The Authors of “America Goes Vegan” Say that Being Vegan is the Patriotic Thing to Do
Glen Merzer and Tracy Childs, the authors of the book America Goes Vegan, explain why a plant-based diet is the best hope for America and the world
Los Angeles, July 28th, 2023 — The author Glen Merzer has written a book titled America Goes Vegan: America’s Favorite Comfort Foods Made Healthy. It’s packed with 100 All-American vegan and gluten-free recipes created by Tracy Childs. She adapted America’s 100 favorite comfort foods, including burgers, wings, mac and cheese, nachos and – yes – apple pie, to make transitioning to a healthier, plant-based diet as easy as pie. These recipes are delicious and a better choice for our health and the environment.
This book was designed to show how easy it is to adopt a healthy, low-carbon-footprint, vegan diet if consumers just open their minds to the possibility. People can still eat all their favorite foods without having to sacrifice their health, the wellbeing of other sentient beings, and the environment. Books recreating plant-based versions of favorite comfort foods abound. But, this one adheres to a whole food, plant-based model, making it the optimally health choice. UnchainedTV’s Jane Velez-Mitchell interviewed both authors, and you can listen to what they had to say here:
The Patriotic Thing to Do
Originally from Bellmore, N.Y., Glen Merzer is a vegan playwright, screenwriter, and author. He began his career as a stand-up comic in San Francisco before devoting himself to playwriting. He co-authored with Howard Lyman Mad Cowboy, with Howard Lyman and Joanna Samorow-Merzer No More Bull!, and with Chef AJ Unprocessed. Merzer has written many other books, and he is also a screenwriter. This is what he said about why he co-authored American Goes Vegan:
“I wrote the book to make the case that it’s not difficult at all to go vegan. All the comfort foods that people are used to, from burgers to hot dogs to mac and cheese, Tracy Childs supplies healthy, plant-based versions of all those recipes, without oil and without sugar, so you can keep your favorite American foods.”
Merzer has an interesting take on what means to follow a vegan diet:
“This is really the patriotic thing to do. We all know the many great reasons to go vegan for your health, for the animals, for the planet, for the water, for the air, for the climate, but also for America. This is the patriotic thing to do.”
“America Goes Vegan is a blueprint for saving yourself and the planet with one easy shift. This fast-paced read feels like a fantastic adventure, filled with delicious, energizing recipes. This book gives me hope for our world.”— Jane Velez-Mitchell, NY Times bestselling author, UnchainedTV founder
Healthy food can also be Comfort Food
Tracy Childs is a health food advocate who has starred in many live cooking demos and community events with UnchainedTV. She has contributed recipes to several books, including Food is Climate and Handbook to Higher Health Consciousness. She’s a certified Nutritional Consultant and holds a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell. Tracy has taught nutrition and cooking since 2005, as a Food for Life Instructor, with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. In March 2020, she launched Tracy’s Real Foods with her husband, producing uniquely whole-food, plant-based products, and she also founded PlantDiego, a San Diego-based nonprofit to educate people in how to live a healthy, whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. She explains how her career began:
“I’ve been vegan since 1990 when there were none of these vegan products around. So, I just started looking for recipes. I’ve spent many years perfecting recipes. I always take it as a challenge to create something that mainstream people will like because, of course, that’s what we need to do. But, I always wanted to make them healthy. Get the oils out, get the processed foods out, stop using too many things like vegan butters, stuff like that.”
Childs explains why she joined Merzer to produce this new book:
“I thought about ways to create food just as tasty and just as moist and delicious as you’re used to. So, when Glen approached me about this topic, America Goes Vegan, I thought, ‘Okay, this is me. I am your American girl who has gone vegan for many, many years and I’m itching to show people how to make it easy, how to make it healthy, and how to do it.’”
“This brilliant book presents the startling facts about the foods we eat, how they affect our health, and what they are doing to our planet, and it then shows us what to do to change things in the most delicious possible way.” — Neal D. Barnard, MD, FACC, President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
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