Baby on Vegan Diet Dies

Murder convictions upheld against vegans in baby's death

By Bill Rankin 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld murder convictions against an Atlanta couple who allowed their 6-week-old baby to starve to death.

Jade Sanders and Lamont Thomas, both vegans, were convicted in 2007 by a Fulton County jury. Living in the Darlington Apartments, they chose to have their son, Crown Shakur, born in a bathtub with no medical aid.

When they took the infant to nearby Piedmont Hospital on April 24, 2005, the baby was emaciated, weighing 3 1/2 pounds. He died of extreme malnourishment. Police said his diet consisted of only soy milk and apple juice.    Read More

This is certainly a tragic case but hopefully because of the death of this baby more people will realize the importance of a balanced diet.  

Let's Advocate for Eating a Balanced Diet

Katy Perry struggles to stay vegetarian

By Vicky Allison Aug 22, 2011, 12:40 GMT

Pop star Katy Perry is finding it hard to stick to her pledge to stay vegetarian and has been secretly eating chicken and turkey, according to a friend.

The 26-year-old, who is currently on the US leg of her California Dreams tour, has failed her challenge to go vegetarian like husband Russell Brand.

British funnyman Brand, 36, was crowned sexiest vegetarian last year by PETA, but the Teenage Dream hitmaker likes meat too much to stick to his diet.

A source told British newspaper the Daily Mail: 'Russell has been a veggie for 22 years, but Katy adores meat.

'She did give it up for a while for Russell's sake but is finding it a struggle.'  Link

I will be excited for the day when we stop seeing celebrities urging people to be on this fad diet or that one.  We should all be able to agree that eating a well balanced diet that includes eating meat and dairy products is still the best bet.  Especially for children, we should never be advocating they eat an unbalanced diet even for a single day.  We continue to see people that struggle with their diet and health.  Regular exercise and a balanced diet would eliminate many of the problems that are occurring.  

Beat Stress, Eat a Steak!

Feeling stressed? Grill a steak, study suggests

BY PHILIP BRASHER & DAN PILLER • BUSINESS@DMREG.COM • DECEMBER 12, 2010
Des Moines Register

Red meat's image has tended to emphasize stereotypically aggressive male behavior, ranging from ancient barbarians to modern tailgaters.

But McGill University in Canada says its studies suggest otherwise: Meat has a calming effect on men.

Maybe men know what is best for them when they gravitate to the backyard grill.

"It wouldn't be advantageous to be aggressive anymore, because you would've already used your aggression to acquire the meat, and furthermore, you'd be surrounded by people who share ... your DNA," lead researcher Frank Kachanoff told the Montreal Gazette. "One of the basic principles in evolution is to want to preserve not only your DNA but also that of your next of kin."

How well the beef-is-calming notion takes hold remains to be seen. U.S. per capita consumption has dropped by about 25 percent in the last half-century.    Link

It’s hard to be stressed when you are about to enjoy a great steak!  Meat is an essential part of the balanced diet that we should all have.  Eliminating food groups from your diet is never a good idea and the science continues to suggest it.   

Balanced Diets Best

Vegetarians at risk of brain disorders

IANS, Oct 28, 2010, 02.36pm IST
TimesOfIndia.com

Vegetarians are at an early risk of mental disorder such as dementia and alzheimer's as they develop a Vitamin B-12 deficiency, doctors said here Wednesday.

Fish, shellfish, meat, eggs, milk and their by-products are some of the biggest sources of Vitamin B-12.

"Deficiency of Vitamin B-12 can reduce working capacity of the brain and result in progressive memory loss that has an impact on day to day activities," Praveen Gupta, consultant neurologist at Artemis Health Institute in Gurgaon, said in an Interview.

"Since majority of the Indian population is vegetarian and milk consumption has reduced considerably, they are more prone to early onset of dementia. Those who suffer from lactose intolerance are also at risk," Gupta explained.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India had nearly 3.5 million alzheimer's and dementia patients in the year 2000.

"We see at least 30 patients under the age of 40 every month -- suffering from memory loss and other manifestations due to deficiency of vitamin B-12. Once diagnosed, these patients respond very well to vitamin B-12 supplements," Gupta added.    Read More

Eating a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products has been proven time and again to be the best diet for people.  But diet alone doesn’t determine your health.  There’s a little thing called exercise that also plays an important factor.  Many critics of our food supply conveniently seem to forget that. 

A Food Police Review

Food activists are all jeer, no cheer
Published: 01:00 a.m., Friday, December 11, 2009
By J. Justin Wilson

'Tis the season -- for eating. But while the holiday season offers us an excuse to indulge in our favorite culinary fantasies, some activist groups are killing the joy with doomsday proclamations about our food. It's time to carve up their myth-making and set the record straight about which dietary do-gooders deserve to be on Santa's "Naughty" list.

Just in time for holiday feasts, a new report spotlights spinach, eggs, cheese, tuna and even tomatoes as some of the supposed top 10 "riskiest" foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The report's author is the notorious Center for Science in the Public Interest, commonly known as the self-anointed "food police" for its overzealous prosecution of any food, drink, or ingredient that might possibly be bad for us.

Interestingly, some of the foods CSPI now deems "risky" were previously featured by CSPI in a top 10 list of "Super Foods for Better Health." So a food is good for us until CSPI decides it's actually bad for us and can breathlessly fuel a media scare campaign saying so. Flip-flopping CSPI surely will find coal in its stockings.

It's not the first time CSPI has been a dietary Scrooge. In the mid-1980s, CSPI launched an all-out assault on fast-food restaurants and encouraged them to drop saturated fat-laden oil and replace it with partially hydrogenated oil containing trans fats. Not long after, however, CSPI's executive director, Michael Jacobson, was calling for restaurants to dump them.

PCRM shares the vegan agenda with PETA, meaning no cheese, no dairy and definitely no hot dogs or grilled chicken.

In reality, however, PCRM is only dressed up as a respectable group of doctors: Less than 4 percent of the "Physicians Committee" members graduated from medical school. PCRM president Neal Barnard ridiculously writes that "to give a child animal products is a form of child abuse" and has hysterically argued that cheese is tantamount to "morphine on a cracker." (If these vegans had a little eggnog, they might not be such Grinches.) Read More

There is no doubt that the groups mentioned in this article have a goal to change the way we produce and eat food in our society. The article correctly points out how these food police regularly flip-flop on their recommendations. That’s why the most simple nutritional advice is still the best. If you eat a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products in the proper amounts, you will be just fine. Every fad in eating that comes along tells us we should shun certain food groups. That lasts for a few years and then the next fad comes along. Eating a balanced diet is not a fad. That’s the lesson all of us need to learn and teach to our children.

Ex-Vegetarian Dancing Better With Balanced Diet

'Dancing's Mya 'no longer a vegetarian'
November 13 2009, 3:29pm EST
By Oli Simpson

Mya has revealed that she has turned her back on vegetarianism in a bid to stay on top form for Dancing With The Stars.

The singer claimed that a meat-free diet left her exhausted when she started rehearsing for the talent show.

She told OK: "I am eating more protein now - I used to be a vegetarian!

"So I'm eating lots of chicken and beef. I splurge on carbs like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rice and gravy, bagels - the list goes on!" Link

Doesn’t it seem odd that myself and others get attacked by vegan/vegetarians for advocating a diet that is balanced to contain the proper amounts of food from every food group? Yet here is someone that found out just how important that is. If you want to have a strong body and mind, you need to properly fuel it.

Eating Local Not Always Healthy

MIT: Eating Local Food Is the Key to Solving Our Obesity Epidemic
Posted by Tara Lohan at 7:45 AM on November 11, 2009.
Alternet.org

Sometimes it takes more than Michael Pollan to get through to people. New research from MIT about how locally grown foods can reduce our obesity problem is welcome news. Right now Americans are getting bigger and bigger -- between 1980 and 2006 obesity among teenagers grew from 5 to 18 percent; and 7 to 17 percent for pre-teens. These gains are contributing more to the onset of diseases like type 2 diabetes, strokes and heart problems, writes Peter Dizikes of MIT News Office.

A group of MIT researchers found that what's driving our obesity epidemic is "our national-scale system of food production and distribution, which surrounds children -- especially lower-income children -- with high-calorie products." Precisely what folks in the pro-food/local foods movement have been saying for years. And it makes sense considering the shocking figure that 90 percent of American food is processed according to the USDA, Dizikes highlights.

Thankfully the researchers didn't just stop at pointing out the obvious, they offered a solution:

America should increase its regional food consumption. Each metropolitan area, the researchers say, should obtain most of its nutrition from its own "foodshed," a term akin to "watershed" meaning the area that naturally supplies its kitchens. Moreover, in a novel suggestion, the MIT and Columbia team says these local efforts should form a larger "Integrated Regional Foodshed" system, intended to lower the price and caloric content of food by lowering distances food must travel, from the farm to the dinner table. Read More

I think there are many people out there, including Michael Pollan, that think every “foodshed” can produce enough food and a variety of foods for the people that live there. But what this article advocates would translate into my family living on a mostly all beef diet. As much as I love eating beef, I don’t want it to be the only thing I eat at every meal. I want my children to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which won’t grow in our climate and soil. To advocate for eating a local-only diet is to advocate for some people to eat an unbalanced, unhealthy diet.

HuffPo Suggests I Think Children Are Disposable

Children's Health And The Meat Industry
By Christina Perillo

When did our children become disposable?

This loaded question was posed around the conference table in Anthony Geraci's sunny office at the Baltimore School District headquarters as a group of us talked about programs designed to help our kids make healthier choices in their lives, beginning with the food they eat.
As Food Service Director, Tony has worked closely with the district's dietician to make systemic changes that have resulted in the kids in Baltimore schools trying new foods and slowly becoming more health conscious. But it has not been without controversy and therein was the question we posed.

When school began in September, the kids of Baltimore became the first in the country to adopt 'Meatless Mondays, an international program that asks people to cut meat from their diet one day a week. Their goal is simple: reducing meat consumption by a mere 15% can improve human and planetary health. Endorsed by esteemed medical institutions like the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, this seems like a no-brainer, right? Impressed with the credentials and the program, Baltimore decided to take part and see what would happen. I'm not sure anyone was ready for the firestorm of attacks being launched at them by the meat industry.

Meatless Mondays is a positive program designed to educate our children to be healthier for life and is being attacked from all sides. Troy Hadrick, a rancher, wrote on the Advocates for Agriculture website that Meatless Mondays are obviously designed to push children toward vegetarian lifestyles by telling them that 'they can't have meat on Monday because meat isn't healthy for you.' He goes on to advocate parents doing whatever it takes to keep this information from their children. Yikes! Read More

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that the vegan/vegetarians would come out and try to vilify me for advocating that students in Baltimore be fed a balanced diet. Even though our good friend Trent Loos discovered that this situation may have been less of a story that we previously thought, it doesn’t take away from the fact that those of us advocating for a balanced diet which includes meat and dairy products are being targeted. It’s disappointing that since I disagreed with this writer that she thinks I believe children are disposable. I would love to teach her more about raising livestock since she considers me evil for doing it, but she would rather question my integrity than have a reasonable discussion. ~TH

More On Baltimore School's Meatless Monday

Baltimore Schools Embrace Anti-Meat Movement with ‘Meatless Mondays’

Tuesday, October 13, 2009
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

(CNSNews.com) – The first graders lining up for lunch at Arlington Elementary School in Baltimore, Md., on Monday could pick a cheese sandwich or cheese lasagna and a bowl of mixed vegetables or broccoli. They could not, however, have meat for lunch now that cafeterias throughout the school district have adopted "Meatless Mondays."

Mellissa Mahoney, a chef and dietitian with the school district, said the idea started as part of a themed-approach to planning lunches for the school year. She said the plan changed after representatives from the Meatless Monday movement approached Mahoney and Food Services Director Tony Geraci.

“They met with us over the summer, before we even launched the new menu,” Mahoney told CNSNews.com. She said at first they didn’t realize that Meatless Monday is a national and international movement with ties to extreme animal rights activists. “We know now what they do, and we have collaborated with them,” Mahoney said.

J. Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of the American Meat Institute, sent a letter last week to Andres A. Alonso, CEO of the Baltimore City Schools, urging him to drop “Meatless Mondays” on campuses.

“I was disturbed to read about your school system’s decision to bow to an animal rights organization in holding ‘Meat Free Mondays,’” Boyle wrote. “This initiative is sponsored by the Grace Spira Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The name Spira refers to Henry Spira, who is widely regarded as one of the most extreme animal rights activists of the 20th century.”

When children at the table were asked if they liked the idea of “Meatless Monday,” one first grader was not shy about giving his opinion.

“No, because I love meat,” he said. Read More

Here is an update on the Baltimore School System’s decision to have meatless Mondays. The school’s chef that made the decision is now trying to play dumb by saying she didn’t know anything about the groups that were pushing this agenda. It’s also obvious that their goals are to continue pushing toward vegetarian lifestyles because they are telling the students that they can’t have meat on Monday because meat isn’t healthy for you. If anything, this should reinforce the need for those of us in agriculture to be active in our local schools. Whether it’s reading an accurate ag book to a classroom or running for the school board, we need to be there to make sure our kids are learning the truth about food production and eating healthy balanced diets.

Baltimore Schools Feed Kids Unbalanced School Lunch

Baltimore schools adopt Meatless Monday
October 1, 2009 by Ken Anderson

The Baltimore City Public Schools system is the first school system in the U.S. to adopt Meatless Monday.

Meatless Monday is a campaign that encourages people to cut meat from their diet one day a week. Baltimore school officials say they hope their Meatless Mondays will help students understand there are other options than just “meat and potatoes” for every meal.

In conjunction with Meatless Monday, the Baltimore school system is working with local farmers to provide it with fresh produce. It has also introduced what it calls “a teaching farm” and has plans to establish a garden at each of the systems’ more than 200 schools.

Among those praising the Baltimore schools’ effort is controversial Cal-Berkely author Michael Pollan, a frequent critic of modern production agriculture. In his words, “If Baltimore can pull this off, it will be a sign that the effort is worth making.” Link

So rather than teach kids how to properly eat a balanced diet every day, they are going to encourage a radical fad diet that encourages ignoring an entire food group. School officials stated that they want students to understand that there are other options. Apparently it’s to show that there are options other than a balanced diet. This was obviously a political decision that’s being forced on students. As a parent, I want my kids to eat a diet in which they get the proper servings from all of the food groups.

Vegan Children's Book

Children’s vegan book stirs controversy
By Aisha Sultan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A new children book by Ruby Roth has been praised by Jane Goodall, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk and other best-selling authors. But Roth’s call to action in “That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things” has stirred some controversy, as well. It claims to offers children a look at the emotional lives of animals, their experience on factory farms, and the effect that eating animals has on the environment and endangered species.

The author addresses some of the most frequently raised issues about the book in a prepared release:

Q. Publisher’s Weekly said that the descriptions and images may be “a little overwhelming” for children. How have kids reacted at readings so far?

A. I have never experienced a child who was overwhelmed or freaked out by the book. I’ve found, in fact, the opposite. Children show incredible interest and insight. They ask questions and relate the information to their own lives-their pets, their gardens, their vegetarian relative. One 4th grader told me that factory farms reminded her of what her class was learning about slavery! Read More

As with most vegans who force their ideas on young children, they are more concerned about their own personal agenda than they are about the health of the child. Listen to what they are telling children, don’t eat a balanced diet and ignore accepted nutritional guidelines. And this to a group of children that are growing and developing and could suffer the consequences of a bad diet for the rest of their lives. Here’s what most parents are trying to teach their kids, eat a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products and get regular exercise.

No Link Between Meat & Breast Cancer

Studies do not support unhealthful relation between animal foods and breast cancer

Breast cancer is the 7th leading cause of mortality in the United States and results in approximately 41,000 deaths each year. Although genetic factors are important, there is considerable evidence that breast cancer risk is related to modifiable lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, body weight, alcohol intake, and dietary choices. The September 2009 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports the results of 3 human studies designed to better delineate the relation between animal foods and breast cancer risk.

"These studies highlight two very important points," said American Society for Nutrition Spokesperson Shelley McGuire, PhD. "First we all need to remember that there are really no such things as 'bad' foods. Second, observational studies that show associations between diet and health need to be considered with a proverbial grain of salt. These studies clearly provide additional and strong evidence that consumption of meat and dairy products by women does not, by itself, increase breast cancer risk. Further, moderate and mindful consumption of these foods can be very important in attaining optimal nutrition for most women who often do not consume sufficient iron and calcium."

In the first study, which was a controlled dietary intervention trial conducted in the United States, 35 obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes received conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) supplements or a control supplement (safflower oil) each for 36 wk; adiposity was assessed. In another study, researchers examined the association between CLA intake from natural sources and breast cancer incidence in a large cohort of initially cancer-free Swedish women for 17.4 y. The third study assessed whether the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products was associated with breast cancer risk in a very large group of healthy European women followed for 8.8 y.

These studies provide no evidence that animal-food consumption increases (or decreases) risk of breast cancer, although CLA supplementation may decrease adiposity (a major risk factor for this disease). In an editorial, Linos and Willett remind us that these studies did not assess the relation between animal-food intake during early life and later breast cancer, a likely important piece of the puzzle. Nonetheless, they conclude, "These data are sufficient to exclude any major effect of consuming these foods during midlife or later on risk of breast cancer." Perhaps we finally have the answer to this long-standing question. Link to Article

Here is another study that shows no link between eating meat and getting cancer. Breast cancer affects many families and it’s unfortunate that animal rights and vegan organizations take advantage of those tragedies to exploit their agenda. But sound science has shown once again that eating a balanced diet which includes meat and dairy products along with a regular exercise program will still be your best bet.

PETA Upsetting Nursing Home Residents

PETA: Remove chicken from nursing home menu
By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian

POLSON, MT - It was a tale of two Thursdays for Debbie Siegfried, executive director at the Polson Health and Rehabilitation Center.

June 18 was a pleasant one. Several residents at the nursing home enjoyed a visit from Alex, a “therapy chicken,” and Carlita, a “therapy Cornish game hen” owned by Jana Clairmont.

June 25, on the other hand, didn't go so well.

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, announced Thursday it was requesting that Siegfried scratch chicken from the facility's menu, citing cramped and filthy living conditions on chicken farms and painful slaughterhouse deaths. It offered to provide the center with a supply of a mock-chicken product in its place.

“My phone has been screaming off the hook all day long,” Siegfried said. “It's been a horrible day. It's like I did something wrong by having therapy birds in to visit our residents.”

But Siegfried said it's not her menu, it belongs to the residents - many of whom grew up on or ran Montana farms and ranches.

“You want me to tell an 80-year-old Montana rancher all he can have now is a fake mock-chicken soy product?” she said. “This is these people's home, and if they want to eat chicken, beef, ravioli or fish, it's their right.” Read More

PETA shows us time and again that they value animals more than they do human life. For them to advocate a diet that would leave out a food group, and eat an unbalanced diet shows their disregard for the people that live at this center. Many animals can serve a dual purpose for people. In this case chickens can be pets and also provide a meal for us. In the real world, that is the way things work, just the way Mother Nature intended.

Diagnosing Orthorexia

What’s Eating Our Kids? Fears About ‘Bad’ Foods
By ABBY ELLIN

SODIUM — that’s what worries Greye Dunn. He thinks about calories, too, and whether he’s getting enough vitamins. But it’s the sodium that really scares him.

“Sodium makes your heart beat faster, so it can create something really serious,” said Greye, who is 8 years old and lives in Mays Landing, N.J.

Greye’s mother, Beth Dunn, the president of a multimedia company, is proud of her son’s nutritional awareness and encourages it by serving organic food and helping Greye read labels on cereal boxes and cans.

“He wants to be healthy,” she says.

Dr. Steven Bratman of Denver has come up with a term to describe people obsessed with health food: orthorexia. Orthorexic patients, he says, are fixated on “righteous eating” (the word stems from the Greek word ortho, meaning straight and correct).

“I would tell them, ‘You’re addicted to health food.’ It was my way of having them not take themselves so seriously,” said Dr. Bratman, who published a book on the subject, “Health Food Junkies,” in 2001. Read More

The idea of ‘orthorexia’ seems to be right on. There are a lot of people that seem to fear certain foods because of what they think they know. There’s nothing sensible about a diet where you fear foods to the point that is nearly controls your life. Regardless of any scientific report you will ever read, the best diet will always be on that includes everything in moderation.

Promoting Meatless Monday

Trim the fat on Meatless Monday
January 7, 2009

Ready to go meatless?

In association with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Meatless Monday national public health campaign is designed to help Americans prevent four of the leading causes of premature death -- heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.

Meatless Monday encourages Americans to move toward a more balanced approach to healthy eating by limiting their intake of meat and artery-clogging saturated fat, and adding more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the diet.

Americans consume too much saturated fat. Going meatless once a week is a simple way to lower saturated fat intake.

The campaign, which defines "going meatless" as abstaining from red meat, poultry and high-fat dairy products, provides guidelines for safe fish consumption for women and children. If you're searching for meatless recipes, shopping lists or advice from nutrition experts, check out www.MeatlessMonday.com.

And if you want a great meatless meal to serve on Monday, or any day of the week, try our Black Bean and Brown Rice Burritos. Link

Isn’t it interesting that there is an effort to eliminate meat from people’s diet for a day but no mention of cutting back on things that really aren’t good for you like all of the junk food that people tend to eat. Also, why don’t they promote an exercise program? To read this article at face value you would assume that just giving up meat one day a week will solve their list of health problems. The truth is that there are many cuts of meat that are very lean and will fit into any type of diet.

Kids Need More Milk in Diet

Importance of vitamin D
Updated: Oct 14, 2008 04:04 PM MDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The nation's pediatricians are calling for a double dose of Vitamin D. But what exactly does that mean when it comes to feeding your child.

Children need about four cups of vitamin D fortified milk every day in order to get 400 units of vitamin D - that's the new, higher amount now recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. One reason for the new recommendation is that kids are suffering more fractures than they used to.

Dr. Lucy Holmes, Pediatrician, from UB/Kaleida Health said, "Perhaps the reason why kids may be getting more fractures is because their bones aren't that strong, and that is because they're not drinking enough milk or at least being supplemented with enough vitamin D and also eating enough calcium."

And bone health isn't the only benefit of vitamin D.

"Poor vitamin D levels might actually affect your immune system, so you'd be susceptible to more infectious diseases." Read More


I seem to read a lot about people who claim eliminating animal products from your diet will make you healthier. However, many doctors are seeing the results of kids and adults that aren’t getting enough of one animal product and that is milk. Not drinking enough milk has resulted in increasing health and development problems in children. Unfortunately, many parents today seem to be compromising the welfare of their children in favor of their misguided attempts to improve animal welfare.

Cooking Meat Made us Smart

Cooking meat may have made our ancestors smarter
By ANI on Sunday, August 17, 2008
Filed Under: Health News

A new research has suggested that cooking meat may have made our ancestors smarter.

According to a report in Live Science, the research indicates that the brain’s roaring metabolism, possibly stimulated by early man’s invention of cooking, may be the main factor behind our most critical cognitive leap.

About 2 million years ago, the human brain rapidly increased its mass until it was double the size of other primate brains.

“This happened because we started to eat better food, like eating more meat,” said researcher Philipp Khaitovich of the Partner Institute for Computational Biology in Shanghai. “But the increase in size did not make humans as smart as they are today,” he added.

For a long time, humans did little but make the same very boring stone tools for almost 2 million years, according to Khaitovich.

Then, only about 150,000 years ago, a different type of spurt happened — our big brains suddenly got smart. Read More

We hear from several vegan-diet promoting groups that we don’t need to eat meat. This research would suggest that eating meat might have contributed to the development of the human intellect that we have today. As I have always said, and will continue to say, raising animals for food is not only necessary for a balanced healthy diet, but it is also an important part of being able to feed the world.

Meat is Good for your Health

Healthy diet can include lean meat
August 13, 2008

Meat lovers, you can still enjoy meat on a heart-healthy diet. In fact, the American Heart Association says that meat has a place in a heart-healthy diet, as long as the meat is lean and the daily portion does not exceed two 3-ounce servings (or a total of 6 ounces of cooked meat for the day). Use a deck of cards to visualize a 3-ounce portion.

Certain cuts of meat are leaner than others. When selecting beef, look for the words "round" or "loin" in the name. Eye of round, top round steak or tenderloin are lean cuts of beef. For pork or lamb, look for the words "loin" or "leg." Read More

So many times we see vegan groups claiming that meat cannot be included in a healthy diet, but that is just not true. There are many cuts of meat which are very lean and can be included into any diet. A balanced diet which includes meat and dairy products will always be a sensible diet, especially for children.

Child Endangerment through Forced Vegan Diet

Parents of ill vegan girl may face police
Mark Macaskill

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl in Scotland brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old woman.

Doctors are under pressure to report the couple to police and social workers amid concerns that her health and welfare may have been neglected in pursuit of their dietary beliefs.

The girl, who has been fed on a strict meat and dairy-free diet from birth, is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones. Read More

Eating a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products is essential for proper growth and development, especially in young children. These parents have endangered their own child’s life in order to “save” animals. Never should a parent put the life of an animal over that of their own children. I bet Oprah won't mention this during her publicity stunt.