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stillmotion  



::vegetarian diet
was shopping around at 'Luo Si Wan', a wholesale market at Kunming, Yunnan, for project stuff and saw this cute doggy.. ha, how could i resist? so i stooped down in the middle of the streets and snapped happily away, creating quite a commotion.. i think it is these details that makes this trip so unforgettable..

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i have always contemplated the omniverous diet of humans. it is true that in some parts of the world, meat is vital to provide the necessary fats and hide to withstand the harsh winters. however, in many others, meat is a luxury item, relished for its ability to satiate our taste buds and fulfill our craving for juicy, rich aromas..

however, there seems to be a strange preference of certain meats over others. for example of pork over frog meat, veal over dog meat, chicken meat over chicks' meat.. in our 'civilised' world, animals we can relate to, those cuddly ones, or those we abhore, like those slimy ones, are not to be eaten. of course this doesn't apply to everyone as we all know how some tribes in Africa relish fried caterpillars and how our Thai friends queue up for some juicy fried tarantulas. The point is we eat animals because we are desensitised, we don't feel for them anymore. and we don't eat those we feel for, be it those we like or those we don't.

then this question come to my mind. who gave us to power to decide whether we should have fish or beef for dinner tonight. or more aptly, who gave us the power to decide which one to be killed for consumption. is it because we are more intelligent, and thus have the ability to capture, breed and kill?

it is true that when we eat meat, we did not specifically order for them to be killed; unless of cos you are in a seafood restaurant and pointed to a fat sea bass to be steamed. nonetheless, the meat was from another sentient being. we do not know for sure how long their memory is, or whether they even feel emotion or not. but for sure, from they way they struggle, we know they can feel pain.

i am an omnivore too, and i do eat meat. to convince one to turn to a vegetarian diet requires considerable effort, for both parties. i am not a vegetarian myself, and i don't think i will be one in the near future. however, i have decided to cut down my consumption of meat and eat them only when my family is or i am sharing with my friends. to do otherwise would be imposing a strain on others. things do not change overnight, but i do hope that one day, the number of chickens, pigs, cows and fishes killed would drop. but even for now, whenever we eat meat, we can silently thank the animal for nourishing our body, for sacrificing their lives to satisfy us.

i believe if we use a compassionate heart that reaches out to not just other humans but animals and other sentient beings as well, we can improve the society and spread the idea of peace. it is actually quite simple, when we look at meat, we can picture the animal and naturally, our ability to empathise would flow and we can literally feel their pain.

thanks for reading through this whole chunk if you have. ;p i would like to end off with a quote from Albert Einstein:

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

i was equally surprised to hear that from him too.. and don't you think the doggy above is cute?


+ |-jX-| updated @ 1/28/2007 10:56:00 PM | past comments | | | permalink| add as fav

          [to view previous days' photo, select the next link under pReVioUsLy to the right. or you can view my aRcHiVe.]


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