Comments on: Peak-Oil Prophet James Howard Kunstler on Food, Fuel and Why He Became an Almost Vegan

By: Civil Eats Interviews Peak-Oil Prophet « Farm To Table: The Emerging American Meal

Mon, 11 May 2009 16:16:54 +0000

[...] Please go and read the whole thing. [...]

By: Shayne

Shayne — Sun, 10 May 2009 16:59:36 +0000

Perhaps Michael Pollen’s book In Defense of Food would be of some help here. Meat should not be the main course, rather the side dish, we need to eat mostly plants. Even in permaculture design, animals are essential for increasing fertility and at some point you’re going to have to decide what to do with them, so eating meat might not be a bad idea in that system…but meat from industrial ag is way too energy intensive and not sustainable at all, therefore in that context, going vegan is the best option.

By: Matt Rosenberg

Matt Rosenberg — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:33:15 +0000

Hi Ed,

I read the book and that’s why I mentioned Framingham. I don’t have time at the moment to give a proper reply but I want to just say that he is a science writer. Not a scientist and his conclusions are flawed. I will explain in detail when I am not on an iPhone.

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:24:50 +0000

Matt, I guess you’d have to be a little more specific about how Taubes, a distinguished science writer after spending five years of investigation,somehow is “flawed.” Would you be willing to go toe-to-toe with Gary Taubes? Anecdotes, the Framingham study…sigh. Taubes addresses all those points. Cholesterol numbers are pretty meaningless anymore. You really need to get more specific. Sounds to me like you really haven’t read the book. Have you?

By: Matt Rosenberg

Matt Rosenberg — Fri, 08 May 2009 23:13:02 +0000

Ed,

I enjoy your site and reading your blog but…

JHK is right about cholesterol. I have had many interesting conversations about Taubes’ book and while he makes some important points, his science is very flawed. This Sally Fallon/Price science is not based on observed fact and Taubes just perpetuates the myth.

The Framingham study, while not perfect, is real.

Also, I know Kerry Trueman and while it is not printed in this interview, JHK lowered his cholesterol substantially on this diet and he still eats plenty of carbs so what does that tell you?

By: Greenconsciousness

Greenconsciousness — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:49:06 +0000

KUNSTLER IS RIGHT TO STOP EATING MEAT FOR HIS COLON AND THE PLANET. He will never regret leaving animal flesh and by products behind. I am suprised he doesn’t use Ener-G Egg Replacer and Ener-G SoyQuick Milk in baking.

My favorite cook books are everything written by Joanne Stepaniak and the fabulous, “Tofu Cookery” by Louise Hagler

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:49:10 +0000

I love James Howard Kunstler. He has been absolutely prescient about where our society is headed in a world of finite fossil fuels, the suburban debacle, even the crash of Wall Street. But he’s dead wrong about diet. Animal protein and fat are not responsible for his high cholesterol. We now know there is no link there. The culprit is carbohydrates and insulin response. James needs to go back to school on that. I’d be happy to introduce him to Gary Taubes’ landmark investigation into the matter, “Good Calories, Bad Calories.”