The Key to Health and Happiness
Growing up as a vegetarian, I consider myself lucky. Honestly, I had no idea what it was like to eat meat. My family followed the Jain Religion, so we believe in leaving less of a carbon foot print in the world.
For centuries religious and scientific theories have come and gone. But the necessity of a healthy diet has always remained a constant. Many people today still argue that meat has more protein value compared to a vegetarian diet. However, research shows that eating healthy is vital for all us.
We are surrounded by an abundance of food. Our supermarket culture is growing so we have plenty of food but we still find ourselves nutritionally poor. We have lost our way to healthy living. Even though vegetarian food sounds whole, healthy and fresh, one still needs to take care when making food choices. We should watch our eating habits. The body should be provided with healthy and wholesome foods, pure and untainted by blood or negative vibrations. We should feed our body with those foods which involves minimum violence.
There are three categories of vegetarian diet one can adopt:
- Lacto-ova vegetarians eat milk, dairy and eggs
- Lacto vegetarians eat milk and dairy, but no eggs
- Vegans eat no milk or eggs and not even honey
Parshpar Graho Jivanam
ALL LIVING THINGS ARE CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER BY INTERDEPENDENCE
This universe is made of two things: Living and Non-living. All life is bound together by mutual support and interdependence. One who neglects the existence of the elements, earth, air, fire, water and vegetation disregards his own existence. We should not harm and kill other living things for our own greed and possession. All lives are interconnected so if we harm ONE we harm All Living beings thus it creating an imbalance in the environment.
These are ancient statements from the Jain Religion, but they still influence the modern science of ecology and the concept of a green world. This philosophy is refreshing, contemporary, and promising.
Our industry has been so successful that today meat costs more than vegetable dishes in restaurants. According to PETA, one American over a lifetime consumes 21,000 animals.
I am happy to see changes around us. Celebrities are beginning to realize the implications of consuming so much meat and are trying to improve the numbers. Many are beginning to eat less meat and call themselves Flexitarians. Famous chefs Mario Batali is among them. He now offers more vegetarian portions and has started Meatless Mondays. He is also planning to open strictly vegetarian restaurants. More and more celebrities like Paul McCartney are going for green. PETA is a great example of an organization trying to get people to eat less meat.
You may ask why kill vegetables? A big argument always rises. A person has to kill so many vegetables to be well fed, but could feed many people with only one animal.
It is not only harmful to your health and the environment, but it is also pretty boring to cook meat alone. Veggies have more natural flavor plus healthy nutrients and anti-oxidants. For anyone who has seen animals suffer, this is a glimmer of hope to reduce their suffering.
