Welcome to Nourished Elephant!

I’m Jo Dreaver. I started this blog to try and share as much information as I can about how awesome plants are. I’ve been eating plant-based for nearly seven years and it has become normal for me and my family. I understand though, that it is very far from normal for most of you out there. I have found it to be such a positive, healthy way to live and have also leant so much about how our eating habits profoundly impact the planet and our health. As the mother of a toddler I really felt the need to share this information. If we want the planet to remain stable for our children, and our children to be healthy, change needs to happen. Here comes the good news - it is super easy to help change the world, you can do it three times a day with what you choose to put on your plate!

I also see so many people around me struggling with their weight and health, when it really doesn’t need to be that hard or complicated. A plant-based diet can prevent and even reverse many of the lifestyle diseases that plague our modern culture - heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity and even some cancers.

Here are some current facts about health, the planet’s health and the farming of animals for food:

Health:

In NZ almost 1 in 3 adults are obese and a further 1 in 3 are overweight.

Almost a third of children are overweight or obese.

NZ is in the top 3 fattest countries in the world, only behind USA and Mexico.

Obesity in adults is associated with many health conditions- Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and reproductive abnormalities.

The Planet:

Animal agriculture is responsible for 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions - this is more than all of transport combined which contributes 13%.

91% of Amazon rain forest destruction is the result of animal agriculture (it is currently being cleared at the rate of 1-2 acres per second).

Trawling and dredging of the Ocean affects an area 150 times greater than the global area of forest that is clear cut each year.

The Animals:

Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year and this does not include fish whose deaths are so large they are measured in tonnes.

56 billion animals.

3000 animals are killed every second in slaughter houses.

In a nutshell, our current way of eating and living is not working and is not sustainable, especially as the population of the planet increases. The environmental statistics can be overwhelming but part of the solution is right in front of us. And it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If everyone ate more plants and less animals, the benefits all around would be substantial. That’s why I’ve chosen to use the term plant-based over vegan as it has a lot less negative connotations attached to it and is hopefully open and welcoming. The aim is to eat more plants and not put a label on, or exclude, anyone.

And then we come to the elephant in the room, do we need to eat animals and animal products to be healthy? The answer is - definitely not! We can get everything we need from plants and most of the time the quality of nutrition is superior and doesn’t come with things like cholesterol and hormones which are in all animal products. There is also active campaigns of mis-information going on to confuse people about what is healthy as large animal based industries are threatened by change. Stay turned for future blog posts to learn more!

And why the name ‘Nourished Elephant’? I feel there needs to be a shift away from the current intense focus on calories and macro nutrients (protein, fats, carbohydrates) and movement towards nourishment. How often do you sit down to a meal and consider how it will actually nourish your body? Plants contain macro nutrients (yes, even protein!), fibre, and also hundreds, if not thousands, of micro nutrients and phytochemicals. These components nurture and nourish our bodies to optimum health, the body is capable of amazing things when it is being well nourished. And Elephants became my favourite animal after I experienced an amazing day at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand and they are also the strongest land animal on the planet. And guess what? They only eat plants!

I’ve created this blog to share my experiences, helpful resources and practical information about how to live more plant-based. I’m also utterly hopeless in the kitchen so will share great recipes and books I’ve discovered. Plant-based recipes tend to be simple and delicious (even with someone like me cooking!). It doesn’t have to be all superfoods and obscure ingredients - apples, bananas and potatoes are super foods too! I’ll also aim to keep it short, this page has got away on me as I have so much I want to share but I understand how precious few minutes there are spare in a day in between kids, jobs, pets, family and life in general.

Thanks for taking the time to join me - lets save the world one potato at a time!