A review by studiomikarts
The Garden of Vegan: How Plants Can Save the Animals, the Planet and Our Health by Cleve West

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This was an excellent book about veganism from an ironically unique standpoint: gardening. The author was extremely knowledgeable about everything covered, providing moments of both gut-busting humor and heartbreaking reality. Like the author, I find it difficult to see the light when there is so much darkness, especially knowing the darkness is purposefully hidden so that it may continue unabated. But I resonated intensely with the author on many points in this book, including his thoughts on so-called pests, favoring fully-vegan establishments, and humanity's overgrown ego. You don't have to be a gardener to appreciate this book, either, which is one of the best things about it. It starts with an introduction to the author and his vegan journey, moves on to explain why veganism is the answer to basically every human problem, and then shows us gardening for food and beauty through a vegan lens. It's definitely worth reading for anyone interested in helping make the world a better place (or at least interested in no longer contributing to the worst parts of it). Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

Most vegans were more self-righteous as non-vegans believing that we had the right to exploit the lives of others for our own enjoyment. 

As an ex-sportsman who had studied nutrition at college and a gardener who had worked with plants for much of his life, it's odd - and slightly alarming - that I didn't know there was protein in an apple. 

There was the realization that not only have you unwittingly been contributing to suffering on an unimaginable scale, but also the consequences of your choices as a consumer are contributing to a number of ongoing environmental catastrophes around the globe. If that wasn't enough, you then have to deal with family, friends, and colleagues who not only refute, ignore or ridicule the plight of enslaved animals being tortured, raped, experimented on and murdered, but who also seem ambivalent to the negative effects that these actions have on the environment, health and a number of human rights issues. At this point, when your values (based on compassion, kindness and altruism) are being called into question by people you love and trust, the world can suddenly seem confusing and even hostile.

Have you ever noticed that when a shark kills a human it's reported widely as a shark attack, but when a human hunts a shark it's called sport?

I've since spoken to several doctors, each of whom confirmed that nutrition isn't taught in depth during their 7 years' training: about twenty-four hours in total at the most. The stark and slightly alarming fact is that a vegan who has taken time to do a little research on diet may well know more about nutrition than the average GP.

Many people think that giving up consuming meat and dairy products is the hardest part of being vegan. It couldn't be further from the truth. The reality is that it's actually quite easy. The most difficult aspect of being vegan is navigating your way in a world that all of a sudden seems disconnected and exploitative and where violence pervades almost everything you interact with. The risk of alienating friends and family is real. It's frustrating and, at times, sad when the people you are closest to won't listen or don't share the same values of honesty, respect, equality, kindness and compassion: values that you were taught during childhood. It's a price that many vegans pay, but is offset hugely by the knowledge that you are part of a movement that addresses so many of the world's problems and that collectively your small actions can effect positive change, even though it may not occur during your lifetime.