Book Review: The World Peace Diet: Compassion for Animals, Compassion for Others

As long as governments wage wars and people endure violence and oppression, compassionate individuals will ask themselves, "What can I do to make the world a more peaceful place?" The book "The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony" offers an answer.

Written by Will Tuttle, Ph.D., (www.willtuttle.com/WPD) and published in 2005 by Lantern Books (www.lanternbooks.com), "The World Peace Diet" offers eye-opening revelations about the food choices we make and the ramifications of those choices. It provides insight into how our food choices affect our attitudes toward our fellow creatures and toward other human beings. The book also explores the way our food choices impact the environment and human health.

Many of us grew up believing the meat, eggs and milk we consumed came from a farm like Old MacDonald's; the idyllic place so many of us sang about as children. Some adults carry on this belief, giving little thought to how a seemingly endless supply of meat, eggs and milk fills grocery store shelves year after year.

Unlike the Old MacDonald song, the existence of ILOs (intensive livestock operations), or factory farms, is not something adults share with children or even acknowledge themselves. Instead, the unimaginable cruelty of factory farming is suppressed and hidden away from the general public --- and from our own conscience. To learn more about this kind of food production, type "factory farming" into the search box at Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com).

Does what we eat contribute to the violence in our world? Is there a link between the brutality and terror inflicted on factory farm animals and the brutality and terror human beings inflict on each other? Will Tuttle's book says yes to both these questions.

Unlike PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) (www.peta.org) and other animal rights advocates, Tuttle uses no disturbing images to make his points. Yet the facts he shares in his book are just as shocking. "The World Peace Diet" reveals the suffering humans inflict on animals in order to sell and consume their flesh, the flesh of their offspring, and the milk meant for their offspring. The author's tone is informative, not vindictive, and his message draws upon examples from ancient history through the present day.

Domination of Animals and People

Proponents of factory farms and slaughterhouses often dismiss critics by saying dominion over the creatures of the earth is mankind's right. Yet dominion is not a synonym for enslavement or torture.

Tuttle devotes a chapter in his book to, "The Domination of the Feminine," where he examines the plight of dairy cows and egg laying chickens and the brutality these female animals endure because of their reproductive abilities. He illustrates the total disregard factory farm practices have for their natural instincts to socially interact, mate and nurture their offspring. Tuttle shows how the enslavement and exploitation of these animals thwarts their desire to bear and care for their young. He believes such callous disregard for animal mothers and their babies fosters callous disregard for what he calls "the sacred feminine within ourselves as well as in nature."

Tuttle describes how factory farming extinguishes both human and non-human inclinations to nurture life and protect the vulnerable. The result, he explains, is a culture of hardened, self-centered people who focus on the differences between themselves and others rather than the similarities. Emphasis on the differences between humans and animals enables humans to repress their natural compassion, assert their superiority and view animals as things to be enslaved and killed for personal gain. Tuttle sees this focus on differences, rather than similarities, as the fundamental problem behind many of the world's problems:

"This exclusivism is necessary to racism, elitism, and war, because in order to harm and dominate other people we must break the bonds that our hearts naturally feel with them."

Profiting From Death

"The World Peace Diet" delves into the long history of today's profit driven factory farm operations. Looking back thousands of years, the book describes how nomadic life gave way to the domestication of animals. This started the herding culture that remains in practice today with feed lots and factory farms. For thousands of years humans have tormented the lives of domesticated animals with culling, castration and selective breeding. Ancient history, both religious and secular, equate animal herding with wealth and status. Tuttle's book tells of this when describing the roots of animal agriculture:

"The first money and form of capital were sheep, goats and cattle, for only they were consumable property with tangible worth. In fact, our word, 'capital,' derives from, 'capita,' Latin for, 'head,' as in head of cattle and sheep."
"...and the ancient Roman coin, the denarius, was so named because it was worth 10 asses."

According to Tuttle, the first capitalists were the ancient herders. They fought each other for land and capital, enslaving their enemies and creating a cattle-owning elite that regularly engaged in wars to expand their land holdings and herds. Though thousands of years have passed the mentality of the herding culture continues.

Today most people who eat the meat of animals, consume their milk and eggs, or use their wool lack even a simple sense of gratitude toward the creatures forced to provide for them. Respect for these creatures and consideration for their well being have been drowned out by insatiable appetites, wanton consumption and profits generated by producing as much meat, milk and eggs as possible for the least cost.

A Path to World Peace

"The World Peace Diet" shows it's possible for anyone to diminish cruelty, violence and terror in the world by making compassionate food choices. The book advocates a vegan lifestyle that excludes the use or consumption of animal products. Tuttle examines the challenges of transitioning to veganism and shares his own experiences moving from a typical meat eating lifestyle to vegetarianism and, finally, to veganism.

With American attitudes inclined toward healthier lifestyles, and worldwide concern growing over diseases and contaminated food supplies, "The World Peace Diet" is a book for our times. It tells how the widespread, savage use of animals as commodities damages our health, our planet and our relationships with each other. At the same time "The World Peace Diet" provides a solution; demonstrating how we can all make the world a more peaceful place through our daily food choices.