Any thoughts on this book? I'm looking at buying it. We live in Boulder, and the city is VERY health concious, so finding the whole and natural foods is easy. We aren't looking to go vegan, but are definitely open to the recipes and style.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've had the book for two months now and haven't read it. I did see that some of the recipes have obscure ingredients, so you might want to check them out first and see if overall you're able to make enough of the recipes to make it worthwhile. If you don't get much response here, I'll move the thread to the Vegetarian forum, where there might be more readers.

I read it and I think if you are unfamiliar with the reasons for being vegan/macrobiotic then it might be a good book to read. Otherwise, I'd recommend reading "The Hip Chicks Guide to Macrobiotics" whose author is the unnamed co-author of "The Kind Diet". You might be able to find one or both in your local library. Not only does "The Kind Diet" recommend a vegan diet but it recommends a specific form of one which is macrobiotics, which is more of a Japanese/asian style diet.

The one thing Alicia spells out that might be useful is different 'phases' of veganism. The first phase is actually full of what I'd call 'junk food'. I've been vegan for 2 years and many of the things she recommended in the first phase, I would never eat. It is really meant for those that are eating a junky diet already. The second phase is a more moderate/quasi macrobiotic diet removing the junky foods of the first phase. The third phase is a full macrobiotic diet.

The book I would recommend for someone looking for a more whole food type vegan diet would be "Eat to Live". "The China Study" is also a good book to read. I really did like reading "The Hip Chicks guide to Macrobiotics" so I do recommend reading it but just be aware that it just one form of veganism.