The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! I know it's still February, but we're going to pretend it's March and begin our discussion of Kathy Freston's new book, Veganist. Before we start, I just want to let you know that we still have signed copies of the book for sale at the VN Store, so get yours today so you can join in on the conversation. Also, I will be making an announcement in the near future regarding a special post with Kathy Freston, in which you can participate, so be sure to check in regularly!

I asked you to read the introduction, as well as the first two chapters—or "Promises"—of the book. In the introduction, Freston mainly talks about the vegan diet, and how the book will outline the advantages of adopting a vegan lifestyle, or by being a veganist, if you will. She also mentions that it is very important to lean into this type of change. Not everyone can do it overnight, and that's not what is important. Making the change to a plant-based diet, no matter how gradual, is what's important.

In the first "Promise," Freston talks about how adopting a vegan diet will lead to weight loss. Obviously, the diet can't be filled with processed food, which is easy to do on a vegan diet, but with whole foods, such as vegetables, fruit, beans, and grains. She outlines the research done by Dr. Neal Barnard, and even has a question and answer with Dr. Dean Ornish—both doctors promote a plant-based diet. She finishes up the chapter with Ben Goldsmith's story about how he lost a great deal of weight after becoming a veganist, even though it wasn't the primary reason he adopted the lifestyle.

In the second chapter, or Promise 2, Freston talks about how a vegan lifestyle can reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Like the first chapter, she outlines the research of plant-based doctors and nutritionists, specifically Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, and Dr. Barnard in this chapter. She also shares three more success stories: one from Meg Wolff, who beat breast cancer; one from Robert Dew, who overcame heart disease, along with his wife and father; one from Natala Constantine, who cured her diabetes after going vegan.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. Did you go vegan/vegetarian overnight, or did you take a more gradual process? Did you find making the change hard or easy?

2. The success stories of Meg Wolff, Robert Dew, and Natala Constantine are pretty incredible. Do you have a success story of your own?

The Assignment: Please read Promise 3 to Promise 5 of Veganist for our discussion on Monday, March 7.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Hello VegNews Book Clubbers, and happy Friday! We are now finished with our discussion of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and we will begin our discussion of Veganist by Kathy Freston next week. Be sure to pick up a signed copy of the book on the VN Store.

I asked two questions this week—one about your thoughts on Farm Forward and other humane meat movements, and if you think the vegan movement is moving at the right pace. It seems like you guys obviously support the humane movement, even though we would love to see everyone to become vegan tomorrow. The second question received a couple different answers. Some of you think it's definitely moving at a good pace, but Sock also brought up the fact about the cycles of movements, in which they can move forward for a while, but then take a big step backward. It will be interesting to see what happens, and hopefully this positive trend will keep moving forward.

I look forward to our first discussion of Veganist next week. Happy weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good morning, and Happy Presidents' Day! I am actually reporting from home today, due to the holiday. I hope you guys are enjoying a long weekend as well. It is the last week of our discussion of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and I look forward to talking to you about the rest of the book. We will be reading and discussing Veganist by Kathy Freston next week. If you don't have it yet, you can purchase a signed copy on the VN Store.

We read the last two sections of the book for our discussion this week. In "I do," Foer tackles the cattle industry, as well as the two competing terms in the animal rights movement today—Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare. He starts the section by introducing Bill and Nicolette of Niman Ranch, which was mentioned earlier in the book. Niman Ranch is known for its "humane" meat, and Foer visited the ranch while researching the book. The section goes on to tell three different views of the meat industry: one from Nicolette, the "Vegetarian Rancher;" one from Bruce Friedrich, the PETA activist; and one from Bill Niman, the humane rancher. After these points of views are shared, Foer goes on to talk about the cattle industry as a whole, and points out the fact that humane ranches, like Niman's, are fine, but won't make much of a difference as long as cheap, factory-farmed meat is available to the masses. Foer does say that if all meat was raised like Niman's or Frank Reese's turkeys, he would probably eat meat, but at this time, there is no way that you can eat humane meat 100 percent of the time. He explains that this is why he has chosen a vegetarian diet.

The final section is entitled "Storytelling" once again, like the first section, and Foer goes back to talking about family and traditions, specifically Thanksgiving. Americans have made Thanksgiving about the turkey, even though it's quite possible that there wasn't even a turkey served at the first Thanksgiving. He questions this tradition, as well as the treatment of the factory-farmed turkey. He once again mentions the fact about people "forgetting" when it comes to their food, and he really starts to delve into the importance of what we put on our plate. He understands that it is our food that gives us a "sense of self," but also mentions that due to the unfathomable abuses that are now taking place on factory farms, it is time to leave our comfort zone, and actively choose what we eat. He relates it to when his Grandmother said that she would not eat pork even though she was starving while on the run during WWII, and how she said, "If nothing matters, there's nothing to save."

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. What are your thoughts on "I am a vegan who builds slaughterhouses," in which the man in charge of Farm Forward talks about helping Frank Reese build his own humane slaughterhouse. Would you still label him as a vegan? Do you think Farm Forward is a good program, or is there a better realistic solution?

2. It is obvious that the vegan movement is catching on—right now there are two bestselling books that deal with veganism, and people in the mainstream like Foer are bringing these issues to more people. Do you think that the movement is moving at the right pace, or does something bigger have to happen?

The Assignment: Please read the Introduction and the first two chapters of Veganist for our discussion on February 28.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Happy Friday VegNews Book Clubbers! We are finishing up our third week of discussion on Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and I wanted to thank everyone for their great thoughts and insights. We have one more week with this book, and I look forward to finishing up this fantastic read.

As I mentioned in our conversation, the question I posed might have been a little loaded, and it definitely received some thoughtful comments. As vegans, it can be frustrating to be among others that just don't care about what they put on their plate, or the consequences. However, I agree with Jessica and Sock about the fact that everyone chooses to forget at times—it is a trait that we all share as human beings. And this question does lead back to the point I brought up in the first week about the cultural and traditional aspects of our food. These issues—food, animal agriculture, environment, etc.—are not black and white, and will take a great deal of discussion in order for solutions to be made.

Please finish the rest of the book for our discussion beginning Monday. Happy Presidents' Day Weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and Happy Valentine's Day! We are in our third week of our discussion of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I, for one, have really enjoyed this book. Though I might not agree with everything that Foer writes, it is very refreshing to read a well-written book on the subject of factory farming, and why we eat animals.

For this week's discussion, I asked you to read the sixth section of the book, "Slices of Paradise/Pieces of Shit," which mainly deals with the pork industry. First, Foer introduces the independent slaughterhouse Paradise Locker Meats, which is located in the Midwest. Foer visited the slaughterhouse, which is known to be more humane in their slaughter methods. Specifically, that means pigs are killed one at a time, and not at the fast-paced rate as they are in bigger factories. Of course, there are still many issues with this plant, including issues with the meat inspection, and the obvious contradiction of the term "humane slaughter."

Foer continues to talk about the pork industry, mentioning how pigs are bred nowadays to be food, and not an individual animal, much like chickens and turkeys. He also brings up the fact that only four companies account for 60 percent of the pork produced today.

He then introduces Paul Willis, a pig farmer in Iowa, who produces pork for Niman Ranch, which is known to be a more humane producer of meat. Willis claims that on his farm, pigs can be pigs, until the time of slaughter, that is. While Foer is visiting the farm, the family finds out that a factory farm has purchased land nearby with plans to build a pork-producing facility, which would obviously ruin the land. This leads Foer to talk about the massive amount of pollution resulting from hog farming—specifically, the shit. He gives many facts and details regarding this subject, and then jumps into the actual abuses that factory-farmed pigs have to face. He relates it to a new form of sadism. It is truly unbelievable what happens at these farms.

Finally, at the end of the section, Foer goes back to the question of why we eat animals, especially now in the midst of the immense abuses of of factory farming. He brings up the issue of tradition, and talks about how remembering and forgetting are nearly the same thing, and happens quite often when it comes to our food.

The Discussion: Here's a discussion point to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. Many people are aware of the terrible conditions on factory farms, and the enormous amount of waste they produce. What are your feelings towards people who choose to "forget" about these issues?

The Assignment: Please read the rest of Eating Animals for our discussion on February 21. If you still need a copy, you can purchase one at the VN Store.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Hello everyone, and happy Friday! We are at the end of our second week of our discussion of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and just as like the first week, we've had some great conversation.

First, I asked you what your thoughts were on Frank Reese, aka "the last poultry farmer." Also, I asked if you would still be a vegetarian or vegan if all farmers were like him. Everyone who responded would still not eat animals even if only family farms existed. Of course, things would be better for the animals if all farms were like Reese's, but many of us agree that it's not about the farm, but using animals at all.

Second, I asked you why you think so many people still live in denial about what they eat. I honestly believe this is a hard question to answer, due to the fact that it pertains to the complexity of the human mind. I did enjoy reading your ideas on the subject. It's an upsetting issue, and one that should be brought up into conversation frequently. Perhaps, videos like the recently released Farm to Fridge will help push people in the right direction.

Just as a reminder, we will be discussing the sixth section of Eating Animals on Monday, February 14. Have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and welcome to the second week of our discussion of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. We started off with some great conversation, and I look forward to another great week!

We read the next two sections of the book for our discussion today. The fourth section is called "Hiding/Seeking," and it follows Foer's further investigation into the animal-agriculture business, as well as some history of our relationship with animals and how factory farming came to be. It begins with him writing about his experience with a woman who secretly goes onto big factory farms, specifically poultry farms. They are sneaking onto a poultry farm in the middle of the night. Foer has decided to do this in order to truly see what factory farms are hiding, and it's obviously not good. He also depicts a letter, which is his seventh letter, to Tyson Foods asking if he could visit one of their many farms. The letter seems to indicate the secretiveness of the big factory farms. The section also includes a part entitled, "I am the last poultry farmer," which is a man named Frank Reese who talks about how family farms no longer exist, excluding his, which has turkeys that have not been genetically engineered in any way.

In the fifth section, "Influence/Speechlessness," Foer talks about the increasing risk of a pandemic, due to the rise of animal agriculture. He talks about the last terrible pandemic, the Spanish Flu, which killed nearly 100 million people worldwide within about 24 weeks. He goes on to talk about how the increase of factory farming, which has led to the genetic engineering of animals to make them merely "food" has led to the rise of antimicrobial resistance and food-borne illnesses, and how we are lied to about the danger of eating animals and the health benefits of eating a vegetarian diet.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. What are your thoughts on the "Last poultry farmer," Frank Reese? Would you be a vegan or vegetarian today if all farmers were still like him today?

2. With the threat of increasing food-borne illnesses and a chance of a terrible pandemic, why do you think so many people still live in denial about animal agriculture?

The Assignment: Please read the next section of Eating Animals for our discussion on February 14. If you still need a copy, you can purchase one at the VN Store.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Happy belated wrap up, Book Clubbers. Apologies for the delay in recapping our wonderful discussion of our first week of Eating Animals. This week, we talked about some very emotional topics: our families' relationship with food and life-changing events that made us want to re-evaluate our lives. Thanks so much to everyone who commented! Though many of you said that your families have non-vegan food traditions, it seemed like almost all had been successful at veganizing the family recipes or having the support of your family members. Many of you, like Foer, have children and want to make sure that they are raised vegetarian or vegan, which is so commendable! There are so many resources now for raising kids without feeding them animal products, and we're come a long way since the days of combining foods to make "complete" proteins.

Another theme that came out in your answers was health issues. Whether it was a weight issue, something chronic like Crohn's Disease, to emotional catalysts, there were definitely significant moments in your lives that made pushed you beyond your typical comfort zones. Thank you for sharing such personal moments with everyone reading! That's it for now, I'll keep this short and sweet since we have a new discussion to get to today too!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig