2019-09-01 Forks Over Knives

No one should have to get through an eight-hour fl ight on peanuts and
potato chips alone: That’s the guiding principle behind FlyVegan, a new

website from the Humane Society International and the Vegan Society.
Dubbed FlyVe for short, the site invites users to rate in-fl ight vegan fare

on criteria such as price, quality, and selection.
Interest in plant-based eating is at an all-time high, with more and more

major restaurant chains adding vegan options to keep up with demand.
With FlyVe, consumers can show airlines that it’s time to follow suit. See

how your go-to airlines rate and submit your own reviews at fl yvegan.org.

—Courtney Davison

Doing the Math

Nebraska-based

actuary Ken

Beckman calculates

health insurance

premiums for a

living, but it wasn’t

until he watched

Forks Over Knives

that he made the

connection between

poor nutrition and

the rise of costly

chronic illnesses. Beckman

switched to a plant-based diet

overnight. Then he spearheaded a

project to mail copies of the fi lm

to 500 of his company’s

policyholders.

“We knew many of our

policyholders were struggling with

serious chronic conditions and

had been told there was nothing

they could do other than to take

medications the rest of their life,”

Beckman says.

Along with the DVD, each

package contained an off er for a

free copy of Dr. Caldwell

Esselstyn’s book Prevent and

Reverse Heart Disease. A follow-up

survey one year later found that

80 percent of the policyholders

who had both watched the fi lm and

requested the book had changed

their eating habits. They’d also fi led

fewer medical claims than other

policyholders.

Encouraged, Beckman and other

like-minded actuaries formed

Actuaries for Sustainable Health

Care, an international association

that aims to change the health care

system. “As actuaries, we have the

ability to develop fi nancial

incentives for health care providers

to discuss with patients plant-

based nutrition as medical

treatment on an equal playing fi eld

with drugs and procedures,”

Beckman says.

—Tami Fertig

Chronic

illnesses

are the

nation’s

leading

cause of

death and

disability

and account

for 90%

of the

$3.3 trillion

spent

annually on

health care.

Source: Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention

This October, Ken Beckman is helping

to organize Healthy for a Lifetime, an

event in Omaha featuring whole-food,

plant-based pioneers Dr. Caldwell

Esselstyn and Dr. T. Colin Campbell.

For info, visit healthyforalifetime.org.

ON OUR RADAR:

plant-based flyers

unite

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