Saving the Planet, One Meal at a Time

By Chris Hedges

Numbered footnotes, with hyperlinks, appear at the end of this article.

My attitude toward becoming a vegan was similar to Augustine’s attitude toward becoming celibate—“God grant me abstinence, but not yet.” But with animal agriculture as the leading cause of species extinction, water pollution, ocean dead zones and habitat destruction², and with the death spiral of the ecosystem ever more pronounced, becoming vegan is the most important and direct change we can immediately make to save the planet and its species. It is one that my wife—who was the engine behind our family’s shift—and I have made.

Man Drops 50 Pounds and Becomes Ultra-Endurance Athlete With Vegan Diet

Rich Roll is no stranger to addiction and poor food choices. Entering middle age, he was fat, tired and sedentary. Then, the night before he turned 40, a moment of clarity struck. While walking up the stairs of his Southern California home, he had to stop and catch his breath, fearing he was close to a heart attack. Realizing something had to give, Roll decided then and there to get his health back on track.