Snip It Saturday

Skinny Bitch
by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Okay, this book really freaked me out! With a title like, Skinny Bitch, you'd think it was a diet book, right? Wrong! It is a commentary on meat-eating America. The authors are both former models and Kim Barnouin holds a MS in Holistic Nutrition. I can tell they worked tirelessly on gathering the information and boy, did they do their research!

Before my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, I did not eat red meat. I was healthy back then. I don't want to give the impression that I was healthier because I didn't eat red meat, since I also exercised daily -- which I believe is the BEST preventative medicine around. I didn't eat red meat because:

1. I thought it contained too much cholesterol and fat.
2. I truly felt bad about the way animals were raised just to be slaughtered for my eating pleasure.

So, yeah, I did feel pretty emotional about it. Maybe that's why I should not have read this book! There are some really graphic scenes from slaughterhouses and excerpts from another book which contains interviews with slaughterhouse workers. AAKKK! I'm feeling nauseous just thinking about it again . . . . excuse me please . . . ~~deep breath~~

Okay, the snip it I've chosen from this book will not be graphic, but it is eye opening. I'm asking you all to have an open mind about this, because, uh, yeah, there are some pretty "out there" claims you're about to read!

So now you are officially vegan, a person who doesn't eat any animal products. No meat, chicken, pork, fish, eggs, milk, cheese or butter. Feel great about it. Yes, it is challenging to avoid these foods, but you will reap the karmic rewards of being vegan (like being skinny). For starters, you're sparing the lives of at least ninety animals a year. And every environmentalist knows that factory farming is completely destroying the environment. As ridiculous as it sounds, the methane resulting from the burps and farts of 10 billion animals a year is directly responsible for global warning. The urine and feces are polluting and contaminating soil and water all over the country. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, they are the largest polluters of U.S. waterways. Moreover, the amount of land, food, water, and energy used to raise 10 billion animals a year for slaughter could be used to grow food for all the starving people in the world. That's right -- you being vegan is actually a step toward ending world hunger. Now that's some serious skinny karma.

Told 'ya! The authors do include 9 pages of end notes, citing their work. And I do know that land in which dairy farms have used is contaminated for years, but really? Global warming? I'm finding that one a little bit hard to swallow. . . This information is cited with "Factory Farming: Environmental Consequences," from animalalliance.ca. I don't want to get into my take on global warning, but I have to say there are other ways to get people to stop eating red meat. Dr. Oz is a great veggie advocate. He is a well respected, widely known (Oprah!) presence who educates us on the ills of eating meat. He doesn't treat us like morons, he doesn't use scare tactics (okay, maybe when he brings out the diseased body organs he's trying to scare us!) and we find it easy to believe him. He is a cardiac surgeon after all!

In all, I'd have to warn readers to be wary of the chick-lit disguise of the premise of the book. The book's tone and style is meant to reach young, hip women, but in a way that is kind of negative. If you can handle being called a bitch, moron, fat ass, etc, then you can read this book. Believe me, it is NOT for the easily offended! If you're asking for my recommendation of the book, I'd have to say not to spend your money. Check it out from your local library. Also, it seems there are a few other books in the "series" and maybe those have a little more to do with getting skinny?

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
Running Press
c2005 by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin