NutriSpeak - "Cooking Vegetarian" Foreword

"Cooking Vegetarian" Foreword

by Graham Kerr

(in U.S. edition only)

Please do me a favor and spend a few minutes going through this book: read recipe headings and stop briefly to look at the authors' personal comments that introduce each dish. Please do that before you read on.....

....Thank you! That's the way to get the "flavor" and the passion of these two special people--Vesanto Melina and Joseph Forest. Are you, after that swift survey, just a little hungry? I should hope so, because this is real food.

Clearly, if you know anything of my career, I'm not a vegetarian; however, I am on a journey toward that "promised land." At this time, I can best describe myself as a cooperative traffic cop. Imagine me at a favorite four-way intersection. I have no gun or tickets, not even a whistle to blow. Since there are no street signs and I have a perpetually pleasant smile (the metaphor more than the reality!), folks stop to ask their way.

"I'm well, but I don't want to get sick," some tell me. I direct them to the right. "That's the road to prevention," I tell them. "Mostly plant foods with less than 20% of calories from fat."

"I'm sick and I want to be well," explains another group. "Try the road to reversal," I suggest. "That's vegan/vegetarian, with about 10% of calories from fat."

There are other folks on the road who want to know how to care for those they love. Basically, I keep on sending them left and right. Occasionally, a fourth kind yells, "Get out of my way; I'm coming straight through!" I don't have any means to ticket them; it's not really my task. But before long, these apparently carefree consumers may spot a sign reading "Dead End" and they'll either turn around and ask for directions or they'll drive right on over the edge.

Where do you fit in? Well? Sick? Or do you love someone and want the best for them? Every word you read in this book will give you greater power to make whole-mind decisions about your future health.

I'm totally convinced, from over 24 years of study, that the more plant life you consume, the healthier you will become, and even more wonderful, the more you will enjoy the food you prepare. This is my 50th year earning a living in the food business. For 26 of those years, my career choice was in what I call "mural" foods--no frames, no limits, just whatever turned on the tastebuds.

I ate that way and I fed my wife Treena that way. Her cholesterol built to 360, mine to 265. Treena eventually suffered a stroke and heart attack when she was 53. I had gout and passed kidney stones when I was 35! Fortunately, life conspired to give us wake-up calls while there was still time to make a turn and ask for directions.

Today, it's our 11th year of major change. Treena's cholesterol is down to 180 (105 LDL) and mine is 160 (110 LDL). Treena's hypertension is under control (126/84). Her Type 2 diabetes is under control and she has no need of the once-proposed heart bypass operation. There have been lots of changes. We've exercised (within reason), enjoyed friendships, taken real time for spiritual reflection and action. We've set goals and included those we respect in "accountability loops" to help us on our way. At every turn, there's been plant life. Sure we've met cattle crossings. Still do, but more and more we walk through fields where the only thing that's organic is the soil.

Finally, let me add a brief word about world hunger. I've been heavily involved in this issue since my conversion to Christianity in March 1974. It was at this time that I became available enough to really hear that "once every three-quarters of every second, a child under the age of five dies because of malnutrition-assisted disease." Compare that to the frequency with which we currently die (in North America alone) from unwise eating. That number is currently once in every 105 seconds.

Clearly this is a moral issue that transcends the religious. All of us can feel the pain, on both sides. Treena and I changed that pain into a purpose. We reduced our addictive response to meat products and cut out $1,000.00 a year on our food budget. Half of these savings went back into the coffers to increase vegetable purchases and the other half went to support two at-risk children in Ethiopia and Brazil. We benefited hugely and so do they; in a totally microscopic way. The world is a better place and it is plants and people that make that possible.

This book is temporarily out of print.

To order directly from Vesanto Melina click here.