Arran Stephens book, The Compassionate Diet, is a small, artfully created book. Mr. Stephens is the founder of Nature’s Path, North America’s largest organic breakfast food company. Many of Nature’s Path foods are vegan, but not all. Mr. Stephens states on page 28, “A lacto-vegetarian includes animal by-products such as dairy and honey, because these do not directly lead to loss of life, as the eating of animal products themselves does.” That single sentence seemed so misleading that it stopped me in my tracks. Really? Honey does not directly lead to death? What about the compromised immunes system of the bees when their honey, created for their own survival, is stolen and they are left with the inferior sugar water instead? What about the legs of the bees that are often torn off during “harvesting” of their honey, or those that die due to the smoking process, during transport, or are replaced for maximum efficiency? What about the bobby calf, stolen from its mother to steal her milk? These calves are usually slaughtered as veal calves. Or the mother whose miserable life of milk production ends when she is sent to the slaughterhouse at a young age? Both production methods steal the natural food created for these animals own survival. Both practices involve exploitation of sentient beings. To indicate that there is no direct loss of life by consumption of honey and dairy products does not seem accurate to this vegan but rather gives the reader the impression that these are cruelty-free practices. They are not.

A Beautiful Book with Pertinent Information

Stephens is not advocating for lacto-vegetarianism, only defining it. He uses the term, “strict vegetarian” to indicate veganism, and does explain that vegans abstain from all animal by-products.  His book promotes a vegetarian diet by providing information about the horrific lives of farmed animals, and his company admittedly uses honey and dairy in their products as well. There are also, oddly, pictures of live fish, chicks and eggs interspersed with photos of raspberries and radishes, just in case the term vegetarian was not confusing enough for those unfamiliar with ethical eating and veganism.

On the plus side, it is a small book that is highly readable and is beautiful to peruse. It holds some valid information about sustainability and a host of information about organic foods. Before reading this book, I thought that the whole point of organic agriculture was to get pesticide-free food, but after reading what Stephens has to say, organic foods now seem much, much more than that. They provide better nutrition, help with soil sustainability, and reduce energy consumption. In fact, Nature’s Path, Stephens company, is based on that importance. I recently tried one of their vegan products, Pumpkin Flax Plus granola, and it was excellent. I have been looking for it at my local grocers and will request it if it is not already carried.

The Compassionate Diet Would Be Vegan

Stephens also looks at famous vegetarians and spiritual aspects of vegetarianism, including a review of its import in many world religions. There is even a chapter on some troubling aspects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that is worth the read. I am grateful that I was given this book to read for the pertinent information I gleaned from it, but also grateful that I know the truth about the exploitation inherent in dairy and honey production. The title is, therefore, a bit of a misnomer. Perhaps a future printing of the book will correct this misinformation. In reading about Mr. Stephens, it is impossible not to appreciate his thoughtful, honest, humble approach to finding a more humane lifestyle. He  states:

When I discontinued eating meat, fish, fowl and eggs at the age of twenty in 1964, my primary motivation was a deepening love and respect for all living creatures. This commitment, which has been joyfully kept, was one of the easiest I ever made, and involved very little sense of self-denial. The invigorating effects were soon felt and the heart’s inherent capacity for compassion expanded; I began to experience animals as younger relatives in a universal family of conscious beings. This understanding was deeply instinctive and intuitive.

One would hope that the bees and cows might be included in that respect at some point.