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The Vegetarian Myth

Food, Justice, and Sustainability

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The Vegetarian Myth

By: Lierre Keith
Narrated by: Joyce Bean
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About this listen

We’ve been told that a vegetarian diet can feed the hungry, honor the animals, and save the planet. Lierre Keith believed in that plant-based diet and spent twenty years as a vegan. But in The Vegetarian Myth, she argues that we’ve been led astray - not by our longings for a just and sustainable world, but by our ignorance.

The truth is that agriculture is a relentless assault against the planet, and more of the same won’t save us. In service to annual grains, humans have devastated prairies and forests, driven countless species extinct, altered the climate, and destroyed the topsoil - the basis of life itself. Keith argues that if we are to save this planet, our food must be an act of profound and abiding repair: it must come from inside living communities, not be imposed across them. Part memoir, part nutritional primer, and part political manifesto, The Vegetarian Myth will challenge everything you thought you knew about food politics.

©2009 Lierre Keith (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc. Agricultural & Food Sciences Diets, Nutrition & Healthy Eating Environment Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Science Sustainable & Green Living Sustainable Agriculture Vegetarian Plant-Based Diet Solar System Nutrition Healthy Diet Sustainability Mythology

Critic Reviews

"Lierre Keith’s book is beyond fantastic." (Dr. Michael Eades, author of Protein Power)
"This book saved my life. Not only does The Vegetarian Myth make clear how we should be eating, but also how the dominant food system is killing the planet. This necessary book challenges many of the destructive myths we live by and offers us a way back into our bodies, and back into the fight to save the planet." (Derrick Jensen, author of Endgame and A Language Older Than Words
"Everyone interested in healthy eating should be grateful to Lierre Keith." (Sally Fallon Morell, President, The Weston A. Price Foundation)
All stars
Most relevant  
Lierre does a great job bringing together the various “inconvenient truths” surrounding vegetarianism and veganism. The book is well organised, thorough but concise, and the overall story is punctuated by interesting facts and tangible evidence (useful for those persuaded only by sound arguments and not emotion). However, while I do understand her wish to provide a comprehensive overview of the issue by linking her argument to feminist ideologies (i.e., patriarchy’s overarching influence on our food supply; see approximately 2:23:30 for an example) and spirituality (i.e., discussions around the consciousness of plants), I felt that this was potentially confusing or irrelevant to the reader and took away from the main thesis of the book. Overall, an excellent read (or listen).

An excellent study on the subject of veganism

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I loved this book. Particularly the section on nutrition. I will be reading it again.

Enlightening

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If Lierre stuck to the points backed up by research, this would have been 5/5.

Her hatred of the mythical patriarchy resulted in opinions dominating facts when discussing her views on this "male dominated world".

It's a shame as this reduces the credibility of an otherwise outstanding book.

Too much opinion

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The valuable message Lierre has to share is obscured by long drawn-out feminine and political ramblings that have nothing to with vegetarianism or veganism.

Needs a brutal editor

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This book could not have been written better. Every chapter, every word speaks the truth. The world needs to hear this, it literally changed my view on everything I thought I knew about nutrition, sustainability, and ethical eating. The Vegetarian Myth shatters the illusion that plant-based diets are the ultimate solution for health and the environment, exposing the real consequences of agriculture and the harm it causes to both the planet and human health.

Lierre Keith writes with a raw honesty that is both eye-opening and necessary. She doesn’t just present facts—she challenges deeply ingrained beliefs, making you question the mainstream narrative around plant-based eating. Her personal experience as a former vegan gives the book a depth that few other nutrition books have. She understands the mindset, the emotional attachment, and the intentions behind choosing a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. But she also reveals the devastating toll it took on her body and the painful reality of soil depletion, monocropping, and the destruction caused by industrial agriculture.

What makes this book so powerful is that it’s not just about food—it’s about the bigger picture. It’s about how the choices we make impact our health, the environment, and the world as a whole. It’s about reconnecting with nature, understanding the role of animals in a healthy ecosystem, and recognizing that true sustainability isn’t found in soy fields or lab-grown meat but in regenerative, holistic practices that honor both human and planetary health.

One of the best books I’ve ever read

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amazing book straight to the point! nature is undeniable in it's truth greatly to read this book 😊

undeniably true!

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'Recovering Vegan' here... highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.. especially vego and vegans.... its a hard pill to swallow but a good place to start.

10 years vegan, no longer.

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I was vegetarian/vegan for 17 years and never really felt well. I gave up that way of eating 18 years ago and haven't looked back. This book explains why I experienced what I did and why so many others do too. I used to be vegetarian because I thought I was helping the planet and my health. How wrong I was.
An excellent, well-written book.

An excellent and life-changing read

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Searching, piercing, knowledgeable. That was what I was looking for, to test the vegetarian narrative that I suspected had fierce political drivers. I had begun to question the information modelling I had been persuaded by in the vegetarian discourse and their political platforms, simply because it was too neat and insufficiently searching about other areas (like our lifestyles and so many narrative conflicts). I also saw people on meat for long and short periods with incredible reversals in serious diseases and conditions, and thought, "ok,what has this woman to say? How thorough is she, will she be utopian and ignoring the whole story?" Suffice to say, I am very impressed. Impressed with her depth of challenge, enquiry, and empathy in dealing with a question that is big enough to divide some friends and families! Excellent book, great on audio too.

Brilliant

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loved it how can we be so stupid! lied to for so long
I'm changing my life from this very day

Awesome

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