The Story Behind “Kale v. cow”

with Diana Rodgers

A lot of people think being healthy means having a meat-free diet. Dietician Diana Rodgers goes to bat for why meat–even red meat–should be a part of a healthy diet. Her plan is to make the environmental, nutritional, and ethical case for better meat via a documentary that is now in pre-production. The working title of the movie is “Kale vs. Cow.”

Diana knows what she’s talking about. She struggled as a child with many health issues which is what led her to become a nutritionist, NTP, LDN, and dietician. She is convinced that real, organic, sustainable food is the key to good health. She lives on a working organic farm near Boston and is a supporter of the grass-fed movement. She cares deeply about improving the lives of animals raised for consumption and protecting our environment. And this is something both vegans and meat-eaters can agree on.

On today’s episode, Diana shares her personal journey and the reasons behind her decision to produce the “Kale vs cow” documentary and buck conventional thinking about what constitutes a healthy diet.

Notes:

Highlights from the conversation include:

how sick she was as a child and how her diagnosis with celiac disease at age 26 started her journey into blending farm life and nutrition
how the “mainstream” healthy diet was actually making Diana sick
how Wendell Berry’s “The Unsettling of America” led her husband to decide to become a farmer
how working on a farm and being exposed to people consuming raw milk led Diana to a Wise Traditions Conference
the book that helped her identify her intolerances and improve her health
the reason Diana decided to create the film Kale vs Cow
why most don’t understand the role of meat in our diet
why plant-based agriculture isn’t necessarily causing less harm than grass-fed animals
why eating less meat (or becoming vegan) is not the answer to improve health and save the world
why “better meat” is the solution
the key of improving the lives of livestock
why the World Health Organization’s studies don’t tell the whole story
the importance of biodiversity and connection with nature and grass-fed beef plays a role in all of the above