Man Eating Plants: How a Vegan Diet Can Save the World - Interview with Jonathan Spitz (vegan), Part 1 of 2

Jonathan Spitz is a vegan environmental and animal-people rights activist. After noticing that his fellow environmentalists were unaware of the connection between eating animal-people meat and environmental problems, he decided to write his book, “Man Eating Plants: How a Vegan Diet Can Save the World.” Mr. Spitz began the research for his book in 2000 and did most of the writing between 2014 and 2022.

“I started with the chronology of human evolution from two million years ago and how our change from being an herbivore into being a carnivore has had such profound effect on not only our health but on the environment. My book is basically about how our change to an animal diet is basically the cause of epidemic levels of chronic degenerative diseases like atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancers.” “The reality is that animal agriculture and livestock production is very, very destructive to the environment. Animal agriculture accounts for as much as 51% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions, which much of it is methane. Now another interesting fact is that grazing livestock and growing animal feed accounts for 83% of farm land while producing only 18% of the world’s calories, and 37% of total protein. And also growing feed crops accounts for 67% of deforestation.”

There is a popular misconception in some parts of the world that a vegan diet lacks sufficient protein. “All living things are made out of protein. And so, plants have plenty of protein. All the proteins and all the amino acids that make proteins come from plants. There’s only eight amino acids that are essential for a human diet, and plants have them all, and you get them all.” “And if we no longer raise livestock, hundreds of millions of acres of grazing land and feed crop land could be rewilded and be havens once again for endangered species. This is how transitioning back to our natural plant-based diet can save the world.”