104. From Global Warming to Cancer: The Impact of Animal Food Sources
with Vesanto Melina
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Climate Change and Our Health Begins with Food
Everyone is talking about climate change and the noticeable environmental shifts we’re experiencing like rising temperatures, wild fires, and melting glacier ice. We’re all concerned and seeking solutions. While the popular targets for reducing any further impact are the gasoline & fossil fuel industries, it will take a long time to shift our dependency on them and potentially at additional cost due to the energy sources that replace them. They’re not infallible either.
But there is another solution that can have impact more quickly, and in a pretty significant way. It's animal-based foods. Sadly this solution isn’t being covered by mainstream media. In-depth reporting, exploring current impact and new options is barely being addressed. Why? Likely due to pushback from a significant range of monolith companies that are completely dependent on the very products that are destroying our planet and, just as importantly, our health.
But there’s also another reason. It requires changing our personal eating habits and preferences. It requires a sea-change of how we think about food and our health as it relates to foods we consume.
That’s where building our own awareness and knowledge has to come in, so that collectively, we can make an impact not just by talking but also by what we’re eating.
Join me and my guest, Vesanto Melina as she shares extensive research findings on how animal products, compared to plant-based options, are impacting global warming and environmental degradation like land depletion and water pollution. We also discuss practical tips for incorporating plant-based foods into your daily life, creating small changes for a net positive effect on the health of you, your family and our planet.
Don't miss this enlightening conversation that could transform your approach to eating and living.
Today we discuss:
06:55 Research Findings on Climate Change
12:48 Environmental Impact of Food Choices
20:05 Food and Our Health
23:59 Plant-Based Benefits
25:13 Cooking and Meal Ideas
31:32 Health Concerns for Young People
Vesanto Melina
Vesanto Melina, MS, is a Registered Dietitian, author, global speaker and in private practice as a government, facility, industry, and personal consultant. She’s also taught nutrition at Seattle’s Bastyr University and the University of British Columbia.
Her extensive work and knowledge has been contributed as a lead author of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics most recent Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets. Plus, as a co-author of numerous award-winning books and cookbooks on plant-based nutrition, Vesanto makes plant-based eating assessable for everyone.
Links:
Vesanto’s Website: Website: https://nutrispeak.com
Books:
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Documentaries mentioned in this episode:
You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment (Netflix) - Includes insights into chicken and pork production impact.
Food Choices (Amazon Prime)
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