Meat Analogues, High-tech Protein, and Balancing Life, Work, and Art: Nava Atlas on PYP 457
Channel: Sick to Fit | Plant Yourself Podcast
Date: 06/04/2021

Nava Atlas' first cookbook, Vegetariana, has introduced perhaps hundreds of thousands of people to the creative possibilities of the meatless life since its publication in 1984.

Now, more than three decades later, Atlas is still combining plants, words, and art in her ongoing sacred dance of service and self-expression.

In this episode, Atlas and I talk about her most recent book, Plant-Powered Protein. 

Essentially, it's a produce-heavy Joy of Cooking featuring meat alternatives. Her goal was to help people transition not just from beef to Beyond Beef, but from a packaged and uninspired cuisine to one replete with fresh flavors and home cooked care and love.

We discussed her feelings about the high-tech meat analogues, and the whole gamut of plant-based options from tofu and tempeh to lab-grown and fermented meats. 

We compared notes about our relationship to real and fake meat from our suburban Northeastern Jewish childhoods, and how we think about including highly processed foods in our current diets.

We spoke about Atlas' art, and I got to see sneak peaks of some of her drawings of famous revolutionaries (Che Guevara, Karl Marx) that will adorn her new edition of Vegetariana. 

And we talked about classic women's literature, and how descriptions of non-vegan meals in those books really don't bother her. 

And we spoke about the accelerating pace of plant-based change in the world, from the plummeting price and increasing availability of plant-based meat analogues, to the fact that you can easily eat vegan in places like Iceland and Brazil.

Enjoy the conversation, check out Plant Powered Protein (if you don't mind lying to omnivorous loved ones, this book will come in very handy - just make sure you hide it well), and while you're at it, take a gander at Atlas' online universe at TheVeganAtlas.com.