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101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
by Pamela Rice
Reviews by:
- John Robbins: "Without sentimentality or preaching, she provides a clear and thoughful understanding of all of the most important choice a person can make."
- Neal Barnard, M.D.: "You need this book—what's more, you'll love it"
- Library Journal: "A well-written and -documented indictment of the meat industry and its impact on the world, this is an excellent source for students writing papers on or debating this topic. Recommended for all libraries.
- Publishers Weekly: "[Provides] a wealth of information about health and social issues connected to meat consumption."
- Veg-News magazine: "This book is edgy, insightful and uncompromising in its criticism. Give a copy to your smartest meat-eating friends."
- heractivelife.com: Those looking to bolster their arguments for meat-free living now have a one-stop resource in Pamela Rice’s 101 Reasons Why I’m a Vegetarian.
- William Harris, M.D., The Island Vegetarian, the newsletter of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii: "Pamela writes cogently and with an underlying passion for her subject, and while she admits it's a negative one, her personal attitude is positive with a hope that things will get better."
- Louis Gedo, Altar magazine: "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."
- Lisa Giddens-White (Amazon.com post): "Be prepared, this is no ordinary book on vegetarianism. It is truly a gift to society. Unapologetic and direct, yet still light and conversational. A treasured resource to be referred to again and again."
- Vegan Voice: "Pamela Rice demonstrates that her research is impeccable."
- Dustin Rhodes (Amazon.com post): "This book is actually fantastic: Informative, scholarly, well-balanced, and not preachy at all."
- Sarah White (Amazon.com post): "There are all sorts of reasons to become a vegetarian, and this little book contains 101 great ones... [These reasons] are articulated in intricate and often disturbing detail. ...There are probably reasons [in this book] that most readers have not considered. ...This book will affirm everything you believe about why the vegetarian diet is right for you and the planet."
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"101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian gives you all the motivation you'll need to take the one easy step that can revolutionize your health and help the environment: go vegetarian. You need this book—what's more, you'll love it."
—Neal Barnard, president, The Cancer Project and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine"If you've ever been curious about vegetarians and why they eat the way they do, Pam Rice is the woman to tell you. Without sentimentality or preaching, she provides a clear and thoughful understanding of all of the most important choices a person can make. You don't have to be a vegetarian to benefit from this book. You only need to care about your health and the health of our planet."
— John Robbins, author, Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution
There are roughly a thousand books published in the United States every week. The sheer numbers prohibit all but a few to be reviewed in the trade publications. Yet 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian—the book version—was reviewed in the two most important magazines in the book industry, back to back: Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Moreover, even a bad review in either of these publications is considered a good thing for the publicity alone. Yet both reviews were favorable, with the one in Library Journal being downright excellent!
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The following review appeared in the September 15, 2005 edition of Library Journal
RICE, PAMELA. 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian. Lantern. Oct. 2005. c.288p.
bibliog. index. ISBN 1-59056-075-2. pap. $20. SOC SCI
Expanding on her popular pamphlet of the same title, vegetarian writer/activist Rice thoroughly covers all the practical reasons to go vegetarian, including (in addition to the welfare of animals) social, medical, economic, and-especially-environmental concerns while avoiding spiritual or religious reasons. Examples of her reasons include "The Cancer connection: The 'Big C' and meat" and "Fossil fuel alchemy: The oil in your meat." Rice aims to let the facts speak for themselves and not to attack anyone's eating habits or beliefs. She accomplishes this by thoroughly documenting all her 101 reasons, using respected mainstream sources, such as U.S. government reports, major newspapers, peer-reviewed journal articles, and other citations from scientists, doctors, and government officials. Although Rice jumps from topic to topic, intending to give readers the big picture, she includes a page that lists "reasons by category" as well as a comprehensive index for those interested in a specific aspect of vegetarianism. A well-written and -documented indictment of the meat industry and its impact on the world, this is an excellent source for students writing papers on or debating this topic. Recommended for all libraries.
-Robert Flatley, Kutztown Univ., PA
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The following review appeared online and was submitted to Amazon.com by Publishers Weekly
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
Pamela Rice
Less an introduction to vegetarianism than a list of reasons not to eat meat, this expansion of a self-published pamphlet Rice hands out on New York streets (she claims to have distributed nearly 200,000 copies since 1991) offers already committed vegetarians back-up for their decision and gives diehard carnivores a surprising look at some of the problems associated with meat eating. Rice's "attempt to investigate every good reason to become a vegetarian" can feel unnervingly strident, even for those inclined to agree with her, but her sources are primarily mainstream newspaper and magazine articles-not small, fiery anti-carnivore Web sites. Some of Rice's reasons we should all go veggie include: vegetables' high concentrations of beneficial phytochemicals and antioxidants; the stomach-turning odor of pork "mega-farms"; costly government subsidies for livestock producers; and studies that show animal protein is linked to heart disease, hormonal cancers and diabetes. This isn't a book to read cover-to-cover, but it will provide interested parties with a wealth of information about health and social issues connected to meat consumption.
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The following review appeared in the Sept./Oct. 2005 edition of VegNews Magazine (San Francisco)
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
For nearly a decade, Pamela Rice's pamphlet, "101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian," divulged the facts about meat consumptions to anyone willing to leaf through it. Now, her book by the same title expands her case, bringing about a more comprehensive attack against what she calls "carnivorous habits." Her indictment really brings to use the old mantra that the best defense is a good offense. With uncanny intellect, Rice uses an arsenal of figures culled from credible sources to back her cause. The book's broken down format makes it a user-friendly reference for anyone seeking to cultivate informed arguments ranging from the ghastly treatment of dairy cows (Reason 58; Moo!) to the plight of meat laborers (Reason 10: Low Rungs) to bacterial dangers right where we cook (reason 95: Kandid Kitchen). This book is edgy, insightful and uncompromising in its criticism. Give a copy to your smartest meat-eating friends.—J.H.
By Pamela Rice
Lantern Books
2005 • 239 pages • $20
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The following review appeared in the June 7, 2007 edition of heractivelife.com
RICE, PAMELA. 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian. Lantern. Oct. 2005. c.288p.
bibliog. index. ISBN 1-59056-075-2. pap. $16. SOC SCI
Click HERE for original:
Book Review: Pamela Rice's "101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian"
Posted June 7, 2007
by Katie Drummond
Section: Her Health, Her Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Vegetarianism, Weight Control, Special Features, HAL Reviews
The merit of a vegetarian lifestyle is a frequent topic of debate, whether between family members at the dinner table or among those working in causes related to health and nutrition, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare. Those looking to bolster their arguments for meat-free living now have a one-stop resource in Pamela Rice's 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian.
Rice, a longtime vegetarian advocate and founder of the Vegetarian Center in New York City, has produced a comprehensive and compelling work that challenges both the omnivore and even the most well-informed vegetarian; she makes note of new studies and facts that reveal a lot of information to both groups about the troubling implications of the standard American diet.
Rice writes that she hopes to give readers a full picture of the grounds for vegetarianism, and her book is organized to make it nearly impossible to get anything but a complete perspective on the myriad of issues at hand. From brutal descriptions of animal mistreatment to the astonishing ecological impact of meat-based diets, Rice intersperses reasons based on socioeconomics, nutrition, sustainability, and animal welfare without dividing them into sections for the reader to flip to.
The result? You will no doubt read things you would otherwise be apt to skip - like heinous descriptions of cramped and tortured living conditions for animals in factory farms - and be exposed to every angle of her argument for meat-free living. Those new to the facts will glean a broad range of ideas, and those who have chosen vegetarianism for a particular reason will be exposed to other motives for the meatless way of life.
Though one might like to discount many of Rice's contentions, like the claim that omnivorous American diets are literally killing off the continent or the contention that the next global pandemic will inevitably be linked to diseases running rampant in industrial animal farming, her research - to her credit - is undeniably thorough. According to Rice, meat is killing us - 4,500 studies have linked its consumption to cancer. Animal illness can infect humans - the 2003 avian flu crisis led to the slaughter of 200 million chickens and five deadly human outbreaks.
Some of the information Rice cites will be familiar to omnivores and vegetarians alike, such as the oft-touted health benefits of a low fat, high fiber vegetarian diet. That said, much here is surprising, like the fact that despite a 1997 ban on feeding cows the byproducts of slaughtered carcasses, meat and bone meal is still routinely added to bovine feed on American farms - a practice that greatly increases the risk of mad cow disease.
By combining startling statistics and studies that illustrate the implications of animal consumption with research that promotes a meat-free lifestyle, Rice offers a double-pronged argument for readers to grapple with. Her impressive scholarship and broad range of covered topics combine to make her book hard to put down and ignore. Her claims about environmental degradation and animal mistreatment might initially seem repetitive, but Rice is never redundant - though many of her 101 reasons lead readers to the same general conclusion (that animal agriculture is draining our global water supply, for example), each and every reason is still unique, specific, and bolstered by research. Rather than being bored by the repetition, readers are faced with a number of examples proving the same basic points - making Rice's arguments even harder to deny.
Rather than a passive stance that merely suggests a transition to vegetarianism, Rice takes a hard line on the lifestyle she advocates, and her passion is well-founded in years of research about the various facets of animal agriculture and consumption. From the knowledgeable vegan activist looking to strengthen her arguments to anyone interested in learning more about the implications of their eating, Rice's book will challenge even the most ardent meat-eater's stance on which diet is best suited not only to human and animal wellness, but to the sustained health of our planet as well.
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The following review appeared in The Island Vegetarian, the newsletter of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii, Quarter One, 2006
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
by Pamela Rice
Paperback: 253 pages
Publisher: Lantern Books
SBN: 1590560752Pam Rice is the chief cook and bottle washer for the VivaVegie Society (New York City), which has an actual physical office where veggies can comfortably hang out by appointment. The mailing address is P.O. Box 294 Prince Street Station, New York, NY 10012-0005 and the phone number is 212-242-0011, just in case you're going there anytime soon.
Pam founded the group in 1991. By day she's a writer, but her true avocation is the assembly of an accurate and exhaustive list of references supporting vegetarianism, for which she gets paid-guess what-nothing. The 101 Reasons, plus a lot more, is accessible for free at her VivaVegie website, but this book puts it all in a portable format. The book gives solid documentation with 28 pages of references, about 50 to a page, so something like 1400 in all. Mostly the articles are from reliable media sources like AP, The New York Times, and Guardianwith a sprinkling of EPA, The Meating Place, and USDA documents thrown in. Some of the citations are accompanied by URLs, but not all, and for the benefit of readers too lazy to dig in a library, of which your humble correspondent is a splendid example, more would have been welcome.
Not that the book itself is a dry read. Pamela writes cogently and with an underlying passion for her subject, and while she admits it's a negative one, her personal attitude is positive with a hope that things will get better. She has always been good at tracking the spoor of the USDA and its financial bailouts for the meat and dairy industries, and in Chapter 44 she details 10 separate and flagrant categories, wryly suggesting we need "a separation of meat and state. "It is high time that those who choose meat pay the true cost of their predilection" (i.e., cut out the subsidies, already). However, the shell game going on at the USDA and its financial arm, the Commodities Credit Corporation (CCC), changes so rapidly that it's hard to keep up with anything but the human, animal, and environmental wreckage left in its wake. That she has done very well.
This is an important book for those in need of factual backup. For those just getting into vegetarianism, a very user-friendly resource is her vivavegie.org (now linked from our site at VSH.org), where you'll find just about all you need to know, particularly if you're headed in the direction of NYC.
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The following review appeared in Altar Magazine
Click to go straight to review
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
By Pamela Rice
Lantern Books
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. There, 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 reigned 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.—Louis Gedo
Reviewed in
Altar Magazine
955 Metropolitan Avenue, Suite 4R
Brooklyn, NY 11211
info@altarmagazine.com
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The following review was posted to Amazon.com
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
Pamela Rice
A Valuable Resource For Every Home Library
December 4, 2005
Reviewer: Lisa Giddens-White
(Chicago, IL)Be prepared, this is no ordinary book on vegetarianism. It is undoubtedly the best I've read on the subject in over 24 years of maintaining a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian is a gift to society. Its clear, comprehensive log of the myriad reasons in favor of a vegetarian diet just makes sense. Essentially this is a "just the facts" approach. (Thankfully, not once are animals referred to as "cute" anywhere in the book.) The tone is perfect—unapologetic and direct while still light and conversational.
Reading this book will strengthen your convictions if you are already a vegetarian and will make you stop and reassess if you are not. Covering everything from individual health benefits to environmental and global impact, and everything in between, this book should be a treasured resource in any home library to be referred to again and again.
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The following review was posted to Amazon.com
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
Pamela Rice
Even experienced vegetarians might find something new here
March 6, 2006
Reviewer: Sarah White
There are all sorts of reasons to become a vegetarian, and this little book contains 101 great ones. From the effect of animal production on the environment to the destruction of genetic diversity and the spread of disease from animals to humans to the horrific treatment of farmed animals, many of these reasons will sound familiar to a lot of people.
Still, these reasons are articulated in intricate and often disturbing detail. The links between dairy production and the life (if it can be called that) of veal cattle, the extreme overproduction required of laying hens and mother cows, the huge amounts of waste produced by factory farms and the dangers of biotechnology, genetic engineering and cloning are outlined in stunning detail.
Of course there are also reasons involving the positive health benefits (and benefits for the planet) brought about by eating a vegetarian diet, from reducing your risk of several kinds of cancer to increasing beneficial phytochemicals in your diet and reducing the world's oil and energy drains.
There are probably reasons here that most readers have not considered, and facts you might not know about; for instance, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest pregnant women heat cold cuts to 170 degrees to reduce their risk of getting listeria. Or that even though its forbidden for cows to eat other cows because of the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease), the Food and Drug Administration says as many as 350,000 cows that humans consume were fed bovine by-products.
So many moments in this book will make readers gasp in surprise and horror at the state of the average American diet and what it is doing to the animals, the workers who are paid to kill those animals, the planet that must deal with the waste and corpses of those animals and the people who consume such a diet.
If nothing else, this book will affirm everything you believe about why the vegetarian diet is right for you and the planet. Perhaps you could also use it to convince family and friends to stop their meat-eating ways, or at least to show them why you are a vegetarian.
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The following review was posted to Amazon.com
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
Pamela Rice
You really can't judge a book by its cover
November 10, 2005
Reviewer: Dustin G. Rhodes
(Swannanoa, NC United States)There are two bizarre things about this book that, unfortunately, pertain to the actual cover of the book: 1. I have no idea what the author looks like in real life, but the picture (namely her expression) on the cover would suggest a bitter, disgruntled animal rights activist on a mission to save the world, one tofu pup at a time (if you are going to put your picture on the cover of your book, shouldn't you at least smile???) ---and--- 2. the pithy "reasons" on the cover of the book don't make any sense, first of all, and they're misleading, too; I thought the book---judging by the proverbial cover---would just be another shallow, superficial look into vegetarianism. Inside the book, however, is a wealth of well-researched information. I am being serious here: it's a shame that the cover stinks because I think this book is actually fantastic: Informative, scholarly, well-balanced and not preachy at all. Rice presents "reasons" from all sorts of points of view, and doesn't paint any unrealistic picture of vegetarianism. I find this fact alone a welcome change from the numerous books which tout veg*ism as the antidote to death and sickness. I really appreciate the realistic-ness of this book because there's usually a whole lot of propaganda to sort through. The AR/vegan/vegetarian movement(s) is too important, pressing, immediate to disqualify with our overzealous attempts to misrepresent the health benefits, especially. It's not very hard to to argue that the state of animal agriculture is abyssmal if not downright cruel; but to persuade someone that a vegan diet is the panacea to all disease is absolutely ridiculous, and will not serve the larger purpose.
I believe this is one of best books there is: better than Peter Singer (because [his is] entirely philosophical and not wholly accessible), John Robbins (whom I believe makes some outrageous claims regarding personal health), and even the newer VeganFreaks by Bob and Jenna Torres (their tone is so smug). If you're seeking to educate yourself, this book is it, and while it won't tell you everything you need to know everything is footnoted and cited, giving you plenty of other resources at your disposal.
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The following review appeared in Vegan Voice
101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian
Pamela Rice
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.
As John Robbins says: "Without sentimentality or preaching, she provides a clear and thoughtful understanding of one of the most important choices anyone can make. You don't have to be a vegetarian to benefit from this book. You only need to care about your health and the health of our planet."
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!
Reviewed by Eve Spencer
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