
Orthodox Health Beyond ‘Vegan’: Fake Meats, Food 2.0, & Technocratic Fasting w/ Nick Hillman (Regenerative Ag So
Lab-grown “meat.” Cricket protein bars. Impossible burgers at the grocery store.
The world is loudly preaching a new gospel of “ethical,” “sustainable,” plant-based everything... while the same foundations & corporations that built chemical agriculture now tell us the “Future of Food” is bugs, bioreactors, & patented pea protein.
In this Nativity-season episode, Dr. Mike & John welcome back Nick Hillman (regenerative farmer & Orthodox Christian) to go beyond vegan "certified" & ask deeper questions:
- What happens when fasting stops being an ascetic practice of the Church… &becomes a top-down technocratic diet plan?
- How do fake meats, GMOs, lab-grown protein, &insect foods shape our metabolism, microbiome, & souls?
- And how can Orthodox Christians fast on real food... roots, fruits, properly-prepared beans & grains... without going broke or insane?
Building on last week’s episode with Fr. Jonathan Ivanoff on St. Nicholas & almsgiving, we contrast true Christ-centered fasting with a “Future of Food” that increasingly treats food as a lever of control instead of a gift to be received in thanksgiving.
Then we land in the parish kitchen: simple swaps, realistic rhythms, & concrete family- & parish-level steps to take back the future of food at the table you actually sit at.
Key Takeaways:
- Fasting is medicine, not a metric. Orthodox fasting is a healing discipline ordered toward repentance, love, & communion with God... not a carbon-credit diet handed down by technocrats.
- Fake meats are still fake food. Plant-based burgers & vegan nuggets may be “meat-free,” but their ultra-processed ingredients often drive blood sugar swings, inflammation, & cravings... undermining the very health they promise.
- Who controls your food controls your options. When a handful of foundations, corporations, & agencies own the land, seeds, supply chains, & “alt protein” IP, food shifts from gift to leverage.
- GMOs & chemicals hit the gut first. Even before we argue ideology, industrial crops & heavy pesticide use are damaging the microbiome, liver, & immune systems of entire populations.
- Real fasting can be simple & everyday-friendly. You don’t need boutique products to fast well: fruits, beans, lentils, potatoes, rice, & frozen vegetables can form a nutrient-dense fasting table for ordinary families.
- Change happens at the family & parish tables. We may not be able to personally redesign global agriculture, but we can choose more real foods at home, support real farms, & build small parish-scale practices of shared cooking & almsgiving.
Chapters:
00:00 Opener
01:30 Introduction to Food 2.0 & Fasting
09:37 Nick Hillman Reintroduction
13:46 Orthodox Fasting Vs. Technocratic Fasting
17:24 How Does the Small Farmer Stand Up to BigAg?
22:56 What Can We Learn from Food 2.0?
29:21 The Consequences of Modern Food Systems
31:24 The Truth About Glyphosate
34:26 The Alarming Reality of 3D-Printed Food
38:03 Navigating Orthodox Fasting & Food Choices
39:55 What These Lab Creations Mean for the Future of Food
45:26 The Legal & Ethical Dilemmas in Modern Farming
50:21 The Technocratic Agenda in BigAg
57:49 Reconnecting with Real Foods in the Nativity Fast
01:01:06 Practical Steps You Can Do This Week to Help Reclaim Your Food
01:03:41 The Role of Parishes in Food Systems
01:08:37 Lightning Round: Real Food vs. Fake Fasting
01:10:21 What About the Campbell's Soup Controversy?
01:17:18 Outro
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