Twenty years ago vegetarian diets weren’t readily accepted in the dietetic community as being nutritionally balanced.  Moreover, professional chefs looked at vegetarianism with indifference. Times and diets have changed though, with the advance of nutritional/medical research into the effects of diet on chronic degenerative diseases. In recent years, the findings have revolutionized attitudes of Americans toward the impact of diet on health. The value of a vegetarian diet has emerged as a direct dietary solution, in part, to most chronic degenerative diseases in America.

Increasing numbers of Americans are aware of the roles diet plays in total health, as well as the high cost of health care. These factors are major incentives for making the transition to vegetarianism. Americans spent $600 billion, 12% of the Gross National Product, on health care in 1990. Health Insurance companies in America realize that preventive medicine such as Dr. Dean Ornish’s low-fat vegetarian heart reversal program, is an economical, effective strategy that costs far less than a $50,000 open heart operation.  These companies are opting to cover preventive approaches for high-risk patients, as opposed to traditional therapy.

I always recommend investing in pure, high quality foods and taking time to exercise and reduce stress as a preventive measure, rather than paying the extremely high cost of health care due to poor health and disease. The economic advantages of a vegetarian diet are even more evident when you consider that the same amount of money will buy more than 56 grams of top quality protein from soy beans and only 10 grams from beef - even with all the subsidies supporting the meat industry! Clearly, the vegetarian diet is a win/win situation for consumers and insurance companies.

In Eastern philosophy it is believed that the larger the front the larger the back, or simply translated, all good has a dark side. Scientific research, while enlightening humanity as to diet’s role in health, has created confusion for the health-seeking consumer. The confusion comes from mixed messages from the scientific and pseudo-scientific communities. The T-Factor diet, for instance, advocates a high complex carbohydrate diet while the Zone Diet advocates more protein and fat, and less carbohydrates. Many Americans are confused by all the dietary misinformation and are waiting for valid scientific information on which to base their dietary change. The one dietary approach that has sound scientific validity and is gaining momentum in America is vegetarianism.

The vegetarian diet has been confirmed through many independent studies such as the China Health Project, Dr. Dean Ornish’s research and J.A. Scharffenberg’s research in applied nutrition at Loma Linda University.  It is clearly a balanced diet that has also has a positive impact on our economic and environmental health. So strong is the vegetarian movement that in 1993, former Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy called upon the USDA to fulfill its educational mission by providing consumers with information on vegetarian diets. There were 12.5 million adult vegetarians in 1993, twice the number for 1985, and the numbers continue to increase.

Food is the most intimate relationship you have with yourself. It reflects your cultural, social, economic, and spiritual upbringing. Vesanto Melina and Joseph Forest, in Cooking Vegetarian lay a simple foundation for the inspired soul to make this transformation to a healthy vegetarian diet with simply presented professional dietary advice and wonderful recipes. Together, with their years of experience in pioneering vegetarian nutrition and cuisine, they provide a sound starting point to begin the transition to vegetarianism. The aesthetics of food and the chemistry of nutrition must be understood and married. Vesanto and Joseph successfully accomplish this task while cultivating the health of the seekers mind.

Ron Pickarski, CEC, President and Executive Chef/Consultant, Eco-Cuisine, Inc., Boulder, Colorado, 1998
Web Site: http://www.eco-cuisine.com