Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life

fuel than was used to produce it. This is logical, yet the processing of fuel sources is a tremendous energy draw, so much so that there is not always net energy gain. Some alternatives that have been experimented with have experienced a net loss, not making them a viable alternative.
     
    Food production, processing, and delivery are the greatest threats to environmental health.
     
     
    Many experts believe that the production of food uses more energy than it returns. One report suggests that for every 10 calories of fossil fuel energy burned in food production, only 1 calorie of food energy is produced. This has many food producers and environmentalists concerned. If food production uses more energy than it produces, it is only a matter of time before resources, namely fossil fuels, run dry. And aside from the possibility of a shortage of fossil fuel, its conversion to energy creates pollution. This study, however, is based on standard agriculture, which includes the raising of animals for food—making this type of agriculture up to 30 percent less efficient than plant-based crop production. The latter is still a strain on resources, but a considerably smaller one. Each time a plant-based meal is eaten instead of a meat-containing one, fewer resources are being consumed. By following the Thrive Diet, you will be helping reduce oil usage simply by consuming foods that require less energy to produce.
     
    Scientists agree that until a new, clean source of high net-gain energy is found, each of us can make a substantial difference by reducing our dependence on oil. Since food production is the largest energy draw in North America, it’s also the best place to start: Less processing is better not just from a health standpoint but from an environmental standpoint. The first and easiest way to do this is to simply reduce the number of steps involved in the production of food—from the time it’s planted to the time you take a bite. If more milling, heating, and refining are required before food is consumable, more energy will have gone into its production.
     
    Another major consideration in any such discussion of energy conservation is the shift of energy. Each time energy is transferred from one form to another, there is great loss: Energy transfer is extremely inefficient. Throughout our ecosystem, energy is transferred from plant to herbivore to carnivore. With each transaction, a large amount of that form of energy dissipates. It is estimated that each transfer is only about 5 to 20 percent efficient, meaning that 80 to 95 percent of the energy is lost to the environment, mostly as heat. This means that if a person eats a plant, depending on its digestibility and net gain, up to only about 20 percent of the energy within that plant will be passed on to the person to use as fuel or rebuild body tissue. If an animal were to eat the plant, a similar energy loss would take place. If a human were to then eat that animal, another 80 to 95 percent of the energy will be lost. Therefore, feeding plants to animals, only to then eat the animal, is not energy efficient. The draw on oil to fuel those extra steps is significant. In fact, the amount of oil North Americans consume could be reduced by up to 30 percent if we were all to eat an energy-efficient diet.
     

protein production: a significant environmental strain
     
    Traditionally, protein-rich foods have taken the most resources to produce, requiring the most land, the most water, and the most energy. Traditional protein-rich crops consist of animal products: meat and milk. Land must be used to grow the food to feed the animal, and pasture land is needed to raise the animal. From there, the processing and distribution of animal products are labor (therefore energy) intensive.
     
    Most standard crops, such as wheat and corn, produce very little protein. What is needed is a plant with a high protein content, enabling it to be fed directly to humans without having to pass through numerous energy-intensive steps to convert it to a reliable form of protein. Fortunately, that plant does exist: hemp. Hemp is both nutritionally and environmentally superior to most plants. Its seed, of which approximately 35 percent is protein, delivers numerous nutrients. And unlike many crops, hemp can be grown in both hot and cold climates. Because it grows much faster than many traditional crops, the harvesting cycle of hemp is shorter, allowing more to be produced in the same amount