The Food Revolution

May 21, 2001
What can we do to help stop global warming, feed the hungry, prevent cruelty to animals, avoid genetically modified foods, be healthier and live longer? Eat vegetarian, Robbins
(Diet for a New America) argues. Noting the massive changes in the environment, food-production methods, and technology over the last two decades, he lambastes (in a manner less tough-mindedly restrained than Frances Moore Lappé's classic Diet for a Small Planet) contemporary factory-farming methods and demonstrates that individual dietary choices can be both empowering and have a broader impact. Robbins, heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream empire (he rejected it to live according to his values), takes on fad diets, the meat industry, food irradiation, hormone and antibiotic use in animals, cruel animal husbandry practices, the economics of meat consumption, biotechnology and the prevalence of salmonella and E. Coli. Some details are downright revolting (euthanized dogs and cats often are made into cattle feed), horrific (some 90% of cows, pigs and poultry are still conscious when butchered) and mind-boggling (it takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef). Despite all this and more distressing information, Robbins ends on a hopeful note, detailing growth in organic farming, public awareness and consumer activism worldwide, as well as policy changes, especially in Europe. Well researched and lucidly written, if sometimes overly sentimental and burdened by clichéd rhetoric, this book is sure to spark discussion and incite readers to examine their food choices. (July 2)Forecast:
Diet for a New America was both controversial and influential; Robbins's name (and that of Dr. Dean Ornish, who provides a foreword) should draw readers, particularly to the author's six-city western U.S. tour. Global warming, animal rights, meat safety and genetically modified food are being recognized as important issues, but the kind of sea change the book calls for is unlikely to find a mass audience.

October 1, 2001
Groomed to succeed his late father (cofounder of the world's largest ice cream company, Baskin-Robbins), bestselling author Robbins (Diet for a New America) chose to walk away from ice cream earnings for a "deeper dream," staying true to his belief in health and environment over corporate profit margins. Now chairman and director of several nonprofit organizations, Robbins offers compelling evidence to support his plant-based diet. Appalled by the proliferation of high-protein, fad diet books, he advocates eating locally, organically grown fruits and vegetables, incorporating whole grains and drinking lots of water while avoiding animal products and processed, refined and fatty foods. Divided into five ambiguously named parts ("Our Food, Our World"; "Our Food, Our Future"), this work nimbly covers such diverse topics as agricultural chemical pollution, the diet/disease connection, genetic engineering and inhumane corporate farming practices, while maintaining a conversational, nonjudgmental tone. Robbins's experience as a speaker and his use of personal anecdotes and persuasive arguments are complemented by several professional readers who frequently interject relevant statistics, information and research, both pro and con, including sometimes sarcastically read statements from the Cattlemen's Association, which will leave listeners thinking twice before picking up their next hamburger. Based on the Conari Press paperback (Forecasts, May 21).