Vegetarians and Non Vegetarians

Years back I used to be proud of being a vegetarian. Our family was (is) a vegetarian family and maybe I inherited the pride as well! Anyway, the pride came from the assumption that vegetarian food was pure in the sense it avoided cruelty to animals.

Over the years, the understanding evolved and today, it is clear to me that there is no inherent difference between vegetarian food and non vegetarian food. There are some aspects that enhance suitability of vegetarian food for human consumption in both a scientific and social sense – namely:

1. Humans are herbivores. The digestive system is suited for vegetarian food, but that is no reason for being proud. Anyway, when we are talking about kAra uruLai varuval (கார உருளை வருவல் - spicy potato fry) and koththu parotta (கொத்து பரோட்டா - minced spicy paratha) , this argument is blunted. It does makes a lot of sense when we are talking of a primarily raw diet (fresh fruits and vegetables)

2. In today’s population scenario (7.5 bil?), a vegetarian diet is socially relevant. How? As we move up the food chain, the amount of primal food consumed to generate the same calories increases exponentially. For example (example includes the numbers listed also) – if 1 kg of rice yields 1000 calories of energy, to generate the same level of calories from beef or pork would require, say 25 times more base food (the food consumed by the cow or pig to reach the state of suitability of generating meat). So, hypothetically, if the whole world started consuming vegetarian food, it would be very easy to supply food for all of the population because much of the domestic animals present today are farmed to generate meat. These can be reduced (not create them in the first place) and the bandwidth used instead for raising rice, beans – whatever! However, this again is a moot point. For we already have enough food (today at least) for the entire planet. But we choose to starve a good section of the population for various reasons. But this argument will be very relevant in the future years, when India hits the 2 bil mark (gulp!) and the world hits the 8 or 9 bil mark in population.

However, one resounding similarity between vegetarian and non vegetarian food exists:

“Something that is living is dying so you may live”

Whether vegetarians or non-vegetarians, I feel it is very important that we remember this. This reminder will generate a lot of respect when we consume food in whatever form. I read about native American tribes who would apologize to an animal they were about to kill for food. Some tribes also place an offering for the animal’s spirit as a form of gratitude for the food they were about to consume. These were the same tribes who were nearly hunted out of existence because they were “primitive” and are now isolated to reservation camps. Anyway, that is a different topic!

So that leaves us with one stark difference between vegetarian and non vegetarian food – the visible suffering we see in the generation of meat. I happened to read a lot of material about how meat is generated and the amount of suffering that animals go through is unimaginable. I just have one question to the meat-makers:
We have so many innovations in place for humans to avoid suffering (epidural, anesthetics, pain killers for wounds and so on). Can’t we put something even primitive in place for animals before they are slaughtered for meat, so they die without pain? I remember a quote I heard recently – “If humans make up their mind, it is possible in a moment”.

Eat all the meat you want – for taste, health – anything, for I am convinced there is no inherent difference between vegetarian and non vegetarian food. But this one difference (how they are generated) is striking! And that difference continues to exist only because in the majority of the minds, animals are somehow lower-life forms. Unfortunately, I understand I may be perceived as being vegetarian-biased, but it is not so. Though I cannot conceive myself eating meat except under extreme circumstances, in my mind, meat is perfectly fine. I perfectly realize that killing a plant is equivalent to killing a cow – for one form of life is giving itself up to sustain another life form. It is deeply spiritual. My only question is whether all these animals need to go through so much pain to sustain us!

If you are wondering what triggered this post – today while driving, I saw a partially scalded hen being carried in a motor bike by its legs. I only hope it was already dead by then!