If you caught the Oprah show today, you may have been surprised to see that Oprah and her staff- some 378 men and women- participated in Oprah’s Vegan Challenge. For 1 week, they left behind their usual fare of dairy, eggs, butter, meat, fish, and all other animal products and even the HARPO cafeteria started serving some vegan options. I thought I was dreaming when I saw the preview for this show because I did not expect this, but I was so proud of Oprah and her staff for bringing attention to this topic. I took some notes to share with you because I know many of you were not able to watch the episode.
Journalist and food expert Michael Pollan, vegan author Kathy Freston, and journalist Lisa Ling were invited onto the show to talk about veganism and being conscious of where our food comes from. Oprah was clear in stating that everyone needs to make the choice for themselves and the show was neither pro-vegetarian nor pro-vegan, but pro-education, much like her show with Pollan several months ago.
Oprah claims that many of us are ‘disconnected’ from the animals, meat industry, and the food we eat each day. As reported by the USDA, 10 billion animals are killed in the US each year for consumption. With such a staggering number, it is important to question how our food gets to our plates.
Michael Pollan thought the Vegan Challenge was fun because it makes people conscious of what they eat. I had to agree with this because when I became a vegan, for the first time in my life, I started reading the ingredients that were in my food. I was shocked to find out that I didn’t know what half of the ingredients were and I still find myself looking up mystery ingredients on a weekly basis.
Oprah’s staff member, Jill, emptied out every item in her fridge that had an animal product in it. By the time Jill went through her fridge, it was virtually empty. She was shocked how much food contains animal products.
Pollan admits to eating meat 1-2 times per week, but states that he doesn’t eat industrial or feed-lot meat and he supports small-scale, local farmers that do not feed the animals grain (i.e. corn or corn by products). Michael’s goal is to REFORM the meat industry, not eliminate it. While I would love to see a meat-free society some day, I do realize that Michael’s approach is probably the most realistic.
As a rare look inside a meat farm, Lisa Ling travelled to Cargill Meat Solutions– one of the largest meat companies in the US. This part of the episode was the most emotional for me to watch. They described the process that each cow goes through from the feed lot to the slaughtering to the processing. Each cow at Cargill spends 200 days at the feed lot where they are fed corn and corn by products. This is to fatten up the cattle where they gain about 3 pounds per day. Each day, 4,500 cattle are sent to the slaughterhouse where they will be guided through maze-like pathways for 2 hours to calm down prior to slaughter. I could almost feel the chill in the air as I watched this somber part of the clip.
It was extremely hard for me to watch the animals looking into the camera, just moments before death. Kathy Freston described how I was feeling when she said, ‘watching the animals in the slaughterhouse didn’t sit right with my soul.’ I could not have described my own emotions any better. It is one thing to read something from a book, but to actually see it happening is very real.
Not surprisingly, the episode did not show the 4 inch bolt that is shot through every cow’s head during slaughter. They did, however, show the pain on Lisa Ling’s face as she watched the slaughtering. The carcasses then go through the process of skin removal, sawing, and chopping/grinding the parts. This part was very graphic, but I was happy that they did show this behind the scenes look because I think it is important to connect ourselves to what we eat. The most shocking thing about this slaughterhouse was that it was supposed to be one of the ‘better ones’ and that many, unfortunately are much, much worse than was portrayed.
The show ended with vegan author, Kathy Freston who served as the vegan guide for Oprah and her staff members during the vegan challenge. Kathy took staff member Jill to Whole Foods to show her examples of vegan foods she could cook for her family. I expected Kathy to show her beans, legumes, lentils, vegetables, fruits, nuts, or seeds, but sadly, Kathy showed her a plethora of packaged fake meats, fake mayonnaise, fake cheese, and fake ice cream sandwiches. I strongly believe that a vegan diet does not need to rely on processed, imitation products, so I was disappointed to see this focus. When I first went vegan, I tried all the fake meat products because that is what I thought I was supposed to eat, but my real satisfaction with veganism only came when I experimented with non-processed foods like grains, beans, lentils, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. That is when it all clicked for me and I knew that I could do it long term.
Oprah and her staff member’s reactions to The Vegan Challenge were very interesting to watch. One of Oprah’s staff members, Joe, said he felt so amazing that he was going to convert to a vegan diet. Oprah, said it was definitely ‘doable’ to eat a vegan diet, but she would be ‘veganish’ from now on, meaning that she will think more about the food she eats and try to eat more animal-free foods. Her partner, Stedman, wants to continue the vegan challenge because he enjoyed it so much. Other staff members admitted that they wouldn’t be converting any time soon, but they did admit that it made them think about what they eat each day. Out of 379 participants, they lost a total of 444 pounds and gained a total of 84 pounds. Some participants said they gained weight because they relied on ‘vegan junk food’ too much. I thought it was great that they showed both sides of the story because it is just as easy to eat unhealthy on a vegan diet as it is a non-vegan diet! I don’t like the portrayal that veganism is some kind of weight-loss diet though.
To end the show, Oprah and staff members at HARPO announced that they will be holding a Meatless Monday each week in honour of this challenge. I think this is a great idea and it shows that no matter what kind of diet you do chose eat, you can always make changes, big or small, to impact the system.
If you are interested, there are a bunch of video clips from today’s show on the Oprah website.
Did you see Oprah’s Vegan Challenge show? What did you think? Do you ever go meat/animal-product free or participate in Meatless Monday?
I really wish I hadn’t been at work so I could have caught this episode!!! I am hoping to find it online at some point as I think it’s great that someone as influential as Oprah is bringing the issue to the public eye.
Thanks for your review of the show! I don’t usually watch Oprah, but I do like hearing about people’s motivations to start eating vegan diets.
I don’t think I’ll ever go vegan or vegetarian, but when I do eat meat I am very concious about where I buy it from. We get our meat from a local butcher, and the process they go through is very different from the larger companies. We’re looking into finding organic farms to purchase from, so that when we do buy meat it isn’t just corn fed.
Now, even though I wouldn’t go completely Veggie or Vegan, I have cut back my meat intake by a lot. I eat a lot more grains and beans right now and I’m working on increasing my vegetable and fruit intake.
Your site has really been an inspiration to take control of my eating and to eat better. It’s also shown that I can eat healthy without spending a ton of money. However, I can’t get all the cool stuff you have in your kitchen, it’s just a bit pricey for me.
I am addicted to curried chickpeas on toast though thanks to you :D
Ange – I agree 100% with your synopsis of the show. I was disappointed that Kathy didn’t speak of all of the natural protein sources…a diet filled with processed foods is not helping anyone. With her having a new book coming out, I suspect that she felt it would be benefit her to align herself with companies like Gardein & Daiya as that will get her more publicity.
The show was great in promoting a more conscious way of eating.
I don’t eat much meat, maybe 2-3 times per month, I am low in iron and I need it. I was a vegetarian before and I was alway extremly low in iron and I could not fulfill my daily requirements with diet although I really tried and as we all know the body absorbs iron from an animal source way better than from an vegetarian source, so why make it hard when you can have it easy too. I would not eat a vegan diet because I believe a diet where you HAVE to take supplements in order to avoid a certain deficiency is not a healthy one. I don’t drink cow-milk, or eat yoghurt, because I think it is very unnatural and the milk-industry is just cruel, but I will have my cheese from time to time. In my opinon it is all about the balance, when people would eat in general less meat, like 1 time per week and be more concious about it, the world would be a better place, the same goes with the milk-consumption, there are people who drink nearly a litre every day, this is just crazy. I don’t think you have to be a vegan to make a difference, and I don’t think this is the best way of eating, it is extreme to me, as it is also extreme to eat dairy and meat on a daily basis.
Anna, i understand your iron-deficiency. I am a vegan, and at first i had iron issues. My running coach showed me this awesome way to get your iron everyday;
take 1 iron pill along with a vitamin C pill, once or twice a day. You can get these at a health food store, or a drug store. The iron pill should ONLY be iron, no other daily vitamins. The Vitamin C pill will help aid the iron into getting into your blood stream. Some chemical in vitamin C helps bring iron into red blood cells, and to keep it there.
The other thing to know when taking iron pills is to not eat Calcium within 1-2 hours of taking your iron pill. Calcium blocks your body from absorbing the iron.
i know you said you dont like taking supplements, but i thought i’d give you a little hint
:)
this is why i love your site and your out look so much. I was always so confused that people switched to vegan to be ‘healthier’…yet all they were consuming is fake over processed meats and cheeses and consuming a butt load of soy products. It did not make any sense what so ever. I’m not vegan. I strongly feel some people need animal meat to function correctly and some people don’t. But I also think we need to take pride in our food and know where it comes from and understand how greedy and disgusting feed lots and slaughter houses are!
I like the idea of going vegan for a week (I’m currently a vegetarian) but I feel that eating processed soy and meat substitutes defeats the purpose. So, that was a disappointing aspect of the Oprah challenge.
I loved that they experimented with this and put they different views and opinions out there (vegan, conscious meat-eater, etc.) but I really , really , really think they missed the opportunity to explain the benefits of a vegan diet, and what it INCLUDES- not just what you can’t have. It was crushing to see them fill that cart with all kinds of fake products without talking about all the natural meat-less options.
Unfortunately I think the show was slanted more on the transition to the vegan diet in a way that made it look like you are not giving anything up, see you can have fake meat. When I changed to a Vegan diet I avoided the fake meat as I wondered what do they use to make it taste the way it does. This year I am determined to stay away from all processed food in a bid to eat even healthier. I really wished that they had shown a daily food plan so that people would get a better idea of how a balanced vegan diet should be. The slaughterhouse was also disturbing seeing the cattle lined up to die does not seem humane to me. I do believe however that people should be allowed to make their own decisions and a Vegan diet is not for everyone. In talking about the food I feel the same dissappointment when Ellen has her chef on her show as every recipe so far has used the fake meat. This makes me wonder why if you are giving up meat would you try to replace it with a fake substitute instead of eating the large variety of foods available. This is what I realized when I became Vegan, I now eat such a large variety of great tasting foods more than I even new existed.
So… Oprah did a great job (as usual) with the Vegan Challenge. And this review is a great one. It’s a shame they only showed the “Mercedes” of cow killing plants… when most are Yugos at best. And – they didn’t address the fact that the US FDA specifically ALLOWS “no more than 5 percent of the animals can be conscious when skin is being removed or processed.” I have been to a facility where it is ANYTHING but quiet. It’s horrific. I’ve been vegetarian for years, vegan for 2, and I feel very strongly about my decisions.
I didn’t know that this was going to be the focus when I turned on Oprah yesterday. But boy was I ever pleased…I loved that Oprah’s team took on the vegan challenge for a week as it is much easier to just say “no.” Seeing a few of the people who did it really proved that it’s possible for anyone to follow the diet if it is done right! However, I also really liked that she brought up the otherside as many viewers would have felt like they were being preached too (something I try not to do as choice is the most important and both diets can be done healthily!)
Factory farming. Even though it is so hard to watch, it’s definately something that needs to be seen by everyone as so many people are ignorant to what they’re consuming…
Great episode.
Even better blog, Angela. I made so many of your recipes at Christmas for my family and I think they died and went to heaven. I even introduced some vegan replacements (flax eggs) to my mom’s baker friend who was utterly shocked, but impressed.
Great recap! I also watched and although not a vegetarian/vegan myself, I was horrified and almost cried looking at the cows that were getting ready to walk to their death. It made me aware of what I eat and perhaps reduce the meat intake that I do, which I thought was of great advice! Thanks for sharing!
so sorry i missed it but i think the best point is that we are not yet aware enough of where our food comes from and what it might be doing to our bodies. thanks for the great recap!
I caught the end of the show yesterday and I immediately thought of you! I am not a vegan but because of your blog I’ve learned to eat a lot more meat free “real food” meals. I was also dissapointed to see the emphasis on “fake” vegan food. Very interesting show though!
I am an intern at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and work on the Meatless Monday product very often. So yes, I definitely participate! I think it’s a great way to introduce the average Westerner to a meat-free lifestyle.
That being said, I was very disappointed with the approach to introducing Oprah’s workers to a vegan lifestyle. LIke you said- EVERYTHING WAS PROCESSED! That is no healthy way to live, and it is especially ridiculous to me to market the vegan diet as healthy and then give them all of these very unhealthy foods! That really frustrated me!
Angela,
Thank you so much for posting about this. I DVR’d the show and watched yesterday as I sat in my home in the middle of a huge snow storm. Being a new vegan i found it interesting. When I saw the clip on the cows I cried it touched me to the core of my being and I knew right then and there that I was doing the right thing by eating a vegan diet. I have no idea how someone could witness a slaughter of an animal and then be ok eating it. I just can’t but that it me and I try REALLY hard not to judge others decisions but when I feel so strongly about it, it is difficult.
I guess the hard part for me to accept is that we dont’ NEED meat to survive and live a happy fullfilling life. Where is it written that we need it? I wish they would have gone more into the effects of how raising the cows effect our environment and the ozone.
I have heard very little about Kathy the author but I am interested in reading her book. Have you read it? I may just have to order that from amazon today. I think the best thing we can do is continue to educate others about the vegan lifestyle. I believe your blog and many others in the blog world are doing great things by showing us how satisfying a vegan life style can really be. I will continue to spread the word as well.
This is a great post. I wanted to see that episode but I was at work and failed to DVR it, so I appreciate the summary. I love Michael Pollan’s books, and I love seeing the delicious vegan recipes on blogs like this, Choosing Raw and Peas and Thank You. While I am an omnivore, since starting to read these blogs (yours, Gena’s and Mama Pea’s), I definitely eat a LOT less meat, focusing more on making veggies, legumes, grains and fruit the centerpieces of my meals. I have to say, with all of the delicious recipes and options, I would not find it at all hard to go Pescatarian. I would not want to go vegetarian or vegan, though, because I would honestly definitely miss fish.
Hi Everyone,
I have been reading your blog, Angela, for a while now. First and foremost, I must say I heart your recipes! I have been a vegan for 2.5 years now and the meals that I was preparing began getting slightly monotonous. I have used several of your recipes and I love them!!!! And I am now a total Green Monster monster! I recommend it to people daily!
To the post at hand, I didn’t see the show so I am glad you posted a recap. I really do not want to comment regarding the rights or wrongs of eating meat and animal producs as I do really feel that it is a personal choice. The only thing that I will say is the you and your readers (both pro vegan and pro meat) MUST read these two books:
1. Barbara Kingsolver – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle — this book is a personal account of Barbara comming in touch with the food we eat everyday. Her family moved to a farm and vowed to eat only the food that was grown on their farm and the farms of their community. It really gets to the core of how detached we are from our food and how most people have no clue what food actually is, where it comes from, and how it gets to our fridge and our bellies (most people don’t know that potatoes grow under ground!).
and
2. Jonathan Safran Foer – Eating Animals — again a personal account of a man (and amazing writer) deciding what “eating” path he should choose. This book is great because it tells the story of food from every angle – the local farmer, the big farmer, the vegan, and the activist. Most importantly though, this book centers on food as part of our daily traditions. This book made me cry at certain points because it is filled with vivid images of animal life and slaughter. It also made me think about our culture and our traditions.
Also, if anyone needs any convincing that being a vegan is the way to be healthy and live longer with less health problems, PLEASE read T. Colin Campbell (and others) – The China Study — slightly scientific, but it demostrates, using real studies and numbers, the effect of Western diet versus the effect of a vegan diet on one homogenous population, the Chinese people. If you ever wanted scientific proof, its in this book!
Keep up the amazing work, Angela! Love reading your blog!
~Katie
Morning! :)
I really enjoyed (if you can say that) the show, I found in both interesting/disturbing. I cried through the cow process, as it’s so hard to connect that to what people eat.
I can associate with the word veganish. I eat egg whites, and occasionally fish/shellfish, but I am 100% off of read meat and pork, mostly because it doesn’t make me feel good.
Anyways, I was disappointed with all the packages in her cart too… maybe you should become the “Veganist” instead!! :) But I guess the bottom line is it’s the beginning of the change for them? Maybe they needed those things for themselves to transition?
Anyways have a great day today!
Jess
i am so mad i missed that and forgot to DVR it! i am definitely doing a veganish diet! i think i could do without chicken for the rest of my life! i actually wrote a blog about meat consumption about a year ago…
http://www.deliciouslydense.com/index/very-important-reasons-to-increase-you-plant-foods-and-decrease-your-meat-