I am extremely thankful that no human deaths have resulted from the massive beef recall now underway in Canada, due to E. coli.  I’m pleased for the affected individuals who are recovering, and I’m grateful for the sake of their families and others involved.  But I’m also happy because I wouldn’t want to benefit from misfortune to others.

Because the fact is that the beef recall has suddenly made me popular, and provided a large amount of publicity for the ideas in my new book High Steaks: Why and How to Eat Less Meat.  In less than two weeks, I have been a guest on no less than 10 radio programs, talking with news anchors, talk-show hosts, and listeners about how we can make livestock production and meat consumption better for the planet and better for ourselves.  Just this morning I appeared as the guest speaker on three radio shows in Calgary, Orillia, and Kelowna.  My book has been featured in the Vancouver Sun and on Global Television news, and I have yet more interviews upcoming. Journalists and citizens want to know how we can eat, and how we can act, to keep our food safe.

I’ve enjoyed these opportunities because they’ve given me the chance to emphasize that solutions exist to the environmental and health problems of modern meat production and consumption — and that all of us, from meat-eaters to vegans, can contribute to better food systems including for animal products.  We can do this by moderating our intake of animal products, finding sustainable and healthy sources of meat and dairy and paying more for them, and encouraging our governments to support sustainable producers.

So there have been no fatalities from the contaminations.  Nor have there (so far) been any fatalities from stampedes to bookstores to purchase High Steaks.  But I’m honoured to have the opportunity to share the ideas.  Here’s one of the radio interviews I did, with CBC’s Stephen Quinn.  www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/British+Columbia/On+The+Coast/ID/2286187054/