SEE July Newsletter

Posted on July 18, 2022

Destruction of Amazon Rainforest for Beef
An aerial view shows a deforested section of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. (Mauro Pimentel/Agence France Presse/Getty Images)
The Washington Post reports on the accelerating deforestation of the Amazon under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Almost 4,000 square kilometers, an area five times the size of New York City, was deforested in just the first six months of this year. Fire activity in the Amazon in June was the highest in 15 years; the fires are set to clear land for livestock and to grow crops to feed them. Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the advocacy network Climate Observatory, says that in the next election, his countrymen “will have to make a choice, either Bolsonaro or the forest. Both, for the next four years, will not exist. Only one will survive.”

KFC Reveals Plant-Based Plans

Kentucky Fried Chicken is joining other fast-food franchises in expanding to the plant-based sector. Kevin Hochman, president of KFC, announced plans to incorporate plant-based foods into the company’s nationwide menu, aiming to satisfy the demands of the rapidly growing meat-free consumer sector.

Vegans Dominate Tennis

Vegans had a lock on the Wimbledon finals this year: both Novak Djokovic (the winner) and his rival Nick Kyrgios are vegans, as is Venus Williams and many other tennis greats. Spectators at the event this year were provided with many vegan dining options, as LiveKindly reports.

Coal Industry a Long Way from Being Saved

The Supreme Court ruling curtailing the EPA’s ability to make sweeping changes to power generation in America was received as a blow to the environmental community, but the hand-wringing may be overdone, according to this nuanced reporting in the Washington Post. The switch away from coal has been underway for a long time, and coal’s share of U.S. power generation continues to shrink.

Eat Plant-Based to Reduce Cancer Risk

The evidence on cancer continues to favor a plant-based diet, and to discourage consumption of meat and dairy products. A high-fiber, plant-rich diet low in processed foods and high in fiber can help cut a woman’s breast cancer risk by 14 percent. Prostate cancer is also associated with dairy consumption, according to a recent study. Men who consumed even a small amount of dairy on a daily basis increased their risk of prostate cancer by 60 percent.

Plant Burgers Become More Cost-Competitive

Vegan meats are becoming more cost-competitive with traditional meats despite the animal agriculture industry receiving agricultural subsidies. Plant Power Fast Food is taking on America’s major fast-food chains with price reductions for its vegan burgers. Plant Power’s reduced pricing is crucial to its plans for a major national expansion. Working with Alpha Foods, Plant Power, based in San Diego, just announced a new affordable pea-protein burger.

Vegan Health Transformation

Esther Lebeck Loveridge struggled with her weight since her late thirties. She weighed over 220 pounds when she met her husband Ben, who owned a donut shop and wooed her with donuts. Ben weighed 250 himself. With donuts on the menu, their weights eventually ballooned to 282 and 320, respectively.
On a trip they took together to Ireland, when Esther was 72, her knees hurt so much from inflammation that she went to a doctor, who recommended surgery–but only after she first lost 70 pounds! How could she possibly lose that much weight? In the past, she had tried the meat-heavy, high-fat Atkins Diet, and almost died from pancreatitis.
A friend gave her a book, The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight-Loss. Esther read this classic volume about how to lose weight on a whole-foods, starch-based diet, and she became deeply committed to the plan overnight. Her goal was to lose 70 pounds in one year. She had immediate success with the diet, and wound up losing 80 pounds during that first year. After losing the weight, her knee pain resolved and she no longer needed the surgery.
And then, naturally, she decided to stick with the program, and lost even more weight. By now she’s lost a total of 130 pounds (from a weight of 257, when she started the program), going from a size 26 to a size 6, and easily maintains a healthy weight of 127. She no longer has joint pains, she’s been able to drop all her meds, including statins, and medication for her thyroid, for GERD, and for pre-diabetes. She no longer needs a sleep apnea machine. Her knee pain is long gone.
Oh, and Ben? He was resistant to joining Esther on her diet at first, so they ate separate meals for about nine months. “I could never eat like you,” he told her. Then he started getting persuaded partly by Esther’s results, and partly by all the information she brought into the house. He went on the diet, too, sharing meals with his wife, and now he weighs 160. He no longer needs Tylenol for sleep, a proton inhibitor, or ulcer medication. (He sold the donut shop long ago.) Both halves of this couple have halved their weight, and more than doubled their joy in living.
The secret to Esther’s success? As soon as she read Dr. McDougall’s book, she committed to a whole foods, low-fat, vegan diet. She didn’t “dip her toes in the water” or “cut down a little bit” on meat consumption. She didn’t eliminate one animal food at a time. Instead, she cut all animal foods out of her diet immediately; put fruits, vegetables, and healthy starches at the center of her diet; and never looked back. She knew instinctively that the benefits of a whole-foods, low-fat, plant-exclusive diet can’t be counted on by those who are merely eating “a little healthier.”
She spreads the good news to her 14,000+ followers in her Facebook group “Esther’s Nutritional Journey” and wants the whole world to know the healing power of whole food. She has written about her transformation in a book, From Donuts To Potatoes: My 366 Day Journey on a Plant-Based Diet.

 

SEE Launches Climate Wednesday

Sustainable Earth Eating’s mission is to create awareness of diet impact on our climate: With that in mind, we are launching Climate Wednesday – to share relevant data on this intersection!

Categories: News Release