The Food Revolution

The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World by John Robbins

While it was not the only influence, it is accurate to say that I became a vegan over two decades ago after reading John Robbins’ Diet for a New America in 1988. I have pointed to him and the book ever since as shining examples of organic, whole foods with the absence of animal or dairy products.

As most everybody knows, Mr. Robbins was the heir of the Baskin-Robins chain, set up for life at the top, where he was to become one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. The only problem was that Mr. Robbins looked into how the dairy and meat products in modern times are produced. He started researching studies, comparing scientific reality show more with the marketing malarkey of the meat and dairy industry. He next walked away from the family business, became a vegan, stepped down from taking over before the financial empire before the day even arrived.

There are not many people in this or any lifetime who give up fortune to pursue a life of enlightenment instead. In Diet for a New America, Mr. Robbins did not draw attention to what he gave up or the hardships that he and his wife encountered as a result. He merely pointed out how cruel and inhumane modern farming and livestock is, pointed out the fabrications of the meat and dairy industry, advocating a plant-based diet as an alternative. It was powerful, factual and moving. In response to Diet for a New America, thousands of us in the United States and around the world became vegans, many of us remaining so the decades since.

Mr. Robbins released Diet for a New America in 1987. He has continued to research, write and provide a voice for reason and humanity in our eating habits.

In The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Save Your life and Our World, Mr. Robbins continues to make a strong and convincing argument for a plant-based diet. He points out the mistruths and outright lies of the meat and dairy industry. He offers study after study demonstrating that modern factory farming is polluting the water and the air, and is the leading cause of methane.

He argues, again convincingly, that the best and quickest way to combat Climatic Change would be for everybody to become a vegan. He points out the harm done humans and the eco system as a result of animals kept in inhumane & disease inviting factory environments, fed a diet not fit for an animal and given mega antibiotics to keep them alive for the final slaughter. He points out the filthy conditions of the slaughter houses and the various foodborne deceases that invade our food system on a daily basis, some taking up to seven weeks after eaten for sever health issues to become noticeable, making it virtually impossible to track the source.

Mr. Robbins makes point after point about what is wrong with factory farming, using the medical profession and scientists to make his case, leaning on study after study that proves his various hypothesizes concerning the cruelty of livestock, the health hazards it produces, the inevitable health risks to eating the unhealthy meat and dairy, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and a host of heart related diseases, including cardiac arrest and death.

The book offers strong evidence that the meat, dairy, white flour, corn syrup and processed sugar habits of modern humans is the root of many of the worst modern health problems.
Mr. Robbins also takes on the modern farming practices of vegetables, especially pointing out the dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Who should read this book? Every human being in the world who can read, and anybody who cannot read should have somebody read it to them who can read.

If you want to eat healthier, understand the dangers of our food system and do something about Climatic Change, read this book. It should be on the immediate reading list of anybody who has not already read it.

John Robbins is one of the heroes of today’s world. He will never call himself that, and seems too humble a person to ever view himself in that light, but it truly is people such as him who are making the world better, not the athletes, entertainers and celebrities that are generally viewed as the heroes of our society. He is likely the closest we have in our generation to a Buddha, somebody on the verge of becoming king, to walk away from it, to go into the woods, to think, to think some more, to accept the world around him in the most pure and natural form possible.

This is a great book that every vegan, progressive, environmentalist, humanist, animal rights activist, health advocate, intelligent, decent, informed and positive person can learn something and embrace. Thank you, John Robbins, for helping so many of us to see the light, or to see it better. show less

The Food Revolution is a remarkable book. John Robbins was heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream fortune, but turned it down to become a vegan activist. His earlier book Diet for a New America, published in the mid-80s, opened a lot of people's eyes to the horrible conditions animals live in on American "factory" farms. Now even many omnivorous people I've met will not eat veal, for example, and hopefully may come to see foie gras the same way.

When reading both of these books, I at times felt numbed by the large number of statistics, detailing the harmfulness of animal products in the diet, the destruction of the environment caused by factory farming, and the potential dangers of genetically-modified foods. In some ways this was show more preaching to the choir for me, as I'd been vegetarian and already trying to go vegan for years.

But beyond all of the statistics and doom-and-gloom predictions, there was a stronger message: of compassion. Robbins is one of the very, very few authors who has moved me to tears. I'm hardly a person who never cries, but when I do it's usually because of some petty personal reason (relationship troubles, etc.). But reading his books has showed me not only how wonderful and precious our animal friends are, but how opening up and truly listening to people you may not agree with can be transforming.

I hope more people read his books. Robbins really does cover pretty much all of the reasons why I am a mostly-vegan vegetarian: health, ethical, and environmental, and has plenty of footnote references for validation and further information. Yet despite what he's written, Robbins himself doesn't say that everyone should become a vegan; he states "I don't care whether you call yourself a vegan, a vegetarian, or an asparagus". He just wants to inform people of the issues involved, and hopes that if enough people are convinced, the world (America in particular) will move toward a more plant-centered diet. show less

Food Revolution marked a paradigm shift for me. It has remarkably altered the way that I view humanitarian efforts, world hunger, the evironmental movement, human health, and the meat industry.

Robbins presents a thoughtful and in depth look at the meat industry and its effects on humans, the environment, the animal world, and world hunger. All aspects are thoroughly researched and supported by numerous, scientists, scientific groups, university professors, environmental groups, governmental agencies, etc. But this isn't merely a book of facts. Robbins presents his case not from the standpoint of science, fact, or medicince but from the standpoint of humanity. It's obvious that he is seeking to expose people to truth but also his passion show more and his love for humanity and the world. show less

Totally changed the way I ate. One of the most compelling books I've read that has had a profound effect on my food choices. Would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about how our food choices affect not only our health but also the world we live in.

another good book from john robbins. instead of focusing on the animals, he tackles a lot of the issues that he sort of glossed over in diet for a new america. definitely a worthwhile read.

A bit preachy at times, I didn't find the information in this book to be surprising or new.

Demonstrates the amazing power of food. So important!