I first began thinking about what food I was putting in my body about 5 years ago when my father was dying of cancer. His doctors had prescribed a strictly plant based diet to compliment their rigorous regimen of poisonous medicine used to fight his disease. Since he had colon cancer, we can be sure that diet played a large role in contracting "the big C" in the first place. And my dad would be the first to admit that his lifestyle was tremendously unhealthy--he ate a steady diet of donuts, soda and candy bars, chased by red meat and what ever the "roach coach" was serving at his job site. He loved bbq meat, dried meat, cured meat, lunch meat, meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meat from cows, chickens, turkeys, pigs, lambs, deer, bear. You name it, he loved it, and he put little thought into what it was doing to his body. Even with imminent death staring him in the face, he could not give up meat.
After my father died, and for the next three years or so, I convinced myself that I was healthy because I had completely cut out red meat. I ate few carbs, kept sugar to a minimum and drank eight glasses of water a day. The meat I did eat was lean and a good source of protein. I was in great shape, and had no reason to change my routine. I often thought of the doctors' recommendation to my father to eat a plant based diet, but concluded that it was an extreme choice for me given how young and healthy I was. The amount of meat I consumed seemed appropriate for my activity level, and at the time, the most important factor in choosing my diet was my appearance, not health. And I certainly had never considered the moral implications of the food I consumed. My relationship with food was based solely on the effect it would have on my looks.
In early 2011, as I was preparing for my trip to India, the connection between God, meditation and diet began to open up to me. I had immersed myself in Hindu culture and learned that strict Hindus practice vegetarianism, so going meatless for the trip seemed appropriate. I found that it improved my meditation, and I soon lost my craving for meat altogether. It was complimentary to the yogi lifestyle I was adopting, and made me feel calm and peaceful. I lost weight, my skin looked fantastic and I had a new found inner serenity. From the beginning I was sold. After the month was up, and my goal was achieved, I had the freedom to return to a meat based diet, but not the desire. I began understanding the global impact of eating a vegetarian diet. And just as important, I was homing in on the very profound reasons why I not only preferred this lifestyle but have a responsibility to it. My reasons for being a vegetarian can be broken down into three categories: Health, Ethics and Spirituality.
I don't think I need to spend a lot of time discussing the reasons to eat a vegetarian diet from a medical point of view. It is well known that people who eat a meat based diet are 20 times more likely to contract heart disease and cancer--both of which are very prevalent in my family's medical history. Another health risk associated with eating meat, and not often discussed, are the antibiotics given to the animals to prevent infections, and hormones that are fed to them to make them bigger. The animals are kept in such unsanitary conditions, and are at such risk of developing infections that they are loaded with antibiotics which we then consume when we ingest their meat. Our bodies develop a resistance to these antibiotics so when we become sick and need the drugs, they are ineffective. Ingesting meat with hormones that we do not need can also cause our bodies harm. Over-secretion of estrogen has been linked to cancer in women, and over-secretion of adrenaline has been linked to heart disease in everyone. Not to mention meat has more calories, more cholesterol, and more sodium than non meat based foods.
The ecological reasons behind choosing a meat free diet, were much more surprising to me. Here are some facts for you to chew on:
- It takes 16 pounds of wheat to produce one pound of meat. This wheat is fed to the cows who are later killed for their meat. However, it takes only one pound of wheat to produce one pound of bread. So if we use our wheat to produce bread rather than feed it to cows in order to make hamburgers, we could feed sixteen times as many people.
- An acre of land can grow 40,000 pounds of potatoes. That same acre can provide less than 250 pounds of beef if it is used to grow cattle feed.
- If everyone were to reduce their intake of meat by 10% (this means they would still eat 90% as much meat as they do now) we could feed every one of the 50,000 people who die of starvation daily.
- Every day 40,000 children die of starvation. Every day the US produces enough grain to provide every person on earth with two loaves of bread.
- Globally, cows raised for meat and dairy spew more greenhouse gasses into the air than all of the cars currently on the road.
- Since 1967, one acre of American forests is destroyed every five seconds in order to become grazing land for animals that will become man's dinner. If this trend continues, this beautiful country will be stripped bare of all its forests in 50 years.
- Meat costs ten times as much to produce as wheat.
- The production of one pound of beef takes 2,500 gallons of water. The production of wheat takes 25 gallons of water.
Why are we wasting resources we cannot afford to waste and selfishly ignoring those who suffer when we have the responsibility and ability to help.
The connection between spirituality and food was one I had never made. I assumed that I was at the top of the food chain and therefore had the right to eat whatever I pleased. It was easy for me to go to the grocery store and purchase meat in clean packages, labeled veal, poultry, mutton, pork, beef, etc, and deceive myself into thinking that this food was not once a living creature. It is easy to forget that the hamburger patty between two sesame buns was once someone's child, mother, sister, etc. We ignore animals' capacity for pain and fear which they endure throughout their lives as they are separated from their mothers, forced into cramped, unsanitary conditions, beaten, chained, force fed, until they are finally slaughtered and shipped to a store for us to buy, cook and eat. It makes no more sense for me to eat a pig than it does to eat my pet cat. They both feel pain, pleasure, fear, loneliness, frustration and motherly love. I have a moral obligation to take this into consideration before making the choice to be complicit in their murder.
When I began my month as a vegetarian, I had no idea that it would become a permanent lifestyle choice. Two years later I am still a strict vegetarian, and a much more informed human being. My choice has no doubt had a long term impact on my health, my karma, and Mother Earth as a whole. I have no plans to ever return to a meat based diet, and in fact, pledged my commitment to eat meat free for my guru Swamiji Chidinand Saraswati's 60th birthday. While I admit it is at times difficult to find enough good sources of lean protein, and create enough variety in my dishes, I do not have any craving for meat. I look great in my skinny jeans, I'm reducing my risk of cancer, and I'm helping the planet. While this lifestyle works for me, and I enjoy it, I in no way wish to force it on others. My boyfriend and son, still enjoy their meat, but both have reduced their consumption of animal products by at least 50% simply because I have introduced more veggie options.
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