A chat with John Robbins

On factory farms, chocolate, advertising, and more

By Culinate staff

July 25, 2012

On AlterNet, Tara Lohan recently interviewed John Robbins, the former Baskin-Robbins heir turned health-food guru. Robbins has written several books on eating well; his latest takes a broad look at how our food is produced. Titled No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Food Revolution, the book ranges widely:

No Happy Cows is a collection of writings . . . which take on hot-button issues like the condition of animals in factory farms (so horrifying you know you don’t want to read about it anymore, but you still should), the health impacts of soy (wonder food or health menace?), food safety, grass-fed meat, hormones in your milk, child labor in the chocolate business (and the health benefits of chocolate), fair-trade coffee, predatory advertising, and more.

In the interview, Robbins discusses why he thinks Big Ag is really afraid of stricter labeling laws (not just declining profits but traceability) and how grass-fed meat can be environmentally damaging (too many cows on sensitive grasslands can cause problems). Check it out.