What is a Pescatarian?

A pescatarian is a person who does not eat meat but eats fish. A pescatarian may or may not eat animal products such as eggs or cheese. So, why do I mention this on a blog about books? BECAUSE, I have a personal interest in the topic! I am a pescatarian and I just read about a new book that explains the entire reason I am one. Food and Climate Change Without the Hot Air by Sarah Bridle

I came across the mention of the book in an article that was published January 7, 2023, in The Guardian . The article was a compilation of different authors commenting on the one book that changed their world view. One of the authors submitting a book title was Marcus du Sautoy, a professor at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Below is a condensed version of what he said about Food and Climate Change Without the Hot Air:

“It was reading Sarah Bridle’s book Food and Climate Change Without the Hot Air that helped me understand a very important way that I really could contribute. Change my diet. As Bridle explains, this is the easiest way to help save the planet. Bridle’s book is a follow up to David MacKay’s equally wonderful book Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air. A quarter of the greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change comes from food. Just giving up food from cows could have a massive impact. Bridle’s book changed how I eat.”

I’m featuring the book to help make people aware. Just the other day someone asked me why I don’t eat meat. When I explained that it was the one little thing I could do to help the planet, that person laughed because she didn’t understand me at all. I’m not trying to convert anyone to becoming a vegetarian or vegan or even a prescatarian, but I do think a well-informed person should be aware of how eating meat effects the panet. After all, I’ve known this since 1979 when I joined a study group that was reading Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe.

Now Ballentine Books has published a special, updated edition for the book’s 50th anniversary. Fifty years ago, the author showed us how plant-centered eating can help restore our damaged ecology, address the climate crisis, and move us toward real democracy. Just think what our world would be like if more people had taken heed back then!!