Humans sense of identity and and actions is guided by our beliefs and perspective of the world. It dictates our choices and direct our actions like a compass as we navigate through what we believe to be just, right and fair. Individual perspective builds as we accumulate experience sorrowful or not it shapes our opinion about life. Vegetarianism is a practice that has been going on for decades, for some it is a culture or a tradition they choose to preserve, while for others it is a diet they developed or came across and choose to retain. It is a kind of diet that involves consumption of plants and abstaining from meat/ animal flesh.
The first time I came across this concept it sounded unusual because it is not the way of life for people around me. Consumption of meat has been a way of life of mine before I even knew what it was. For most vegetarian consuming meat is considered a way of inflicting cruelty. It is one thing to abstain from eating meat due to a dieting and all but believing it to be wrong is another thing. I have always identified myself to be a pacifist but never have I considered consuming animals a form of cruelty.
For people who were born into a family that practice vegetarianism, making such a choice will be a lot easier. Since surviving on plants is something they have gotten used to over the years but for those of us without such upbringing, it is like telling a lion not to eat meat or hunt. I mean how does someone who has been surviving on meat suddenly choose to abstain from it based on belief, how does such a person cope with the cravings.
I find myself in a situation some months back when I find myself in this community I currently reside. Apart from the fact that it is a village, foods here are lot different from what I'm used to. For instance, the first time I visited a restaurant here I realised that their own form of ingredients is not all this manufactured ingredients, it is mostly herbs. The first time I tasted their food, I couldn't swallow up to two spoons before I felt like throwing up.
Apart from this, it is not everyone that consumes meat here. There is something they usually substitute for meat which is called "Beske". If you look at it from far distance you wouldn't be able to differentiate it from meat until you taste it, It is made of fermented soya beans. In this community places where you can buy meat is just two and when those two places don't have meat there is no where else. Sometimes it usually takes about two weeks or more before you can purchase meat from any of those two places. For the people in this community, it is something they are used to, they survive on "Beske" even when there is meat.
Getting to this community for the first time, I wasn't able to purchase meat for like three weeks and I started feeling sick. I can't really explain how it felt but it was just like I was in need of oxygen. That was just three weeks, now imagine a person like me deciding to be a vegetarian, it is like asking a lion to start eating grass, I won't survive a month. Which means being a vegetarian is something I can never consider due to how I have became fond of consuming meat.
I'm quite aware that there are other source of protein and calcium apart from consuming meat and there are few disadvantages of excessive consumption of meat but I strongly believe as long as it is consumed in moderation just like everything else there is nothing unhealthy about it. I can't also deny the benefits of consumption of plants, there are a lot of healthy benefits attached to it but is it more healthier? that is something I will leave for the professionals to decide but for me, I think I'm going to stick with my current diet, it works fine by me.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Going vegan" in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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