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 didn’t see the show, but I’m thrilled when any media outlet encourages people to THINK about what they are putting into their bodies. Whether one is vegan, vegetarian or omnivore, one should care about the QUALITY of the food they are eating and question how it ended up on the plate in front of them. Too many people have “ostrich syndrome,” and stick their heads in the sand when it comes to thinking about the origin of their food. It is too bad that Kathy pointed them in the direction of fake food, though.
Anyway, I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian (but I never call myself that! I just say I don’t care for meat), and I recently took part in a 21-day vegan kickstart (for health reasons). The kickstart reinvigorated my commitment to eating as cleanly as possible and I’ve decided that I’m going to limit/exclude cow’s dairy from my diet. I will eat the occasional organic egg and I’ll choose goat or sheep’s milk cheese when the need for cheese arises! The greatest thing about the kickstart for me is that I’ve started juicing again. Juicing is wonderful! Oh, and I’m eating probably twice the amount of vegetables I was eating before the kickstart. All in all, it was a beneficial 21 days!
Thanks for the update. I was unable to watch yesterday’s show, but hoping to find it online. I did head to her website and saw some details about the show. Like you I was surprised that there was a focus on the more processed vegan approach. I took a look at the sample meal plan/grocery list they provided for the challenge and there was a lot of prepackaged stuff.
I didn’t see the show so I can’t comment, except to say that I think you’re right – being vegan shouldn’t be considered a weight loss gimmick because it’s just as easy to eat poorly as a vegan as it is as a non-vegan. The reality is that many people out there just don’t understand food period, and not just animal products. Even nutritionists. A nutritionist in a hospital here had my mom eating jello – and what is nutritious about that stuff?
What was your reason for becoming vegan, rather then just vegetarian?
I saw she was doing a show on being vegan. I’m not a vegan, but I applaud her for what she is doing and raising awareness for both a plant based diet and also awareness about our food industry especially the treatment on animals. Thanks for brining attention to this!
I’m not vegan myself but I totally agree with you on the way to approach a vegan diet. Whole foods are healthy foods – eating processed, meat-free products is certainly not a healthy approach to what should be a very healthy way of eating! It was disappointing to see the shopping trip on Oprah.
I watched the show, and I am pretty much on the same boat as you – glad they took the time to give veganism the spotlight, but wished they would’ve focused more whole food options as well as the “norm” of slaughterhouses. Even though the one they showed was supposed to be humane, it still made me ill to watch.
I live in Norway where farming and animal welfare laws are the strictest in the entire world.
Due to packaging laws, i as a consumer can track any piece of produce from beef to eggs or potatoes, back thru the production line via all the different points, right back to the farmer. and i can phone the farmer and ask him about the specific pig, chicken or potatoplant that the product in my hand came from.
I have friends who work at a local slaughterhouse. They tell me it is grueling but done with as little suffering on the animals part as possible. There is a vet on site to advocate the animals and make sure there is very little suffering or wrong-shots. The bolts has an electrical charge that goes off with the bolt to ensure immediate death and in the “holding area” the animals are fed hay, fresh leaves and other comfort food.
I’m not justifying all kinds of wholesale slaughter-factories here… just telling you it’s not all evil! Some places aim for the animals to “go in peace” as it were.
In Norway, cattle and sheep are principally grazed in woods and forests for most part of the non-winter moths.
My parents have a cabin in the woods, 10 miles from any kind of civilization and in summer we are often woken up by “wild” sheep outside our door.
The animals reared in Norway are reared to feed us, i have no illusions otherwise, but they live full, healthy lives with lots of fresh feed and sunshine. in winter they are fed hay and prepared silage which is tested by vets for acid, bacteria, fungus and such.
there are exceptions of course but farmers who malnourish or mistreat their animals risk loosing their license to farm!
Yes it is kinda unfair of us to rear animals for food, but i am fortunate enough to live in a society where animal welfare is so high that, although it doesn’t fully justify my claim on their lives, it does not give me a guilty feeling either.
Farming has always been brutal but we no longer hunt with spears running the risk of an injured animal running to it’s painful death for days with a injurious but not instantly lethal wound. By strict veterinarian control and laws ensuring both a happy life and a painless (as much as possible) death, I believe ethical farming IS possible.
I am an omnivore. I can not be vegan. my body craves vitamin B and animal protein. and as i have allergies which reduce my vegetarian sources, even my doctor reccomended my staying omnivore. Besides I would miss some of my favourite dishes too much without some meat in my diet, but i believe ecological and ethical farming is the way foreward rather than getting rid of it altogether.
If all the people in the western world could consider a “meatless monday” or some such it WOULD reduce the amount of meat we do consume.
Trouble is that to achieve this we’d have to increase prices of meat and reduce prices on vegetables… which we all know would entice some into producing more meat for financial gain and thereby forcing a lower price by sheer over-production…
Capitalism is a HUGE power and as long as the meat industry is responsible for the second largest economy in the world (second to oil) there needs to be a massive power at work to change it.
Another thing is that there are differences between larger animals and poultry. in Poultry “factories” there is no mercy and so i do not eat chicken any more.
add to that the antibiotics and hormones in a lot of meat and you do have good reasons to eat less of it…
altogether, I have already reduced my meat-consumption by three quarters so far this year. I also by habit detox a minimum of three times pr year and live vegan, non sugar, non fat, non caffeine for up to two weeks. But i have no personal desire to go all out vegan…
I’m not justifying slaughter methods. i believe that if meat farming is to be sustainable and right, it needs to have a revolution. Something must be done to improve the animals lives, welfare and health. There needs to be an awakening in people’s diet habits and an awareness of what the body needs.
At the same time there needs to be a strict control of vegetable production too to prevent GM, pesticides and other things that are not just bad for us, but for our entire planet. There is no good in turning the world vegan if the environment will be drowned in long-journey, and chemically altered foods that by association will destroy everything else around us…
as long as people worship money it will be a bit like swimming uphill….
Again it’s the capital powers at work. I don’t trust any high yield production methods to be ethical…
Unfortunatelly we don’t live in a Disney-movie…
I admire everything you do, Angela, i really do. And i am sorry if this upsets you.
I really like your comments. It makes me happy that some part of the world has such strict standards for animal husbandry. I hope it spreads throughout the rest of the world. :)
I was on the phone with my mom yesterday and she was telling me about it. I was bummed not to be able to see it so thank you SO much for the recap!!
Thanks for the recap! I thought it was a repeat episode of the one she did with Michael Pollan several months ago. I don’t have a tv so it was interesting to hear about it, and I completely agree with you about the processed vegan products.
Ugh, I thought I was going to be sick during the cow slaughtering part. But I think it’s awesome the whole staff went vegan for a week. Think of the difference they made just during that one week, if nothing else!
Thanks for your review of the show. I felt the same way–emotional with the cows and disappointment with the food being suggested by the vegan guest. Because of the amount and over dependency on the meat substitutes on the show, I emailed and commented on Oprah’s show website and found that I was not alone in my disappointment. Let’s hope they’ll do a follow up show on how to eat meat and dairy free without the over dependence on the substitutes. Honestly, how much did that producer spend on the shopping cart full of fake stuff?
I didn’t see the show but heard a lot about it. I’m also disappointed that she pointed her to fake meat products. I’m a pescatarian (eat fish & dairy but not meat) and whenever people ask about the imitation meat products who are new to not eating meat, i always steer them away. I’m also a firm believer in eating “real” food.
I hope I can find a replay of this show somewhere, it sounds interesting!
I watched clips of this episode, and I also was disappointed by how much fake foods (faux meat/dairy alternatives) were used. Even if you look at stuff like the vegan starter kit linked on the website, the shopping list and meal plan are extremely heavy with these foods. These foods are great for helping to transition but for the long term they wind up being so expensive, and they’re already super processed. I am glad the show brought to light some benefits to eating a vegan diet, but I honestly wish they had centered it more on a transition to a whole food vegan diet which delivers so many more benefits naturally.
As for Meatless Mondays, I’ve been trying to get my family to get on the bandwagon for quite some time, I am already a vegan, but they aren’t too easy on change haha. Baby steps, I guess. :)
Thank you, Angela, for recapping the show on your blog. I wasn’t able to watch it because here in Central Indiana we’re having a major ice storm and the news stations pre-empted Oprah’s show for an hour long+ of continuous droning of the weather (which we already knew was bad!).
I have not gone full-on vegan, but over the past year I have transitioned into a mostly plant based diet. I’ve lost sixty pounds since I began this new way of eating and gained so much knowledge about nutrition, because as you mentioned, it has prompted me to go after information on ingredients and learn what I am eating on a daily basis.
I, too, shy away from all the processed vegan “meats”. They do not appeal to me and I find if I’m getting my daily requirements of whole grains, legumes, and fresh fruits/vegetables (whole foods) – I’m getting all that I need for a healthy diet.
Thanks for sharing!
What a great post! I feel like I just watched the episode. I whole heartedly agree with your opinions on the matter. They SHOULD have steered them away from the faux meat and processed products because that just reminds them of what they are trying to stay away from. Veganism is not an alternative for to a ‘better diet’, it IS the better diet. By giving them the processed stuff it taught them to ‘substitute’ what they could no longer eat, rather than to actually eat REAL food. If they had been taught to enjoy cooking and eat whole foods like quinoa and lentils, they would not only feel better, but they would expand their horizons. AND I know Whole Foods has some excellent non-processed vegan options.
I also like that they showed that people gained and lost weight on a vegan diet. I hate that people view the words vegan/vegetarian synonymous with diet/weight loss.
I’m a college student and vegetarian (90% vegan) and honestly get faux meets a couple times a year (mostly during finals, when I know my time is limited in the kitchen). But After reading this I’m inspired to not only illuminate the processed stuff, but go vegan for a week! Who knows it may last longer…:)
Have you watched Food, Inc. or The Future of Food. I think you might really enjoy them! Also, a movie called Knives Over Forks is coming out later in the spring…it’s suppose to be about how we can overcome western diseases by eating a plant-based diet. I know I’ll be first in line!
(I just realized that was a really long comment…)
Yes I watched Food Inc and it was really powerful (it even convinced Eric to reduce his own meat intake in a huge way!). I am really anxious to see Knives over Forks. I have a feeling it will have a huge impact.
Just to clarify, it’s FORKS OVER KNIVES – the documentary coming out soon.
I loved this episode! We try to stick to organic and grass fed, free range meat and dairy products, but I have always been intrigued about the idea of working some amount of veganism into my life. I pride myself in choosing animal products that appear to be humainly raised and processed, but Kathy’s point about not wanting an animal to loose it’s life to satisfy her appetite did make me think.
I’m trying to talk my husband into Meatless Mondays. We will see if I succeed!
Hi Angela! I haven’t commented in a while, but have read since you started OSG …I used to write Balance is Best, and have since started a new blog. ANYWAYS….my point for commenting is that all through the show yesterday, I also noticed that all they focused on were the fake-meat products. I’m considering slowly stepping away from animal products, but cannot eat much soy due to my iron levels. I instantly thought to turn to your blog for healthy, natural, and delicious vegan meal ideas! :) Thanks for sharing!!
Kaneil
Hey Kaneil!! Missed ya :) I’m going to check out your new blog..congrats!
I watched the episode yesterday with my husband and we discussed it afterward. I lean towards being a vegetarian (not vegan – at least not yet!) but am unsure how to do so since I’m married to a man who needs meat at every meal. I, on the other hand, can go a few days without eating meat without even meaning to. I’m in graduate school and we don’t have much money so it’s a definite issue money-wise trying to plan two different dinners (we eat lunch separately). Perhaps I’ll complete my own challenge and see what happens.
The other thing I didn’t like besides their buying loads of processed meats (which is funny since Kathy Freston specifically said that you should be staying away from processed vegan foods), is that they didn’t show how expensive all of that food from Whole Foods would end up costing over the cost of their normal grocery bill. As someone on an extremely tight budget, I sometimes can’t make the very best food choices because it’s out of my price range to do so.
Disclaimer: I missed the episode.
BUT I think we’ve got to remember Oprah’s “Where’s the beef?” controversy before we come down on her too hard for sounding wishy-washy. 15 years ago, Oprah promised never to eat another hamburger, beef-prices plunged and she got slammed with a huge lawsuit (that she won). Speaking out against disgusting slaughter-practices takes balls!
I was really excited when I heard about the show, but I found it to be slightly disappointing. I just think they kind of side-stepped key fundamentals in vegan nutrition and healthy meat alternatives. In my opinion, along with groceries from whole foods, the staff should have gotten healthy vegan recipes, that way they would be getting a full idea of the creativity and perks of veganism.
I guess should be somewhat glad because if someone is totally unaware of their food origin and ingredients, it really does take baby steps to start a real sustainalbe change.