FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Chita Dela Cruz-Heap

We Are What We Eat

I recently asked a friend of mine why he was a vegetarian. He explained to me that he simply embraced a diet that is natural to man. He went on to point out that it was in fact my question which was wrong, and that it was he who should be asking why I fed on flesh?

He went on to explain that a vegetarian diet is the one most suitable for and the one most appropriate to the needs of man. He pointed out that in the book of Genesis God says that is it given to man ‘to eat of the fruits of the trees and of the grain of the fields.’ The only time at which this instruction was lifted was at the time of the great flood, when all vegetation became submerged, but this was intended only to be a temporary reprieve. He went on to say that the Ten Commandments state clearly that “Thou shalt not kill.”

“Do you not think that animals have souls too?” he added. “Here are we as human beings, claiming to be civilized”, and yet here we are feeding on the carcasses of dead animals. Just think about it for a moment.” He added. “The reason why I do not eat animals is the same reason why I do not eat people!”

So is a man a natural vegetarian? A meat eating animal has sharp teeth for ripping flesh, whereas a ‘herbivore or a vegetarian’ animal has flat grinding teeth. A human being has a combination of the two, which would seem to indicate that he is designed to eat not the whole plant as the animals do, but the seeds and the fruits of the plant.
In a meat-eating animal the intestinal tract is short, whereas in a herbivore it is elongated in order to assist in the digestive process of breaking down complex plant molecules. In human beings it is of intermediate length, again reinforcing this theory.
The most intriguing insight however is gained from examining how different animals drink water. A meat eating animal like a cat or a dog will lap water with its tongue. A vegetarian animal like a cow, a camel or an elephant, will ‘suck’ water. When human beings drink, they ‘suck’ water.

For a moment let us consider the future of our planet. It has been estimated that by the year 2050 the population of the planet will have increased by a further 50% which is half as much again of the current population. There is growing concern too that this, together with climate change, could lead to a world food shortage.

This is especially concerning for us in the Philippines where the birth rate is high, and in view of the fact that we are not even able to support ourselves when it comes to rice production. In fact we as a country are the largest net importer of rice in the whole of south east Asia. What will happen when food becomes scarce and other countries conserve their stocks and stop exporting rice? Even if we are able to find a country willing to sell us rice the price is likely to be extortionate.

Obviously we need to plan for the future. There is plenty of arable land in our country which could be used for growing rice, but in order to make this viable we need to implement an extensive programme of irrigation and infrastructure. New roads must be build in order to access remote areas which are not at present accessible so that rice and other agricultural products can be transported more effectively from these areas and with greater cost efficiency.

We also need a complete overhaul of our current agricultural system, in particular with regard to farm subsidies and land reform.

With population growth outstripping food production it might also be worth considering what we ourselves might do to address this imbalance. A positive step might be to consider our current diet to see if any changes could be made to help solve the world food shortage, and becoming vegetarian could form part of the solution.

Our diet has a direct bearing not only on how efficiently we use our land, but also on our water usage and our carbon footprint too. For instance it takes 9 square meters of land to produce a kilo of pork, and 20 square meters for a kilo of beef, whereas it requires only one square meter to produce one kilo of vegetables. This represents an incredible increase in productivity!

It is far better for us to eat grain directly than to feed it to livestock, since it takes 7 kilos of grain for every kilo of beef produced. Furthermore, it takes 10,000 liters of water to produce 1 kg of beef, but only 1,000 liters per 1 kg of wheat.

With 30 to 40% of the world’s land mass being comprising arable land, without depleting the world’s rainforests, becoming present a one viable option.
On a personal level there are benefits too. A meat based diet is chronically inefficient when it comes to turning food into energy, whilst those who choose a vegetarian diet can look forward to better health and a longer life expectancy.

Of course the change cannot happen overnight, for the world economy would simply collapse. But possibly it is a direction that we all might do well to consider. In fact I might just give it a try!/TE