An Herbivore’s Dilemma

- Kusum Hachhethu

Socrates, one of the wisest Greek philosophers of Athens, was a vegetarian. The revolutionary scientist, Albert Einstein, turned vegetarian later on in his life. The great Mahatma Gandhi devoted his life to the advocacy of vegetarianism–many other famous personalities have pursued and maintained a vegetarian diet. Perhaps, for whatever reasons, it might be intelligent to be a vegetarian, Let us study the case.
Newars like to eat meat, a lot of them. Being a lacto-vegetarian in a Newar family is not easy for Kanchan Hachhethu who gave up meat after being distressed by the occasional killing of animals in the name of sacrifice. She accentuates, “I have been lacto-vegetarian since I was five–I am against animal cruelty–the way they are crammed in small boxes, the way they are slaughtered and the way they are treated bothers me a lot.” While animal ethics is her primary rationale for being a vegetarian, others pursue vegetarianism for various reasons—religious practice, health reasons, environmental concern and even poverty.
He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures, lives in mystery in whatsoever species he may take in his next birth— Mahabharata

Cultural aspects
Vegetarianism has its roots in ancient India, the country with the highest number of vegetarians in the world–the majority of vegetarians being Hindus. The Hindu virtue of vegetarianism is primarily based on the intrinsic value of animals–Hindu vedic texts describe the spiritual equality of all living beings. Hindu vedic shastras (literature) also depicts the karmic dangers of slaughtering animals and eating their meat–such an activity is considered as himsa (violence). Bikash Gurung, one of the members of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness of Nepal) elucidates, “The principles of karma can be related to Newton’s third law of motion, that for every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction”; if we engage ourselves in himsa through buying/selling/consumption of meat, we will have to face the consequences in our next life form, it will come back to us in one way or another. Sri Bikash and other ISKCON members abstain themselves from the consumption of meat, fish, eggs, even onions and garlic, with the belief that consumption of those food items disrupts physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Similarly, Radha Bohara, a Hindu lacto-vegetarian by birth, underscores several reasons why vegetarianism is best suited. The foremost is the belief that human beings are not designated to eat meat and those who consume meat do so due to ignorance–after all, we do not have fangs nor do we have claws. Moreover, she believes that non-vegetarians participate in himsa by consuming meat/fish/eggs.
While Bikash and Bohara are against the consumption of meat for satisfying one’s palate, Surgical Resident Binod Raj Bhandari of Nepal Medical College feels otherwise.  After giving up meat for four years, he has gone back to eating non-vegetarian diet–primarily due to the taste factor. “After joining medical school, with regular human dissection, I could not eat meat, but I missed the taste of meat. I started craving for meat and I could no more continue being a vegetarian,” he confessed.

Pros and Cons
While some claim that humans have evolved as vegetarians, advocates of non-vegetarianism argue that humans have been hunter-gatherers for an incredibly long time in history, and our progenitors acquired most of their energy from meat. The benefits of meat have long being associated with its high protein content and vitamins, vitamin B12 in particular.  Rajbhandari spells out some of the advantages of being a non-vegetarian–he explains that meat, fish and eggs are the only source of vitamin B12 and the major source of folic acid and iron. On the other hand, Bikash and Bohara defy the claims made on health grounds. Bikash, who has been following a vegetarian diet for the past five years, argues that he feels healthier–physically and mentally–than before. Likewise Bohara claims that she has not yet experienced any diet-related health problems. “In fact, I have beautiful skin,” she makes her case. 
Many scientific studies have proven that a vegetarian diet is healthier than non-vegetarian diet–fruits and vegetables have a wider range of nutrients and are lower in calories; they are also comparatively easier to digest. On the other hand, meat and other animal products (including egg yolks and dairy) are high in saturated fat, the kind of fat that raises blood cholesterol level and the risk of heart diseases, obesity and even various types of cancer. Dietician Binita Pant at Alka Hospital explains, “For an average human body, only 10% of the daily calorie intake should come from saturated fat. Considering that we acquire some amount of saturated fat from other food sources, daily consumption of meat would ultimately increase the intake of saturated fat by more than 10% and hence, increase the risk of various lifestyle related diseases.” According to her, a small portion of meat every once in a while would not do harm, however, those individuals with lifestyle related diseases–such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity–must drastically lower their intake of meat–especially red meat. 
Although both Rajbhandari and Pant believe that a small portion of meat would help with protein and vitamin B12, they also agree that as long as a vegetarian person is consuming eggs and dairy products, he/she can eliminate meat from their diet without affecting the nutritional quality of his/her diet. Likewise, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics also states that the consumption of a sufficient amount of whole grains, green vegetables, legumes, fruits and milk can fulfill all the necessary nutrients to our body, and that meat is not a must. Hence, dieticians recommend that vegans, who do not even consume eggs and dairy, must take special care of their diet in order to prevent any nutritional deficiencies. Rajbhandari also shared some cases where vegans and lacto-vegetarians, generally later in their lives, suffer from anemia and other diseases related to the deficiency of iron/vitamin B12 /folic acid.

Conclusion
Hence, on health grounds, “lacto-ovo-vegetarianism” and “flexitarianism” seem to be the most intelligent options for vegetarians, but then again, we all have our own reasons and perspectives to eat, what we eat and what we do not eat. For instance, I do not eat meat on Tuesdays for religious reasons; I do not eat red meat because of my childhood exposure to the sacrifices of goats and buffalos. Recently, I have become a flexitarian, primarily for an environmental cause. Meat consumption is also an environmental issue, which, until recently had been quite underrated. Meat production is incredibly inefficient–by producing grains for animals, which is then fed to humans; we end up with much less food than if we were directly consuming grains. Furthermore, meat production has many adverse impacts to our environment–through common water pollution, water use, land use, animal waste and the use of energy for production and processing. This urgent issue of “meat consumption and its environmental impact” requires special attention and perhaps one of us; the so called “environmentally aware citizens” could dedicate an entire piece on this subject. Until then, bon appetite! Eat less meat!