Vegetarianism, Hinduism and Food Habits of Children

Food choices are extremely personal and no one has a right to dictate others in this matter. Although I was raised a strict vegetarian in India, I have given up extreme vegetarianism. This short essay discusses some moral and practical issues. The arguments are placed in separate paragraphs so that a reader who disagrees with me can refer to speci c points of disagreements. Since the context for this essay is that of an immigrant in America, let us view the moral issues in the context of American food technology. Next, we discuss whether strict vegetarian diet alone is healthful. We conclude with some practical issues regarding raising strictly vegetarian children in America. 1) Food Related Technology: Food transport, refrigeration, synthetics, preservatives, plastics and modern humane low-pain slaughterhouses were absent in ancient times. An appeal of Hinduism is its absence of dogma and ability to evolve over time. Hindu sages discouraged nonveg foods mainly for intellectuals, (Brahmins) perhaps because nonveg can be too distracting from their prayer regimen. The warriors and farmers regularly ate nonveg foods. Had these same sages seen modern food technology, they may well have recommended a balanced healthy diet including fruits, vegetables, nonveg, and ber not fanatical zero-meat vegetarianism. 2) Morality: Nonviolence in the sense of avoiding pain to others is a high moral principle supported by Hinduism. Vedas tell us to treat all living things with equal respect, and regard wanton killing as sinful. However, Hinduism is not fanatical