The World Peace Diet

World Peace Diet – It’s Got to be Good!

Have you heard of Dr. Will Tuttle?  He’s an American with some very interesting views.

For example, he believes that we are being told daily, directly and indirectly, that a consumer-driven economic system is the best way and it’s democratic, and that giving corporations and financial institutions free reign to maximise profits is best for everyone.

Particularly after the banking crisis, more and more people agree that this is NOT the best method.  Environmentalists have long held that consumerism (buy, buy more and buy now!) is bad for the environment.

While his views on some aspects are considerably stronger than mine, he raises an interesting point.  He believes that the main driver for this is our food.  He says that meals are our most powerful cultural rituals – I hadn’t given that a great deal of thought, I must admit!

Regular readers know that I have a real problem with factory farming, from both the health and cruelty points of view.

Tuttle says that massive agribusiness and food processing and delivery systems affect humans, animals, and ecosystems more forcefully than anything else.

Over 75 million animals are killed for food every single day in the US, and virtually all of these animals are babies or children.  Current methods ensure animals are bred, fed, drugged and confined so that they reach slaughter weight in just a few weeks or months.

Chickens are slaughtered at just 39 days old!

Tuttle believes we should be questioning and changing our attitudes and behaviour towards food, so that we recover our respect and compassion for the animals and the children of animals with whom we share this Earth.

And so that’s why he’s written the award-winning book “The World Peace Diet”.

It’s NOT a diet designed to lose weight (although you probably would).  It’s a “diet” in the sense that you change the way you eat. And the benefits are huge!

He says we can build a new society by changing our views of how everything on Earth is inter-connected.

He wants us to avoid eating meat and animal by-products because of the cruelty involved.

And it’s certainly true that we are all too far removed from our food sources to consider what it truly costs to put food on our plates.

I caught a glimpse of a TV show a while ago where contestants were sent to a cattle auction.  Some of them looked a little puzzled.  Then one of them said “live burgers”, and the others said, “oh, right” and then ignored the animals.    I found that very sad.

I certainly believe strongly that unless we encourage our children to experience and enjoy nature, instead of restricting their world to TV and games, younger generations will have no interest in protecting the environment.

Perhaps there’s more than a grain of truth in Tuttle’s argument in “The World Peace Diet” that we are defined by our food culture.

What do you think?  (Let me know in the Comments below or via Facebook or Twitter)

Certainly, reading “The World Peace Diet” made me more determined than ever to stick to my regular meatless main meals and non-meat other meals.  That’s not going to make the broad cultural shift that Tuttle hopes for, but in my own quiet way I feel it’s making a difference.

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