Page 70 - Summer2009

All Thumbs Book Reviews

with the decrease in consumption of traditional nutrient-dense foods, is personal journey. And I was astonished at how
responsible for most of the chronic illness that plagues us today. much I learned about life cycles, soil, plants,
animals, wetlands and politics (the nutrition I
TO SAVE THE WORLD? DOUHDG\ NQHZ LQ D PHUH SDJHV RI VHDPOHVVO\
,I , KDYH DQ\ PDMRU FULWLFLVP RI WKLV ERRN LW¶V WKDW WKH ¿QDO FKDSWHU LV ÀRZLQJ WH[W .HLWK EDUHV KHU VRXO IRU XV D
pretty grim. And yet, I can’t even really fault her for that. Keith has done soul that aches for so much we’ve already lost. I
her research, crunched the numbers, and thinks that the planet can’t truly ZHSW DW VHYHUDO SRLQWV QRW RQO\ RQ P\ ¿UVW UHDG
sustain even one tenth of our current numbers for the long term. Many through, but again on my second. Her book is a
ZLOO EULVWOH DW KHU ¿UVW UHFRPPHQGDWLRQ ³'RQ¶W KDYH FKLOGUHQ ´ %XW DV plaintive cry for us to wake up from the fantasy of
she points out, a large portion of humanity wouldn’t be around today if it endless consumption and entitlement that we’ve
weren’t for the Green Revolution, which accelerated the loss of our topsoil been playing out for far too long, and from the
and the destruction of ecosystems even as it provided a starvation diet for pernicious corollary that if we just recycle and
ELOOLRQV PRUH KXPDQV ZLWK WKH SUR¿WV JRLQJ WR D YHU\ IHZ FRUSRUDWLRQV “buy organic” and replace our incandescent
If we don’t decrease our numbers voluntarily, and soon, we may see them EXOEV ZLWK FRPSDFW ÀXRUHVFHQWV WKDW LW ZLOO DOO
decrease rapidly and involuntarily through starvation, environmental col- be okay.
lapse and warring over the last of our resources. The Vegetarian Myth is an eloquent and ut-
Keith seamlessly weaves arguments against grain agriculture with terly persuasive argument against vegetarianism.
indictments of patriarchy, religion and the cult of masculinity. Many of Keith pulls no punches, but she does address
these themes will unsettle or turn off readers who otherwise agree with her vegetarians with empathy and love. She has been
main points against vegetarianism. But she persuasively links the spread there; she knows the prayer in the vegan heart.
of agriculture to the spread of slavery, imperialism, militarism, and class Few vegans truly stick it out for twenty years, so
divisions—on the whole, the agricultural experiment has meant a net loss Keith has earned her soapbox. And she realizes
in freedom and individual rights. that for those who have built an entire identity
I don’t know whether she’s right about how truly desperate the situ- around their diet, all three of the main vegetarian
ation is. But even if reality will not be quite so grim as she paints it, to arguments must be thoroughly dealt with before
mitigate the danger we must increase our vigilance and our activism in another way can be considered. Mass vegetarian-
pursuit of grass-farming, not grain-farming. And we must be ever more ism would not save the world, but in fact would
active and vocal in politics and in the protection of individual rights. If hasten its destruction.
global food crises do come when petroleum-based ag fails, can we imagine I hope that this book will help vegetarians
that governments under pressure wouldn’t seize the remaining fertile land and vegans who are struggling to maintain their
from the grass-farmers, “for the public good”? diet despite its effect on their health, to see that
.HLWK¶V ELEOLRJUDSK\ LV ¿OOHG ZLWK QDPHV WKDW ZLOO EH IDPLOLDU WR UHDGHUV while their compassion and fervor for justice are
RI WKLV MRXUQDO 'DQLHO PLVWDNHQO\ LGHQWL¿HG DV .DD\OD ³'DYLV´ WKURXJKRXW honorable and noble, they are mistaken about
the book, an error that Keith will rectify in future editions), Eades, Enig, the solution. I would love to welcome more
Fallon, Price, Purdey, Ross, Salatin, Schmid, Taubes. But don’t think that recovering vegetarians and vegans into WAPF.
if you’ve read all of these authors and you’re eating meat that you have Together perhaps our combined commitment and
nothing to learn from this book. Keith will also introduce you to some FUHDWLYLW\ FDQ ¿QG WKH SDWK WR D WUXO\ VXVWDLQDEOH
fascinating voices you may not yet know: I’ve already ordered my copies well-nourished future for humans and all our
of Derrick Jenson’s Endgame and Stephen Buhner’s The Lost Language fellow creatures.
of Plants. You may read an excerpt and order the book
Part of the brilliance of her book is its astonishing readability; the grace at lierrekeith.com/vegmyth.htm.
DQG HDVH ZLWK ZKLFK VKH ZHDYHV OD\ UHDGHU IULHQGO\ VFLHQWL¿F H[SODQDWLRQV Review by Jill Nienhiser
about plant chemistry and nutrition with heartbreaking narrative about her
68 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2009