Re: seminar lineup summary

day 6 line up and day 5 wrap up

Today’s Food Revolution Summit interviews focused on the question, “What Is The Optimal Diet for Human Beings?”

All three speakers offered insightful, research-based commentary. I found the information they provided to be at once practical and inspiring.

What did you think? If you heard today’s interviews already, the Summit’s Facebook page is a great place to post comments or questions.

All three of these interviews are still available for free via teleconference and 24 hour web replay – check out the Summit calendar for the details.

Dr. Neal Barnard Dr. Neal Barnard, who serves as founder and president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), is an esteemed clinical researcher with a particular expertise in plant-based nutrition. Here are a few highlights from his interview:

“When women consume soy, their risk of Breast Cancer is reduced by about 30%. And women who have had cancer and consume soy have a 30% reduction in their rates of the cancer coming back.”

“We have to think big. We need to make personal choices, but we also need to think societal change. The price we’re paying is enormous… The environment is deteriorating more rapidly than anyone had thought. And too many people are dying.”

Towards that end, Dr. Barnard described several societal changes that could have huge impact.

“The Geico insurance company has instituted plant-based diets at 10 of their 13 facilities across the US, and we’re tracking the results,” he commented.

What would happen if corporate America recognized the health insurance savings that could be realized by encouraging healthy food choices? Could it save money and improve employee productivity? Could it help to reduce skyrocketing healthcare costs, make businesses more competitive, and even improve the economy?

Dr. Barnard also has a prescription for uplifting the health of America’s poorest, and least healthy, communities: “We want to stop food deserts by limiting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamps program to cover foods that are healthy. That will force retailers to stock healthy foods in low income communities.”

Forty six million Americans now depend on the SNAP program. Many of the convenience stores in low income neighborhoods stock only highly processed and packaged foods with long shelf lives. If SNAP was amended to exclude purchases of junk food, just as it already excludes purchases of alcohol and tobacco, the health outcomes for the lowest income communities could improve dramatically.

(If you’re interested in knowing more, check out this recent article about a bill in Florida intended to accomplish just that).

David Wolfe Next my dad, John Robbins, interviewed David Wolfe. David is the author of seven bestselling books and a passionate advocate for natural health, nutrition, herbalism, longevity, chocolate, and organic superfoods. Much of his interview focused on the energetic and even spiritual impact of food choices. For example:

“I believe (dogmatism) very detrimentally affects both the raw food movement which I have been a very big part of (for over 20 years), and the vegan movement… We have got to get out of that cycle of dogma or fundamentalisms.”

“The subtle energy of your food becomes your mind.”

“It’s easier to maintain a positive mental attitude if you’re drinking wheat grass juice than if you’re drinking soda pop. It’s easier, and you want to stack the odds in your favor. If you eat well and you eat healthy, you will have an easier time holding energy and vibrations, and you’ll perform better.... greens are absolutely critical."

Dr. T. Colin Campbell The final interview today was with Dr. T. Colin Campbell. He spent years in China leading the largest and most comprehensive study of diet and disease in world history. He serves on the Research Advisory Board of the Chinese government's leading institution responsible for nutrition research and policy, and he has more than seventy grant-years of peer-reviewed research funding and has authored more than 300 research papers.

When Dr. Campbell gives nutritional advice, I’m inclined to listen to what he’s got to say.

“My view of dairy products? Don't use them! I see no redeeming value in consuming that food from a nutritional perspective. Dairy products are a pretty potent producer of higher cholesterol levels, cardiovascular problems, and a host of other problems. Mother’s milk is perfect food for human babies. Cows milk is perfect food for baby calves.”

“Animal protein is not doing the job that we thought it might be doing in terms of creating health… Animal food in general, creates a sort of metabolic acidosis, which in turn can have a major influence on the activities of various enzymes… The research tells us that a whole foods plant based diet is a really smart way to go. It is best to derive as much of our carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals from plant sources as possible.”

“Protein consumed in excess of the amount that we need, and most of us do consume more than we need, actually has some pretty serious consequences. It has been documented in peer reviewed literature.“

Dr. Campbell’s bottom line recommendation? “A whole food plant based diet with vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes.


And Look What’s Coming Next!

The theme of tomorrow’s interviews is “Healthy, Humane Food For Everybody.”

Nicolette Hahn NimanWe’ll start off with Nicolette Han Niman, the author of Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms. Nicolette is an attorney and a livestock rancher who has served as Senior Attorney for the environmental organization Waterkeeper, where she exposed and prosecuted the environmental devastation caused by factory farms.

Nicolette is an inspired advocate for Community Supported Agriculture, healthy school lunches, school gardens, networks of pasture based farms, and farm to table restaurants. Nicolette knows the livestock industry intimately, and she brings vital insights about the health and environmental impact of the choices we make.

Nikki HendersonThen my dad, John Robbins, will interview Nikki Henderson, who is one of the leaders in the food justice movement. Throughout the developed world, people of low income consistently have less access to healthy food, and therefore worse health outcomes, than people of greater means. Nikki is setting out to change that so that everyone can have access, and education about, healthy food.

Working in a community that has 25 liquor stores, countless fast food establishments, and only one grocery store, Nikki serves as Executive Director of People’s Grocery. They operate several urban organic gardens, provide culturally based nutrition education, and are launching several innovative enterprises including The Mobile Market which is a travelling produce store. They are building an ongoing demand for healthy local food, and their work is being replicated by organizations across the United States and around the world. Find out how you can be part of the food revolution, and help it grow in some of the communities that need it most.

Gene BaurOur third interview of the day will be with Gene Baur – the man hailed as the conscience of the food movement by TIME magazine. For 25 years he has traveled extensively, campaigning to raise awareness about the abuses of industrialized factory farming. Gene is the president and co founder of Farm Sanctuary, the leading farm animal protection organization in the United States. He has a masters degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University and has conducted hundreds of visits to farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses to document conditions.

Find out what’s really going on in today’s factory farms, and what you can do to contribute to more humane, and healthy, systems of food production. Warning: After listening to Gene, you might not ever want to eat another factory-farmed burger for the rest of your life.

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