Fridge Matters

Most of us desire to live a healthy, a strong and a happy life.  From the surface this seems to be like a random act of fate whether we will be granted the above or not.

I would like to propose the theory that we have a great influence on these desired states of being by the manner we stock our fridge.  The fridge door is the door which is opened the most.  Not only when we feel hungry or thirsty and peckish but also when we feel bored, unhappy, tired, angry or restless we reach for the fridge door.  The way  a food stimulates us after we have eaten will give us an indication of what it does for us.

Organic fruit, vegetables, nuts (apart from people who have nut allergies), seeds and grains are colourful, inviting, vibrant, nutritious and one hundred percent compatible with our herbivorous digestive system.  They stay fresh for a long time because they are full of life forces.

In the contrary meat is dead and pale in colour, highly packaged and processed to halt the immediate decaying process.  There is no life energy left which would give us vibrancy instead our body is laden with toxins.  In fact, most diseases and also early deaths are often caused by a meat related diet.  Our body has to use a lot of its own energy to eliminate and destroy the toxins ingested by meat.

Looking at it with an environmental eye we know that the production of meat takes more then seven times more resources from the earth then the cultivation of vegetables does.

Lets get back to my earlier theory.

Vegetables are the healthy fuel for our bodies.  The worlds strongest living mammals live on a plant based diet.  Let us also lock at the people who put their bodies to the test, the athletes.  The number of vegan Olympic medalists is phenomenal.  For example, Lizzie Armitstead, cyclist, has been a vegetarian since 10 years of age.  Whilst preparing for the Olympic Games she practised running with Kenyan athletes, who mainly live on a plant based diet, and she says: "The list of gold medals the Kenyan athletes have won on the track is endless."  Vegetarians continue to rise to the top of their sports.  We know of Murray Rose, four Olympic gold medals (1956-1960) and vegan from childhood.  Carl Lewis, who when he adopted a vegan diet became the fastest in his career.  The list goes on.  Christopher Campbell, Venus William,  Ronda Rousey and Hannah Teter (gold and silver for snow boarding) says: " I feel stronger then I've ever been, mentally, physically and emotionally.  My plant based diet has opened up more doors....It's a whole other level that I'm elevating to."...

Carl Lewis (image not by me)

And now, what has happiness got to do with it?

It is common knowledge that everything around us is a form of energy and that we are all interconnected in this field of exchange on this planet.  Plants have a giving nature and often, when we pick fruit or cut vegetables the plant will supply us with more at the next harvest.  The energy of raising and killing animals is that of utter cruelty and pain.  These energies are found locked in the flesh  of the animal when it is killed.  Our bodies and emotions are exposed to these harmful vibrations when we consume meat.  Hence, the feeling of happiness when we are eating meat is clearly jeopardised.

In the manner we stock our fridge we will actively influence our health, strength and happiness.

(image not by me)

Watch out for my next blog entry where I will be giving practical tips.

Theo, our veggie dog

The inspiration to place myself in front of the laptop and continue writing my blog is Theo.  His dark brown and trusting eyes look at me when I stroke him. They convey so much love and seem to connect me on a deeper level energetically to all animals on the planet.  The thought arises that we not only deprive the lives of animals if we mistreat, torture and eat them but we humans are also deprived of their love, companionship and protection for us when we do that. In many fairy tales the little and often insignificant animal which was rescued at the beginning of the story by a kind human deed returns as the redeemer at the end when all other help has failed.  I have read countless true stories where animals have saved people's lives through their dedicated and sacrificial love as well as the skill of their special sensory system.  All animals, not only our pets, make the planet beautiful and they all deserve a cruelty free and dignified life.

But lets get back to Theo.

Theo joined our family when he was one year old.  He has been a true gift of God, which is in fact the meaning of his name in Greek.  We have a vegetarian/vegan household so when he first came to us I investigated vegetarian/vegan food for dogs.  The information I gathered was amazing.  Not only is it possible to raise a vegan dog but it is also highly beneficial to feed a dog vegan food.  Theo has been a vegan dog for over three years now.

Theo awaiting his vegan dinner (rice, spinach, carrots, cauliflower, red pepper, liquid aminos, garlic, yeast flakes and a splash of olive oil)

He is incredibly strong, looks beautiful with an absolutely shiny coat, is intelligent and, not to forget, he can hardly wait for his next meal.

Research has revealed that meat for dogs can be exposed to serious contamination through slaughterhouse waste, hormones and antibiotic residues and diseased meat.  The increasing rate of cancer, kidney failure and other diseases, such as arthritis, among dogs may well be related to the bad quality of meat which is offered in  attractive looking tins and bags to our beloved pets.

Many dog owners, and I am one of them, can report improved behaviour and obedience with their dogs after swapping to vegetarian dog food.  On our walks we meet many sceptical people who laugh about this and believe that dogs can only be carnivores.  The evolvement of our modern pet dog cannot be compared to its pack-hunting ancestors who were not accustomed to having each meal regularly served in a bowl especially designed for her/him.  We have a totally different dynamic in the domestic setting in that as carers we provide food, shelter and security and so the energy which a dog previously had to use to hunt and kill is now available for companionship, protection, loyalty and unconditional love for us.

Also, if you take a moment to visualise the world's strongest animals like:  rhinos, elephants, giraffes, horses and many more you will notice that they share a common bond - that of a vegan diet.

I think that Theo likes his place amongst the strongest of animals.  I can sense this when he carries a huge branch during our walks whilst holding his head high.  He is also happy that he is spared participating in eating his animal friends.

The only diet to ensure survival of humans and the planet

The only diet to ensure survival of humans and the planet

It is sometimes difficult to take oneself out of the present time in order to look at the full picture of our life from all angles.  Historians are able to do this for lives and times past from the benefit of hindsight.  They can explain why a situation might have happened or how a difficulty could have been avoided.

Looking back, we can see that the predominant focus of First World countries during the 20^th century has been economic growth, accumulation of possessions and extraction of the world’s resources.  Major consequences have been social discord, environmental degradation and war.  We can also see that these trends have driven us now to a dangerous tipping point for our planet. 

Despite the hope that we can carry on as before and that the Earth will somehow cope, some scientists are now waking up to the real situation on the planet.  No one knows the day when global warming will cause the release of massive amounts of methane and other poisonous gases into the atmosphere from deep under the Earth’s lakes and oceans.  If this happens, mass extinction of life on this planet, including us humans, will take place.    

Whilst we still have a chance let us have a look at what could be done to stop this happening.

A lot is blamed on carbon dioxide gas and it is true that it is a major contributory factor to global warming.  But the breaking down of carbon dioxide gas takes a very long time and at this critical stage we do not have time to wait for this process if we are to stop the melting of the ice sheets and glaciers around the world.  Also, government laws and commitments to produce less carbon dioxide take a long time to be put into effect.  Right now we need to look at other gases which contribute to global warming, and more importantly, what we as individuals can do about them.

It is now scientifically proven that the livestock industry is the largest greenhouse gas emitter.  Five years ago the United Nations published a memorandum stating that the livestock industry emits more greenhouse gases than the world’s entire transport system.  Methane gas is the primary gas emitted by raising livestock and has a much higher heat trapping ability than carbon dioxide.  Although methane is a stronger greenhouse gas, it has a much shorter life than carbon dioxide which takes thousands of  years to break down.  Therefore eliminating methane by stopping livestock production is the fastest way to cool the planet.  To stop raising animals for food must be our top priority in order for our species to have any chance of survival. 

What we eat is no longer a matter of personal choice but is a responsibility we all owe to ourselves and future generations. 

There are many fundamental benefits we could achieve by not eating meat.  Global problems such as water scarcity and world hunger would be eliminated.  We would save the Amazon and other rainforests from further deforestation, currently increasing in order to provide land for cattle, and so preserve the lungs of the Earth.  Massive amounts of land which are used to raise livestock would be freed up for the more efficient growing of vegetables and other crops which in turn also absorb more carbon dioxide.  The huge amount of money that the countries of the world are pledging to fight global warming could be saved by simply replacing livestock with plants.  We already have the technology to grow crops - we do not need to spend billions on technology that may or may not reduce global warming in many years time.  Even earthquakes would lessen.  If the ice melting at the poles and beneath Greenland is halted the pressure beneath the Earth’s plates would be reduced and therefore earthquake occurrence would be rarer.

Another potential major benefit we could expect is vast improvement in hospital services and treatment because massive amounts of funds would be saved from not having to treat diseases related to meat eating such as obesity, coronary problems, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis and major flu pandemics such as bird flu and swine flu.  Meat is potentially the most unhealthy, unhygienic item of food that could ever be ingested by humans.

There needs to be mention too of the filthy and cruel conditions and confined environments where animals are kept until their slaughter.  When slaughtered, a huge amount of energy is spent on ultra-rapid chilling systems, and preservatives are needed to stop the dead flesh from rotting before it reaches our household in small, neat packages from the supermarket that hide the truth about the suffering and the sad story of a once-living animal. 

The real price of the global meat industry, without subsidies, financially, energetically and environmentally, is hidden.  Please think it all through for yourself.  Millions of people are succumbing to meat related diseases while millions of others are dying of hunger because the land and crops are being used to feed up livestock for the West and increasingly for the East.  Millions are becoming homeless due to rising sea levels and we all are already suffering the consequences of pollution and global warming.  We seem to be heading fast to the point of no return. Our question is:  “Can planet Earth survive the human race?”  Chief  Sealth (1786-1866) of the Duwamish League, reminds us: “Earth does not belong to man, it is man who belongs to the Earth.” In order to solve the great problem that we are facing right now we have to reverse our unwise actions of the past.  As Albert Einstein said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”

Vegetarianism/veganism is sustainable and has the ability to save our world and us.

The brilliant news about this is that we don’t need to wait until governments put laws into action like they did for drugs, drinking and smoking.  We all, as individuals, can start straight away - the next time you feel hungry, choose a plant based meal.  If we all made this choice each time we felt hungry we would surely stop global warming, eradicate world hunger, feel healthy and positive about ourselves and in time we would stop war, promote peace and offer a future to the next generation.

The vegetarian diet is our answer because we will be able to step out into a peaceful future on planet Earth which has innumerable advantages for everyone and finally we can be who we truly are described to be in Vedas and spiritual scripts; compassionate, wise and beautiful beings befitting the name “Crown of the Creation”.

Agnes Schmitz  16.9.2011