Aside from the Vegetarian Center, Pamela Rice is also the founder of the nonprofit VivaVegie Society and the editor of The VivaVine, both based in New York City. As president of the society, Ms. Rice, and scores of volunteers she managed, has engaged in creative methods of vegetarian outreach. Tens of thousands of copies of her pamphlet, 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian, have been distributed to passersby on New York City streets since 1991. Ms. Rice has appeared on television in the United States on several occasions and has been profiled in The New Yorker magazine.
Reviewed by Eve Spencer However informed on the topic we may
consider ourselves to be, Pamela Rice demonstrates that her
research is impeccable, as the author goes through her 101 reasons,
sometimes with a few lines, and sometimes covering several pages.
As the author points out, most people have heard of at least
one--perhaps several--reasons why somebody has adopted a vegetarian
diet. But this 101 Reasons . . . covers, in a relentless manner,
the ethical, ecological, health-related, social and economical
arguments, and more, in order to challenge the conventional views
on what humans should eat. The author is founder of the VivaVegie
Society and Vegetarian Center, as well as editor of The VivaVine:
The Vegetarian-Issues Magazine. This book is undoubtedly a complete
indictment of the widespread meat-eating lifestyle. In fact, how
could anyone choose to eat meat, or dairy, after reading this book?
However, the author's writing style is modest, and not in any way
ranting, but what she points out in reason after reason is powerful
over the 239 pages. . . . This book covers a vast area, including
cruelty to specific species, dead animals and where they go, animal
drugs and disease, hazards for fish in the wild or in aquaculture
farms, human health and nutrition, the excrement files, hunger in
the world and the meat connection, animal mutilation, mad cow
disease, hormones in meat and milk, chemical castration,
incarceration of innocent veal calves, cyanide and coral reefs,
water pollution, scientific thinking on cancer, heart failure and
stroke, and milk and osteoporosis. It is a valuable repository of
all the information you will ever need to close an argument,
although Pamela Rice modestly writes that there is still plenty to
explore. All the facts presented are well referenced, the index
allows readers to cross-reference easily, and there are reasons by
category. This is the book that every vegan and vegetarian would
find invaluable, and although the meat and dairy industries can't
be prettied up for a happy presentation, yet the author manages to
use her wit, or irony, in paragraph headings such as "White wine
with your mercury?" "Genetic integrity: the animals' ultimate
sacrifice", "Numbers up: cholesterol readings", "Listeria: the
pathogen that came in from the cold", "Pick your poisson: dioxin,
mercury, or PCBs". There's excellent advice here on what we should
be eating to maximise our health, as well as the health and
scientific reasons why. The author gives good background on what
has led to this horrific situation, with the whole planet being
poisoned just so that unthinking people can eat meat. And this book
vindicates the choices made by vegetarians and vegans every day.
However, the author has kept it simple by concentrating on the term
"vegetarian", as it is a diet that eschews any form of meat,
whereas "vegan" is not a diet but a lifestyle. This book comes
highly recommended--if only I could give a copy to each of my
omnivore friends!-- (01/30/2006)
Reviewed by Louis Gedo I just finished reading Pamela Rice's 101
Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian, and I simply have been bowled over.
Reason after reason, the information the author brings forth is
unrelenting and, no less devastating. This is up there as one the
most far-reaching indictments of the meat-eating lifestyle to date.
So much of this material was absolutely new to me, and I pride
myself on being an informed vegan. It would be pretty tough for any
meat eater to remain so after reading this book. If you read it,
you will be transformed. Despite the obvious fact that Ms. Rice
shares the philosophy of your most ardent vegan advocate, the
writing style is understated, which is perhaps what gives the
information its power. In the majority of cases Ms. Rice's facts
come from conventional sources (the USDA, the EPA, The New York
Times, The Economist, agricultural colleges, etc.), which, by the
way, are copiously referenced. I figure there are perhaps 1,500
citations in the book. I could not, of course, look at every one,
but it was nice to know they were always there to back up the
facts. I did look up a few with Google searches. In those cases I
was at once brought into a world of key experts at the forefronts
of their fields. Furthermore, the 13-page index appears to allow
readers a good chance at cross referencing at any point. Both the
index and the reference pages were interesting browse-reads in
themselves. Here is a book that should probably be on the shelf of
every vegan or vegetarian alive. This book offers the meat-free the
constant assurance that each had made the best decision of his or
her life. My only complaint with the book was that the author did
not let loose more often. I got the feeling Ms. Rice's editors
reined in a more flamboyant style, a style that seeps through the
cracks all too infrequently. In the end, at risk of repeating
myself, if you're a vegetarian or vegan, here is your ultimate
vindication. If you're a meat eater, you may want to consider
yourself duly put on the hot seat.-- (01/30/2006)
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