Vegan reason #3: Rebellion.

That's right, rebellion against what they taught us in school.  Because they were wrong!!  Remember the Four Food Groups?  With this idea, they gave us the illusion that we should eat equal portions from each of these "essential" groups daily for good health.

But that's not what they meant, so they changed to the Food Pyramid ... still depicting meat and milk as essential, though in smaller quantities.

Problem is, the dietary guidelines published by our government are not based solely on scientific research about what foods are healthy.  They are also heavily influenced by lobbying from groups like National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Dairy Association.  When the guidelines were going to be changed to tell Americans to eat less meat and drink less milk, many of these powerful marketing groups balked at the taking the blame ... so the guidelines were weakened and amended to say we should eat less cholesterol and saturated fat.  

So, how about rebellion against these powerful organizations that market their unhealthy products without regard for our health, or our children's health!  They fund research that seeks to find them healthy, and bury it when it comes up with conclusions that might detract from their bottom line.

The milk industry has repeatedly funded research to prove that dairy foods decrease the risk for osteoporosis, but they keep finding the opposite!   Diets high in milk and animal protein are actually associated with higher risk for osteoporosis!

This is especially disgusting, since dairy products are linked to breast cancer.

Yeah .... I don't even wanna go there ...

Of course, some companies don't even try to defend the healthiness of their products.

So how do you get all the protein, calcium, and iron you need?  Simple!  Anything that meat can do, veggies can do better!  Despite all the hype, there's really no such thing as a protein deficiency in our culture.  Protein is found in beans, grains, veggies and fruits.  As a general rule, as long as you're getting adequate calories, you're getting adequate protein.

Calcium and iron are abundant in plant foods.  (Maybe I should quit concentrating so much on this blog and pay attention to my kid.  Almost done!)

So, veganism is rebellion against the misinformation they fed us about nutrition when we were kids, and rebellion against the powerful commercialism that tries to convince us to keep eating the foods that make us sick.  It's also rebellion against anyone who tries to tell you what you have to eat to fit in in our society!

Here's a good book for information about the New Four Food Groups:  fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains!

In case you are wondering, I'm going to keep extolling the virtues of a veggie diet till Sunday, then go back to normal on Monday.  I am passionate about this!  :)

Last bit of exciting news for today:  On our walk to the mailbox, Gabe and I found some money!  Like, enough to make our eyes pop out.  We're going through channels to find out whose it is.  I told Gabe that this was our most exciting walk ever.  Gabe responded, "This is the most exciting day of my life!"