Book Review

Being Vegetarian
  By Rebecca Hammons
  Publisher: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 2017.
  ISBN: 978-93-86866-00-4

Written in a lively, engaging style, Being Vegetarian addresses the many concerns and considerations people face when deciding whether to become vegetarian. Hammons begins the book by addressing the most fundamental privilege of being human:

Understanding that we are capable of shaping our own lives – our personal responses to the beauty, complexity, bewilderment, and cruelty of the world we inhabit – leads us to inevitable questions: What really matters? What kind of person do we choose to be?

Since, as humans, we have the unique privilege of being able to make choices, the author challenges us to think deeply and to make conscious choices, rather than being drawn along by habit and tradition:

We want fulfilment and joy; we want both to have a good life and to be a good person. We know inherently that those things are connected, the results of focused, conscious choices. What are those choices, and how do we make them? What direction leads to the joy, compassion, peace of mind, and wisdom we want to cultivate?

Compassion is often the driving force behind the decision to become vegetarian. Hammons provides some details of the miserable lives and brutal deaths of the animals raised for our plate, particularly in the “factory farms.” Simply knowing the facts may ignite fervent feelings of compassion for the animals.

She explains that taking actions that support the well-being of others and contributing to “non-violence in the world at large” are the pathway that leads to our own happiness:

Compassion is important to us. If we sow fields of bitter suffering, can we expect harvests of sweet happiness? Can our wellbeing be built on the misery of other sentient beings? Cause and effect, action and reaction. By acting with kindness, we receive kindness – even if we sometimes receive it eventually rather than immediately. What we give and what we get are inseparable. Understanding this principle, we realize that eating animals involves us in violence that is harmful to both ourselves and those animals. The meat on our plates rarely comes from creatures that have led natural, tranquil lives but has instead been carved from animals that have suffered in life and died in pain. Knowing this, how can we continue to choose palate over compassion?

Hammons offers five personal benefits that come from choosing to be vegetarian, and backs each one up with in-depth discussions and detailed information. First, we avoid participating in the devastating environmental and climate impacts of the meat-industry; second, a vegetarian or vegan diet is healthier and helps us avoid many chronic diseases; third, we stop causing suffering to animals. The fourth is subtle, but points to a profound impact of aligning our actions with our own values: “When we decide to live our ethics with every food choice we make, we experience deep satisfaction.” The fifth reason is the law of karma: we will, indeed, suffer eventually if we cause suffering to others.

The book explores the environmental impacts of a meat-based diet. Many meat-eaters may not be aware of how significantly the meat industry contributes to the global climate change crisis. Therefore, the author opens the chapter called “Raising Livestock = Razing Rainforests” with the statement: “Prepare to the surprised, and not in a happy way.” She summarizes the shocking facts about how much of the earth’s limited resources of water and productive land are consumed in the meat industry, as well as explaining how the methane produced by livestock impacts climate change. Quoting Thich Nhat Hanh: “By eating meat, we share responsibility for causing climate change, the destruction of our forests, and the poisoning of our water. The simple act of being a vegetarian can make a difference in the health of our planet.”

Once the life-changing decision to be vegetarian has been made, there are many details to consider and obstacles to overcome. We have to read labels and be careful about hidden ingredients one would never guess were there:

As committed vegetarians, we sweat the small stuff because we do not want to be connected to the suffering of other conscious, feeling creatures. In other words, we pay attention to details such as whether or not Thai curry has fish sauce (almost always!), yogurt has gelatin (made from animal by-products such as hooves, skin, and bones), or a formerly favourite salad dressing is made with mayonnaise (which contains eggs).

The author provides practical information about ingredients which many people do not realize are meat-based. For example:

• Albumen – This protein component – most commonly derived from egg whites but also from animal blood, cow’s milk, plants or seeds – is used extensively in processed foods, especially pastries and baked goods.

• Carmine/Cochineal extract (red dye) – Used in candies, pastries, and some brands of yogurt, this red or purplish-red pigment is made from dried female scale insects. Females are used because their abdomens, which house fertilized eggs, are the most carmine-rich part of the insects. They are separated from the rest of the body to be mined for that carmine, a red colour often labelled “natural red 4” or simply “natural colour”. Suddenly, that pink yogurt doesn’t look so pretty …

This book is very practical, addressing a wide range of concerns people often have, from the issues that may come up when raising children vegetarian, to dealing with arguments about whether our human bodies were designed to be carnivore, omnivore or vegetarian. A wealth of information is provided about many nutrients we need. For example, many people worry about being vegetarian, believing they will not get enough protein, or enough vitamin B12. The book provides advice for how to make sure you are getting enough of these and other important nutrients on a vegetarian diet.

Many people think about becoming vegetarian, but can’t quite make the commitment for fear of offending – or being judged by – family, friends and co-workers who eat meat. After all, sharing meals around a table is one of the most important way that families and friends stay connected. Hammons poses the question:

Practically, how do vegetarians remain involved in the social experience of sharing food when it seems to our meat-eating friends and family that we’ve left their table entirely? How do we keep from alienating those we want to hold close? Isn’t it terribly hurtful to tell Grandma that we can no longer eat the cake we grew up begging for or to tell Auntie that the chicken pakoras we once loved are no longer wanted? Where’s the kindness and compassion in hurting another’s feelings?

She suggests that when we are thoughtful, considerate and graceful in the situation, most of these problems disappear. “Gracefully being vegetarian in the midst of people who aren’t requires some of the same internal qualities that we wish to cultivate in the world around us – gentleness, tolerance, commitment, and respect for others’ opinions.”

Throughout the book, in the space before each chapter, a profound quote from wise or saintly persons begs the reader to stop and think. These quotes come from a wide range of historical and cultural sources, ranging from Leonardo da Vinci (“Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else”) to Goethe (“Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together”) to Sir Paul McCartney: (“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everybody would be vegetarian”).

_{Book reviews express the opinions of the reviewers and not of the publisher.}