KNOWsis

I think we when do things that are truly good for ourselves - we are doing good things for everyone everywhere - including for all those beings that share the planet with us.  Doing good for ourselves is not, as it may seem, shallow and self-centered etc. for if we cannot truly treat ourselves well and make choices that will benefit ourselves, how can we really do so for others?  Author John Robbins makes this point wonderfully in his new book "THE FOOD REVOLUTION".  Below are some excerpts from  this taken from a recent article in Creations Magazine:

"My father, Irv Robbins, founded and ran...the worlds largest ice cream company:  Baskin-Robbins...Not surprisingly,  many people in the family struggled with weight problems; my uncle died of a heart attack in his early fifties, my fther developed serious diabetes and high blood pressure and I was sick mor often than not....

I chose to leave behind the ice cream company and the money it represented in order to make my own rocky road...

I hoped I might be able to be true to my values and learn to make a contribution to the well-being and happiness of others...

In my book DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA, I illustrated the immense toll exacted by the standara American diet - and the benefits that might be gained by a shift in a healthier direction...in the five years immediately following the book's publication, beef consumption in the United States dropped nearly 20 percent...

The U.S. meat industry has managed to divert attention away from teh fact that the animals raised in modern factory famrs are forced to endure conditions of almost unimagineable cruelty and deprivation.  The USDA irradiates an increasing number of foods to combat the deadly food-borne diseases such as ecoli...the chemical industry has mounted a campaign to discredit organ food...

two-thirds of the products on our supermarket shelves now contain genetically engineered ingredients...

There is still a strong belief in our socieyt that animals and the natural world have value only insofar as they can be converted into revenue...

there are many of us who believe that animals and the natural world have value by virtue of being alive...the truth,  as has been said countless times, will set you free.  But what is said far less often is that sometimes it first will make you confront habits of behavior and thought that might be limiting you...

not long ago the average American mother would have been more concerned to learn that her son or daughter was becoming a vegetarian than to learn that he or she was taking up smoking.  Patients in hospital coronary care units were fed bacon and eggs, and white toast with margarine and jam for breakfast.  People who ate food that was healthy, environmentally friendly and caused no  animals to suffer were considered  "health nuts".  But all this is changing...

one hundred fifty years ago, slavery was legal in the United States.  One Hundred years ago,  women could not vote...Eighty years ago, there were no laws in the United States against any form of child abuse.  Fifty years ago, we had no Civit Rights Act...

John Robbins' new book THE FOOD REVOLUTION is available at book stores or from the publisher:  1-800-423-7087.

Please take time to watch part 10 of the documentary "Earthlings".  Do check out parts 1-9 too if you haven't already done so.  Share your thoughts with us!