It was my hubby’s Birthday so we decided to go to the Triangle Vegfest in Raleigh. We really went to see T. Colin Campbell speak. He is the author of “The China Study” and is featured in many of the documentaries we have seen like “Forks Over Knives” and “Plant Pure Nation”. We were also hoping to get some really good food, thinking that we were at a vegan conference after all.
Well, after circling the entire conference, we didn’t find any healthy food to eat. Even the food that Whole Foods was serving outside from their food truck was junk. The only food available was vegan junk food. Vegan doughnuts, vegan biscuits, vegan cupcakes, vegan cupcakes and more vegan cupcakes. Needless to say we were pretty disappointed and decided to wait until we got back home to eat. We then went to hear Dr. Campbell’s presentation. He was so on point that I was in awe.
He spoke directly to the crowd about the difference between vegetarianism, veganism and Whole food plant based eating. He showed slides on the health statistics for all three that were shocking. Of course the whole food plant based group were healthy. The vegetarian and vegan groups still showed high statistics for many different health problems. He then talked specifically about vegans and how he didn’t really want to associate his work with that word.
Mainly because being a vegan doesn’t necessarily mean that you are healthy. There are so many vegan junk foods out there as the conference itself showed. Sugar, Oil and salt are vegan and a lot of vegan foods use these items generously. I do realize that the conference was sponsored by Animal rights groups but that is not the only reason people turn to choosing a vegan lifestyle. We chose it for our health. All of the other benefits that come along with being a vegan are just the icing on the cake. Its all good, but we were so glad that Dr. Campbell spoke so directly about the health aspects. It was just what everyone REALY needs to hear!
