What’s that I hear, that’s vegan stock prices rising one billion percent after, “The Queen of All Media,” Oprah Winfrey rubber-stamped the animal-conscious movement during her show on Tuesday, February 2nd.
Oprah embraced the meatless crowd by hosting a conversation, on her tremendously popular self-titled daytime talk-show, with authors Michael Pollen of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Kelly Freston, who wrote a new book Veganist. The crux of this particular show highlighted the results of a week-long challenge in which Oprah and 378 of her staffers went vegan.
Never one to hold a grudge, Oprah aired a segment where investigative reporter, and host of a new show produced by Oprah’s network OWN, Lisa Ling visited the Cargill slaughterhouse to see where some of America’s meat really comes from.
The segment, which followed a cow from the field through it’s slaughter, was tame by anyone’s standards. Oprah’s production team cut footage of the rubber bullet that hits and fractures the cranium of the cow, hopefully rendering it unconscious during the slaughter.
Remember, the beef industry sued Oprah in 1998 Winfrey under a 1995 Texas law under which people can be held liable if they make false and disparaging statements about perishable food products. Oprah had made comments on her talk-show warning consumers about mad-cow disease which infected Great Britain’s beef supply and threatened America’s.
Oprah’s tied the goal of the “vegan show” to her adult-life issues with weight loss. The show concluded by sharing the results of the challenge––participants lost over over 444 LBS and, conversely, gained 84 LBS.
Some of her staffers sung such high praises of the vegan, they expressed their intentions of incorporating the vegan diet into their lives long-term. Oprah also announced that Harpo Cafe will embrace “Meatless Mondays” to help her employees and guests have alternatives during breakfast and lunch.
To find out more about Oprah’s challenge check out her website. Kathy Freston’s book Veganist, which shot to #1 on Amazon after the show aired, is in book stores and online now.
Go O!
I saw this show and it was so inspiring to see Oprah and her staff take such a positive stance on veganism. Vegans seem to get a bad wrap from SAD eaters in America. I hope she changes some of vitriol towards vegans.
I bought the Veganist I can’t wait to read it and see if Kathy knows what she is talking about because her last book wasn’t that helpful at all.