Not long ago, a well-known star made the headlines when he made an environmental plea for everyone to adopt a low carb vegetarian diet. He was not even advocating a total abstinence from meat – just one day a week. Many of the newspapers that covered the story were unkind. They laughed and called him an old hippy who didn’t know what he was talking about.
With very few exceptions, the media completely failed to take his suggestion seriously and look at the facts. Had they done so, they would have discovered that people give up meat eating for very good reasons. Why not give vegetarians a chance and listen to their point of view for a change?
Americans consume far more beef per capita than any other nation and our environment suffers as a result. We could utilize our precious arable land far better by raising protein rich plant crops than we do by raising cattle. This is an established fact. There is plenty of proof for this that is buried rather than confronted.
People living near beef processing plants and process plant workers report a high incidence of health problems directly related to the processing of beef. There is sound medical evidence to prove this, but one way to find out for yourself would be to visit one of these places. But be prepared – you may get sick from the smell before you even enter the premises.
If you do manage to get inside and see what beef processing involves, you literally may end up having nightmares. There is nothing remotely humane about the mass slaughter of these animals. OK, technically this is not an environmental concern, but it is certainly an ethical one. Those pretty packages of beef you see on the supermarket shelf won’t look the same to you after you have seen how they were made to get that way. You won’t be laughing about a vegetarian diet any more, that’s for sure!
The meat industry will tell you that beef makes you strong and healthy. They will talk about a protein-packed meat diet as if a high intake of meat is essential for health. What they won’t tell you is that you are consuming far more meat than you could possibly need for good health. They will also not tell you that your predominantly meat diet contributes to cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening illnesses.
Ask anyone who has given a high protein vegetarian diet a chance and most of them will tell you that they are happier for it. Many never eat meat again. Almost no one who has been a vegetarian ever goes back to eating large amounts of meat. No matter what the meat industry tries to tell us to the contrary, a vegetarian diet is a healthy diet.
Something that a lot of people overlook is the fact that all of the major religions advocate abstaining from meat, at least periodically. This includes the Catholic Church, Judaism and the Muslim faith. While these religions do not advocate total abstinence, both Hinduism and Buddhism do advocate a strictly vegetarian diet. The only “religion” that advocates meat eating is the cattle industry!
The next time a superstar advocates a vegetarian weight loss diet, don’t sneer. They are trying to do the world a service with the high protein vegetarian diet.
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We also become closer to God making us healthier spiritually by eating a merciful/compassionate diet as we were created to eat – a plant-based diet.
God’s Creatures Ministry
Catholic Concern for Animals-USA