"To deny that humans are predators is comparable to rejecting that humans are communal organisms." — Arthur Haines

In a recent podcast episode (Why I'm Not a Vegan - Daniel Vitalis #94), I shared my personal experience with veganism and discussed the core reasons why I think we need to reexamine the Vegan approach. After this show aired, I received an outpouring of feedback from you — thank you to all who listened and took the time to write me! As promised, I invited Arthur Haines — botanist, taxonomist, primitive skill practitioner and regular guest on ReWild Yourself podcast — to join me to discuss some of the refutations I received in response to the Why I’m Not A Vegan episode.

Arthur and I shed light on many popular meat-eating myths and get into some interesting conversation on sustainable eating, speciesism, omnivory, animal husbandry and looking at the big picture. We bring to the discussion our combined academic and experiential perspectives for a comprehensive look at an often polarizing topic. 

EPISODE BREAKDOWN:

• Daniel answers questions on tent living and the fifth element
• A short passage from Arthur’s forthcoming book, A New Path
• Gratitude to vegans for taking a stand against factory farming
• A local and sustainable lifeway
• Agriculture and the plight of 7 billion people
• Anthropomorphizing animals and speciesism
• Attempting to transcend our DNA
• Are most vegetarians actually omnivores?
• Seeking longevity vs long-term robust health
• We’ve always been omnivores...
• The meat & cancer myth
• There are no multi-generational vegans
• Veganism and children
• Vitamins & minerals from plants vs. animals
• Is animal husbandry destroying the planet?
• Were there vegan tribes of hunter gatherers?
• Cooking our food
• Taboos of eating certain animals
• Using our evolutionary history to guide our lifestyles
• Concluding thoughts from Daniel and Arthur
• Seeing the big picture