Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth

by John Robbins

An extraordinary look at our dependence on animals for food, and the profoundly inhumane and unhealthy conditions under which they are currently raised.

Well-researched and equally well-written author Robbins sounds the alarm and reveals the astounding physical, emotional and economic price we unknowingly pay. You may never again look at the local supermarket's meat counter the same way after you read this book. A must-read for anyone involved or interested in ecological and political issues.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Food, Vegan, Nutrition, Vegetarian, Self Help

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: John Robbins

John Robbins was an American author, who popularized the links among nutrition, environmentalism, and animal rights.
He was the author of the 1987 Diet for a New America, an exposé on connections between diet, physical health, animal cruelty, and environmentalism. Robbins founded the organization EarthSave in 1988 and co-founded the Food Revolution Network with his son, Ocean, in 2011. He was a leading voice in the plant-based movement.

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 later, and Diet for a New America was what I turned to. Robbins story is extremely compelling: the heir to the Baskin Robbins ice cream empire gave it all up when he decided that dairy products were evil, and decided to fight for animal-free eating instead. This book lays out the facts about industrial farming, prefaced by some heart-warming passages about how cute and loving and intelligent various species are so as to instill pity in the reader. The result is a bit nauseating in two ways: firstly because of Robbins' whiny "poor piggy" tone, secondly because descriptions of factory farming in the U.S. make the Jewish Holocaust sound like a trip the beach. The attitude expressed in Diet for a New America exemplifies exactly why I rarely take my vegan politics past the kitchen. Experience has shown me that feeding someone horror stories about garbage bags full of baby chicks is less effective than feeding them it's opposite: really good food, whcih happens to be vegan.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Cindy Dyson Eitelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why couldn't I have read this when it was published in 1987, before I brainwashed two innocent children into the same screwed up fallacies about nutrition that I was raised on? I remember reading the pregnancy and first year books and believing all of the nonsense they taught me. Must have balanced protein. Must drink milk. Animal cholesterol required for growing brain. Must take prenatal vitamins.

And all this hogwash is based on (1) Western cultural history (2) studies on rats who were fed milk protein (3) the wisdom of agriculture. The idea that cows' milk is good for human beings reminds me strongly of sympathetic magic--walnuts look like little brains, therefore they must be good for the brain.

If I'd put the book together, I'd have inverted the order--first would have came the health section, second the one on big business, and last the ethical implications of eating the way we do. Pull people in by convincing them that a non-animal based diet is better for them; freak them out by pointing out how much power the American agribusiness giants have over our schools; then show them what life is really like for the animals in a CAFO.

But that's me. I skimmed the sections on animal farming--I already know just how screwed up the process has become. Any more would bring on nightmares.

I hope my new healthy diet will offset the unhealthy anger I feel every time I think about how we've let big business sell our society on "milk for healthy bones", "the incredible edible egg", or "meat will make us strong." And if it doesn't, we'll find a drug to fix it.

[Janak Joshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it’s cliché to say that this book changed my life, but it really did - to the point where if we know each other irl, hit me up and I will buy a copy and send it to your home. I mean it.

Essential for anyone interested in sustainable living, but I will warn you it’s not an easy read, because it completely dismantles the truths we grew up with and exposes the direct link to the industry profiteers behind traditional nutrition science. The American diet (and, furthermore, our habit of expecting infinite growth and endless consumption) is put on trial, and this book explains the moral, scientific, and medical consequences of our actions.

I don’t recommend starting this book until you are ready to take a long hard look in the mirror - I have lately spent a lot of nights lying awake angry and disgusted with the inequality, cruelty, and banality of the system I participate in. But ultimately isn’t it better to know the truth even if it shatters any comforting illusions we might’ve had? If you read one book this year, let it be this one.

[Lain · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 condemning anthropomorphism in one paragraph then making us feel like animals are just furry humans made me throw my hands up.

I am a vegan, and I condemn poor treatment of animals and the focus on meat in the American diet. But this book didn't make me feel more strongly about my beliefs -- in fact, I found myself at times sympathizing with the "murderers and oppressors," just because the whole thing was so over the top.

I feel bad about the rating I'm giving this book. But I feel worse about the time I wasted reading it.

[Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was a millionaire twice over. He produced and sold more ice cream than anyone on the earth at the time. But when it was John Robbins turned to take over the Baskin-Robbins (31 Flavors) ice cream empire from his father Irvine, he left, leaving his fortune behind.
Diet For a New America (HJ Kramer Publishing, 1987), is Robbins’ potent condemnation of American food consumption and is a revealing expose of the truths about the meat and dairy industries.
Robbins’ father lived the materialistic American dream, an ice cream cone-shaped swimming pool at their Long Island home was just a sweet topping to their vast lifestyle. “But the more I have uncovered about the dark side of the Great American Food Machine, the more appropriate it has felt to decline the opportunity to be part of it, explains Robbins. “I wanted my steps to be guided by a reverence for life."
In a tender voice, Robbins lays out the health, ecological and moral arguments to live a different lifestyle; he is a vegan. But Robbins is quick to tell readers you don’t have to be even a vegetarian to be health conscious and want your life to be a statement about compassion. “It’s not the killing of animals that is the chief issue here, but rather the unspeakable quality of the lives they are forced to live." He demonstrates why a compassionate society cannot be built upon an inhumane system of food creation.
The effects of the animal food habit is enormous with cancer, heart disease and other modern food health disorders on the rise. If consumption from the Great American Food Machine stopped, food costs would go down, medical costs drop, personal savings increase, and debt pressures would ease.
Grain fed to fatten livestock could be feeding five times the U.S. population and help the starving throughout the world. Forests would not be destroyed for grazing purposes and oxygen producing trees no longer surrendered for cholesterol producing meals. Factory farms would not take away the water supply and 90 percent of fossil fuels used to produce food would be available.
And then, there is the appalling holocaust of the animals. “The suffering these animals undergo has become so extreme that to partake of food from these creatures is to partake unknowingly of the abject misery that has been their lives," he details.
When cattle, pigs and chickens are slain the glandular responses pump adrenaline into their bodies. Their flesh is filled with fear and rage. Eaters ingest that. It is bad karma. “If we stop ingesting fear and anger, acting out of respect for all beings gives us greater respect for ourselves,” explains Robbins. The book eloquently lays out photo after photo of beautiful, caring animal relationships -- cows, pigs and chickens bonding with their babies, then shows the abhorrent conditions these beautiful sentient beings suffer in factory farms.
Diet For a New America offers no rules the reader should follow. But gives easy-to-understand nutritional research to help readers choose food that will make them healthier and happier the longer they eat them.
Robbins’ book is a riveting testimony in helping readers to rediscover their place in nature, learning how to live harmoniously with themselves, each other and the natural world. It is the story of the American dream. But not the dream of the ice cream cone-shaped swimming pool of unlimited consumption, it is a new dream -- one of unlimited compassion.

[Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

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, not the popular misconceptions. It really shows just how sentient these creatures are, how they can obviously feel compassion and pain. Then it shows just how awfully these sweet creatures are treated as they're raised for slaughter. It's horrific. Truly, terribly horrific. No living creature should be treated like that.

The next section is devoted to the endless list of health problems that have been tied to excessive meat consumption. He does fall into the fallacy that correlation implies causation, but much of the data presented here was nonetheless persuasive. My favorite part here was the dispelling of the myth that people can't get their protein needs without meat or animal-based foods.

The last section talked about some of the pesticides and poisons used in the raising of animals for slaughter, and the effects these have had on the ecosystem, water, and human breastmilk. But the very last chapter was a disappointment. In its discussion of the environment, it never mentioned global warming and the power of vegetarianism to limit greenhouse gases. The last chapter also makes wild claims that our economic woes can be solved with vegetarianism, not to mention world peace.

Nevertheless, this book is a win, overall. I can't imagine anyone remaining a heavy meat eater after reading this book. That doesn't mean being vegetarian or vegan, eliminating meat entirely, but I definitely expect a change in diet to manifest as a result of this book. I challenge every meat eater to read it, to see all the ways they've been ignorant about what they put in their bodies, and this enormous industry they employ in order for them to do so.

[David Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did this book change my life forever???

First of all my uncle died of a heart attack at 37 years old. My mother passed away from cancer at 44. A teacher of mine died of a heart attack at 38.

Since reading this book I have been close to 99% - 100% plant-based for the last 13 years. I am able to do over 125 pushups in a 6 minute military style pushup test at 37 and have never felt stronger or more energetic in my entire life.

I eat superfoods like broccoli (one pound 1/2 per day), oatmeal, bluberries, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, red lentils, etc and I love it. It saves me a TON of money and I feel incredible!!!

The thing that opened my eyes the most is when he talks about all the toxic chemicals found in animal products. That really woke me up and made me think that if I want to avoid 95% of these toxic chemicals then I needed to eat a plant-based diet. I made the changes and have never looked back.

I want to be a good role model for my friends, family, and myself. I want to be stronger at 105 than I was at 18 years old! Read this book and then go learn about TM meditation and change the WORLD!!!

[Lani Muelrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

The honorable John Robbins - it seems 9 out of 10 people I meet who follow a vegan and plant-based diet credit John Robbins and this book with their initial inspiration. EVERY bookshelf should have a copy!

[Olya Korzh · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you only choose to read one book in your entire life, choose this one.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye opening facts about the food system. However, it only focuses on animal products and not the mass deforestation to promote corn, soy, and wheat fields to feed a vegetarian diet.

[Roberto Bovina · Rating 5 out of 5]

we will get enough protein, even without meat, dairy products, eggs, or protein complementarity. Osteoporosis is, in fact, a disease caused by a number of things, the most important of which is excess dietary protein! Even with very high calcium intakes, the more excess protein in the diet, the greater the incidence of negative calcium balance, and the greater the loss of calcium from the bones. Diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol raise the level of cholesterol in the blood, produce atherosclerosis, and lead directly to heart disease and strokes. Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol lower the level of cholesterol in the blood, decrease atherosclerosis, and lower the likelihood of heart disease and strokes.
Most of us grew up thinking of the National Dairy Council as a benign organization whose purpose was wholesome and pure. Just as the National Commission on Egg Nutrition sounds like an independent health organization concerned with our well-being, the name National Dairy Council seems to imply an impartial group of elders who have come together to provide us their wisdom and counsel. When they told us milk was nature’s most perfect food, we believed them. When they told us to drink a glass of milk with every meal, we did as we were told. Little did we know this was an organization especially organized to sell the American public as much milk, and particularly as much milk fat, as possible. The Dairy Council “penetrates” the school with a nutritional message that is far from unbiased, though they present it as if it were. They do not mention that the research they use to support their position is usually research they have themselves funded.
Studies have shown that atherosclerosis can definitely be reversed, and a great many heart attacks and strokes prevented, when a lowered blood cholesterol level is maintained over a period of time. Even in the most advanced cases of atherosclerosis, diet-style changes can be of enormous benefit.
Now We know today how to prevent heart attacks and strokes. We know how to prevent the killers that account for more than half of the deaths in the United States every year. But most of us, thanks to the dedicated endeavors of the meat, dairy, and egg industries, have not gotten the good news. We still think we must eat animal products in order to be healthy. We still think heart attacks and strokes are a regrettable but more or less inevitable byproduct that comes with living well and growing old.
Organizations like the National Cancer Institute are not encouraged to focus much attention on prevention because there is vastly more money to be made in treatment, and far more glamour in the possibility, however remote, of a cure. Attention is further drawn away from prevention by food industries whose products are known to be involved. They apply immense pressure on government and public health organizations to keep them from informing the public as to what is known about dietary prevention.
Everyone should know the war on cancer is largely a fraud.—DR. LINUS PAULING, TWO-TIME NOBEL PRIZE WINNER /
It was found, in fact, that there is not a single population in the world with a high meat intake that does not have a high rate of colon cancer.
The continuous feeding of antibiotics to livestock could hardly have been better designed to breed strains of bacteria, including salmonella, that are resistant to the drugs. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria flourish inside the animals as organisms vulnerable to antibiotics are killed off. As a result, diseases (including salmonellosis) that used to be treatable with antibiotics are becoming increasingly dangerous, and much more often fatal. Tragically, salmonella bacteria are only one of many disease-producing organisms that are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, due to the continuous feeding of these drugs to livestock. /
Pesticides are extraordinarily concentrated and powerful chemicals that have been intentionally developed to kill living creatures. In fact, some of them were originally developed to kill human beings. The prime source of toxic pesticides and other chemicals for most Americans is in the consumption of food high in fat content, such as meat and dairy products. These lethal chemicals accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals in much greater concentrations than are found in fruits and vegetables.
The livestock population of the United States today consumes enough grain and soybeans to feed over five times the entire human population of the country. We feed these animals over 80 percent of the corn we grow, and over 95 percent of the oats. It is hard to grasp how immensely wasteful is a meat-oriented diet-style. It is not only American forests that are being cut down to support our meat habit. An ever-increasing amount of beef eaten in the United States is imported from Central and South America. To provide pasture for cattle, these countries have been clearing their priceless tropical rain forests. It stretches the imagination to conceive how fast the timeless rain forests of Central America are being destroyed so Americans can have seemingly cheap hamburgers. At this rate, all of the tropical rain forests of Central America will be gone in another 40 years. These forests are the oldest ecosystems on earth and have developed extreme ecological richness. Half of all species on earth live in the moist tropical rain forests. America’s meat habit is turning the lush tropical rain forests into deserts useless even for cattle grazing. And, tragically, native rain forest tribes are being wiped out completely by the destruction of their environment. many of our migratory birds are losing their winter homes. As a result, they are dying. This is tragic not merely because these birds provide so much beauty to our lives. They also play a major role in keeping down the populations of insect pests in the United States. The destruction of the rain forests in Central America is thus producing a substantial increase in pesticide use in this country. It is truly frightening to note that the current rate of species extinction in the world is 1,000 species a year, and most of that is due to the destruction of rain forests and related habitats in the tropics. / the production of meat and other animal food products accounts for a far greater share of global warming gases than all the cars, trucks, ships, and airplanes in the world. Industrial livestock production, researchers found, is shrinking the earth’s forests, eroding its soils, depleting its aquifers, collapsing its fisheries, elevating its temperatures, and melting its ice sheets. Strikingly, every single one of the serious ecological problems threatening to undercut human civilization would be made dramatically and rapidly better by a shift to a plant-strong diet. This is true, most centrally, of global warming.

[Winfield Sterling · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read Robbin's book many years ago and was totally convinced by his arguments -- and became a vegetarian. I was so radical that I convinced myself that I disliked the smell and taste of beef. Somehow, over the years, I freed myself from this obsession and slowly began to eat meat again. Then I read "The Big Fat Surprise" by Nina Telcholtz. It changed my life for the better when I realized that a high carbohydrate diet of processed sugar, flour, etc. have cause the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the world. I learned about the miracles of ketogenesis and my weight and health became stable -- as near to ideal as possible for an 83 year-old man. As I re-read Robbin's book, I wonder why he chose the title "Diet for a New America" -- which sounds like a punch-line for a Marxist type revolution to remake America. Well, I believe any civilization can be improved, but I also believe in evolution not revolution. We don't need a "new" America.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for omnivores curious about the true nature of animal products.

[Chris Mcmullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 they are mistreated, abused, and chopped up for dinner.
I was already a vegan before I read this book, so for me, it re-affirmed my already confident and educated decision to be come vegan. The book can seem wordy and technical at points as it enters into the second half of the book which is more on the scientific side of things. However, I strongly suggest this book to everyone. It is important for everyone to know what they are putting into their body and how it affects the world they live in and their health. The book shows why America needs to end its addiction to fast-food and inhumane systems of food production.
As a writer, I learned not to make the reader feel discouraged by playing on their guilt. Instead of attacking the reader, Robbins connects the reader to the sources of our food and how it affects the way we live. This is exactly how any non-fiction writer should write; to help develop understanding rather than trying to make the reader feel guilty.

READ THIS BOOK!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 into the topics of slaughterhouses, the conditions animals have to endure for our benefit and the negative impacts that animals have on the environment.

It's hard to believe this book was written over 20 years ago and that medical researchers have known about the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle for that long, and still the public does not know about any of it. In fact, the public keep hearing how good animals are for us such as, "milk does a body good" "every meal must have meat to be complete". This book sure was a wake-up call. I wish every American would read this, and preferably sooner rather than later, so don't wait, please get a copy today! It was a real eye-opener and a book I will definitely read more than once.

[Aleks · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 vegetarianism at times, the information I learned in this book (as well as just the way I *feel* as a vegan) keeps me bringing me back to veganism.

Don't be mislead, the book isn't necessarily a call to veganism, it's not necessarily a book meant to turn the world off animal products. However, the information provided may bring persons to the conclusion that it's a lifestyle course they should consider.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diet for a New America is to Kathleen, as My First Summer in the Sierra is to Sylvia Seymour (by John Muir, see review). Though I did not drop to the floor in tears, I did begin a no-looking-back, 20 years and counting, life of ethical vegetarianism. This book completely changed my thinking about the world, and my place in it. This honest, intelligent, and gentle appeal to consider how food gets to the table is transforming at a cellular level. Without anthropomorphizing, Robbins explains the true nature and sentience of the animals we call food. This book also conveys information about how eating a vegetarian diet can make an immeasurable impact on saving our environment. Diet for a New America stands as a must-read for each person who enjoys the distinction of "environmentalist".

[Astrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I was late for 21 years, thought about it again, it's better than nothing. Dub as one of the vegetarian bible. This book made me in one turning point where there is no looking back. I stop eating red meat since 2001, politically concious about vegetarian issues by 2003, but not until the end of 2006 that I choose to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian. thought now while i'm pregnant with my first baby somehow i'm turning towards to a more pure vegetarian diet (my baby is somehow a stricter vegetarian than me). This book just hit me with all its fact and made me understand so many aspect about life choices, especially about food choices.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this many years ago. Remember disliking it intensely. So I've erased most of the content. It is a very preachy kind of book that doesn't simply present fact but tells you what to think about them and how to behave based on them.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Robbins' writing style is not my favorite, but I always read his books and sort of scan the parts where he gets to wordy and mushy. The information is good, and worth having.

[Mila]

For those who are ready for a paradigm shift. Not for those who can go through life with blinders on. Reaffirms my choice to be a vegan.

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic of environment-friendly literature

This is a radical polemic with a clear intention: to increase the number of vegans in the world. In a way it is a throwback--with similar effect--to Upton Sinclair's famous novel, The Jungle, about the filth in the Chicago stockyards, except that it is non-fiction (mostly, anyway). John Robbins wants to rub our nose in the filth, neglect and cruelty characteristic of the meat and poultry industries. He wants an end to the mass production and consumption of animal foods.

He begins with some amazing and heart-warming stories about the courage and selflessness of animals and how much they do for us. Then he turns his focus to the way we treat the animals we use for food. It is difficult to read this part of the book, and indeed I confess that I skipped ahead. I already know about those appalling conditions having seen them on TV. Next he argues that we need less protein than the "protein empire" wants us to believe. He goes on to show how we can get all the protein our bodies require through a vegan diet. Then he argues that many cancers can be prevented with a proper diet that excludes animal products while implicating the products of the meat and poultry industries in the development of many diseases, especially the chronic diseases epidemic in the Western world. He concludes with a general manifesto in favor of an agrarian kind of heaven on earth.

I am sorry to report, as other reviews have, that there are many errors and misconceptions in the book. In a minor error on page 176, for example, Robbins writes that "wheat...is 17% protein." Actually (as the USDA chart on the next page shows) 17% of the calories from wheat are in the form of protein, which is decidedly not the same thing. That chart also shows that 49% of the calories from spinach come from protein, but this does not mean that if you ate a pound of spinach you would eat almost half a pound of protein. Spinach is not 49% protein. It has water and fiber, etc. and it doesn't have a lot of calories.

More important than the outright errors are the misrepresentations in the way Robbins sometimes presents his facts. For example on pages 266-267 he writes that instances of cervical cancer are "highest among women who consume diets high in fat, particularly animal fat." He adds that "cervical cancer in women in developing countries who began intercourse before age seventeen is two to three times higher than for those who began later." What he doesn't say (and probably didn't know) is that cervical cancer is caused by a papillomavirus and as such is a sexually transmitted disease.

He also writes about the deforestation of America. The rate he gives from 1967 to 1986 when he wrote the first edition of this book is "one acre every five seconds." (p. 361) Actually, the amount of forested lands in the United States has increased by quite a bit since 1967 and some of that increase was during the years in question.

I mention these shortcomings because I want to be fair, even though I realize that Robbins is more intent on serving his cause than being fair. I can put that aside because I believe that Robbins has done a fine public service in writing this book because it is a much-needed counterpoint to the billions of dollars worth of pro-meat and poultry industry propaganda and advertising that is constantly intruding upon our lives.

Bottom line: for all its faults this is a classic of environmentalist literature and an extraordinary book that changed the lives of untold thousands of people by persuading them to adopt a more environment-friendly diet. However I wish that there was an updated edition (instead of just a reprint of the edition of 1987) that corrects some of the errors and takes cognizance of what has happened since then.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”

[Laura Leaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of this important book (1987) relies on sentimental stories of animals helping people and/or acting intelligent in some way. They're cute and moving -- but the science has outpaced this outmoded idea that we need these stories to understand that animals are sentient, feeling creatures. They should not need to be loyal to us to garner human support for their lives. And already things have positively changed. Last year, lobsters, crabs, and octopuses were given status as sentient beings in the UK.

Despite the book's age and a Sarah McLachlan-like vibe ("in the arms of the angel" and all that), John Robbins's arguments for changing your diet by reducing/eliminating animal products from your plate are right. This is just my opinion, of course, from books I've read, documentaries I've watched, doctors I've listened to on various platforms. Now, of course, we have Drs. Neal Barnard, Michael Greger, T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn, et al, who are begging us to listen to what we're doing to our bodies. Then there are climate scientists attempting to rip the eye-masks off in order to help the planet. Robbins writes that "It is not only American forests that are being cut down to support our meat habit. An ever-increasing amount of beef eaten in the United Sstates is imported from Central and South America. To provide pasture for cattle, these countries have been clearing their priceless tropical rainforests." If you check the stats on this now, you'll discover that more than 70% of the rainforests have already been destroyed for pasture and crops to feed the animals on those pastures.

I don't have much hope for institutionalized change. Greed and a lack of compassion for animals rule the day. Even though people know the horror of the dairy industry's treatment of milk cows or the profound cruelty inflicted on the lives of crated chickens, pigs, and calves, or the depravity of the slaughterhouse, they don't have the will to help enact change. Costco chicken is just too delicious. There are any number of psychological reasons for this, but perhaps persuading people that it's in their best interest to change their diet is the method to use to save animals and the planet.

Robbins busts all the myths in this nearly 25-year old book. Yes, you can get a sh@t-load of protein from plants, legumes, beans, etc. (He provides a nice chart). Getting enough may mean paying attention to your plate and avoiding vegan junk food, but the protein you get won't be laden with cholesterol and animal fat. Cutting down on meat and dairy just might improve your body's inflammation and clear your brain. I'm a believer that if the world can cut back on its excessive consumption, it will be a win for planet earth and all its inhabitants.

[Korina · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could get every person on the planet to read just one book, it would be this one. And if our planet and species collapses due to our wasteful and destructive habits, let this book be a proof and a reminder that there was a small minority of humans who sought the truth and aimed to convey it to the rest of the world.

To fully understand the (figurative) weight of the contents of this book, it is important to have a little background information on the author. John Robbins, the author of the book, gave up his role as future owner and operator of his family’s company-- Baskin-Robbins. Why? Because he witnessed the reality of the American food industry and refused to take part in it. It takes a special kind of character to sacrifice that amount of wealth and power in favor of their ethics and virtues.

Robbins writes with such passion and beautifully articulated prose that I often found the very deepest parts of myself reflected in his words. Almost every single one of the multitude of reasons for which I became vegan is conveyed superbly in this book. In fact, the final chapter title is a reflection of one of my most fundamental beliefs and experiences: that everything is connected.

I really wish that a newer, updated edition of this book would be released. It is so, so powerful.

[Joomi Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading an amazon kindle sample of the 25th anniversary edition of the John Robbins book "Diet for a New America". I was surprised he failed to quote Hebrew Old Testament scriptures that state both animals and humans are souls and have spirit.

He mentioned that sharks are attracted to fox trot music but flee from rock music but fails to mention that plants grow best when listening to Mozart and grow worst when surrounded by heavy metal.

I am really glad he explained that philosopher Descartes hated animals and didn't think they were souls. I will not be buying any of his books.

The Bible says all kinds of animals have been tamed by man. Is this a good thing? If a baby beaver grows up among humans it will become friendlier to humans than baby beavers that were raised in the wild and will do abnormal things like climb into a boat with a fisherman inside.

Birds that are fed bread crumbs and other human food are known to develop Diabetes type 2 as well as suffer from strokes and heart attacks. In Washington state it is against the law for humans to feed birds inside parks. Some birds lose their fear of man and agressively attack humans for human food. I have seen that at least once here in Fontana, California.

The Bible says that God feeds the birds. Please leave well enough alone. Unfortunately, I learned this late in life.

[Leih · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Robbins writes a well-researched book on the down side of eating meat. Robbins covers the health effects, that these animals are fed hormones that are not natural and the inhumane conditions the animals go through. The reader will open up their minds to uncovering all the behind-the-scenes of the meat industry in U.S. The reader may have seen this story in news magazines if you watch 60 minutes or any other show. If you read articles on regular basis from magazines and newspapers, you are familiar with the subject. Robbins groups them all together in one sitting. You'll think twice before eating certain foods for several weeks. Life goes on.

[Amy]

So I only read 25% of this book because there's only so much sadness I can handle. I already stopped eating meat and don't need another reason. I did skim through most of the book though. I was hoping when I first checked out this book that it would include more science and research but I didn't see much from skimming through it. If you enjoy crying and feeling desperate to rescue all animals check out this book. If you want to feel like an asshole and worthless human for eating meat all your life then definitely check it out.

[John Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit longwinded but good info and way ahead of its time Diet for a New America Ch1 animals: sentient, Ch2 chicken: loving mothers, Ch 3 pigs: smart sentient animals ,Ch4 cows: tortured calves are babies, Ch 5 Slaughter: ignoring torture and death Part2 Ch 6 Meat diet: unnecessary and bad for humans Ch 7 protein: we need less than thought Ch Heart= veggies not animals, Ch 9: Cancer comes from diet, Ch 10 Disease = Diet, Ch 11 Modern diet= human poison Ch 12 Food is for humans not livestock, most grains inefficient for protein in meats, Epilogue: current updates including plant based diet

[Dave Walls · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say this is one of the most important books I have read. It inspired me to become a vegetarian, and ultimately I became vegan. after I gave up meat, I lost 28 pounds, without any effort, over four months. I still refer to this book, 25 years later, for information about how much various crops yield per acre, which has become more and more important as we struggle to achieve sustainability, and feed the whole world. If I was on a deserted island with only five books, this would be one.