Does meat kill more Americans than cigarettes do?
Posted by Drew.
Kathy Freston, a presenter at our upcoming Worcester VegFest 2012, has an interesting piece on the front page of Alternet right now. She asks, “Does meat kill more Americans than cigarettes do?”
From “Does meat kill more Americans than cigarettes do?” on Alternet by Kathy Freston:
The West’s three biggest killers — heart disease, cancer, and stroke — are linked to excessive animal product consumption.
Photo Credit: Alaettin YILDIRIM via ShutterstockFor many years, tobacco companies were able to maintain a strong pro-tobacco façade. Smoking focuses the mind. It’s good for you (doctors smoke!). It’s great for weight loss. It’s sexy. It’s cool. The tobacco industry spent big bucks to keep these ideas in the mind of the public for as long as it could.
And for many years after the lethal effects were universally known and undeniable, some of our nation’s smartest and most successful businessmen continued to believe, because it was in their interest to believe, that “nicotine is not addictive.” (Watch the seven most powerful tobacco executives of 1994Â make exactly that statement, under oath, to Congress — not even two decades ago.)
I was reminded of how far tobacco has fallen reading the New York Times magazine interview with perhaps the most successful screenplay writer in history, Joe Eszterhas, who has lost 80 percent of his larynx to tobacco, and has apologized for his glamorization of smoking in such films as Basic Instinct.
When I think about the effect of animal products on human health, I’m reminded of how quickly we’ve done a national about face on tobacco, and I look forward to the day when the Times magazine has a similar apology from someone who promoted animal products — because the evidence is in and it continues to grow: Animal products kill a lot more Americans than tobacco does.
The West’s three biggest killers — heart disease, cancer, and stroke — are linked to excessive animal product consumption, and vegetarians have much lower risks of all three. Vegetarians also have afraction of the obesity and diabetes rates of the general population — of course, both diseases are at epidemic levels and are only getting worse.
But much more important than the vegetarian community’s general statistics are…
Join us at the Worcester VegFest on April 15 to hear Kathy Freston speak in person. Copies of her new book, The Lean, will be available for sale. Book signing to follow. RSVP on facebook.
March 15, 2012
Posted in: News, Worcester VegFest 2012
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