Essays

Vegetarianism has become the hallmark of modern food habits. The one time essentially non-vegetarian West is also

today, turning to vegetarianism. This trend has a basic cause, and that is the belief that, most health hazards in modern life are caused by this non-vegetarian food.

On the religious front it is believed that, by eating animal foods man's traits and habits also become animal like as, it is Strongly believed that, the food we eat has a direct influence on our bent of mind. If we eat animal food we become more of brutes than men as we are meant to be. Thus, to remain human, man must avoid consuming animal foods. Besides this, many philosophers and religious people believe that, we have no right to kill any living being and that also for our food. When man is not in a position to give life to any one, they think that man also has no right to take life.

In the earlier stages of social development man did eat raw meat of all kinds of animals it could kill, and, if we see pictures of men of those times I daresay they really did look like animals. As time passed, man invented the art of cooking so; even non-vegetarian food was being cooked. However, the belief chat, animal food was unholy continued. This belief of course pertained only to India as, the Western countries continued non-vegetarian food and yet were called more civilized.

After centuries of consuming non-vegetarian foods, today, at the outset of the 21st Century East and West are both looking towards non-vegetarianism as a major killer, and thus turning to vegetarianism. This phenomenal change in the outlook and attitude of all people across the globe has recently taken momentum as, doctors and researchers declare loudly and openly the hazards of eating non-vegetarian foods.

The fact of the matter is that, non-vegetarian food is more difficult to chew nicely and thence more difficult to digest and, in turn thus, more of a strain on the digestive system. In order to digest non-vegetarian food, the internal organs are strained more than what they can bear and so, they get destroyed much before their age would allow. It is also said by experts that, non-vegetarian food hay a direct or indirect connection with most of the killer diseases of the day. Most of the diseases common in to-day's medical parlance were unheard of in earlier times.

With this fear of causing damage to health, the belief in vegetarianism is gaining ground. All papers, all magazines of any repute, keep informing the public of the impact and harm caused by taking non-vegetarian food, and they continue to suggest more intake of vegetables and salads and fruits in the diet. With this daily dose of reading articles on advantages of vegetarianism, and the weaknesses of consuming non- vegetarian food, there is a quick and tremendous swing towards vegetarianism.

This is not true only to India but has become a worldwide phenomenon. It is not that non-vegetarian food is absolutely out of menus worldwide, but the fact is that they are becoming less popular, and jj.iag, journey probably towards a world without non-vegetarian food has started. May lx- one day we reach the target of a completely vegetarian populace throughout the world.