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Issue #7 — Sept. 17, 2015

 

PLANTPURE NATION UPDATE

We are pleased to announce the release of the web platform necessary for the organization and support of our PlantPure Pods. You can form or join a local Pod at www.pods.plantpurenation.com. 

We will be adding to this as we go, especially focusing on ways that our community can help us build content. Certain functions and content have not been added yet, but these missing elements will be added soon. If you would like to learn more, please read the article below from PlantPure Pod Director Laura Dietrich.

In other news, we are getting ready to put our meal plan into production to support our Jumpstart program. Under the leadership of team member Sean Lippay, the first meals will be produced tomorrow, with the rest produced over the following week. Once this is done, we will make the full Jumpstart program available online.

Also this week, my father and I are screening PlantPure Nation to an audience of nearly 800 people at the University of Cincinnati Medical School. We expect to partner with this well-known school on some important projects, one of which will be announced at the event.

Then at the end of the month, we are heading to Las Vegas to screen the film at an outdoor amphitheater. This will be the first time we have worked with a government entity to organize and market a screening. The City of Las Vegas is working with us on this and has told us to expect a crowd of 3,000. 

It is not surprising to me that we found governmental support first at the local level. In my view, this is where government is often the most responsive. I think the real revolution in this country will come when we figure out how to localize our democracy in a way that empowers individuals and communities to help build a more compassionate world … but this is a subject for another day. 

— Nelson Campbell


FROM OUR PLANTPURE POD DIRECTOR

Thank you for your interest in our PlantPure Pod family! We are very excited to watch our Pods grow and see how individual Pods develop and innovate in their communities. Below are the main goals for each Pod:

  • To build a creative environment where like-minded people can work together to spread the message of plant-based nutrition in their communities.
  • To help coordinate Pod events, such as the Jumpstart program, and other seminars, cooking classes, movie nights, potlucks, and anything else of interest to your members.
  • To help educate people on the connections of a plant-based lifestyle to their health, the environment, farming, animal welfare, and food and health inequities.
  • To enable people and organizations that have worked separately in the past to come together around the unifying idea of plant-based nutrition.

The PlantPure organization will help by:

  • Providing a social networking web platform that includes a community wall, private messaging, the ability to upload photos and videos, a calendar and functionality for social event planning, a list of community resources and a recipe database.
  • Producing the 10-day PlantPure Jumpstart Program (including meals) to introduce people to a plant-based lifestyle and to recruit Pod members.
  • Developing media resources, including flyers, posters and memes that can be downloaded and individualized for each Pod.
  • Broadcasting PlantPure TV, a continuous stream of mostly video-based content to educate, inspire, and foster innovation across the Pod network, through Pod websites. PlantPure Network videos will include:
  • Short, documentary-style videos on topics connected to the message of plant-based nutrition, as well as culinary and other how-to classes
  • Interviews and highlight videos of Pod innovations and successes, so that these examples can inspire similar efforts by other Pods across the PlantPure nation
  • Pod members’ own videos uploaded to Pod websites
  • And most of all, working together to implement activist initiatives developed through our nonprofit PlantPure Nation Foundation. Our early focus will be our PlantPure Oasis program and our PlantPure Truth campaign. You can read more about each of these initiatives on our website.

Your individual Pod will be able to grow in many directions based on members’ interests and strengths. The main thing to remember is that it all starts with eating a whole-food, plant-based diet. Whether you are interested in environmental stewardship, animal welfare or bringing plant-based meals to low-income neighborhoods, if you start with a WFPB diet, then you are on the path toward making positive change in your community.

Each PlantPure Pod will have a facilitator who will help guide the Pod, and I will be helping to coordinate the spread of good ideas and to eliminate any roadblocks that occur.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I hope you consider joining with us, and I wish you all good health!

 — Laura Dietrich


FROM THE EDITOR

AN ANSWER TO REDUCTIONISM, PART 2

Two issues ago, I made the preposterous claim that I had an idea about how to shield ourselves from the negative consequences of reductionist thinking. Well, I do. The idea itself might be preposterous, but here it is:

Train people to specialize in wholism.

Wait a second — did he really just write that? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Or more likely, isn’t the writer an oxymoron? (If you thought that, then you’d at least be half right. Which half I’ll leave to you.) But please bear with me for a few moments while I make my case.

I’m talking about educating people to understand enough about a field’s specialties to enable them to identify potential problems (like the damage to the space shuttle's heat shield caused by the foam insulation hitting the wing), overlaps or redundancies in research, and/or potential connections that might derive from a combination of what appear to be completely different subspecialties. Example: the kind of nutritional and medical wholism Dr. T. Colin Campbell describes in his book Whole

Since the depth and breadth of human knowledge is so incredibly vast, I’m afraid my wholists would also have to specialize — at least to some degree. For instance, I could see one scholar mastering the wholistic sweep of history (or Western history, anyway), or the social sciences, or mathematics, or physics, or engineering, or medicine — but not more than one or two of these categories. (Ah, where’s Leonardo when you need him?) 

A wholist would also need to be an excellent communicator, with the ability to translate a specialist’s jargon into common English, and transform complex concepts into ideas that any reasonably intelligent person could wrap their minds around (yet without “dumbing them down,” which is harder than it sounds). He or she would also need to commit to a lifetime of continuous study in order to stay abreast of all the latest developments in his or her chosen field. Another requirement would be a thick skin, as I doubt a wholist would be very popular with the specialists he or she would be generalizing about.

What would these wholists actually do? Well, I could see them as part of an engineering team, put there to ensure oversights like the one that doomed the space shuttle Columbia would never happen again. Or how about a wholist in agricultural science weighing the risks and benefits of a new pesticide, or a team of wholists in pharmacology developing a strategy for dialing back on our over-prescription of antibiotics, thereby decreasing the threat from the antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” which now plague us. I mean, the list could go on almost forever.      

Would this idea actually work? I think few would question our increasing dependence on reductionist thinking in nearly all areas of human endeavor. Nor do I think it’s that much of a leap for people to understand that while reductionism is necessary and even beneficial in many ways, it should always be used and understood in a wholistic context (another important point made by Dr. Campbell in Whole).

Like Beethoven said, “Whenever composing even the smallest part of a piece of music, one must always keep the whole of it in mind.” I also think that creating a specialty in wholism would attract a high percentage of first-class minds among people who still want to maintain at least a fleeting glimpse of the forest (instead of trees, trees, trees and more trees!). So indulge me. Think about it.

— Lee Fulkerson


FEATURED PLANTPURE RECIPE

From Kim Campbell

 

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Buffalo Beans and Greens

On our last trip to Nashville, Tennessee, we discovered a great vegan restaurant, The Wild Cow. I had their buffalo beans and greens and it was amazing. If you are heading to Nashville, check out their menu online. That experience inspired this recipe.

Serves: 4      

Prep time: 15 minutes     

Cooking time: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients

One 14-ounce package tempeh or tofu, cubed

1 cup oil-free buffalo wing sauce, mixed with 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke, plus more for serving

2 bunches kale, sliced with stems removed

Two 15-ounce cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup blue cheez dressing (*see recipe below)

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a shallow dish, marinate the tempeh in the buffalo sauce mixture for 1 hour.

Remove the tempeh from the marinade and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10–15 minutes, until edges are browned and dry, turning the tempeh halfway through so it doesn't overcook on one side.

Steam the sliced kale in a small amount of water just until wilted. Drain, then add the pinto beans and toss with the kale until warmed through.

To assemble each serving, start with 1 cup of rice, then add the kale and beans, and top with the tempeh. Drizzle with the blue cheez dressing. Add more buffalo sauce to the bowl if you like it spicy.

 

Blue Cheez Dressing

This is a crowd-pleaser. It is very rich, so you don't need much! I serve this with Cauliflower Buffalo Bites, Buffalo Tofu Hoagie, and Buffalo Beans and Greens. This dressing is a great addition to any salad or burger.

Yield: 4-6 servings 

Prep time: 10 minutes      

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup tofu cashew mayonnaise (*see recipe below)

1 garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon agave

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons white miso

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons tahini

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup extra-firm tofu, crumbled

2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions or parsley

 

Instructions

Place the mayonnaise, garlic, agave, lemon juice, miso, vinegar, tahini, and salt into a Vitamix or other blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

Pour dressing into a bowl, then add the green onions and crumbed tofu, stirring gently with a spoon. 

If you prefer a thinner dressing, simply add nondairy milk or water. 

 

Tofu Cashew Mayonnaise

This plant-based mayonnaise is so rich and full of flavor that you will not miss your old egg- and oil-based mayonnaise. This entire recipe only uses 1/4 cup of raw cashews, which makes it very low in fat compared with other commercially prepared vegan mayonnaises. I like to make a batch every week or two to have on hand — consider it part of your pantry! I use this mayonnaise for sandwiches, dressings, and sauces. 

Yields: 2 cups         

Prep time: 10 minutes

           

Ingredients 

7 ounces extra-firm tofu

1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked in water to cover for 2–3 hours, then drained

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon tahini

4 teaspoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 1/2 teaspoons agave

2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional: this will add extra thickness)

 

Instructions

Soaking the cashews in water for a few hours will reduce blending time. If you are not using a Vitamix, I highly recommend soaking the cashews so they blend into a smooth and creamy texture.

Place all the ingredients in a Vitamix or other high-powered blender. Blend until smooth and shiny.

Kim's hints: If you do not have xanthan gum available, you can skip this ingredient, but the mayonnaise might have a slightly thinner consistency.


FROM FRIENDS OF THE NATION

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Neal Barnard, M.D.

Neal Barnard, M.D., is an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Dr. Barnard has led numerous research studies investigating the effects of diet on diabetes, body weight, and chronic pain, including a groundbreaking study of dietary interventions in type 2 diabetes, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Barnard has authored more than 70 scientific publications as well as 17 books.  

 

Contributed Article

New Study May Fuel Confusion over “Bad” Fats

By Neal Barnard, M.D.

A new study by Canadian researchers may add to confusion over the role of saturated fat — the “bad” fat found in dairy products, meats, and other foods — in the risk of heart disease and early death.

The new study was a meta-analysis of 41 previous reports. The statistical analysis was done in two ways, because certain statistical adjustments can influence results. For example, saturated fat increases cholesterol levels, which, in turn, can increase cardiovascular risk. If the data are adjusted for cholesterol levels, the link between saturated fat and cardiovascular risk can be made to disappear.

Using unadjusted data, the study found that people whose diets were heaviest in saturated fat had a 12 percent higher risk of developing heart disease and a 20 percent higher risk of dying from it, compared with those whose diets were lowest in saturated fat. Saturated fat was also associated with risk of ischemic stroke. These risks were statistically significant — that is, they were unlikely to be due to chance. The study also showed an increased risk of diabetes, although the findings were not statistically significant (P = 0.07). Trans fats — found in many snack foods — were also linked to heart disease.

Using the most adjusted data, however, the risks of saturated fat were largely gone. The study headline and discussion highlighted the most heavily adjusted statistics, and this will likely be the focus of press reports. However, the less-adjusted statistics are more clinically relevant.

The study shows that meta-analyses err on the side of statistical conservatism. Because they rely on the quality of data from the studies they include, real effects often do not appear in meta-analyses.

Although some media reports have recently promoted an “anything goes” attitude when it comes to meats, dairy products, and “bad” fats in general, it is important to remember that these products are as risky as they ever were. In countries such as China or Japan, where intake of animal fats has increased, coronary heart disease rates have skyrocketed.

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START COOKING WHOLE-FOOD, PLANT-BASED RECIPES!

As the film’s official companion book, The PlantPure Nation Cookbook brings this powerful, science-based approach to nutrition from the big screen to your kitchen with some of the same mouthwatering recipes that kick-started the film, promoting the health benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet.

ThePlantPureNationCookbook_WEB

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