Has the whole world gone crazy about food? Before you answer, consider this: Some people think that as long as you eat “clean”, you’ll lose weight and calories don’t matter. Some think that processed foods must be totally forbidden or you’ll never lose weight. Some think carbs make you fat. Some think you’re a bad person if you eat animals (and you’ll die of cancer too). Some people think that if you eat non-organic fruits and vegetables, you’ll grow three heads (and die of cancer too). Phew. Food is a touchy subject, and you’re bound to strike nerves of one kind or another when you discuss these issues.
Most people choose to believe the media fear-mongering and conform to the latest diet tribe rather than think critically and decide for themselves what to eat. Fortunately, a few people are are stopping to check the facts and analyze the claims, before jumping to conclusions or succumbing to scare stories. This 2-part exclusive interview with Leigh Peele might upset a few people, but on the other hand, it might get you thinking more clearly and sensibly about food than anything you’ve read all year long.
Tom Venuto: Hi Leigh. A lot of my long time readers already know you from our last interview. In fact, your “shocking fat loss video” created quite a stir. For my newer subscribers or anyone who doesn’t know you yet, could you give us your quick bio – who you are and what you do?
Leigh Peele:You know it never gets easy to answer this question. Although, I answer “What is your favorite song?” with a 3-page essay, so I guess there are worst questions to ask me.
In the simplest of terms, and most convenient definitions, I am trainer and writer out of North Carolina. I specialize in working with people on improving their ability to lose fat. I study the research and I study people. It would be an understatement to say I am in a serious relationship with my job and strive to be the best I can be at it. I consult with athletes, actors, models, moms, you name it. And I don’t care how cliché it sounds, I love helping people, especially those who have been so frustrated for so long.
Tom Venuto: let’s dive right in with THE BIG QUESTION: Is it just me or does it seem that everyone in the United States has gone bat***t crazy about food – what’s healthy, what’s unhealthy, what to eat for weight loss, what makes you fat, what toxins are lurking in our food, etc., etc? I know that might seem like an odd question to some, but I have a feeling that it makes perfect sense to you
Leigh Peele:It makes complete sense to me. In fact, this being the first big question makes me want to jump up and down because I am obviously not the only one seeing it.
It’s funny because for me this is a really prevalent issue and has been for some time. A large amount of work I do is with women who are recovering or dealing with eating disorders. Time and time again this issue was coming up. “I can’t eat these foods, they are fat gaining foods.” “I was told my thyroid stopped working because of these chemicals so now I only eat xxxx.”
All of a sudden the health problems my girls were having were because of a type of carb, or chemical, or a combination of “fat gaining foods.” All of a sudden the reason they were so tired and dealing with massive exasperation was because they weren’t eating organic. It couldn’t possibly be because they were doing 5-6 day a week extreme training programs (HIIT, supersetting, high volume, heavy weights, etc) on no calories leading to the inevitable binge fests. No, apparently it was the type of spinach they were eating.
I had people diagnosing themselves with celiac disease, thyroid illness, allergies, toxin poisonings, and more. All because of these books, studies, articles, urban legends, and wives tales were scaring the crap of out them. I had men and women scared to death of eating perfectly healthy food because they didn’t know what to believe and “better safe than sorry.”
Tom Venuto: I recently wrote a 2 part series of articles that focused on clean eating and orthorexia. They tied in with much of what you wrote in your new book, which is one of the reasons I wanted to interview you again. Most people would agree that “clean eating” is purely a positive thing, if you define it as eating a balanced diet consisting mostly of natural, unprocessed food.
But some people don’t like the term “clean eating” because of the dichotomous thinking it might create and some even go as far as saying that extreme fixation on health food or diet food can lead to eating disorders or obsessive-compulsive behavior. When you hear “clean eating,” what comes to your mind and how would someone know if they are becoming unbalanced or obsessed about health food or clean eating?
Leigh Peele: Such a good question.
Most of the time when I hear that said, I honestly have these two thoughts run through my head.
-They aren’t getting it and have been mislead
-Do they have any idea what that means?
See Tom, when YOU say clean eating, I see it as a balanced view.
When someone is breaking down to me what their program is, or even how they train their clients – I think two thoughts from before. Most of the time I find people have no idea what they are doing, they just do it because they think they should.
A great example is the classic listing of meal plans. I just talked about this in my blog. On any internet forum across the fitness world you will see someone post up their meal plan.
Meal 1 – A type of oatmeal and egg whites
Meal 2 – A type of shake with fruit
Meal 3 – A rice or pasta with protein
Meal 4 – Something wife/mom/boyfriend made
Meal 5 – Peanut butter and cottage cheese
They always state, “So yeah, I eat clean guys! Is this meal plan right for what I need? I have been eating clean for a few months now and I am not seeing any change, help?”
Eating clean is not the only answer. You can get fat off of organic sweet potatoes and sick off of organic spinach.
Tom Venuto: The new issue of Prevention magazine has an article titled, 7 Foods That Should Never Cross your Lips. The subtitle reads, “Food scientists are shedding light on items loaded with toxins and chemicals – and simple swaps for a cleaner diet and supersized health.” The 7 foods were: Canned tomatoes (BPA in the cans), beef (if its corn fed), microwave popcorn (chemicals in bag lining), potatoes (if they aren’t organic), salmon (if its farmed), milk (if it contains artificial hormones) and apples, (if they’re not organic). Quite an interesting lineup that I’m sure you could rant about for hours and you addressed many of these issues in your new book, but what is your overall reaction to articles like this one?
Leigh Peele: I would love to break down each one of those myths like an episode of Mythbusters but it would take too much time and I don’t have the cool beard or glasses.
Don’t you just love the “It’s in your fridge and killing you, find out what at 11!” angles Tom? With these articles there is no fact checking, none. Sadly, the majority of people in these arenas wouldn’t know where to begin to fact check.
The way we come to conclusions on how to deal with our problems is a joke across the world. This goes beyond the realm of diet and physical health, it is in everything we do from global warming, educational systems, people relations, mental health, and more. There is no understanding of how these “facts” came to be, even by the people who are supposed to know. Even by the people running our countries.
I discuss this specifically in my book and show how one study released on pesticides and diabetes landed its way into major book publications, new sources, and even congress. One study, a study that is full of holes, errors and flawed data. A study which is now scaring people to death who read these materials.
You can’t take these news stories and research at face value or even one study as that value. It doesn’t work this way, yet everyone reads one article on why eggs are bad that quote a “new study” and go running scared.
Here is my final rant and kicker on the issue, or more so, an ironic statement. I find it extremely ironic that the crowd who is leading the lynch mob and misreading research on carbohydrates are always the ones up in arms about the way research was treated on fats. Pot, meet kettle.
Tom Venuto: There are a lot of people who make it a point to avoid as much processed food as possible, but how do we really define processed food? If you look at the evolution of farming and agriculture, couldn’t you show us examples of how almost all foods have been touched by technology, sometimes in surprising ways most people would never suspect? And if so, what does that mean for the health and fitness enthusiast?
Leigh Peele:Absolutely. Take farming, nothing is natural about farming, nothing. Farming doesn’t happen in nature. You don’t just walk in the woods and see organic tomatoes lined up in a row growing, waiting to be picked. If we weren’t doing it, it wouldn’t be there. That basically goes against the very definition of natural. Over the centuries we have completely manipulated our food system. The food we eat today was not the food of even 10 centuries ago.
As a people we are constantly confused about how much we embrace change and technology. We get scared of new things, we get scared of the unnatural, but it is in our very nature to survive longer and I can tell you now, the Paleo people, they had an average lifespan of 33.
In truth though, there are a lot of decisions people have to make because of an ethical and moral issue, and you or I can’t decide anything about that. I just want to provide an objective view as best as I can and I wish others would do the same.
Tom Venuto: My next few questions are about food and weight loss and are somewhat related to our last interview and your video. Why do you think so many people believe that as long as you eat certain foods or avoid certain foods, then calories don’t matter and you’ll lose weight? And what should we do about it?
Leigh Peele: I think there are two main culprits here.
The first and easiest is there are a lot of people who don’t “get” fat loss. They don’t get how it works and think they ate less or think they did what they needed to do but didn’t get results. To solve that problem, I think we (you and me, the good ones) are doing it. We are doing it with education, interviews like this, and trying to get the word out to help them realize the truth.
The other culprit, and the more frustrating one, is the people who have been manipulated and convinced by professionals in this industry. I can give you a direct url to 10 professionals right now who are highly “respected” who believe and preach that caloric intake doesn’t matter. They preach and back with “studies” that caloric intake is not the important factor to achieve your body composition.
Tom Venuto: Should everyone with a weight loss goal count calories and if so, what do you think is the best way to do it?
Leigh Peele:No, I don’t think everyone should or needs to count calories. In fact, ideally I wish no one ever had to count calories. The problem is that people get stuck and they can’t achieve their goals. When this happens I turn to a more fool-proof way to achieve the goals.
Here is how it breaks down for me.
Fat loss=the deficit. The deficit has to be achieved. I don’t care how it is achieved. Substitute a shake for a meal, use portion control, weigh your food, etc. I don’t care how it is achieved or the method you use (as long as it’s smart/informed).
However, if you are stuck, why mess around? For what, pride? Laziness? Scared of developing an issue? You want to know what develops a complex? Being stuck at the same weight for 10 years because you don’t know what is going on and some guru told you calories don’t count. That is what develops a complex.
Tom Venuto: Should we also be tracking calories burned and do you trust the wearable devices that do it for you electronically?
Leigh Peele:I have worked extensively with these armband devices (bodybugg/gowearfit) that monitor caloric expenditure.
Are they perfect? Nope. Do I think they give you an exact reading of what you are burning everyday? Nope, I think there is a margin of error (I estimate 10-15% possible in either direction).
Do I think they can open your eyes to how much you move in a day and get you closer to your goal and faster? Yes I do, and that is the only reason I suggest using them.
These things can gut punch you real quick about how much you move and in most cases, how much you don’t move.
Tom Venuto: A HUGE eye-opener in your book, at least I think so, and that is the way you explained NEAT – Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis and the amount of impact it has on your daily caloric expenditure as compared to formal training. For those not familiar with NEAT, would you explain what it is, and for everyone, would you share your major revelation about NEAT that most people don’t realize?
Leigh Peele: NEAT, as you stated, stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. In short, this is all activity in your life that isn’t based around specific exercise. An easy way to look at it would be to call it general activity. Walking in the grocery store, cooking, talking on the phone, etc. I would like to throw some credit to Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic for being the true pioneer of NEAT, though this hasn’t stopped me from doing my amateur experiments.
My biggest revelation with NEAT is how much it contributes to your daily burn and how everyday simple activities can make extreme changes in your results. You know we all have heard things like “take the stairs” or “park far away from your car” but what people don’t realize is making increase of general activity a focus of your daily life can be key to increase in happiness, fat loss, body pains, etc. Can’t be that simple though right? Couldn’t be that by simply cooking my meal instead of buying it, that could cause much change? It can and way more than our focus on the minute details like the calories of what protein burns, muscle or EPOC. It may not be “sexy” but it works, trust me.
One more thought for you – the average office worker burns no more calories than one large egg for every hour they are at work. One egg for one hour. Every hour you are sitting at your office job and you don’t move, give yourself an egg. This isn’t just a 5’1 and 130 pound female either (she doesn’t even burn an egg). Try a 5’9 199 pounds man.
Not moving is not moving and it catches up with all of us. Improve your daily NEAT and you improve your results.
Tom Venuto: I think we would both agree that a nutrition program for fat loss, long term health and ideal weight maintenance has to have structure and flexibility at the same time. What do you think are some good ways to keep your eating plan flexible enough that you don’t feel deprived, but structured enough that you still get the results you want?
Leigh Peele: I think there are so many ways to attack this really. I myself don’t even have one method, but one of my favorites is the method I use in the book. I like to work around a formula for your Minimum Macronutrient Intake (MMI). In short, this formula breaks down your intake needs based on your specific stats and activity level. Based on those stats you are assigned your minimum intake needs per macronutrition (Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats).
In a day, we have a certain “quota” of nutrients we should fill to best ensure we are getting what we need for our body to function at its best level. Can anyone give the exact formula for everyone? No of course not, however, based on current research we know roughly what we can take in based on size and activity.
So, once you have reached your quota you then get to do whatever you want with the rest of your days food. This is how you can fit a cookie in if you want it or add some extra almonds you plate and so forth. This isn’t just for average results either, you can achieve high level results utilizing a simple structure like this and still maintain a flexible diet habit. You can, for lack of better words, have “Non-clean foods” in your daily diet and still get lean and ripped to shreds. ;)
Tom Venuto: You have a cookbook series, body by eats, including a new cookbook for vegetarians and vegans, so I know you provide support for people who don’t eat meat, but would I be correct in saying that you’re not partial to either vegetarianism or omnivorism? And on that note, is there anything that vegans in particular need to know about nutrition if they want to successfully pursue strength and fitness training to improve their body composition?
Leigh Peele: I have been vegetarian, for ethical reasons, so absolutely I support both.
I think on average vegetarians should have little issue getting their daily nutrients from a variety in carbohydrates and dairy. With vegans I think it is tougher and they do have to be more watchful. It isn’t being vegan is bad, but it is stacking the cards against you on certain issues. If you are vegan you need to take special care to cover your bases with the use of a protein supplements and vitamins to ensure you are getting a balance of protein and nutrient support. In my opinion, I do not support the claims of veganism for health agendas, it doesn’t hold water. I support it for ethical reasons only. If you are a vegan for health reasons you may need to examine why you made that decision and the validity of that decision.
Tom Venuto: Thanks Leigh, we’ll pick this conversation back up in part two… I can’t wait to hear your take on the agendas of health gurus, the “food conspiracies” and the whole fear of toxins thing…
CLICK HERE FOR PART 2:
www.burnthefatblog.com/gone-crazy-about-food-part-2.php
Copyright by Tom Venuto and Burn The Fat Blog. No reproduction of this article is permitted.
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This is such a great interview! I already have the book and I love it and the recipes. Looking forward to reading the second part!
Loving this whole series Tom, it is giving me a whole new outlook on “clean eating” and how to leave my life. I am actually do BETTER right now than I have in a long time because I am not beating myself up so much. The guilt removal is amazing.Thanks to you and people like Leigh out there who knock my logic meter back into place!
“Some think you’re a bad person if you eat animals” – Well, actually speaking as a meat-eater, welfare standards in industrialised intensive farming, which is going to be the meat you pick up in an average store unless you make an active choice, are APPALLING.Seriously, go look at the hundreds of clips of video evidence on sitea like Compassion in World Farming, PETA, you name it – and they’re not the exceptions, the scale of mass production in the west alone means that millions of animals each year live miserable lives in tiny cages, only to die terrifying and torturous deaths, often being scalded in boiling water or skinned while still alive, when the hasty sloppy work by underpaid workers fails to stun or kill them in a timely manner.And that’s before we even get onto the almost ritualised cruelties inflicted by bored workers who see animals as a source of entertainment, and not as living beings who are every bit as capable of feeling fear and pain as you, I, the household pet, etc.So to take the moral stance IS reasonable, unless you have a heart of stone: and I eat meat, but it HAS to be free-range, I can’t afford organic on top of that, but at least my conscience is cleaner than if I turned a willingly blind eye to the very real problem of intensive farming.As I see it, meat eating is a choice that should rightly be up to the individual – supporting cruel practices however is not acceptable, and anyone who willingly buys factory-farmed meat is in fact making a very immoral choice in pursuit of their own transient pleasure.
Hey Charlie,For the record I only buy meat and personally support meat bought under ethical conditions. The argument being made on my side is of the claims being made that organic meat is healthier. There are feeding practices that can change things, but that has nothing to do with organics.I state in the interview and in the book that I believe in the ethical treatment of animals and was once (and could be again) a vegetarian based on ethical beliefs.Just so you know though, simply because a company has the title of organic does not mean it treats it’s animals in a friendly manner. Investigate the claims of all companies if this is a concern to you.
A very interesting interview. I am a vegetarian for a multiplicity of reasons, primarily ethically centered. I am also careful about the sources my food comes from. I don’t think it’s just about the potential (fictional as you claim) impact on our health/bodies of the food we eat, but the impact it has on the systems we depend on as human creatures/animals to survive on this planet. Balance is good, that’s an important thing I’ve learned from BFFM. Balance is good in every aspect of life
Wow – great interview. After the conversations I’ve had with several people just this week about this very subject, my head was spinning. The timing of your post was an answer to prayer ;)
Corn fed does raise Omega 6 putting the omega 3-6-9 balance totally out of whack. Like a 50 to 1 – 6 to 3 ratio.Depleted soil is a problem since all a plant needs to grow is iron, nitrogen and phosphorus. The plant can only supply so much nutrition. The soil also has to supply nutrients. I think I’d like all 72 trace minerals in my diet.I do worry about fat soluble pesticides. On my apples. On my cucumbers.I buy 100% organic cus after studying the facts, I see no point in not. I do eat out at restaurants that don’t serve organic without having to call my therapist.Yes, I think the world has gone nuts, in more ways than just food.
Love love love the Peele :)Thanks so much for the interview, Tom.
I think a good rule of thumb is to eat organic “when you can”. Food should be a joy, not an obsession!
If Leigh can prove how farm raised salmon being something to steer clear of is a myth, I’d love to hear that one.As for the fixation on what chemicals and other things may or may not being doing to your body, why not get specialized blood work and know for sure? Several cutting-edge labs offer much more comprehensive work-ups than your standard CBC.And from those results, you can then determine things that might be the most likely or most concentrated sources/contributing factors to any given issue. If you do IgG testing, for example, then you can legitimately cut out or leave in foods rather than listening to some guru say drop them or have someone tell you that those gurus or full of it.
Getting ripped while still eating some “junk” food is obviously possible, but that doesn’t mean I’d go out of my way to consume it. Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should………..so if you need to satisfy a craving here and there, go for it, but I’d still strive to limit some of the less-than-helpful “extras” that come along for the ride with certain foods and sources of food, regardless of the relative impact (or lack there of) on body composition.Similarly, I think it is ridiculous to poo poo the “whole fear f toxins thing.” Are you going to keel over and die from things, surely not. But everyone has their own unique toxic burden and detoxification capacity. Once again, there is no one-size-fits-all panacea to be had. It is clearly best to limit as many potential sources of incoming toxins, even if it will never be possible to totally avoid them. Better to limit what comes in as best you can and supply the body with necessary nutrients to keep detoxification pathways optimized than to say that toxins are public enemy number one and be a fear monger or take the other tack and downplay the toxin issue entirely.Spreading public panic is not productive, but neither is pretending like the issue is nothing but an overblown agenda by people who are clueless regarding proper research or merely cherry pick their data.
Great I love it, the madness around food is sooo confusing.Best thing I’ve heard all day.
Rob wrote:If Leigh can prove how farm raised salmon being something to steer clear of is a myth, I’d love to hear that one. I can’t speak for leigh, (and she didnt have the space to address each of those issues individually), so I dont know if she agrees or disagrees, but Im in favor of wild salmon over farmed salmon, although I believe the choice may depend on where the fish comes from and how it was raised and fed. Toxins (PCB, etc) aside for a moment, as I have NOT read the peer reviewed literature on that, there are some environmental issues (I havent deeply investigated those either, But I am aware of them and have read the advisories by organizations such as seafood watch). Plus we eat salmon for its high omega-3 content, not just as a source of protein, and the omega-3 content depends on what the farmed salmon are fed.As for the fixation on what chemicals and other things may or may not being doing to your body, why not get specialized blood work and know for sure? Several cutting-edge labs offer much more comprehensive work-ups than your standard CBC. … If you do IgG testing, for example, then you can legitimately cut out or leave in foods rather than listening to some guru say drop them or have someone tell you that those gurus or full of it.it makes complete sense to me that if you are going to talk about “toxins” that you have to name the toxins and be able to measure them (in the food and in the body)… as well as measure the ability of any purported remedy to remove them, if such a claim is made. vague claims for “detoxification” drive me crazy.
Ray wrote:“Getting ripped while still eating some “junk” food is obviously possible, but that doesn’t mean I’d go out of my way to consume it. Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should.Absolutely – I agree completely and thats what my recent blog article on “The New Rules of Clean Eating” discussed, I eat clean better than 95% of the time. I dont even like most junk food (but you wont see me passing up on my moms christmas cake or a good glass of wine either)re: toxins, see my comments in post above
Hey Rob,I didn’t discuss anything on farm raised salmon directly. You may be reading more into my statements than what my statements are. The only thing put into question is the validity of Organics for healthier living. How salmon is raised has nothing to do with that topic. I support wild caught versus farmed in general but as Tom says there is a location factors to be taken into consideration as well.At the end of the day, if putting aside moral issues, farmed salmon isn’t dangerous and will certainly give you nutrients you need. It could even be possible farmers could regulate their homes and make the quality higher than wild caught. See it isn’t the farming, it is the technique, but that is another topic.I agree with taking your education and health in your own hands. Everything I am saying is to NOT to take my word for it. However, testing such as IgG is not going to give you a full answer. One of the simplest things we can do for our health is not to eat extreme surplus of low nutrient diets. Usually elimination diets decrease caloric surplus and often move people into deficits. This will automatically create a healthier response even to someone who doesn’t have a true allergy. If you do have an allergy to a food item the obviously, don’t eat it.I am not telling anyone there is one answer to this (though there can be). I am telling people to take into account the variables and better investigations, to come to a better answer.
Hey Ray,”Getting ripped while still eating some “junk” food is obviously possible, but that doesn’t mean I’d go out of my way to consume it.”I agree 100%. My mantra has always been to focus on what food does for you, not to you.People though are very misguided on what food are “healthier” than others in the first place. For example, it is common place to say white potatoes are bad and to trade it out for Quinoa. However, if you look at the nutritional profile for the two items, per weight the white potatoes provide more nutrients and bang for its buck. I am not suggesting to eat doughnut everyday. What I am suggesting is not to be afraid of a white potato. And hey, if you happen to eat a doughnut, make it yourself so that you at least know what is going into it and burn the calories in the process. Big difference there.”Similarly, I think it is ridiculous to poo poo the “whole fear f toxins thing.”No one is doing that and I actually address this in the 2nd part of the interview. However, if you think organic toxins aren’t as dangerous, think again.”Spreading public panic is not productive, but neither is pretending like the issue is nothing but an overblown agenda by people who are clueless regarding proper research or merely cherry pick their data.”Not being done at all here. You might be interested in the data on the pesticides being used by organic companies and then you might see where I am coming from . I agree there is a problem, what I don’t agree with is that organics are the solution.
Yes Leigh does make a lot of sense and I am a great believer in movement, if one is able to say walk for example for a few hours (long time I know), then thats 50 grams of fat burned if you do it on an empty stomach so that stored fat gets used as energy source, a man needs 60 grams of fat to survive per day so if we are trying to lose body fat then movement is the way to go together with a reduction in fats in our diets…No matter what they say you can’t beat a balanced diet with fats at say 20 to 30% of intake.
In my personal experience, I think factory-farmed meats and industrially raised crops, both conventional and organic, are a problem. By adopting a vegetarian diet my freshman year of college I was able to shed both life-long asthma and chronic insomnia within five months. I realize now that perhaps the nasty fat profile of the meats was very inflammatory, and an asthmatic’s lungs are chronically inflamed. As for vegetable crops, what little I have seen suggests that many pesticides mimic hormonal estrogen, which causes a whole series of problems for both men and women. And slowly but surely lobbyists are approving more pesticides and chemicals for industrial organic.What I do know for sure though is that the vegetables I raise myself, without pesticides or artificial fertilizer, are certainly better than what I’ve eaten anywhere else, and the grass-fed unpasteurized butter my neighbor let me try had an incredibly rich flavor and deep yellow-orange color. My 100% free range eggs also have the most jumbo-sized orange yolks you can imagine and taste excellent. The difference from store bought is unreal. If nutrition can be guessed at from the flavor you can’t get much better.
Hi Folksinteresting interview which cleared up some myths for me. However, reading this post;only to die terrifying and torturous deaths, often being scalded in boiling water or skinned while still alive, when the hasty sloppy work by underpaid workers fails to stun or kill them in a timely manner. And that’s before we even get onto the almost ritualised cruelties inflicted by bored workers who see animals as a source of entertainment, and not as living beings who are every bit as capable of feeling fear and pain as you, I, the household pet, etc.even if I choose free range meat for ethical reasons, the meat will still be slaughtered at the same plant right? So I’m not really doing much to help the plight of these animals – or am I?
Hey,I am loving reading these interveiws and blogs!! Thanks a ton, Tom. They have really helped me in my ideas towards eating and health and fitness.I do want to make a comment on the conversations about eating beef, and how animals are treated, and the farming of animals. I am married to a dariy farmer, we live in Canada, and we keep a few beef cows as well as our dairy cows. We have a number of farming friends in many areas of farming, and I can tell you that the animals that you are discussing are not treated the way you see them being treated on the net. At least not on our farm or the farms of our friends. Our animals are spoiled!! They have more people looking after their needs and health than any of the humans I know. They are not drugged or given hormones, and they are certainly not beaten… ever. Now I am only talking about our animals and those of our friends farms, but here our livelyhood is respected and treated well. We aren’t organic, so our animals only get medication when it is absoutley necessary, and then they are taken off the line till long after the drugs have cleared their system.The point I am trying to make is that, yes, in some places animals are treated badly. It isn’t right, it’s terrible, unforgiveable. But in many places (everyone I know), the animals are treated extremely well, on our farm, they come first, they have names, personalities and quirks. Just keep in mind that farmers are not the bad guys here, at least not all of us. And more and more we are trying to give the public what they need, which is food that is as clean as possible.I agree with Leigh and Tom, do your research and try not to be overly swayed by all the awful you see out there, it isn’t the whole story.
Thanks for the great post Tom,I also agree with Trina Beynon, most of the animals on farms aren’t mistreated in any way. I love animals and also worked on a dairy farm for one summer. From that experience I can say that the animals were very well taken care of and seemed to be content. Also many of my friends’ families are farmers and I have always sensed that the farmers have a great deal of respect for their animals (-and not only because their well-being is essential to the farm-owners!).
What comes to mind, is that food is a very personal issue. I would hesitate to characterize anyones view as “wrong”. I believe each person has to decide for themselves what food works best for them.My wife recovered from an eating disorder and I have worked my way back from clinical obesity, so I know from our personal experience, that we can have unhealty or distorted ideas about food.I think however one of the helpful things is the type of thing you do here in this interview. Which is, shine some light on the issue(s) and help people become more educated about their food relationships.More good solid info to use in conjunction with our own instincts about good health.Thanks again for a wonderful article Tom and thank you Leigh.RespectfullyJames
I agree with the person who said something about the nutrition you can just see and taste, like the bright orange egg yolks, versus the pale yellow ones you get from the grocery store. I am very fortunate to have my parents send me wild red salmon from Alaska every summer… and when it thaws it is deep, bright red in color and tastes out of this world! It’s very expensive to buy, but worth it, in my opinion. Companies label farmed salmon with “color added” as if that’s a good thing! Very deceptive. Again, I say, eat wild caught or organic “when you can”.
“Eating clean is not the only answer. You can get fat off of organic sweet potatoes and sick off of organic spinach.” Some of the heaviest people on the earth eat super clean- sumo wrestlers, and on the other end some the leanest people eat super not clean- skateboarders (I am not saying all skateboarders eat unclean). The idea of “cleaning eating” is unprecisely defined and is often expressed as a sign of dedication. He/she must be dedicated look how clean they eat. Nutrient intake is an important part of ensuring success, but it only makes up a portion of the pie, training methods must be considered along with nutritionNot sure if I would call those Food reporters scientists, if they don’t realize all potatoes are organic. All the food we consume is organic.”In my opinion, I do not support the claims of veganism for health agendas, it doesn’t hold water. I support it for ethical reasons only. If you are a vegan for health reasons you may need to examine why you made that decision and the validity of that decision.” Right on, vegans who claim to be vegans for health purposes are either ignorant (not aware of the data) or are experiencing high levels of cognitive dissonance. In order to support nutrient needs while following a vegan diet, the diet must be very precisely designed requires a fair amount of knowledge pertaining to the constituents of the food ingested, and knowledge of requirements for specific conditions.jamie hale
Just wonderful reading! Good sense shouldn’t be in such short supply… though I guess the demand for it almost assures that it always will be!