The Evolution of a Heroine
Growing up on Long Island wouldn’t have been a complete experience without the movie Clueless and Alicia Silverstone’s role as Cher Horrowitz, the popular blond high-schooler with an endearing conscience. Yes, the movie was set in Beverly Hills, but you’d be surprised how much overlap there is between life of a suburban high schooler on L.I. and a true deb from the Hills.
I constantly had Cher Horrowitz as a voice in my head… How can I forget lines like: “Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there’s no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value.” Or, “Searching for a boy in high school is as useless as searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie.” All truisms, stated with unabashed California twang.
Give A Book A Chance!
I must admit, at first I wasn’t excited to see this book sandwiched between an Atkins diet book and a juice diet book while perusing the shelves of B. Dalton for books on herbalism. The minute I saw the beautiful Alicia Silverstone smiling up at me as though she was trying to transmit a quick dieting secret with her pearly whites, I thought, “Ugh, another diet book to tell me how to be a twiggy idealistic eater.” But, out of respect for my childhood heroine, Cher, who never quite came off as deep or substantial just by the looks of her, I leafed through the book.
After reading a few pages, I felt ecstatic about how wrong I’d been to judge a cover. I’d heard about Alicia Silverstone’s work with PETA and animal cruelty, but I had no idea just how involved with health and well-being she is until I read the introduction of her book.
There are a few things I really love about this book… Silverstone’s idea of a diet doesn’t demand that you drop everything you’re doing and become a vegan and a member of PETA. Her book is a graceful volume of options and personal insights that you can implement into your life as a consumer. What she offers in her book is so much more valuable than the commercial baloney diet regimes or pill plans advertised all over the place. And the foundation of her diet is simple: Stay away from “nasty” foods, and in doing so be kind to yourself and the environment.
She gives her readers a comprehensive idea of why meat, sugar, dairy, and a few other foods are harmful to your health. And it’s not like she’s pulling all of this information out of thin air. Each statement has careful research attached to it. She also gives a great list of vegetarian and vegan food staples that I wish I’d had when I was transitioning to my veg diet.
A Few Facts (Adapted From The Kind Diet):
On Dairy: “In the United States, as many as 80% of African Americans, 90% of Asian Americans, and 60% of Hispanics are lactose-intolerant to some degree.”
On Raising Animals For Consumption: “Did you know that more than 50% of corn grown in the United States is eaten by animals?”
Staggering Stats on Meat Production:
- 90,000 U.S. cows and calves are slaughtered every day.
- 14,000 chickens are killed in the United States every minute
- Over 300 Million male baby chicks are killed in this country per year- more than one for every person living in this country
The Kind Diet Community
In addition to the book, Silverstone and her Kind Diet crew have created an extensive and useful network where readers, Silverstone, and friends discuss the minutiae of the diet. It’s great!
Visit The Kind Life
In Conclusion
As a young woman, I know I’m always on a quest to find consistency between my beliefs and actions… The Kind Diet is a compendium of counsel that’s much needed. Yet again, a beautiful blond, this time with a somewhat bigger message about doing good for humankind and the environment, saves me with her kind advice.
If you’re looking to be that supportive or insightful gift giver this holiday season, this book is a great choice.