Hi, Duo.
I think vegetarianism is a luxury of western world individuals. I'd like to see the trend spread to developing nations and see if it is such a choice of a lifestyle.
A quick look and it was rather easy to find vegetarian movements/societies in developing nations. If I were to spend more time on it I am sure I could find more. Keep in mind, India still has a lot of poverty and many poor Hindi and Jans are vegetarian.
One thing I did notice, though, during the search, is that most vegetarian societies in places such as Africa do not have the funds to actively promote the practice, such as an org like Peta here in the West. Most of these vegetarian societies just have addresses or tel #s, so I am assuming they cannot even afford internet connection or homepage construction, but some do have e-mail addresses.
Here are a few:
VEGETARIAN SOCIETY OF KENYA
Kaushik Kothary, P O Box 43414 , NAIROBI , Kenya
VEGETARIAN ORGANISATION MAURITIUS
C/o Edge Communication , PO Box 252 , CUREPIPE , Mauritius
Ph: +230 674 8000 / Fax: +230 676 7700 .
WEBSITE AVAILABLE HERE.
NIGERIA VEGETARIAN SOCIETY
Emmanuel Eyoh, Suite 19,Clemco Plaza 22,Latif Salami St , International Airport Rd, Ajao Estate , LAGOS , Nigeria
Ph: +234 803 722 6279 .
Email:
no-spam@[email protected]
NIGERIAN VEGETARIAN EDUCATION NETWORK
Robert Maduka, P O Box 489 , ORLU , Imo state , Nigeria
S.O.U.L. VEGETARIAN SOCIETY
142 St Michael's Road , East Street , ABA , Imo State , Nigeria
Some others and their dates of formation listed here on the International Vegetarian Union are:
1960 - Nigerian Vegetarian Society
1960 - West African Vegetarian Society
1979 - Egyptian Vegetarians
1979 - South African Vegetarian Union
1982 - Pan African Vegetarian Union
1997 - Vegetarian Society of Botswana
2001 - L'Alliance Vegetarienne Congo
2002 - Vegetarian Society of Uganda
2002 - Vegetarian Society of Ghana
2002 - The Zambia Society of Vegetarians
In my view you can't live a modern lifestyle without meat either.
I am not sure why you would say that. The fact that vegetarians exist in the modern world holding corporate jobs, competing at high levels of sports, making up to perhaps as high as 5~10% of the U.S. population clearly shows that they can. The news sure isn`t rife with vegetarians keeling over after a few weeks into their new eating habits, is it?
What do you do when you are sick? Instead of chicken soup what is there to be taken, celery soup??
That`s the point, we vegetarians don`t get sick!
Just kidding. Honestly, though, my colds are much more infrequent and much less severe, not hanging around as long as they did compared to when I consumed flesh. But, tomato soup, onion soup, or brocali soup do quite well with helping with colds.
And how about very young children that need protein to grow or feeble persons, meat is essential and saying otherwise is false in my view.
Perhaps the American Dietetic Association, the largest association of nutritiona professionals in the world, and their formal position on vegetarianism could change your view somewhat. In their position paper on the topic which is supported by over a hundred references to research from such places as the USDA, AMA, numerous universities, etc... they clearly state that children and adults can lead a healthy life on a vegetarian diet, and that such a diet offers benefits.
Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer. ...
The United States Dietary Guidelines (23) state, "Vegetarian diets can be consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and meet Recommended Dietary Allowances for nutrients."
LINK TO ORIGINAL SOURCE
However, if a vegetarian puts for the idea that he/she dont like meat and would rather prefer a diet on vegtables and fruit that is fine. However, to make it seem that vegetables are more important than meat is misleading.
The truth of the matter stands for itself: In this modern world, one can live healthily on a diet consisting of nothing but plant life. The same cannot be said of meat.