Modern Malnutrition

Doctor Pascal, Emile Zola's Germinal, 1885:

"She has died of hunger, your blessed girl. And she's not alone, I saw another just across the way… You all call me, but I can do nothing. It's only meat that can cure you."

Nina Planck, NY Times, 2007:

"When Crown Shakur died of starvation, he was 6 weeks old and weighed 3.5 pounds. His vegan parents, who fed him mainly soy milk and apple juice, were convicted in Atlanta recently of murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty."

It continues to amaze me that veganism has gone from a terrible misfortune visited upon only the poorest and most wretched to a lifestyle some willingly inflict upon themselves and their children.

This entry is part of my journal, originally published December 4, 2010, in New York City.