S01E04 Ken Botts on Why We Need To Change The Way We Consume Meat

When you hear the word 'food' what comes to your mind?

For some, it may mean a bowl of lentil soup with rice, or potato wedges and fries. For some, it can be fresh leafy veggies, or meaty burgers, patties and fried rice.

Food is also something that differs from culture to culture, and there are various diets to follow. In the western world meat makes a big chunk of the daily diet, with a trending shift towards a plant-based diet. Meat makes a big chunk of the daily diet in Asian countries and is growing owing to increasing disposable incomes.

In the episode One Plate At A Time, we hosted Ken Botts, a food service professional and Founder of New Tricks Taco Shop who walked us through his journey of being in the food-service and plant-based meat industry, exploring healthy alternatives to an animal-based diet.

Here's what Ken spoke about:

• The USA's first all-vegan Dining Hall

• Humane Society International USA and his association with Hungry Planet: From launching an all-vegan menu in Harvard to 30+ universities in the USA and beyond

• Plant-based Meat: What plant-based meat mean and what the future holds?

• Going Vegan: Why go vegan for your health, the animals and the environment?

• Food Accessibility in Developing Countries like India vs. in the USA

• The Future of Food

Here are some of Ken's suggested reading and references:

1. Diet for a small planet by Frances Moore Lappe

2. Meatless Monday

3. Small Planet

4. Sharon Palmer

5. http://soulfulvegan.com

Further reading links:

1. Processed Meat and Your Health

2. Cultured Meat

3. The Link Between Antibiotic Resistance and Factory Farming

You can find and follow Ken and New Tricks Taco Shop on social media on the links below:

Ken Botts:

Linkedin: Ken Botts

Twitter: @KenBotts

Instagram: @KenBotts

New Tricks Taco Shop:

LinkedIn: New Tricks Taco Shop

Twitter: @newtrickstacos

Instagram: @Newtrickstacos

Website: New Tricks Tacos

Read about India's current state of meat consumption on Sentient Media here.

Stay tuned for the ultimate health podcast episodes to be out soon!

References:

1. https://news.unt.edu/news-releases/mean-greens-first-all-vegan-university-cafeteria-celebrates-5th-anniversary

2. https://sentientmedia.org/plant-based-meats/

3. https://www.mondaycampaigns.org/meatless-monday

4. https://www.smallplanet.org/

5. https://sharonpalmer.com/

6. https://soulfulvegan.com/

7. https://sentientmedia.org/in-veg-friendly-india-meat-consumption-is-on-the-rise/