PETER BURWASH'S VEGETARIAN PRIMER

by Peter & John Tullius Burwash ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1982

There's a place for a short, simple vegetarian primer for people who just want to give up meat without getting deeply into nutrition or compassion. Unfortunately, tennis pro Burwash's sales pitch is not as reliable as it is enthusiastic. The ethical, ecological, and health considerations have been more forcefully and responsibly set forth in Mason and Singer's equally readable Animal Factories (1979); this abounds in such airy declarations as ""I do not eat eggs because I believe they are an insult to the body."" Burwash maintains that unsaturated fat's innocence in coronary heart disease is only a food manufacturers' rumor; this is simply not true, although there are other reasons for limiting all fat intake. He lumps brewers' and nutritional yeast together as sources of vitamin B, though in fact brewers' yeast does not have this fortification--a crucial point for total vegetarians. His food shopping advice is replete with health fooders' conventional wisdom--""Many people feel the process of pasteurization and homogenization deplete the nutrition in milk. Their suggestion is to purchase 'certified raw' milk""--but there is no suggestion to purchase skimmed or low-fat milk, a far more supportable recommendation. The recipes, also in the health-food convention (spinach lasagna, sweet and sour tofu), are respectable samples of their kind; but there are more distinguished collections in this style, unaccompanied by the slapdash advice.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1982

Categories: NONFICTION