For a long time, for Westerners, vegetarianism was just a matter of conviction or sensitivity. Today, however, numerous medical and scientific data confirm the correctness of this way of life. Let us consider some statistical data. On Earth there are 1.28 billion cattle and sheep. These animals occupy 24% of the arable land of our planet. Men burn billions of hectares of tropical forests to raise cattle in so-called "hamburger companies". Each burger costs 6 square meters of tropical forests. Animals consume between 30% and 40% of the cereals on the planet. The "cattle market" is colossal: 40 billion dollars in the United States alone, where 6.7 billion hamburgers are sold each year. The figures are simply hallucinating: meat eaters need 10 times more water and arable land than vegetarians to feed themselves. Meat causes innumerable health problems. In Western countries, meat is one of the main causes of cancer, degenerative diseases and immune deficiencies. 55% of US antibiotic production is destined to farm animals. Consuming meat therefore means being constantly subjected to the action of the drugs that have been injected into the animals. In the United States, the most frequent cause of death is myocardial infarction, which affects one person every 25 seconds! For a common American, the risk of a heart attack is 50%, for a vegetarian American this risk is reduced to only 15%, while for an American who consumes neither meat nor other animal products, the risk is only 4%. Very few people know that cholesterol problems come from a meat-based diet; cholesterol does not exist in vegetables.
The excess of cholesterol and saturated fats are brought into the body from meat, dairy products and eggs. According to studies carried out by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, the health status of vegetarians in many populations of the world is generally excellent. Most athletes who practice at a competitive level are vegetarian, and many studies have shown that physical performance is better in people who do not consume meat. About 90% of the animals bred for their meat come from industrial farms, which are real lagers for the animals. On an ecological and energy level, the "bovine civilization" represents an authentic catastrophe. Men have become like crazy beasts, intoxicated by a bulimic consumption of meat. In the West, more and more researchers have become aware of the need for an urgent change in our eating habits. Among these, numerous authors (such as: Jeremy Rifkin - "Beyond beef", Dr. Gabriel Cousens - "Spiritual nutrition", John Robbins - "The Food Revolution", Harvey Diamond - "Fit For Life") propose a new lifestyle, full of respect for our body and for that of the planet that supports us. They explain above all the fact - extremely important - that reducing by only 10% the consumption of meat in western countries, one could not only fight many diseases typical of our civilization, but also obtain the resources necessary to feed the 60 million beings who die of hunger every year.
This reduction would stop the disappearance of tropical forests - caused in large part by the deforestation generated by the growth of industrial-style animals. Let us remember that each burger costs 6 square meters of tropical forest! A slight change in our eating habits will be enough to tip the ecological balance from the positive side. Meat consumption is one of the pillars of modern materialist Western society, which conceives man as an "absolute monarch", free to dispose of animals at will. In the modern world the animal is the slave of man. But all the spiritual traditions, of all civilizations, affirm that the divine law states "not to kill". The universal order entails the man's role as an older brother of animals. When he forgets his role as a shepherd and becomes a butcher, the law of life teaches him that by sowing death and suffering around him, he will always gather death and suffering. Surely, in the not too distant future, the fact of eating mainly meat will be looked at as today cannibalism is seen: a practice that must be buried in the museum of past horrors.
Let’s learn to feed ourselves consciously
Human anatomy teaches us that man is not made to consume meat (with regard to this topic one can also consult Swami's book Sri Yukteswar - "The holy science"). The human body is designed to work with vegetable proteins. It can only occasionally bear little meat, if the excretory organs work well, but the common overloading of animal products that appears in most inhabitants of rich countries causes a weakening of the immune system that opens the door to "diseases of civilization". Let's look at how strange the situation of modern societies is, in which billions of euros are spent to find a chemical drug that kills the AIDS virus, without ever raising the question of the role of eating habits in the destruction of the immune system! From Pasteur on, it was believed that all our problems are caused by viruses and bacteria. Man has declared war on the latter. But, despite the weapons of science, peace will not reign too soon. On the contrary, the latter seems to be moving away more and more. The "warriors" of science have taken power; they shout "let’s go ahead"! without realizing that their medicines have become one of the greatest scourges of our society!
The war against diseases backfires against the man, who has become a victim of his own science. Poisoned by too much meat, milk, cheese and other foods of animal origin, he feels tired and weighed down. Then, to stimulate oneself, he consumes alcohol, coffee, tobacco, sugar, crystallized salt and all sorts of drugs, thus aggravating the intoxication of his body. Concerned, he then runs to the doctor. If this one is a classic materialistic, he will give him a diagnosis, which will demonstrate the illness of the body and prescribe him chemical medicines. If our poor intoxicated person consults a doctor who is aware of the problems of our times, the latter will explain to him that the patient is responsible for all his problems, due to the fact that he ignores the real needs of his body, and the he will say that it is absolutely necessary that he learns to manage his own state of health by himself, especially through a vegetable diet, alive and varied. Gorging themselves, the Westerner slowly commits suicide, and along with his suicide he also starves the planet. This doctor could tell the patient: "You sit in a restaurant with a steak on your plate. Imagine then that in the restaurant there are 20 people holding an empty plate. Then you become aware of the following fact: the quantity of cereals that was necessary to produce the meat you have on your plate would have made it possible to fill the plate of each of these poor hungry people”. Thus, the patient will no longer remain passive, in the hypostasis of mere consumer of medicines and medical care, but will wake up to a new free life and, supported by his medical educator, will learn to let harmony and health reign both in his life and everywhere around him. As a last reflection we should think about the following: to feed the animals that are then killed and eaten, man kills entire populations of human beings through the hunger they have to suffer, because the food that would have allowed them not to die of hunger is given to the animals. Animals that are then killed by humans and which, in turn, become the cause of death for the man who kills them. Hallucinating, but true! To conclude, I would like to draw your attention to some of the substances present in the meat of the killed animals which then arrive in the consumer’s dishes. Apart from the various drugs, preservatives, dyes etc. which are injected into the meat to "preserve" it, you must know that there are some substances present in the meat - especially two - whose name should make you think about what you eat: putrescine and cadaverine! It has also to be considered that the geniuses of the planet, and generally the leading figures, were vegetarians! Their names are famous for several reasons, but they all have something in common: they are or were vegetarians: Carl Lewis, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Sappho, Leonardo da Vinci, Voltaire, Albert Einstein, Saint Francis of Assisi, Gandhi, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Sophie Marceau, Surya Bonali, Ivan Lendl, Melanie Griffith, Nathalie Baye, Kim Basinger, Montaigne, Lamartine, Carlos Santana, Sting, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins , Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Queen Sofia of Spain, Prince Aga Khan, Marguerite Yourcenar, Zoroastro, Yehudi Menuhin ... and the list can continue with your names, in the moment in which you chose to live ...
Testimonials
• Umberto Veronesi: "A cruelty for animals and for ourselves" I have been a vegetarian since I started choosing, and mine is a choice of love, philosophy and science. Of love for animals and for life in all its forms, especially when it is helpless and cannot assert its desperate need to survive. No existence is small, none is insignificant. Eating is a form of celebration of life, and not a denial of life itself to other living beings, because they are "inferior". There is no biological difference between animals. Why then does the thought of eating our dog horrify us, but we massacre hundreds of lambs for feasting at every Easter? The philosophy of vegetarianism is non-violence and the violence to which the animals for slaughter are subjected to is brutal and cruel. The practice of slaughtering then is a repugnant ritual: the animal is stunned and then slaughtered so that death occurs by bleeding, so that its meat takes on a lighter color. For me, giving up meat is also a form of solidarity and social responsibility. In a world that is hungry, meat consumption is a huge waste: if over 820 million people suffer from hunger, it is also because most of the arable land is reserved for fodder for meat animals. Agricultural products worldwide could be sufficient to feed everyone, if they were not largely used to feed farm animals. Not to mention that excessive consumption of meat is harmful to health. The so-called "diseases of well-being" (non-insulin-dependent diabetes, atherosclerosis, obesity) affect those who indulge in abundant meals rich in animal fats, while it is shown that a diet rich in vegetables protects us and helps us to preserve our well-being. I am scientifically convinced that vegetarianism is a choice not only opportune, but mandatory. To feed a constantly growing population we will be forced to become vegetarians, returning to the bottom of our original nature. In evolutionary terms man descends from the monkey: our body is programmed precisely for the consumption of fruit, vegetables and legumes and our metabolism is like that of the orangutan that feeds on cereals and vegetables. A meat-free diet would certainly not weaken us, and would put us in harmony with the perfect natural balance of our planet. • Ettore Livini: "A carpaccio of beef pollutes more than one SUV: this is why changing diets could give us a better future". Eat salad one day a week to save the planet. In the era of the greenhouse effect, food prices skyrocketing and the North Pole melting like an icicle in the August heatwave, Paul McCartney – after solving his conjugal and property troubles - relaunches the old crusade of the vegetarian choice. Once it was a question of religion (as for the millions of Hindus who do not eat meat) or fashion. Today, he says, the problem is another: we need to guarantee a future to the world. How? Giving farewell to the steak. "Even the UN request it - the former Beatles, who for years has chosen a "green" food regime, has proclaimed - if we want to fight climate changes we must eat less meat. Maybe eliminating it from our Monday diet. And a habit to take, like going to the gym and what's more, doing good to the globe. " However, statistics and economic returns are not the only polar star that leads the growing army (especially among teenagers) of vegetarians. Utopia still resists... "What would the earth be like if no one ate meat? The first image that comes to mind is that of a planet without conflicts, "says Carmen Somaschi, president of the Italian vegetarian association. Make love and not war, as was said at the time of flower children. • Franco Battiato: "A choice of life helps the body and the mind" Paul McCartney invites the Brits not to eat meat on Monday to help the environment? Franco Battiato does not seem to be interested in such campaigns: “I am not the type who gives advice to others. Personally I am convinced that it is better not to eat meat and fish, but I do not feel like giving an advice on such a delicate field. " "I've been a vegetarian for years, I don't even remember how many. Even as a child I refused meat, I really didn't like it. Then the traditions took over and the smell of fried fish ended up hitting the senses. Later, after ten years of macrobiotic fanaticism, gradually, over time, being vegetarian has become an existential necessity. I can no longer eat something that is close to human sensitivity. "
Vegetarians in the world (millions of individuals):
• India: 375-500
• United States: 13-20
• Germany: 8
• Great Britain: 3.3
• Italy 4.3
• France 3.3
• Spain 0.7
How much it pollutes ... a steak:
• 20,000 liters of water consumed to produce a kilo of meat.
• 18% of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the farm.
• 40% (70% in the USA) of cereals grown in the world absorbed by the farm
a salad:
• 200 liters of water consumed to produce a kilo of salad.
• 1 hectare of land has a protein yield 12 times higher than the same area cultivated for animal nutrition.
• 3 million hectares of land (half of those currently cultivated) would allow vegetarian self-sufficiency for Great Britain.
Food and the greenhouse effect, percentage of contribution to greenhouse gases in the production cycle:
• 18% dairy products
• 30% red meat
• 10% chicken and fish
The excess of cholesterol and saturated fats are brought into the body from meat, dairy products and eggs. According to studies carried out by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, the health status of vegetarians in many populations of the world is generally excellent. Most athletes who practice at a competitive level are vegetarian, and many studies have shown that physical performance is better in people who do not consume meat. About 90% of the animals bred for their meat come from industrial farms, which are real lagers for the animals. On an ecological and energy level, the "bovine civilization" represents an authentic catastrophe. Men have become like crazy beasts, intoxicated by a bulimic consumption of meat. In the West, more and more researchers have become aware of the need for an urgent change in our eating habits. Among these, numerous authors (such as: Jeremy Rifkin - "Beyond beef", Dr. Gabriel Cousens - "Spiritual nutrition", John Robbins - "The Food Revolution", Harvey Diamond - "Fit For Life") propose a new lifestyle, full of respect for our body and for that of the planet that supports us. They explain above all the fact - extremely important - that reducing by only 10% the consumption of meat in western countries, one could not only fight many diseases typical of our civilization, but also obtain the resources necessary to feed the 60 million beings who die of hunger every year.
This reduction would stop the disappearance of tropical forests - caused in large part by the deforestation generated by the growth of industrial-style animals. Let us remember that each burger costs 6 square meters of tropical forest! A slight change in our eating habits will be enough to tip the ecological balance from the positive side. Meat consumption is one of the pillars of modern materialist Western society, which conceives man as an "absolute monarch", free to dispose of animals at will. In the modern world the animal is the slave of man. But all the spiritual traditions, of all civilizations, affirm that the divine law states "not to kill". The universal order entails the man's role as an older brother of animals. When he forgets his role as a shepherd and becomes a butcher, the law of life teaches him that by sowing death and suffering around him, he will always gather death and suffering. Surely, in the not too distant future, the fact of eating mainly meat will be looked at as today cannibalism is seen: a practice that must be buried in the museum of past horrors.
Let’s learn to feed ourselves consciously
Human anatomy teaches us that man is not made to consume meat (with regard to this topic one can also consult Swami's book Sri Yukteswar - "The holy science"). The human body is designed to work with vegetable proteins. It can only occasionally bear little meat, if the excretory organs work well, but the common overloading of animal products that appears in most inhabitants of rich countries causes a weakening of the immune system that opens the door to "diseases of civilization". Let's look at how strange the situation of modern societies is, in which billions of euros are spent to find a chemical drug that kills the AIDS virus, without ever raising the question of the role of eating habits in the destruction of the immune system! From Pasteur on, it was believed that all our problems are caused by viruses and bacteria. Man has declared war on the latter. But, despite the weapons of science, peace will not reign too soon. On the contrary, the latter seems to be moving away more and more. The "warriors" of science have taken power; they shout "let’s go ahead"! without realizing that their medicines have become one of the greatest scourges of our society!
The war against diseases backfires against the man, who has become a victim of his own science. Poisoned by too much meat, milk, cheese and other foods of animal origin, he feels tired and weighed down. Then, to stimulate oneself, he consumes alcohol, coffee, tobacco, sugar, crystallized salt and all sorts of drugs, thus aggravating the intoxication of his body. Concerned, he then runs to the doctor. If this one is a classic materialistic, he will give him a diagnosis, which will demonstrate the illness of the body and prescribe him chemical medicines. If our poor intoxicated person consults a doctor who is aware of the problems of our times, the latter will explain to him that the patient is responsible for all his problems, due to the fact that he ignores the real needs of his body, and the he will say that it is absolutely necessary that he learns to manage his own state of health by himself, especially through a vegetable diet, alive and varied. Gorging themselves, the Westerner slowly commits suicide, and along with his suicide he also starves the planet. This doctor could tell the patient: "You sit in a restaurant with a steak on your plate. Imagine then that in the restaurant there are 20 people holding an empty plate. Then you become aware of the following fact: the quantity of cereals that was necessary to produce the meat you have on your plate would have made it possible to fill the plate of each of these poor hungry people”. Thus, the patient will no longer remain passive, in the hypostasis of mere consumer of medicines and medical care, but will wake up to a new free life and, supported by his medical educator, will learn to let harmony and health reign both in his life and everywhere around him. As a last reflection we should think about the following: to feed the animals that are then killed and eaten, man kills entire populations of human beings through the hunger they have to suffer, because the food that would have allowed them not to die of hunger is given to the animals. Animals that are then killed by humans and which, in turn, become the cause of death for the man who kills them. Hallucinating, but true! To conclude, I would like to draw your attention to some of the substances present in the meat of the killed animals which then arrive in the consumer’s dishes. Apart from the various drugs, preservatives, dyes etc. which are injected into the meat to "preserve" it, you must know that there are some substances present in the meat - especially two - whose name should make you think about what you eat: putrescine and cadaverine! It has also to be considered that the geniuses of the planet, and generally the leading figures, were vegetarians! Their names are famous for several reasons, but they all have something in common: they are or were vegetarians: Carl Lewis, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Sappho, Leonardo da Vinci, Voltaire, Albert Einstein, Saint Francis of Assisi, Gandhi, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Sophie Marceau, Surya Bonali, Ivan Lendl, Melanie Griffith, Nathalie Baye, Kim Basinger, Montaigne, Lamartine, Carlos Santana, Sting, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins , Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Queen Sofia of Spain, Prince Aga Khan, Marguerite Yourcenar, Zoroastro, Yehudi Menuhin ... and the list can continue with your names, in the moment in which you chose to live ...
Testimonials
• Umberto Veronesi: "A cruelty for animals and for ourselves" I have been a vegetarian since I started choosing, and mine is a choice of love, philosophy and science. Of love for animals and for life in all its forms, especially when it is helpless and cannot assert its desperate need to survive. No existence is small, none is insignificant. Eating is a form of celebration of life, and not a denial of life itself to other living beings, because they are "inferior". There is no biological difference between animals. Why then does the thought of eating our dog horrify us, but we massacre hundreds of lambs for feasting at every Easter? The philosophy of vegetarianism is non-violence and the violence to which the animals for slaughter are subjected to is brutal and cruel. The practice of slaughtering then is a repugnant ritual: the animal is stunned and then slaughtered so that death occurs by bleeding, so that its meat takes on a lighter color. For me, giving up meat is also a form of solidarity and social responsibility. In a world that is hungry, meat consumption is a huge waste: if over 820 million people suffer from hunger, it is also because most of the arable land is reserved for fodder for meat animals. Agricultural products worldwide could be sufficient to feed everyone, if they were not largely used to feed farm animals. Not to mention that excessive consumption of meat is harmful to health. The so-called "diseases of well-being" (non-insulin-dependent diabetes, atherosclerosis, obesity) affect those who indulge in abundant meals rich in animal fats, while it is shown that a diet rich in vegetables protects us and helps us to preserve our well-being. I am scientifically convinced that vegetarianism is a choice not only opportune, but mandatory. To feed a constantly growing population we will be forced to become vegetarians, returning to the bottom of our original nature. In evolutionary terms man descends from the monkey: our body is programmed precisely for the consumption of fruit, vegetables and legumes and our metabolism is like that of the orangutan that feeds on cereals and vegetables. A meat-free diet would certainly not weaken us, and would put us in harmony with the perfect natural balance of our planet. • Ettore Livini: "A carpaccio of beef pollutes more than one SUV: this is why changing diets could give us a better future". Eat salad one day a week to save the planet. In the era of the greenhouse effect, food prices skyrocketing and the North Pole melting like an icicle in the August heatwave, Paul McCartney – after solving his conjugal and property troubles - relaunches the old crusade of the vegetarian choice. Once it was a question of religion (as for the millions of Hindus who do not eat meat) or fashion. Today, he says, the problem is another: we need to guarantee a future to the world. How? Giving farewell to the steak. "Even the UN request it - the former Beatles, who for years has chosen a "green" food regime, has proclaimed - if we want to fight climate changes we must eat less meat. Maybe eliminating it from our Monday diet. And a habit to take, like going to the gym and what's more, doing good to the globe. " However, statistics and economic returns are not the only polar star that leads the growing army (especially among teenagers) of vegetarians. Utopia still resists... "What would the earth be like if no one ate meat? The first image that comes to mind is that of a planet without conflicts, "says Carmen Somaschi, president of the Italian vegetarian association. Make love and not war, as was said at the time of flower children. • Franco Battiato: "A choice of life helps the body and the mind" Paul McCartney invites the Brits not to eat meat on Monday to help the environment? Franco Battiato does not seem to be interested in such campaigns: “I am not the type who gives advice to others. Personally I am convinced that it is better not to eat meat and fish, but I do not feel like giving an advice on such a delicate field. " "I've been a vegetarian for years, I don't even remember how many. Even as a child I refused meat, I really didn't like it. Then the traditions took over and the smell of fried fish ended up hitting the senses. Later, after ten years of macrobiotic fanaticism, gradually, over time, being vegetarian has become an existential necessity. I can no longer eat something that is close to human sensitivity. "
Vegetarians in the world (millions of individuals):
• India: 375-500
• United States: 13-20
• Germany: 8
• Great Britain: 3.3
• Italy 4.3
• France 3.3
• Spain 0.7
How much it pollutes ... a steak:
• 20,000 liters of water consumed to produce a kilo of meat.
• 18% of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the farm.
• 40% (70% in the USA) of cereals grown in the world absorbed by the farm
a salad:
• 200 liters of water consumed to produce a kilo of salad.
• 1 hectare of land has a protein yield 12 times higher than the same area cultivated for animal nutrition.
• 3 million hectares of land (half of those currently cultivated) would allow vegetarian self-sufficiency for Great Britain.
Food and the greenhouse effect, percentage of contribution to greenhouse gases in the production cycle:
• 18% dairy products
• 30% red meat
• 10% chicken and fish
