“From a very young age, I loved animals,” Goodall tells Parade.com. “Amazingly, I was given the opportunity to live with and learn from the being most like us—the chimpanzee. As I got to know them, similarities in chimp and human behavior were striking.” Her love for animals and desire to learn and understand the emotions and intellect of wild chimpanzees has made her one of the most beloved primatologists and anthropologists of our time. In fact, she was the subject of the 2017 National Geographic documentary film, Jane, which provides a deep look into her early years of research in Tanzania and reveals a trove of never-before-seen footage. The founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots youth empowered movement has authored multiple books over the decades, including children’s books and even a recent cookbook, #EATMEATLESS: Good for Animals, the Earth & All. Goodall sat down with Parade.com to discuss her new vegetarian cookbook and the importance of incorporating vegetarian meals into our daily routines.
How have your studies of wild chimpanzees shaped human understanding of animal intelligence and emotions?
From a very young age, I loved animals. Amazingly, I was given the opportunity to live with and learn from the being most like us—the chimpanzee. As I got to know them, similarities in chimp and human behavior were striking—at the same time, scientists were discovering even more similarities in biology—such as the fact that there is only just over 1.4% difference in the structure of our DNA. Yet when I got to Cambridge University to work for a Ph.D.—even though I had never been to college—I was told that there was a difference in kind between humans and all other animals. I should not have given the chimps names— numbering them was more scientific. I could not talk about personality, mind, or emotion in chimps—those were confined to the human species. Luckily, my childhood teacher had taught me that in this respect, the learned professors were quite wrong. That teacher was my dog, Rusty. Today, science admits we are NOT the only beings on the planet with personalities, minds and emotions. We are part of and not separated from the rest of the amazing animal kingdom.
How have your observations and research of chimpanzees influenced your thoughts on plant-based diets and eating?
Chimpanzees hunt various animal species. They are, in fact, similar to human hunter-gatherer societies. But because of their many biological and behavioral similarities to us, they helped people to understand that other animals feel fear and pain. And knowing that cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, geese, fish are all sentient beings is influencing many people to turn to a plant-based diet—or at least eat only meat from animals that have been raised and slaughtered in humane conditions.
What one thing can we all do (or do better) to protect the Earth and the environment?
It will significantly help the environment if we stop eating so much meat. Or become vegetarian. Or even vegan. Why? Today, billions of domestic animals are raised in the horrific and very cruel conditions of industrial animal agriculture—factory farms. And it is not only the suffering of the animals that is of concern: huge areas of habitat are needed to grow the grain to feed the animals, or for grazing, much water (increasingly scarce in many parts of the world) is needed to change vegetable to animal protein, masses of fossil fuel is needed for the huge machines that do the work, large amounts of pesticides and herbicides lead to the destruction of the soil and loss of biodiversity, and to get the grain to the animals, the animals to slaughter and meat to the table. During digestion, these billions of animals, especially cattle, produce methane gas—a very virulent greenhouse gas. And the greenhouse gases are responsible for trapping the heat of the sun, leading to warming of the Earth and changed weather patterns.
You’ve authored many books including children’s books. Why is the Jane Goodall Institute working on this cookbook now? What was the motivation?
To help people understand the devastating consequences of more and more people eating more and more meat—including fish and animal products, especially milk and eggs—and that meat-less food is not only better for animals and environment, but also for our own health. The recipes in the book have been tasted by very many people. They are delicious, and they make you feel not only healthier but better about your relationship with the planet.
Why should people adopt a plant-based, sustainable lifestyle?
[Plant-based meals] are delicious, nutritious, and better for our health and that of the planet.
How has the world changed since your first days studying chimpanzees at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania?
The world has changed for the worse. We are faced with the climate crisis and the sixth great extinction of plant and animal life. In 1960, Gombe was part of the great forest that stretched more or less unbroken across equatorial Africa. By the late 1980s, it was a small island of forest surrounded by bare hills. The growing human population had cut down the trees in a desperate effort to find land to grow more food for their families or make money from charcoal. By that time many animal and plant species had already become extinct. We had polluted land, water and air, destroyed forests, polluted rivers and oceans, and created a blanket of greenhouse gases around the planet. But at least more and more people have become aware of the harm we have inflicted, and the current pandemic is forcing ever more to understand that we brought this on ourselves by our disrespect of animals and the environment, and that we need to develop a new and sustainable relationship with the natural world and its finite natural resources, that unlimited economic development on a planet with finite natural resources is not possible, and that we must develop a new and sustainable economy. Now it is up to us to create a better post-COVID world.
What advice has helped you in your journey to becoming an advocate and changemaker?
I wanted to go to Africa and live with and write books about wild animals when I was 10 years old. Everyone laughed at me—not possible as we had no money, Africa was mostly unknown, and I was just a girl. But my mother told me that if I worked really hard and took advantage of every opportunity, and if I never gave up, I might find a way. That is the advice I give young people, especially from disadvantaged communities, all around the world. And very many have said or written, “Thank you, Jane. You taught me that because you did it, I can do it too.”
Before the pandemic and travel restrictions, I believe you still traveled quite a bit throughout the year. Do you ever plan to slow down? Or is there still so much to do?
How can I slow down when, as I move ever closer to 90 years old (87 this April!) I obviously have less time on planet Earth, and there’s so much to do?!
#EATMEATLESS: Good for Animals, the Earth & All by Jane Goodall is out now and Parade.com has two recipes from her book for you to try! Recipe: Jane Goodall’s Healthy Carrot, Olive and Almond Salad Recipe: Jane Goodall’s Banana Pancakes With Seasonal Fruit Syrup
