NY Times Cooking Vegan Now?

Totally cool! Check out this NY Times article about the top vegan cookbooks. Apparently the Nina Planck story received so many e-mails (most ever!), they got to wondering... so, what's all this vegan stuff about and what are the top cookbooks to buy?

Vive is included, as are of course VWAV, Vegan Planet, and La Dolce Vegan.

Yes, let's focus on some good vegan cooking already!!

Today's NY Times - PCRM letter

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, some letters in response to the Nina Planck article have now been published.

Here is the first that appears on The New York Times website, from Amy Joy Lanou, a senior nutrition scientist with the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine:

OPINION

Published: May 23, 2007

To the Editor:

Re “Death by Veganism,” by Nina Planck (Op-Ed, May 21):

I am a nutritionist who testified as an expert witness for the prosecution in the criminal trial of the parents of Crown Shakur. As the lead prosecutor in this case told the jury, this poor infant was not killed by a vegan diet. He was starved to death by parents who did not give him breast milk, soy-based infant formula or enough food of any kind.

Well-planned vegan diets are healthful for pregnant mothers and their infants, as well as for older children, according to a large body of scientific research. Contrary to Ms. Planck’s assertions, there are healthy plant-based sources of docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA; calcium can be absorbed about as readily from soy milk as from cow’s milk; and soy does not inhibit growth.

Studies have found that vegan children are within the normal ranges for weight and height, and I personally know vegan mothers and vegan children who are healthier than many of their omnivorous peers.

Amy Joy Lanou

Washington, May 21, 2007

The writer is senior nutrition scientist, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Most excellent to read Amy's educated, professional response. There are some other responses (as you might imagine, a couple of weak letters supporting the article). You can read them here.

Death - NOT by Veganism

Many of us have heard about this "Death by Veganism" article in The New York Times.

If you are outraged by this article, you can write a letter to the editor. Please listen to Erik's brief podcast for tips to have your response published. Also read Urban Vegan's post.

This blog is not political. This may be the only time I talk about such a controversial issue. But, this story saddens me. I am more upset about the suffering of this baby than I am about this article. This poor child dropped to 3.5 pounds at six weeks. Was this baby not observed/weighed by health professionals as is standard practice with newborns? I cannot understand or even try to explain why parents would do this to their baby.

As vegans, we talk endlessly about animal suffering. Well, this is a clear case of human suffering. Baby suffering. I am a vegan, but I am a mother first. I would never risk my child's health. It is a parent's responsibility to protect their child.

But this baby's death is not about a vegan diet. It's about inexplicable parental behaviour. Being vegan and raising healthy children are not mutually exclusive. See these links. This is what bothers me so much about this article. People read this and think that vegans are so staunch in their beliefs that they would put their child in an unhealthy - risky - situation, because they are 'extreme' vegans.

Bull. This is media sensationalizing a story for their own benefit. This baby's death is gut-wrenching, and this article is disgusting.

I wrote a letter to the editor. Not particularly polite or eloquent, but it's what I felt, like so:

Bravo, Nina! That is, if your intention with “Death by Veganism” was to generate publicity for yourself rather than write a story that represents the vegan diet in any truthful, factual light. Had you researched, you would know that a properly planned vegan diet is entirely healthy through pregnancy, infancy, and childhood. Baby Crown Shakur’s death is a tragedy. His parents, however, are to blame. Not a vegan diet. No sensible vegan would ever suggest feeding a newborn apple juice and soy milk. Any sensible vegan would tell you that a newborn (vegan or not) should be breastfed. Your story is irresponsible and perpetuates ridiculous myths about the vegan diet. By the way, did you know that DHA is readily available in vegan form? Obviously not. I do. But then, I am a vegan mother of two young children. Two vibrant, energetic, abundantly healthy vegan children.

Dreena Burton
Author of Vive le Vegan!, The Everyday Vegan, and Eat, Drink and Be Vegan

Go write a letter to the editor if you also want to have your say.