After over 30 years of being an ardent non vegetarian, I took the plunge and left eating all forms of flesh and have not looked back over the last one year
The decision was not on impulse, but was one of the toughest for me as I am an avid foodie and my concept of good food always involved meat.
As far back as I remember, I would head out on a Sunday morning with my father to our favourite meat shop (we primarily ate goat meat) and buy our Sunday feast. It was never just a ritual. It was an elevated art form. Each time our own skills were tested and that was the fun. How do you identify good meat, how is it cut, which part is best and so on. Because it was more than just habit, because it was art, there was always the motivation to better your self. I looked forward to taste the fare and figure out how well my own job had been. Good and creative cooking is not easy. Selecting and cooking meat was always the highest form of culinary adventure to me. And I yet say that it is a fine art form, despite my own abstinence from it.
The first time I thought of giving up meat was when I was around 17. I went to a chicken shop and saw how an animal is butchered. Hanging carcasses was always different. Strangely, for all our fondness for meat, I had never seen an animal slaughtered before and I never even imagined that it could have such an impact on me. I gave up meat for a year.
I also gave thought to the argument that we serve our part of the food cycle by eating meat. Facts opposed this notion completely. Unlike other participants of the food cycle, humans can "farm" their choice of food. There is hence lesser need to hunt. Today we do not consume meat coming from an over supply of natural livestock. We are farming livestock, not to survive any harsh conditions when supply of vegetarian produce is impossible, but just out of our desire to consume meat. Animals are being genetically modified to reproduce faster, build more flesh and be more palatable. This really has nothing to do with the food cycle. It's just not true.
I also gave thought to the argument whether being vegetarian made one weaker or less healthy. I have met extremely healthy people at very old ages, both vegetarians as well non vegetarians. I do not believe one way or the other whether the choice of a vegetarian diet hurts longevity. Secondly, I also assessed mental health and agility. Not to say whether a vegetarian diet makes one any less intelligent. Our business community is dominated by vegetarian gujaratis and marwaris. They seem mentally fit to me. Thirdly, I looked at health from the indication of energy and stamina. Here too, I did not have much to conclude. If I wee a soldier or a body guard or a laborer, I may have benefitted by eating more meat. But my choice of profession did not put me through such strains, so the question I had was - is this a highly relevant factor for me? Truth is that it was not.
While the reasons for being vegetarian were being reinforced, over time, I was charmed again by the various skills applied to cook a masterpiece. And given the way my tastes were shaped since birth, it was not the same in vegetarian fare.I felt the misery of the animal but could not ignore my own desire to try the things I'm missing, even if it be at the cost of needless suffering of another. Over time, I stopped feeling for the animal's suffering. My desire to eat meat again had completely numbed any sensitivity I may have had and I no longer knew why I abstained. What followed was a tough moral battle with myself and I finally gave in deciding I would rather be a sinner (in my mind) than a hypocrite.
So this was my conditioning. To few this may seem wrong on a moral level, but the bigger moral sin is hypocrisy. Why pretend a feeling of compassion you do not possess? Prefer the lesser immorality. At the end of this part of journey, I was clear that my choice to eat meat, does not make it right. It just makes me less wrong.
From then on, I never had trouble with the idea of an animal being slaughtered and becoming my meal. Even when exposed to the gory details, my mind was reconciled that this is my choice. You may say I was learning that the suffering of another cannot be the sole reason for your own abstinence.
I did not delude myself with any righteousness of being a non vegetarian. On the contrary a far more practical consideration took over. I was young, just started to work and traveling places. The charm of seeing new people and sharing their cuisine overtook me. I had become completely agnostic to whether I ate snake or frog. If it is part of the experience of human cultures, I'll try it!
At this stage, I also read Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" and it was in it that I first realized that the economic output is severely reduced by meat consumption. The output of land that is used to generate grain that in turn is fed to an animal, so that it could in turn be consumed is substantial. That is why meat is always more expensive than grain. At that point I realized, that a higher demand for meat is putting pressure on cultivable land and leaving less per capita consumable food. I realized another reason why vegetarianism is better than being non vegetarian. But the desire still weakened me and I continued with my preference for meat.
But this too was a phase. I did decide that I am ready to take the next step. I left eating all forms of meat. I still consume eggs and milk. I know what it costs but don't mind, as yet.
The decision was not on impulse, but was one of the toughest for me as I am an avid foodie and my concept of good food always involved meat.
As far back as I remember, I would head out on a Sunday morning with my father to our favourite meat shop (we primarily ate goat meat) and buy our Sunday feast. It was never just a ritual. It was an elevated art form. Each time our own skills were tested and that was the fun. How do you identify good meat, how is it cut, which part is best and so on. Because it was more than just habit, because it was art, there was always the motivation to better your self. I looked forward to taste the fare and figure out how well my own job had been. Good and creative cooking is not easy. Selecting and cooking meat was always the highest form of culinary adventure to me. And I yet say that it is a fine art form, despite my own abstinence from it.
The first time I thought of giving up meat was when I was around 17. I went to a chicken shop and saw how an animal is butchered. Hanging carcasses was always different. Strangely, for all our fondness for meat, I had never seen an animal slaughtered before and I never even imagined that it could have such an impact on me. I gave up meat for a year.
I also gave thought to the argument that we serve our part of the food cycle by eating meat. Facts opposed this notion completely. Unlike other participants of the food cycle, humans can "farm" their choice of food. There is hence lesser need to hunt. Today we do not consume meat coming from an over supply of natural livestock. We are farming livestock, not to survive any harsh conditions when supply of vegetarian produce is impossible, but just out of our desire to consume meat. Animals are being genetically modified to reproduce faster, build more flesh and be more palatable. This really has nothing to do with the food cycle. It's just not true.
I also gave thought to the argument whether being vegetarian made one weaker or less healthy. I have met extremely healthy people at very old ages, both vegetarians as well non vegetarians. I do not believe one way or the other whether the choice of a vegetarian diet hurts longevity. Secondly, I also assessed mental health and agility. Not to say whether a vegetarian diet makes one any less intelligent. Our business community is dominated by vegetarian gujaratis and marwaris. They seem mentally fit to me. Thirdly, I looked at health from the indication of energy and stamina. Here too, I did not have much to conclude. If I wee a soldier or a body guard or a laborer, I may have benefitted by eating more meat. But my choice of profession did not put me through such strains, so the question I had was - is this a highly relevant factor for me? Truth is that it was not.
While the reasons for being vegetarian were being reinforced, over time, I was charmed again by the various skills applied to cook a masterpiece. And given the way my tastes were shaped since birth, it was not the same in vegetarian fare.I felt the misery of the animal but could not ignore my own desire to try the things I'm missing, even if it be at the cost of needless suffering of another. Over time, I stopped feeling for the animal's suffering. My desire to eat meat again had completely numbed any sensitivity I may have had and I no longer knew why I abstained. What followed was a tough moral battle with myself and I finally gave in deciding I would rather be a sinner (in my mind) than a hypocrite.
So this was my conditioning. To few this may seem wrong on a moral level, but the bigger moral sin is hypocrisy. Why pretend a feeling of compassion you do not possess? Prefer the lesser immorality. At the end of this part of journey, I was clear that my choice to eat meat, does not make it right. It just makes me less wrong.
From then on, I never had trouble with the idea of an animal being slaughtered and becoming my meal. Even when exposed to the gory details, my mind was reconciled that this is my choice. You may say I was learning that the suffering of another cannot be the sole reason for your own abstinence.
I did not delude myself with any righteousness of being a non vegetarian. On the contrary a far more practical consideration took over. I was young, just started to work and traveling places. The charm of seeing new people and sharing their cuisine overtook me. I had become completely agnostic to whether I ate snake or frog. If it is part of the experience of human cultures, I'll try it!
At this stage, I also read Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" and it was in it that I first realized that the economic output is severely reduced by meat consumption. The output of land that is used to generate grain that in turn is fed to an animal, so that it could in turn be consumed is substantial. That is why meat is always more expensive than grain. At that point I realized, that a higher demand for meat is putting pressure on cultivable land and leaving less per capita consumable food. I realized another reason why vegetarianism is better than being non vegetarian. But the desire still weakened me and I continued with my preference for meat.
But this too was a phase. I did decide that I am ready to take the next step. I left eating all forms of meat. I still consume eggs and milk. I know what it costs but don't mind, as yet.
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