Episode 3: Oh So Very Vegan Podcast – Meat Is For Pussies Book Review

Oh So Very Vegan the Podcast Episode 3 “Meat Is For Pussies”

Happy day to you. This is Dean from “Oh So Very Vegan. The Podcast”, episode three. Today we’re going to review a couple books that I just got finished reading. I’m really excited about them. It’s always good to keep educating yourself on any topic you’re interested in. I’m a true believer in that.

Anything that I get into, whether it’s something that I do at work, or it’s a special diet, or I just want to learn something, I’m a constant learner. I’m constantly self educating myself. In the vegan world, there are so many books out there. There’s a lot of recipe books, but there are also a lot of great informational books.

I just got finished with two really good ones that I would suggest that, if you’re a vegan for two weeks, you’re thinking about becoming a vegan soon, or you’ve been a vegan for 30 plus years or more, these books are great for everybody.

The first one is “Main Street Vegan” by Victoria Moran. When I first heard about this book, I picked it up on the bookshelf, I looked through it, and it looked kind of interesting. I’m an avid listener of “Main Street Vegan Podcast” with Victoria Moran. It’s just a great podcast.

If you haven’t listened to it, look it up on iTunes. She does a lot of interviews with a lot of high level people in the vegan space. But her book is really great. I posted on Twitter just about after I finished the book, saying that Main Street Vegan the book should be the how to or guidebook or instruction manual for going and staying vegan.

It really takes a real world approach, which is really what I like. She is not judgmental. She is not vegan police status. Victoria just cuts it down to the least common denominator, and basically talks to the new vegan and the long time vegan alike.

What I really like about the book is how it breaks down each chapter into a different area of becoming vegan. There are chapters on animal activism. There are chapters on supplements. There’s a whole chapter on protein and nutrition. It’s really a great read. It’s one of them books that, you’ll pick it up and hardly ever put it down.

Two things to learn from this. I would definitely pick up Victoria’s book, Main Street Vegan. You can pick it up on Amazon. She has a new book coming out later this year called “The Good Karma Diet.” I’m really excited about that and I can’t wait to read it.

I spoke to Victoria, and I’m going to have her on the show about the time of her book release to talk about what the book’s all about and where they’re going with it. But Main Street Vegan is a fantastic book. You need to pick it up. It’s just a great read.

The next book is, it’s a gentleman I met at, I attended Main Street Vegan Academy, there I had the opportunity to meet John Joseph. John Joseph is one heck of a character. This is the type of guy where you’re either going to love him or you’re going to hate him. The only reason you’re going to hate him is because you’re going to be offended by him.

If you’re sensitive to the F bomb dropping every now and then, you’re probably not going to want to read his book, because he is a real world, tell it like it is, street smart vegan writer. It’s a fabulous book. The name of the book is, ready for this, if this offends you, getting offended could start at the title of this book, it’s “Meat is for Pussies.”

Girls, I know there are a lot of women who read the blog and who are active on our Facebook page. It’s funny, because, to step aside for a second, when I attended the Main Street Vegan Academy, there were about 17 people in the class. Two were men, myself and another gentleman. The rest were women.

What I was told there was, “This is a lot of men for this class. We usually just have one, or none.” When I look at the statistics across our Facebook page, 85 percent of our readers are women. That’s a very interesting statistic. I think it has to do with, men are stubborn. They are. They don’t want to be told what to do or how to do things.

When it comes to veganism, there are a lot of men who are vegans, let’s face it. There are just an enormous amount of women. Meat is for Pussies is really designed for…it’s great for any vegan to read, or especially anybody who’s becoming thinking about vegan.
But it’s really great, it makes a great Christmas gift or holiday gift this year, for your spouse, for your man, your husband or your boyfriend or whatever. Because men tend to think that they need protein and meat and chicken and red meat to build muscle mass, and that all vegans eat is salads.

We know that that couldn’t be further from the truth, and the reality is, John Joseph in his book really tears that apart. He features a lot of UFC fighters in his book and a lot of Ironman triathlons. That’s what John Joseph is, he’s an Ironman triathlete.

His life story is what will capture you with the first chapter and will not let you go until you get to the very end of the book, because this guy, he’s 51 years old, but he had one of the hardest lives I have ever heard. I sat there when I met him and he told his life story. Then, of course, again, he tells it in the book.

He spent a lot of his time in foster homes being abused, then thrown into the streets of New York. Turned to drugs, was in shootouts, was arrested. When you hear the story and when you read the story, you’re “Hells no, this is not true.” It’s unbelievable what he overcame.

What changed him to turn vegan, because he was a gang banger from the streets of New York, what changed him was music. He got involved with a punk rock band, and they basically took him under their wing and said, “Listen, we want you to stay with us. We want you to roll with us. We want you to be our bodyguard. But you’re going to have to give up smoking, alcohol, drugs and meat.”

Isn’t that crazy? Think about that. Give up smoking, bad for you. Alcohol, bad for you. Cocaine or drugs, bad for you. Meat. Give up meat. They classified meat with these three other or four other items that are bad for you. He did it. He quit it all. He went on the road with them. Today, John is the lead singer of a punk rock band called the Cro Mags.

He’s 51 years old. He’s in tip top shape. He does three to four Ironman triathlons a year. He’s a rock star. This book is a life changer. I’m buying four copies of this book for some guys who work in my office who are on the fence whether they should eat a plant based diet or continue to eat meat because they’ve been swayed and told different things, that you need red meat.

This book is a life changer. Meat is for Pussies. I love the title. So offensive. You can pick it up at Amazon. It’s just a great read. Girls, pick it up for your boyfriends or your husbands. Once they read it, it’s an eye opener.

He touches on everything. Animal welfare. The government. The medical industry. The fast food industry. Everything. He doesn’t call himself a vegan, although he is. He does not use any animal products in his life or in his diet. He associates the vegan name as something negative.

People say, “Oh, you’re vegan,” and they shy away. That’s unfortunate, and I think that a lot of that’s happening. The last couple days I’ve been thinking a lot about the word vegan. I’ve been a vegan now, as if you’ve listened to my podcast or read the blog at all you know, for about two and a half years.

I tagged myself with the name “vegan.” Why? Because I decided I wasn’t going to use animal byproducts anymore on my clothing, in my life or in my food. That makes me a vegan. But here I am, tagging myself as something that has so much negativity surrounded to it.

Even on our Facebook page, when I post things about people who are using a vegan diet, we just did a blog post on the site, actually a couple months ago, but re posted it on our Facebook page this week, called “The 80/20 Vegan.” This is a long time guy who I met who has been a vegan for 35 years.

He refers to himself as an 80/20 vegan. He says 80 percent of the time he’s a good vegan, 20 percent of the time he’s not. When he says he’s not, it’s because he drives a 5 Series BMW that you cannot get non leather seats for. He earns a good salary, he likes a luxury car. He knows it’s bad for animals, but he likes the vehicle. Twice a year, he tells me that he has a piece of fish.

I posted that on the page, and there are two types of people on our Oh So Very Vegan Facebook page. There are die hard vegans, and there are people who live a vegan lifestyle and eat a vegan diet, but they understand that, from time to time, stuff happens, so they’re accepting of that.

Some of the comments we received on the post were, “That’s cool. 80 percent of the time, he’s saving lives. He’s doing more than the next person.” But then, there are a couple comments from the die hards that are “I’m not vegan, I’m vegetarian! Vegans…”

It’s starting to get to the point where I’m almost ready to say I’m on a plant based diet, and not tagging myself as vegan because of the negativity that follows along with it. I would love to get some feedback on this. I’m sure the die hard vegan police are going to point fingers at me and say, “You’re not a real vegan, then.”

But I don’t wear animal byproducts, and I don’t have leather stuff, and I don’t eat meat, and I don’t eat any animal byproducts. By definition, I am a vegan. But I’m getting to the point where I don’t want to classify myself as that. I don’t want to tag my life. I just eat a plant based diet.

What is that going to stir up? Are the die hard vegans going to point fingers at me and say, “Well, you’re not vegan, then.” How can I not be vegan if I do everything that is vegan, but I’m just not tagging myself as vegan?

In this gentleman’s case, 80 percent of the time he’s vegan, 20 percent of the time he’s not. He drives a car with leather seats and twice a year he eats fish. He may be vegan for health reasons. There are two types of vegans. I truly believe that.

It’s not, “You’re either vegan, or you’re not.” I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that at all. When I talk about this stuff, I get the finger pointed at me. “You’re either vegan, or you’re not.” I don’t find that to be true.

If you can do a whole lot better than the next person, the guy who’s consuming meat all day, who wears leather shoes, who wears fur, who wears silk, who goes out of their way to buy animal products and eat animal products, they are not a vegan.

But a person who eats a hundred percent clean vegan diet, doesn’t veer off at all, doesn’t even use honey, doesn’t buy any leather or animal byproduct clothing, but has leather seats in their car because maybe they’ve been driving the car for a couple years before they became vegan, or have leather furniture in their house that was there before they became a vegan.

Can you point at this person and say, “Hey, they’re not vegan.” That’s bull. It’s not true. That’s why I think John Joseph, although he is a hardcore vegan, he’s one of the protester guys if you’re doing harm to animals, he’s in your face but he does not classify himself as a vegan because of the negativity that follows the vegan word.

He mentions the word vegan one time in this book, and he says this, “I do not use that word, that five letter word, V E G A N, vegan, because of all the negativity that follows it. I practice a plant based diet.” I’m thinking of tagging myself as plant based.

Sorry to get off on a tangent there. Getting back to the book. Meat is for Pussies, fantastic read. Girls, buy it for your husbands and boyfriends or fiances or best friends. Women, it’s a great read for you, too. If you’re thinking about becoming vegan, I would definitely pick up these two books. They’re great starters, and they’re great books for if you’ve been vegan for several years.
That’s it for today. Oh So Very Vegan. It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. We really enjoy and appreciate the time you spend with us. We know your time is valuable, and taking out 15 minutes of your time to listen to our podcast, we really appreciate it. Visit us over at the Facebook page. Give us a like, join the community, be part of the movement. Again, we’ll see you next week. Thanks so much.

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