The Case for Plant-Based Diets

In most global cultures, meat is associated with wealth, virility and power. Unfortunately, it is also wildly destructive to both body and planet, and until Colonialism, a rare treat. While we are willing to sacrifice the planet for our dining pleasure, the high cost of meat seems to be gaining an audience.

Dinner, one evening at home © Anthony Fieldman 2020

The case for a plant-based diet—by which I mean the prioritization of non-animal foods over animal sources, not their wholesale replacement—can be made on the basis of three topics:

• Human (both physiological and psychological) health
• Environmental stewardship
• Animal welfare

The stakes are higher than most of us realize in all three areas. Sadly, in a 21st century consumer context, gaining a true understanding of our actions’ costs requires us to trade fads for facts, convenience for consequence, and image for impact.

Fast Facts

Let’s start with some data points:

• The ubiquitous industrial-era diet—born in America, and exported around the world—now kills more people than anything else on Earth. Fully one…