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Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat: Why Well-Raised Meat Is Good for You and Good for the Planet Hardcover – July 14, 2020


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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sacred Cow proposes a new way to look at sustainable diets. The book takes a deep dive into the nutritional claims against meat, why cattle raised well are actually good for the environment, and address the ethical considerations surrounding killing animals for food. The truth is, you cannot have life without death, and eliminating animals from our food system could cause more harm than good." 
Michelle Tam, New York Times bestselling author of Nom Nom Paleo

"All too often, the voices making the least scientifically accurate claims are the loudest, and it's hard not to be influenced by that sexy Netflix documentary on going vegan. But what if you could do both—eat the animal products that you believe help you feel your best, sourced via farming practices that support the environment and animal welfare? In 
Sacred Cow, dietitian Diana Rodgers and New York Times bestselling author Robb Wolf help you do just that, with scientific rigor, deep compassion, and wit. They examine the data on cattle and nutrient-density, the environment, and the ethics around eating meat across the globe, arriving at conclusions designed to help you feel good about the beef you are feeding your family."
Melissa Urban, Whole30 cofounder and CEO

"Diana and Robb have answered the burning question about meat.
Sacred Cow proves ‘It's not the COW, it's the HOW.' The answer to our broken food system is not no meat, it's better meat. If you are concerned about red meat's impact on your health and the planet, this book is for you." 

Mark Hyman, MD, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine

"Diana and Robb have precisely and approachably laid out the science on how grazing animals are critical to the future of sustainable agriculture. They also definitively refute the claims that meat is unhealthy and make a convincing case that eating meat can be done in an ethical manner. I highly recommend
Sacred Cow for anyone who eats."

—Mark Sisson, New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet and founder of Primal Kitchen foods

"Humans have been eating meat for at least 2.6 million years, and it has played a critical role in our evolution. In this important book, Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf use the most recent scientific evidence to make the nutritional, environmental, and ethical case for better meat—and to debunk increasingly common myths and misunderstandings about the role of animal products in our diet."

—Chris Kresser, New York Times bestselling author of The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine 

"
Sacred Cow: The Case for Better Meat is a comprehensive, well documented treatise that provides us with all the scientific data we need to make informed choices about how to eat that will benefit BOTH ourselves and our planet!"

—Frederick Kirschenmann, PhD, Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University

"Abandoning animal agriculture might well be the greatest mistake humanity could ever make. Today's science cannot give definitive answers to the complex questions of human nutrition and ecological integrity. However, the scientific evidence indicting animal agriculture is weak, and evidence defending animal-based foods and farm animals as essential for human health and agricultural sustainability is strong—as clearly documented in
Sacred Cow."

—John Ikerd, PhD, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri

"The current war against meat eaters and livestock farmers promises ethical, ecological, and health benefits from fake lab meat and plant-only diets.
Sacred Cow debunks every utopian promise with precision missiles from science and a deep understanding of how life and the planet actually work."

—Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm and editor of The Stockman Grass Farmer

"The shift in agriculture, from one based on biology to one based on chemistry, and the resulting shift in our diets from whole foods to highly processed foods have resulted in nutrition-related disease, obesity, and environmental destruction. Diana and Robb fully understand the problem and the solution: we must change our diets and regenerate our soils, and well-managed grazing animals are critical to this transition."

—Allan Savory, president of Savory Institute and chairman of the Africa Center for Holistic Management

"So much of the confusion about creating a sustainable future is based on a misunderstanding of ecology, evolution, and our place within the natural world. Much of our confusion has to do with our increasing separation from nature, especially how our food is produced. This book clearly explains how it all fits together, and how the interwoven evolution of ruminants, grasslands, and homo sapiens is not something to be left in the past, but to be celebrated and reclaimed." 

Mark A. Ritchie, PhD, executive director of the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute

"Diana and Robb have written a tour de force making the case that meat can be good for our bodies, the animals, and the earth.
Sacred Cow is the antidote to miserably meatless mondays and impossibly impotent impossible burgers. The cure is an ethical approach to eating animals, giving them their rightful place in our ecology."

—Chris Masterjohn, PhD, former assistant professor of Health and Nutrition Sciences at Brooklyn College

Review

"Sacred Cow proposes a new way to look at sustainable diets. The book takes a deep dive into the nutritional claims against meat, why cattle raised well are actually good for the environment, and address the ethical considerations surrounding killing animals for food. The truth is, you cannot have life without death, and eliminating animals from our food system could cause more harm than good."
Michelle Tam, New York Times bestselling author of Nom Nom Paleo

"All too often, the voices making the least scientifically accurate claims are the loudest, and it’s hard not to be influenced by that sexy Netflix documentary on going vegan. But what if you could do both—eat the animal products that you believe help you feel your best, sourced via farming practices that support the environment and animal welfare? In Sacred Cow, dietitian Diana Rodgers and New York Times bestselling author Robb Wolf help you do just that, with scientific rigor, deep compassion, and wit. They examine the data on cattle and nutrient-density, the environment, and the ethics around eating meat across the globe, arriving at conclusions designed to help you feel good about the beef you are feeding your family."
Melissa Urban, Whole30 cofounder and CEO

“Diana and Robb have answered the burning question about meat. Sacred Cow proves ‘It’s not the COW, it’s the HOW.’ The answer to our broken food system is not no meat, it's better meat. If you are concerned about red meat’s impact on your health and the planet, this book is for you.”

Mark Hyman, MD, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine

“Diana and Robb have precisely and approachably laid out the science on how grazing animals are critical to the future of sustainable agriculture. They also definitively refute the claims that meat is unhealthy and make a convincing case that eating meat can be done in an ethical manner. I highly recommend Sacred Cow for anyone who eats.”

Mark Sisson, New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet and founder of Primal Kitchen foods

“Humans have been eating meat for at least 2.6 million years, and it has played a critical role in our evolution. In this important book, Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf use the most recent scientific evidence to make the nutritional, environmental, and ethical case for better meat—and to debunk increasingly common myths and misunderstandings about the role of animal products in our diet.”

Chris Kresser, New York Times bestselling author of The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine

Sacred Cow: The Case for Better Meat is a comprehensive, well documented treatise that provides us with all the scientific data we need to make informed choices about how to eat that will benefit BOTH ourselves and our planet!”

—Frederick Kirschenmann, PhD, Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University

“Abandoning animal agriculture might well be the greatest mistake humanity could ever make. Today’s science cannot give definitive answers to the complex questions of human nutrition and ecological integrity. However, the scientific evidence indicting animal agriculture is weak, and evidence defending animal-based foods and farm animals as essential for human health and agricultural sustainability is strong—as clearly documented in Sacred Cow.”

—John Ikerd, PhD, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri

“The current war against meat eaters and livestock farmers promises ethical, ecological, and health benefits from fake lab meat and plant-only diets. Sacred Cow debunks every utopian promise with precision missiles from science and a deep understanding of how life and the planet actually work.”

—Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm and editor of The Stockman Grass Farmer

"The shift in agriculture, from one based on biology to one based on chemistry, and the resulting shift in our diets from whole foods to highly processed foods have resulted in nutrition-related disease, obesity, and environmental destruction. Diana and Robb fully understand the problem and the solution: we must change our diets and regenerate our soils, and well-managed grazing animals are critical to this transition.”

—Allan Savory, president of Savory Institute and chairman of the Africa Center for Holistic Management

“So much of the confusion about creating a sustainable future is based on a misunderstanding of ecology, evolution, and our place within the natural world. Much of our confusion has to do with our increasing separation from nature, especially how our food is produced. This book clearly explains how it all fits together, and how the interwoven evolution of ruminants, grasslands, and homo sapiens is not something to be left in the past, but to be celebrated and reclaimed.”

Mark A. Ritchie, PhD, executive director of the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute

“Diana and Robb have written a tour de force making the case that meat can be good for our bodies, the animals, and the earth. Sacred Cow is the antidote to miserably meatless mondays and impossibly impotent impossible burgers. The cure is an ethical approach to eating animals, giving them their rightful place in our ecology.”

—Chris Masterjohn, PhD, former assistant professor of Health and Nutrition Sciences at Brooklyn College

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ BenBella Books (July 14, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1948836912
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1948836913
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.13 x 9.31 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
1,543 global ratings
For Those Seeking Unbiased Information (Mufasa Would Have Been Proud!)
5 Stars
For Those Seeking Unbiased Information (Mufasa Would Have Been Proud!)
I just watched the Lion King. In an eloquent and shockingly succinct dialogue, Mufasa explains to Simba the concept of the circle of life: how the lions eat the antelope, and the antelope eat the grass, and when the lions die, they become the grass. Simba’s mind is essentially blown. Little did he know that today we’d face vehement wars gone woefully awry, in which trying to hack the natural system has lead to something more akin to an elephant graveyard. I lament these wars, as I believe they come from a place of seeking truth, goodness, health, and least amount of harm. Yet they are often wedding to ideologies which blindsight us to the actual implications of our choices. Even worse, it can be hard to get a clear understanding even if you want to, as the majority of the rhetoric filters through the lenses of hidden agendas, which refuse to budge in the wake of truth.Thank goodness for Sacred Cow.If you are at all concerned with the sustainability of our present food system, and seek unbiased, non-cherry picked information concerning the actual implications of our farming systems on both our health and the future of our planet, this book is for you. Robb and Diana have done a fantastic job of thoroughly considering the nutritional, environmental and ethical components of a livestock-inclusive system. In a brilliant (dare I say, “fun”) analogy, they explore a mythical “Grassworld,” revealing the implications of an ecosystem (or lack thereof) without adequate diversity of species to sustain itself.While I rarely use the word facts,” Robb and Diana dive deep into the nutritional “facts" of meat. (While we can debate ethics and sustainability implications all day long - Joe Rogan style - it’s hard to argue the literal amount of nutrition in a food. Though people do it.) They make a compelling case that a meat-inclusive diet provides the maximum bang for your buck nutrition wise, and analyze the nutritional pitfalls of a plant-only diet. They comprehensively analyze the many meat attacks, such as cholesterol, cancer, high protein diets, TMAO, AGEs, etc. In perhaps a shocking turn, they scrutinize the nutritional benefits from conventional and grass-fed meat, and well - let’s just say they may ruffle the feathers of a few carnivores, and even those in the regenerative farming or “Paleo” system. (I actually have some questions I’d like to further discuss with them, on this particular topic.)Today’s modern zeitgeist is painted with talk of spoil depletion and methane emissions. It’s pretty in vogue to fill your vernacular with words like “greenhouse gasses” (or if you want to get really fancy, "“carbon sequestering.”) But do we actually understand what these literally mean? I sure didn’t! But after reading Sacred Cow, not only do I now have a more appropriate grasp on the subject matter, I feel like my eyes have been opened to the misleading stance of removing livestock to save the planet from global warming. Yikes. You’ll also learn everything you ever wanted to know about topsoil, how much land/water/feed cattle require, what monocropping does to our world, and more.If you’re looking for a meaty discussion of ethics, it’s all here. Robb and Diana consider all aspects of ethics in our eating system: Why did meat become taboo? How are we separated today from nature and death? What "type" of animal death is most humane? What system (plant based or animal-inclusive) actually yields the least amount of harm? What role should government policies play? And perhaps most compelling (at least to me): how does privilege in in mandating certain dietary approaches, lead to silent and sinister racism and elitism?Sacred Cow also also manages to touch on essentially every “random” topic lying in a responsible foodist’s treasure trove of interests: from insect protein to GMOs to fossil fuels to lab grown meat to raising camel to veganism and sexual health… it’s all here!And lastly, if you don’t have adequate time at present to read the entire book, and just want to be told what to eat to make the best changes for your health and the future of our world, they’ve got a quick guide to that. (I imagine likely encouraged at the urging of their publishers, because some people just want to be told what to do now. That said, if you do “skip to that section,” I urge you to consider ultimately reading the book in its entirety.)It’s easy to live in blissful ignorance or - on the flip side - subscribe to an immutable agenda which requires no further questioning or reanalyzing of the subject. But comprehensively reviewing and considering all factors, even if they challenge previously held ideologies tied to identity… that’s hard. I want to thank Robb and Diana for providing this exhaustive information and treating us with intelligence and respect. They are not preaching, they are educating, so that we may consciously make choices which support the greatest good, of both ourselves and the planet.
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Top reviews from other countries

LaYarantella
5.0 out of 5 stars Educate yourself about how nature works
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2023
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Laís
5.0 out of 5 stars Livro excelente e esclarecedor!
Reviewed in Brazil on January 28, 2021
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Pasi
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Germany on July 29, 2021
Brian Erb
5.0 out of 5 stars A full spectrum review of the current situation
Reviewed in Canada on July 20, 2020
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Clair et Lipide
5.0 out of 5 stars Idéal contre la désinformation végane
Reviewed in France on March 18, 2021
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Clair et Lipide
5.0 out of 5 stars Idéal contre la désinformation végane
Reviewed in France on March 18, 2021
A l'heure où :

- les aliments gras, et surtout saturées, d'origine animale, ainsi que le cholestérol ont été diabolisés au tournant des années 50

- le slogan Manger Bouger martelé par les pubs (sur obligation légale) tient de la dystopie maternaliste

- Manger 5 Fruits ou Légumes par jour est une approximation grossière et même pas juste du travail de diététicien...et sans doute contreproductive

- où les gens se pâment pour les Zones Bleues où soit disant les peuples qui mangent plus de viande ont plus de centenaires

- où le slogan "on mange trop de viande" semble couler de source, sans réel consensus dessus

- où la viande de bœuf est devenue l'ennemi public numéro 1 de la planète (le fameux bœuf émissaire), sans réelle prise en compte (ou alors en le minimisant) du potentiel de capture de carbone des prairies, terres non cultivables en l'état

- où seule la B12 serait la seule carence vegane admise

Alors ce livre remet les pendules à zéro, et ce que l'on vous a vendu comme étant le consensus scientifique n'est qu'approximations, bruits de couloirs amplifiés et déformés ou même faussés (le fameux gag sur les 15 000 L d'eau repris ad nauseam sans réelle réflexion ou fact-checking sérieux, cf la vidéo de 2016 de Data Gueule "Quand la boucherie, le monde pleure")

Salutaire et réellement zététique, même si le mouvement zététique français est en retard sur la question (Fainéantise ? Besoin de bien se placer sur le marché de la vertu pour ne pas heurter les tendances des lecteurs ? Nécessité de plaire à des faiseuses de fiches ?)

Dommage qu'il n'existe pas en français.

Dans le même esprit, lire le blog de Aleph2020 (sur la plateforme blogspot)
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