November 27th 2007
Natalie Portman Has No Plans To Go Vegan
Acclaimed vegetarian doesn't believe it fits her lifestyle well
Filed under: animals, food & drink, green and famous, interviews, magazines — michael @ 12:57 pm
It’s easy to see why Natalie Portman is one of the more respected artists in Hollywood. The 26-year old actress not only portrays incredible characters on screen (nevermind the speed bump that was the Star Wars prequels) but also uses her power off-screen to support and promote some incredible campaigns and initiatives. The UK Observer Magazine recently sat down with the star — over a veggie lunch and tap water — to discuss her career and passion for giving back. Here are some highlights:
On not being a vegan and recycling clothing:
“She’s not a vegan, though she has been trying to phase out eggs. ‘But I don’t think I could do it. It’s really hard for traveling, especially if you want to maintain your protein levels.’ She refuses to wear leather, but will wear wool. ‘Although I don’t think I have a lot of wool clothes. And I sort of made a no-buying-anything-new rule. I just have a lot of stuff,’ she says with a tiny pout. ‘And I figured: look, if I need something, if my running shoes have holes in them and I don’t have running shoes any more, then I’ll get new ones. But you know, I have 40 T-shirts, I have 20 pairs of jeans - you get so forced into believing [that you need all this stuff]. Maybe it’s a New York thing.’”
On selecting FINCA as her charity of choice:
“‘Well, yeah, because I wanna do something meaningful. They ask you to do 4,000 charity things a year and all of them are worthy. But I don’t think you can really make an impact unless you do [just] one thing and really devote yourself. And it’s been important to me.’”
On the environment:
‘There’s this book I love called The Future of Life by EO Wilson, about the environment. It’s basically aimed at business people who just think about infinite possibilities, infinite expansion - but the earth is limited! It’s very short term to think we can just accumulate and make as much as we can. If you wanna think longer-term economically, there are better ways.’
For the full (and wonderfully long interview), jump here.
VegNews should revoke her Favorite Vegetarian win. She is obviously not committed to the veg lifestyle.
I don’t know if I would go that far. She’s still a vegetarian, right? As far as I’m concerned, she’s quite deserving of the award…
[In response to Christy]
Just because someone doesn’t get it right every time doesn’t mean they aren’t something.
She is still a vegetarian and doing her best, better then Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan.
So who would you rather feature Ms. Portman or twice-divorced Mrs. Spears?
What a ridiculously misleading and insulting headline.
Why is it insulting? I didn’t intend it to be if that’s the case. Is she going to go vegan soon? Does she not say why it is difficult for her to consider the option?
It’s pretty cool she’s phasing out eggs, since most eggs come from factory farms where hens are kept in cages so tiny they can’t even spread their wings.
Ms. Portman is living in the dark ages of nutrition when the meat and dairy
industries controlled the food pyramids and promoted meat, meat, meat and
protein, protein, protein. Thank goodness, that influence is being countered by modern scientific evidence to the contrary.
In fact, it is animal protein that is unhealthy.
“The China Study” is one of the largest studies ever done on this issue.
http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html
“For more than 40 years, T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. has been at the forefront of nutrition research. His legacy, the China Study, is the most
comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted…The study was the culmination of a 20-year partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive
Medicine.
“Although it was ‘heretical’ to say that protein wasn’t healthy, he started
an in-depth study into the role of nutrition, especially protein, in the
cause of cancer.”
“The research project culminated in a 20-year partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, a survey of diseases and lifestyle factors in rural China and Taiwan. More commonly known as the China Study, ‘this project eventually produced more than 8000 statistically significant associations between various dietary factors and disease.’
“The findings? ‘People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease . People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored,’ said Dr. Campbell.”
“…the lower the percentage of animal-based foods that are consumed, the
greater the health benefits — even when that percentage declines from 10% to 0% of calories.”
Vegans –lacking protein or energy allegedly supplied by animal protein? That’s simply false.
There are hundreds of top level athletes -even Olympians- who are vegetarian or vegan.
“Olympian of the Century” track star Carl Lewis, tennis champions Martina
Navratilova and Billie Jean King, cricket star Anil Kumble, Mr.
International bodybuilder Andreas Cahling, Heisman trophy winner Desmond
Howard, Debbie lawrence Olympic race-walker, four time Mr. Universe Bill
Pearl, 4-time Olympic gold medalist Al Oerter, WBC World Middleweight
Champion Keith Holmes…and Dave Scott, six-time Ironman triathlon winner,
to name but a few.
And finally, two-time winner of the most grueling ultramarathon on earth is vegan Scott Jurek.
This from a popular running magazine. I do not remember the writer’s name:
“Starting in Badwater in Death Valley and stretching 135 miles, the Badwater
Ultramarathon is known as “the most demanding and extreme running race
offered anywhere on the planet.” It covers 135 miles, nonstop across three
mountain ranges, from Death Valley to Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in
the Lower 48. It is five marathons back-to-back with another three miles
tacked on to the end.”
Scott also won the Badwater last year. Here’d his bio:
“On his own journey towards optimal health, Scott began transitioning to a
vegetarian whole foods diet in 1997, while competing in several ultra trail
races per year. In 1999, he adopted a vegan diet out of further health and
environmental concerns. Scott continues to fuel his body on completely vegan
diet while competing in 10-12 ultramarathons per year in addition to his rigorous training schedule. All seven of his consecutive wins at the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run were performed on vegan fuel.”
Great information Word Star! Thanks!! Let’s hope Natalie picks this up. It’s like the dairy industry saying that we need milk for calcium.
It’s easy to maintain protein levels while traveling and eating vegetarian or vegan. I really don’t understand why their would be any reduction in protein. http://www.pcrm.org
Hell yes Word Star!! Rock it solid for all the vegans in the house!
I am so thrilled to see so many pro-vegan comments including educated ones!!!! So nice for a change.
Michael,
Milk as a dietary need is just another myth perpetuated by the dairy industry.
Dr. Frank Oski, former director of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University
said, “There is no reason to drink cow’s milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, it was not designed for humans, and we should all stop drinking it today, this afternoon.”
Dr. Spock agreed, saying, “[T]here was a time when cow’s milk was considered
very desirable. But research, along with clinical experience, has forced
doctors and nutritionists to rethink this recommendation.”
And even The World Health Organization (WHO) says that western nations that consume a lot of meat/dairy have the highest levels of osteoporosis, which is caused by eating a lot of animal protein…fracture risk has recently been shown to be a function of protein intake in North American women.” Anyone concerned about osteoporosis should read the WHO reprot on calcium and dairy intake here: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/9241546123_chap4.pdf
Come on, Natalie, it should be even easier for you to go vegan than it is for the average person. See, for example:
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2003issue1/vj2003issue1quick.htm
and:
http://www.vegsandiego.com/veg/8/Veganism_on_a_Budget.htm
and:
http://www.soystache.com/vegantravel.htm
and nix the wool.
it is good that ms portman is at least conscious of her paterns of consumption. if we could help her clear up some of her misconceptions about protein maybe we could win her over to veganism. as far as vegnews, it is always slippery to rely on celebrities to promote veganism. many celebs have conflicting accounts of their veganism, or end up renouncing it like drew barrymore. having nathalie on the cover probably helps sell more issues of a magazine, but might not be the best way to convince people to go vegan.
Michael,
The headline insults the reader by being so misleading, as if this whole article was about that one topic, when in fact it was just a small element of a broader interview. I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less than provocative headlines from a site called Ecorazzi, though. My bad.
I am glad to see the matter of her veg status cleared up, though. A lot of people thought she was vegan, and statements made in the past were never denied or clarified by her, so this is the first time I’ve seen an indication that she is not actually vegan.
[…] SOURCE […]
Why didn’t VegNews pick an actual vegan who is committed to the same principles as the magazine, like Alicia Silverstone?
I was reading this morning that having too much calcium in your diet can actually lead to dementia and depression. Scary stuff.
Why the mention of wool? Sheep would shed wool even if people didn’t shear it, and I haven’t heard any mention of inhumane methods used in its production. Is this because animal cruelty in the meat and dairy industries garners more attention?
[…] comes as no surprise that Portman would consider entering this arena. The actress, though herself not a vegan in the food sense, has long made it a rule to purchase fashion that does not come from animals. […]
Elora, the wool industry is not any less cruel than leather. Have you heard of “mulesing”? On the farms, the sheared sheep often get folds of their skin cut off in order to repel maggots and flies.
http://www.vegsource.com/jo/qa/qawool.htm
Hey everyone! As i understand this is a totally vegan page..but i myself am not vegan, but vegeterian.Seriously, i don’t know where you all leave, probably in America or smth like that, you should recognize the fact that it is really hard to be vegan in some parts of the world.i mean, i live in Estonia…i think there is only one meat-free reastaurant in here, and even that is for vegeterians
[…] lifestyle when it comes to fashion sense (no products made from animals), she’s admitted that she’s not quite there on the food side of things. Which makes this quote from the shoe site all the more puzzling: “As a vegan, […]
[…] veganism (not be confused with Jerry Mcguire’s “Ambassador of Quan”) makes sense. As we mentioned earlier, Portman did not originally consider going vegan with food (she’s long been against buying […]