Anne Broyles is the author of the new middle grade book Eating to Save the Planet: How Veganism Helps Fight Climate Change. Her other books include I'm Gonna Paint. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Q: What inspired you to write Eating to Save the Planet?
A: When my editor and I were having a brainstorming meeting after finishing our first book together she mentioned Holiday House's Books for a Better Earth series and because she knew I was vegan, she proposed me writing a book on how veganism connected with climate change.
I felt confident writing about the vegan lifestyle and how to eat well without meat but had no idea how much research would be involved to provide concrete scientific evidence on how veganism clearly helps fight climate change. This book felt like more work than anything I had previously written.
After learning so much, if I hadn't already changed to a vegan diet I would have done so after my research.
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that particularly surprised you?
A: I spent months researching by reading books, journals, magazines and online articles with the latest studies on climate change and veganism. I spoke with experts and other vegans.
I had not known how clearly and directly factory farming negatively impacts not only the environment in general, but specifically, people who live in areas surrounding those industrial farms.
Children in these areas suffer respiratory problems, higher rates of asthma, headaches, nausea, burning eyes, coughing, sore throat, and other symptoms. One study found that people who live near factory farms had more tension, depression, anger, and fatigue.
So it's not just the future environment that could be improved if people ate less meat but real people in real time today whose lives might be healthier.
Q: What would you say are some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about veganism?
A: Some people think that veganism is a weird new fad when in reality, this practice has been around for centuries. Many of the world's most ancient religions included veganism.
The average non-vegan is more likely to order or buy food that is labeled "plant-based" than if it’s labelled “vegan” or "vegetarian" so there's still some stigma about not eating meat in contemporary American culture.
That attitude is changing, however, as the high increases in purchase of vegan/plant-based foods attest. More and more people are discovering how simple and delicious a vegan diet can be.
Q: What do you think Hannah Li’s illustrations add to the book?
A: Hannah's art is vibrant and joyous and makes even graphs and difficult concepts fun to learn about.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm in final revisions for the book of my heart, a project I began research on more than 35 years ago. Scholastic will publish Words Spoken True in 2026.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: The most fascinating experiment I discovered in my research gave young children a variety of foods to choose as “animal based” or “plant based.” The kids often misidentified hamburgers, hot dogs, cheese, and bacon as “plant-based.” These same kids said that pigs, cows, and chickens were “NOT OK to eat.”
Researchers said, “Given children’s propensity to protect animals from harm, they may naturally gravitate toward plant-based foods if they have access to them.”
This is one reason I believe young readers deserve information on how veganism helps fight climate change. They might be inspired to make changes to their diets that could help save the planet.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
No comments:
Post a Comment