Dear James on the MindBodyGreen post about the Paleo Diet,
I apologize if I have in any way come across as rude, shaming, or demeaning toward you or anyone else in this conversation. It was my intention by staying in the conversation to influence and empower future behaviors and choices, not to demean or shame anyone’s personhood.
I find it unfortunate that you felt the need to resort to aggressive name-calling, shaming, and bullying me to drive your points across. I forgive you and I do not take it personally.
Because the animal food industry is so large, pervasive, and influential and has such grave consequences to our planet (air, water, and land), I feel that it is not only my right but my responsibility to speak up for the animals and the planet.
Yes, our human bodies are very adaptable. When humans migrated far away from the equator into lands that didn’t produce enough fruits year around, humans learned to forage, kill, domesticate, and preserve other plant & animal foods to survive. However in order to continue to survive on Earth now, we need to slow down the destruction of the planet and one large and powerful way to do that is to study and change our food system.
Earth can not sustain 7 billion people eating meat. There are not enough resources to facilitate such demands. If meat, dairy, and grains were not heavily subsidized by government, plant foods would be cheaper. More people would be eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes because they would be the more affordable option. If a McDonald’s salad were on the $1 menu and a Big Mac costs $9, I feel certain that more people would be finding ways to live adequately on plant foods. So many people eat meat now because it has been made artificially inexpensive. If a prime cut of beef were sold for it’s actual cost, very few people would or could afford to eat it.
Plants do have life-force but not souls or consciousness. They were not given mobility therefore are not designed to flee their consumers. Those who have compassion for the aliveness of plants, think that it is wrong to kill plants, and believe that killing plants is the same as killing animals can eat sufficiently on the fruits of plants without killing the whole plant. This is the ultra-compassionate diet for human thriving on Earth.
The circle of life is based on natural births and deaths. The young are born, the elderly, the injured, and the sick die. To artificially produce populations of animals which involves the constraining of males to remove their sperm and to artificially inseminate females with a “rape gun”(industry term), is not only unnatural, but also cruel. Some would say that this unnatural practice is no different than forcefully spreading plant seed and growing a garden. However it is my understanding that gardening causes no plant pain and it is understood that constraining animals, violating their bodies, forcing them to procreate, caging them in gestation crates, and removing their offspring after birth causes pain just as it would if done to human mammals. How maltreatment feels to them is no different than it would feel to us. Disposable animals are no more a natural part of the circle of life than disposable people.
The part of the brain that makes us different and human is not the part that feels pain, joy, or fear. The reptilian brain that feels fear (fight or flight) and the part of the brain that feels connection, the urge to protect offspring, and which grieves loss is the mammalian brain, both of which are present in all mammals (cow, pigs, etc.). The nervous system which registers pain is also present in humans as in all food animals (mammals, birds, fish). Cutting, burning, kicking, prodding, whipping, pecking, biting, and burning feels the same to food animals as it does to humans. Plants (and some believe mollusks) do not have these brains or nervous system.
So perhaps the solution is to only eat animals who are raised in smaller, non-factory farms where the animals can eat grass and roam fields in the sun. I don’t know if these animals are encouraged to mate naturally or if the same artificial insemination practices are employed. On “natural farms” I don’t know if the calves are allowed to drink their mother’s milk or if they are removed so that the milk can be captured for humans. But I do know these animals are killed to be eaten. There is no such thing as a humane killing on a farm that produces meat for consumption. Mercy killings are when we put down the family dog or take our beloved relative off life-support machines. To kill another living, soulful creature for our benefit or desire is selfish and merciless, especially when our survival is not dependent on it.
For those people who desire to eat non-factory farm raised meat, I encourage you to attend the killing of your food in the same way that you would be there for your elderly dog or incapacitated relative. Bear witness to the sacredness of a soul leaving a body. Participate in the death ritual and give thanks to the animal who is unwillingly forced to die because you want to eat its body. This would show the most compassion and benevolence around an unnecessary killing.
Modern humans do not need animal meat to survive. We can not only survive, but thrive, on plant foods. More and more people are discovering this in themselves every day. Natural carnivores are dependent on meat to survive. Humans are not natural carnivores. We can adapt to eating meat to survive, but we are not designed to thrive on a diet of meat.
Our culture loves dogs, cats, and horses. If eating animals (cows, pigs, chickens) is permissible and agreeable, I think we need to include dogs, cats, and horses in our diets. Rather than destroying endless dogs and cats in animal shelters or horses on farms, slaughter these animals and feed the valuable protein to those who need food. Other cultures eat dogs, cats, and horses. I don’t know why these are excluded from the American diet. It makes no sense to waste their flesh. Either it’s okay to eat non-human animals or it’s not. There is very little difference between a puppy and a lamb, a dolphin and a pig, a dog and a veal calf, or a horse and a cow. Why cherish a peacock but eat a turkey? Why protect the elephant but eat a buffalo?
It is my intention to not only bring up these issues and encourage and empower difference food choices, but to also teach how to make this transition. I have invested considerable time in creating and hosting a free one-week online program to help people make the change into a plant-based, high-fruit diet. All vegetarian, vegan, or raw vegan diets aren’t necessarily healthful or sustainable choices. Many people have adopted “v” diets and become very sick, not because animal foods were missing, but because the principles of eating plants smartly were not understood. Fruit has been villainized over the years much at the expense of human health. I think people who have struggled on “v” diets have not explore the full healing and fueling capacity of a diet high in sweet fruit.
All sweet fruits have on average 4-8% protein by calories and all vegetables have on average 15-20% protein by calories. The typical American diet suffers more from too much protein intake than protein deficiency. It is possible to obtain adequate protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake from a whole food plant-based diet.
A diet that can heal disease can prevent disease. When I look at the institutions (like The Gerson Institute) that are curing and reversing disease with diet, they are employing the healing properties of plant, not animal, food. No one is making and serving steak smoothies to heal cancer, for example.
The massive grocery distribution system brings the fruits of the equator to me and to most of us in our local or neighborhood stores. We have farmers markets and many of us grow our own food. Even the transport of plant food around the globe would have significantly less impact on the environment than if everyone were eating local meat. There are constantly new and innovative ways developing to grow plant food indoors and outdoors to increase plant food production in places naturally and traditionally unsuitable.
There is no need for you to try to shame me, James. I feel plenty ashamed by myself. I feel ashamed for arriving at nearly 40 years old and not knowing that dairy cows didn’t just always produce milk. I feel ashamed that I didn’t know that cows are artificially & serially impregnated for 5 years with each calf being removed from her so that the calf’s milk can be captured for human consumption. I feel ashamed for not knowing that her male calves would be chained to veal crates and her female calves would be groomed for the same miserable fate as their mother. After her body is exhausted after five straight years of pregnancy and milking without seeing the light of day, she is sent to slaughter for cheap meat.
I am ashamed that I have paid money to support a system that illegally employs immigrants and other marginalized workers to kill terrorized, abused, and fearful animals so that I can have a cheap bacon, chicken wings, and pepperoni pizza. I wish I had known sooner the conditions – for animals and humans – of factory farms and slaughter houses so that I could have changed my life and diet sooner.
I am ashamed that I once supported a system that feeds animals unnatural diets and given medications to keep them alive long enough for slaughter. Without the medications the animals would die from disease due to overcrowding and inadequate diet before slaughter time. The conditions are not suitable for survival without medication. Animals from factory-farms are sick, often cancerous, animals. I am ashamed that I didn’t know sooner that all this medication being pumped into food animals is affecting the ability for us to control and treat deadly human diseases.
I am ashamed I never chose to purchase meat from a small farm and never went to witness the death of my dinner. It’s the least I could have done for taking a life so that I could feast on flesh that I didn’t need, but wanted. I am ashamed that I didn’t catch and gut my own fish, break the neck and pluck the feathers of my own chicken, or pull the trigger on the slug that entered the brain of my own cow.
But I would feel more ashamed of myself now if I stayed silent about what I know and understand. When people promote and justify eating the bodies of animals, I would be ashamed of myself if I stayed quiet and avoided confrontation.
James, your aggressive communication, name calling, and belittling did make me want to shy away from the rest of this conversation. But for the animals whose voices you can not hear, I choose to speak.
When confronted with the reality of the carelessness and cruelty we have inflicted on our fellow animals, it is natural human behavior to become defensive, angry, and resort to denial. It is uncomfortable to realize what we have done and what we are doing. The only authentic way out of discomfort is to forgive ourselves and commit to making different decisions. Then we can bear witness to the egregious system, know that we are personally no longer complicit, and that we are doing the important work of impacting change in the hearts of others.
Until more of us make different decisions regarding our diet, the planet and the animals will suffer. I am not going to grow into an old woman and be ashamed that I did not do everything in my power to be part of the change to reduce animal cruelty and environmental pollution. I am holding myself accountable.
Additional Resources:
• The Easiest Food Formula to Follow
• The Myths and Metaphysics of Protein
• Can Plant Based Eating Provide Sufficient Protein?
• Fruit is NOT Your Sugar Problem
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Well written and great points. Thank you for this. So much love for you!
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Thank you Jina for taking the time to read & comment! xoxoxo.
Very thorough and thoughtful post, Carla! I’ve often found those defending paleo diets to be aggressive. Must be all those animal hormones. Kris Carr said that when cows are slaughtered they have a rush of adrenalin that seeps into the meat and is passed on chemically and energetically to those who consume it. I believe it. I’m a sometimes meat eater but it no longer forms the basis of my diet, for many of the reasons you listed. Thank you for being such a shining light of integrity and wisdom..
Thank you for adding this Christina! I too believe that animals feel such terror before being killed that all the same stress hormones that we have flood the tissues and get trapped. Those who eat the flesh then take in the stress hormones of another living creature. It’s no wonder that a large portion of our population suffers from chronic anxiety. Thank you for reading & commenting!! xo-C.
Carla thank you for writing this. It sure is a touchy subject, but this response sums it up so well. Just because we’ve been idiots for such a long time by eating the animals that we should protect as they are feeling, caring, living beings does not mean that this trend should continue as many people seem to think. Isn’t paleo a new word for Atkins? I mean really – the Atkins diet was such a farce….sure people lost weight in the short run and of course one feels better when one loses weight usually. But it stops there. Whereas, when people embrace a plant based animal friendly way of eating – life just keeps getting better as the animal products disappear and the conscience becomes more clear and beautiful and health reverberates from the inside out <3
Thank you Kathie for adding your thoughts. Your last sentence has been my experience completely: the longer I eat plants and omit animal products, the clearer my mind and heart become. This is invaluable to me and I know to many others walking this same path. Blessings, xo-C.
While I eat a raw diet, I do plan a menu for my family that would be called Paleo. Although, I was doing it before it had a name, lol! My husband and I grew up on farm raised meat, vegetables and unpasteurized dairy. Our families are farmers and hunters. Although, we have meat in our diet we do not believe meat should be so over-consumed. I totally agree with your post on how meat is mass produced under such horrific, unnatural ways. I have stood in these unnatural milking barns, chicken houses and cow factories, it’s unbelievable! The way our family’s farms are run, are completely natural and beautiful. Many Americans are so far away from understanding what they are actually eating and how it is raised, grown and produced…I have spent years researching food for my own families needs and am still learning, so please keep doing what your doing Carla! People need to understand their food and how it relates and creates their health. Obviously, with the health problems our nation has, we need to stop and pay attention to these things. We should continually encourage one another to eat well, be well ~ I believe carlagoldenwellness.com does that! Thanks Carla!
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Thank you so much for sharing your insight Stephanie. I appreciate you taking the time to add your knowledge to this post. Blessings, xo-C.
Hi Carla,
This is a great response, and sometimes I think it’s only by putting our thoughts down on paper that we can let go of an argument. I would say, though, that some people are just trolls, and some people will never change their minds, because they are so wedded to the way that they do things. I haven’t read this particular exchange, because I know that they are like whirlpools that suck me in and damage my peace of mind. You are a great example of someone who ‘walks the talk’ – you have incorporated your values into the way that you live. That will always be challenging for people who haven’t done that, and are flailing around trying to deal with their own lack of congruity. These arguments are about them, not about you – in their hearts they know what they should do, but at the moment they find that change too challenging, so they lash out. Beware of letting your energy be soaked up by these people – sometimes we have to argue to preserve our own sense of integrity, but other times we just end up feeling exhausted and angry. Preserve yourself, Carla – you are in this for the long-haul. We are talking about world-wide, evolutionary change here.
Thank you for this Vivienne. It arrived at the perfect time. James has just responded to me again on MindBodyGreen in such a disrespectful manner that I know it is unwise to continue communicating with him. His anger and aggression belong to someone who doesn’t want to discuss, but wants to intimidate and bulldoze. There is a old saying that goes “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” – George Bernard Shaw. Thank you for encouraging me to value my own peace of mind & heart over trying to deliver a message to someone intent on not hearing it. xoxox.
I’m so glad, Carla. There are people around whose sole purpose in life is to hang around on animal rights and vegan websites offering the same tired old arguments. I see them all over the place. I regret to say that most of them are men, and that their behaviour is disrespectful and bullying. Any response, however well thought out, is just an excuse for them to continue. The best argument for anything is a life well-lived. Interact with people who are curious and have genuine questions. Would we put up with this level of intimidation and rudeness, say, in a phonecall? Nope, we’d just put the phone down. Same thing here. Some people’s behaviour invalidates their right to our our time or our energy.
Vivienne Palmer recently posted..Wednesday Weed – Sun Spurge
Thank you a million times over Vivienne for your wise words. My job is not to convince anyone of anything, but to encourage and support those who are curious in learning more. xoxoxo.
Carla I thought this was a very well thought out and wonderfully informative post. I do eat paleo myself however this is my choice at this point. I have been vegan before and my body needed more animal protein. This is where I am at after much research and study for myself and my patients but I do not force that on anyone or pretend that my opinions and ways are right for every person on the planet. I am always open to more info and I believe we are all on our own journeys and will arrive at what works for each of us. I appreciate your point of view and how eloquently you have expressed it and your passion for it. Keep it up!! This planet needs it. And I was quite happy you brought the point of subsidizing the wrong foods for our country and until this is changed it is very, very hard for the masses to be able to afford healthy foods. A VERY big part of the problem of why our nation is one of the sickest in terms of chronic illness. Thanks so much!!
Thank you Amy for reading and commenting! It means so much to me to have an understanding and considerate voice from the paleo perspective. I am curious to understand (and you’re not the only one who has told me this) how it is that you feel you need animal protein. How do you feel without it and how do you feel with it? I’m curious too what kind of vegan diet you followed as there are so many ways to eat vegan and I know not all are equal in nutrition.
Hi Carla,
Doing the vegan diet I felt my muscle tone wasn’t near as good as it is when I eat animal protein. I do weight training 2-3 times per week and I noticed a difference. My energy level did not improve either but it was mostly the loss of muscle tone that bothered me. While I think that there are definitely things that need to be eliminated no matter what for everyone….ie: sugar, gluten, soy,. I have noticed in my practice that there is no ONE protocol for everyone. Especially for people who have thyroid problems etc. I do however highly support vegan diets for those who find that this works for them. I think if people feel good and can get protein from plant based sources, all the better!! It just didn’t work best for me. I really don’t eat much meat myself. But fish is a big part of my diet. Wild caught of course.
You’re right Amy. Those who are struggling with disease do need diet modification since food is medicine. I think healthy people – athletes and body builders included – can fare well on a high-fruit, mega-veggie diet. On a side note, I just learned that pigs eat more fish than all fish-consuming people do. When trawlers catch nets full of wild fish, the by-catch of turtles, sharks, dolphin, and even whales are ground up and put in pig meal. Isn’t that awful? Pigs who would never naturally eat from the sea being fed innocence animals caught in trawler nets.
Yes I do quite agree.. That is horrible. Thanks so much for your interesting and thought provoking blog posts. Keep up the awesome work and I look forward to continuing to read!
Thank you Amy! I’m so thankful that you’re a reader of CGW!
Carla, It is a blessing to be awakened and enlightened but we must all too often be willing to have and offer compassion for those, like this human, that they too might be awakened. But they are there and we are here and so we have compassion…I love you and celebrate all that you are and give and share with others. You have made a difference in my life and I feel so very blessed to know you. Headed to the Ayurveda Health Retreat for 5 days of heaven on earth and yes!!! vegetarian meals and cooking classes!!!! More Love and Peace and Joy to a very special Lady!
Thank you for your loving words Nannette. Have a WONDERFUL time at the retreat. I know you will. A MUCH deserved respit. xoxoxo-C.
Oh man did you nail it. This reminds me of debate in high school. There is no logical rebuttal for your argument. You laid it ALL out. Props to you & all the amazing work you do. I want everyone to read this!!!
Thank you so much Angie! There are those among us who firmly believe that some humans need animal foods to thrive. I hope to spend the rest of my life convincing them how to safely & smartly adopt a healthful and sustainable plant-based diet (ie: high-fruit, mega-veggie) not only for their health, the health of the planet, but also for the lives of the animals who are not here to be eaten. xo-C.
I’m sorry Carla,
You did not “lay it all out.” While your overarching point is valid, the way you make that point is not. You make many statements but provide no evidence to support your statements.
1) It’s clear your background in agriculture is lacking. There are plenty of current studies that indicate that plants do, in fact, feel, communicate, and perhaps even have a level of sentience we are not familiar with. Ps: I have a background in agriculture…agroecology to be precise.
2) My partner does research to create cures for diseases etc. There are many, many medical products that depend on animal proteins.
-Horseshoe crab blood: An extract of the horseshoe crab’s blood is used by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to ensure that their products, e.g., intravenous drugs, vaccines, and medical devices, are free of bacterial contamination.
-It requires 1 egg to make 1 vaccine.
-Kimono Dragon saliva is used to create Byetta
-Honeybee venom is being used to treat cancer
And that is just to name a view.
You should be able to make this point without perpetuating untruths. I think anyone with any sort of scientific background in agriculture or pharmaceuticals/medical research would immediately disregard most of what you are saying simply because you don’t know what you are talking about.
As I’ve said, I see your point. It’s just not ok how you decided to make it.
Also, I’ve killed pigs, chickens, cows, fish, and goats for meat. Does this sort of justify my consumption because according to what you’ve written it seems that way.
No need to be sorry, Tye.
Yes, my background in agriculture, and many topics, is lacking. I can totally embrace that plants feel, communicate, and may be sentient. However I’m pretty sure that most people have not fallen love with, felt close to, or enjoyed companionship with a fern, geranium, or even a tall, old tree quite to the same degree as they have a dog, cat, or horse. For those who feel deeply about the inner lives of plants, it is possible to make a healthful lifestyle from eating only the fruits of plants. Eating this way only receives the gifts and does no harm to the mother plant.
Animals have been used and are used in human medicine, a list of examples of which you provided. I would like to add horse urine for hormone therapy, endless rabbits, dogs, primates, rodents, reptiles, and cats for studying, testing, and vivisection. However, this does not justify eating meat for pleasure.
Those who go to institutions like Gerson and others, omit animals products from their diet. Many to most of these people find great healing and benefit from a plant-based diet. This is something we can all do in our daily lives. When I mentioned healing and cures in my original post, I was referring to personal diet.
If you can kill an animal yourself and eat it, then I have no say about your moral code. If you feel this is right, that is your business. Most people outsource & externalize the killing of their animal food to slaughterhouses and the milking of their animals to factory dairies because they could not kill or milk an animal for food themselves. I feel that if you could not or do not kill or milk your own animal, then morally it may not be the right food for you.
I think what Carla is ultimately trying to say if that our culture has little reverence towards our food. I could be generalizing but I don’t see very many people give thanks for their food. Maybe others don’t see this as an issue but it is. We pay a buck for a cheeseburger at the drive thru gobble it down, drive away and later complain that we can’t believe how expensive a burger is. The bottom line is we all need to acknowledge in some way the system is broken. Most people don’t even think about it. I still struggle with it. This whole argument stemmed from the idea of a paleo diet. Didn’t our ancestors show reverence when killing animals? Anyone that grew up in a monotheism religion probably remembers passages about the sacrificing of animals. It’s a big deal to take a life, though the current practice is so far removed that most people just turn the other way because they can.
You are spot on Angie! We are so far removed from the source that people even forget that what they were eating was once a living, breathing, walking, sleeping animal. Thank you for adding this!
First, I want to THANK-YOU for writing this post to James, for reasons I will explain. Secondly, I agree that you now need to step back and refresh yourself. Your points were precise and you need to protect your heart and find that peaceful place again. The reason I am so glad you made this post is that I personally, was AGAIN, compassionately educated on a subject that I am only beginning to understand and embrace. I only found your website a little over a week ago. All the information you have provided, has encouraged me to TRY a diet filled with fruits and veggies. I’ve never felt bullied, shamed or otherwise bad about my current diet. I have always felt that you are compassionate with those of us who do not yet understand why our diet choices may be unhealthy. I was encouraged that you never take a “do it ALL my way” approach and even encourage baby steps. I am excited to learn more and more from you and already consider you a valuable friend on Facebook. Again, thank-you from the bottom of my heart for all you do. I can’t wait to do the Fruit til Five this month and look forward to working with you more, as I choose to find nutritional way of life that is healthy and good for me. Sending prayers, love and hugs!
Thank you Valerie so much for your loving and supportive message. I’m glad that you have found my work to be gentle and welcoming. That is very important to me! So glad to have you along for the next FT5 session. It’s going to be so much fun!!!! xo-C.
Carla,
this is a very powerful post! As I have said before because of your message and kind, never judgmental nudging I am on my way to finally go vegetarian. I eat less and less meat every month and find myself becoming very aware of my meat consumption or intent to buy or not to buy meat. Since years I buy only organic…but now I eat a lot raw veggies and fruit. Not 100% but way, way more than ever before. Thank you, Carla! For your message and all you do! It is pleasure knowing you:-)
Thank you so very much Silke for your kind words. I’m so happy to read that you are making these choices for yourself. You are a smart and beautiful woman and this means so much to me coming from you. Best, Carla.
Wow, I have been following your posts for a while and can empathise with your shame over past eating habits and the ignorance that surrounds it. I am a recent vegan but an on off vegetarian since age 11 (41 now) You write so well and respond with respect which shows a great strength of character. Keep wiritng and sharing because knowledge will always be power. X
Thank you so much Claire for your kind words and for taking the time to read & comment!
A well written post. Thanx Carla x
Thank you Hazel for taking the time to read & comment!
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