environment:
a. The problem of resource inefficiency
b. The problem of pollution
3. Ethics:
a. The problem of death
b. The problem of suffering
Up against all of these, we have... what? It tastes good??? There are plenty of other things that taste good, and we both know that's not enough to justify all the evils we do in the name of steak and bacon.
There are easier places to start if you're not ready for the hard truths that Cox will tell you plainly. If you really don't think you can take it, start with these:
Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat (mainly environment)
The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health (mainly health)
Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth (animal ethics, but explained more gently than Cox)
If you're a dyed-in-the-wool meater, I challenge you to read Cox and keep eating meat. If you can read Cox and keep eating meat after that, I won't say it makes you a stronger person than I. But I think we can both agree it makes you something I am not.
I sat and I read it cover to cover over the following weekend. I cried. I put the book down and stared into space. I thought to myself, "I can't take this." No question, Peter Cox doesn't pull any punches. But I was compelled to pick it up again and kept reading. It was too gripping. I cried some more. I kept reading. I finished the book on Sunday, February 13, 2005. And then I thought, "I can't be a part of this machine anymore. I can't and I won't." I thought that over and over, hundreds of times over the next month. Peter Cox is right-- I really don't need meat.
The next day was Monday, February 14, 2005. It was Valentine's Day. I celebrated with an act of love. I stopped eating animals. That very day. I couldn't stand the thought of putting another bite of dead flesh in my mouth. I made my boyfriend eat all the leftover meat that was in the house and went shopping for new groceries even though I really had very little idea of what to eat instead of meat. I subsisted on pasta and PB&J for the first few weeks.
Interesting things happened after I quit eating meat. Within about 3 weeks, my frequent migraines, which had plagued me for years, virtually vanished. I stopped refilling my migraine medication because I didn't need it anymore. I also noticed that after an initial period of mild GI upset, my poo and my gas, although slightly more voluminous, was a lot less odorous. I guess you could say my shit literally doesn't stink, haha! I've now been vegetarian 9+ years, and have never regretted it. Peter Cox is right-- I really don't need meat.
Cox hits all of the major non-religious reasons not to eat meat, which I categorize as roughly tripartite, with two subcategories in each:
1. Health:
a. The problem of infectious disease
b. The problem of chronic disease
2. Environment:
a. The problem of resource inefficiency
b. The problem of pollution
3. Ethics:
a. The problem of death
b. The problem of suffering
Up against all of these, we have... what? It tastes good??? There are plenty of other things that taste good, and we both know that's not enough to justify all the evils we do in the name of steak and bacon.
There are easier places to start if you're not ready for the hard truths that Cox will tell you plainly. If you really don't think you can take it, start with these:
Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat (mainly environment)
The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health (mainly health)
Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth (animal ethics, but explained more gently than Cox)
If you're a dyed-in-the-wool meater, I challenge you to read Cox and keep eating meat. If you can read Cox and keep eating meat after that, I won't say it makes you a stronger person than I. But I think we can both agree it makes you something I am not.
August 4, 2024
A FAMED ENGLISH VEGETARIAN'S BESTSELLING BOOK
Peter Cox was the first CEO of the Vegetarian Society in England, and has authored/coauthored the books 'Lifepoints,' 'LifePoints Cookbook: The Power of Positive Nutrition,' 'Linda McCartney's Home Cooking,' 'Light Lunches,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 2002 edition, "This little book has had an interesting evolution. An instant bestseller when it was published in Britain all of fifteen years ago, it was less than half the size of the volume you now hold in your hands... Since Britain is guilty of unleashing such dubious delights as beef eating and Mad Cow Disease on the world, please consider this book as one Brit's way of saying 'Sorry!'" (Pg. xiii)
He observes, "a meat-free diet... [is] much closer to the kind of natural food that we've always eaten, and that our bodies have always been used to. In evolutionary terms, the meat we eat today is a NEW food for us, which means that we're actually conducting a huge experiment on our own bodies. And ... the results don't look good at all." (Pg. 40)
He points out, "If you have a companion animal, you'll know that he or she has a personality, probably quite a strong one. Actually, ALL animals have individual personalities; it's just that most of us never have the chance to get to know them." (Pg. 112) Later, he adds, "After all, if you like animals, one of the nicest things you can do for them is not to eat them." (Pg. 148)
He argues, "The difficult thing with meat is that, just like tobacco and some other drugs, although you may not enjoy it at the beginning, your taste buds get hooked on its fatty, salty flavor quite quickly... It isn't so strange, then, that when young humans are fed animal flesh, they also become accustomed to the taste of it, and grow up believing that large quantities of it are an indispensable part of their diet. However, what has really happened is that we have been 'taught' to eat meat, taught to regard its taste as palatable, and taught to consider it ... as a perfectly normal part of our diet." (Pg. 268) He suggests, "Most children are naturally vegetarian, especially so if they have realized that the meat on their plates is essentially a dead animal. Because they empathize so strongly with animals... they cannot easily bear the transition from 'friend' to 'food.'" (Pg. 317)
Cox's book (which also contains a fascinating history of Mad Cow Disease, by the way) will be of great interest to vegetarians, vegans, animal lovers, and other progressive "thinkers" and "doers."
Peter Cox was the first CEO of the Vegetarian Society in England, and has authored/coauthored the books 'Lifepoints,' 'LifePoints Cookbook: The Power of Positive Nutrition,' 'Linda McCartney's Home Cooking,' 'Light Lunches,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 2002 edition, "This little book has had an interesting evolution. An instant bestseller when it was published in Britain all of fifteen years ago, it was less than half the size of the volume you now hold in your hands... Since Britain is guilty of unleashing such dubious delights as beef eating and Mad Cow Disease on the world, please consider this book as one Brit's way of saying 'Sorry!'" (Pg. xiii)
He observes, "a meat-free diet... [is] much closer to the kind of natural food that we've always eaten, and that our bodies have always been used to. In evolutionary terms, the meat we eat today is a NEW food for us, which means that we're actually conducting a huge experiment on our own bodies. And ... the results don't look good at all." (Pg. 40)
He points out, "If you have a companion animal, you'll know that he or she has a personality, probably quite a strong one. Actually, ALL animals have individual personalities; it's just that most of us never have the chance to get to know them." (Pg. 112) Later, he adds, "After all, if you like animals, one of the nicest things you can do for them is not to eat them." (Pg. 148)
He argues, "The difficult thing with meat is that, just like tobacco and some other drugs, although you may not enjoy it at the beginning, your taste buds get hooked on its fatty, salty flavor quite quickly... It isn't so strange, then, that when young humans are fed animal flesh, they also become accustomed to the taste of it, and grow up believing that large quantities of it are an indispensable part of their diet. However, what has really happened is that we have been 'taught' to eat meat, taught to regard its taste as palatable, and taught to consider it ... as a perfectly normal part of our diet." (Pg. 268) He suggests, "Most children are naturally vegetarian, especially so if they have realized that the meat on their plates is essentially a dead animal. Because they empathize so strongly with animals... they cannot easily bear the transition from 'friend' to 'food.'" (Pg. 317)
Cox's book (which also contains a fascinating history of Mad Cow Disease, by the way) will be of great interest to vegetarians, vegans, animal lovers, and other progressive "thinkers" and "doers."
May 21, 2018
I wonder if anyone has read this book & continued to eat meat regardless of the ideas provided in this book.
I have always wanted to go vegetarian since I was a teenager so I personally like the idea of going for a meatless life. However, I've found difficulty with my family & relatives, especially my mother because she's the cook at home. In an Asian household, it can be quite annoying when you need to keep convincing other that I don't eat meat & yes, I'm not crazy (although I can understand that is debatable). Currently, I am a pescetarian, mostly because I still eat sushi occasionally.
I've found that even when the number of vegetarians & vegans have increased in my country (or at least in the city where I live), our current society is still promoting meat eating lifestyle. Crois-moi, I live in a "culinary tourism" area, where food is abundant & creatively created just for the sake of foodism. I am trying hard not to fall prey, but to be honest, it's never been my goal just to enjoy food while sacrificing my health (and my wallet for sure). I believe in a year or two, I can be a vegan. But first, please get me out of here.
I have always wanted to go vegetarian since I was a teenager so I personally like the idea of going for a meatless life. However, I've found difficulty with my family & relatives, especially my mother because she's the cook at home. In an Asian household, it can be quite annoying when you need to keep convincing other that I don't eat meat & yes, I'm not crazy (although I can understand that is debatable). Currently, I am a pescetarian, mostly because I still eat sushi occasionally.
I've found that even when the number of vegetarians & vegans have increased in my country (or at least in the city where I live), our current society is still promoting meat eating lifestyle. Crois-moi, I live in a "culinary tourism" area, where food is abundant & creatively created just for the sake of foodism. I am trying hard not to fall prey, but to be honest, it's never been my goal just to enjoy food while sacrificing my health (and my wallet for sure). I believe in a year or two, I can be a vegan. But first, please get me out of here.
February 18, 2018
Re-read this recently. It was a book that changed my life when I first read it around 30 years ago and it turned me vegetarian overnight once I realised how much sufferring we put animals through just so we can kill (usually inhumanely!) and eat them when there is absolutely no need to do so. Now vegan!
July 16, 2008
this book reads kind of like a text book. there are definitely parts that i just skimmed over because they were sooo boring.
but - there were also parts that were really interesting to learn. like the health benefits of becoming a vegetarian/vegan.
i chose to read it now because i had just decided to try being a vegetarian at the beginning of january. so far so good!
but - there were also parts that were really interesting to learn. like the health benefits of becoming a vegetarian/vegan.
i chose to read it now because i had just decided to try being a vegetarian at the beginning of january. so far so good!
November 21, 2010
I'm not even a vegetarian, but this book looked good. And it was. It was written in a very accessible, interesting way, so that i didn't need to skim or skip like i often do in non fiction books. I will be reviewing this further on my blog soon, but I just wanted to say that everyone, meat eater or vegetarian, should read this. :)
September 26, 2008
Need I say more? A great argument for a vegetarian lifestyle.
March 14, 2010
nothing new here but love that understated british humor - an easy read and a good intro to the subject if you're new to it...
July 1, 2008
an easy read, whether it be for an intro to vegetarianism, or just for pleasure.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews