In addition to my passion for raw organic vegan foods, I am a student of sales, marketing and small business building. I was watching a dvd several months ago and one of the speakers, who was discussing marketing at the time, said he is often asked 'So what is the one thing I need to learn about marketing?' His answer really resonated with me and I kind of had an 'aha' moment.
He said something along the lines of 'well you need to understand this concept, so that you can understand that one. and then once have a handle on those concepts you are ready to grasp these.' His point being is that there isn't 'one' answer, one thought, one viewpoint that will allow you to 'get it.' Gaining education on marketing or any subject, starts with a foundation of knowledge and once you understand the fundamentals you can then begin to build and specialize your knowledge.
Once I heard this, I immediately thought about my current lifestyle living as a raw organic vegan and what steps did I take to get here? Well, first I read 'Fast Food Nation' several years ago and immediately gave up fast food, red meat, chicken and turkey. This book opened my eyes, first to how much processing goes into that Big Mac we are eating and second, how much suffering and inhumanity is caused by factory farming of animals. It is truly appalling. I continued to eat dairy but I opted to eat only wild caught fish when possible. My mind was opened to intentional eating.
My next big breakthrough occurred when I read 'The Food Revolution' by John Robbins. Now John just isn't any Robbins and he was born into the Baskin Robbins family. He would have been set to work in the family business but instead found himself called to a different path. John watched several of his family members die from heart disease at any early age and once he put 2 and 2 together and realized that the very products his family was selling to the public, ended up killing them....well he had to get out. John has authored several books, continues to speak and has become a leader in this movement. Now I gained several insights and made several changes from this book. First, I gave up dairy on the spot. Next, I learned that vegan foods weren't simply ideal for human health they were essential for the health of the planet. I learned about the destruction that is caused to the planet by raising animals for food. Destructive to the animals, destructive to our health and destructive to the planet. My eyes were opening.
Finally, we come 'The China Study.' I need to say it right now....HOW COME MORE PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS BOOK???!!!??? This book publishes the findings of the largest nutritional study ever conducted. If this was some other topic, it would be ALL OVER the media. The China Study collected data on the health of chinese citizens living in cities and rural environments over the period several decades. It is extremely well researched by top well respected scientists and reads like a college text book. The overall finding? That diets high in plants and low in animal products lead to superior health, less disease and a longer lifespan. Diets high in animal products or containing animal products lead to lower health, more disease and a shorter lifespan. You can't simplify it more than that. It is right there in the science, black and white for all open enough to read it. After reading this book, as I was only eating fish a few times a week I decided to basically 'try going vegan' for a while and seeing what happens. Well guess what? I never went back.
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