Frustrations of a non-vegetarian environmentalist....

It’s August 2008, it has been a long 3 years of struggle for me. My friends still call me a pessimist, although I have always seen myself as a realist. The world hasn’t got much better either, in fact things have took a turn for the worst with spiralling oil and food prices, and an economy showing signs of recession. A big relief is the recent news of the Left withdrawing support to the UPA, after 4 ½ years of refusing to release the hand-brake on the govt, it has finally decided to call it a day. Then there is global warming and environmentalism. A subject I’ve had intense introspection for the past few months and a subject I would like to raise here.

Thank God for Al Gore, for if it wasn’t for him and his blockbuster documentary we would be swimming in neck deep water by now. Before I start, I would like to say that this post is not about throwing brickbats at the greens. I would like to say that I respect nature and I do accept the gravity of the problem of global warming. My cynicism at the greens or pseudo-greens (in case you are offended) is the fact that they have lost their way and sense of purpose due to too much emotion and very little Science. They turn to vegetarianism, start wearing t-shirts with MESSAGES written on them, and rubbish all corporate stuff. All good, coz all of it is politically correct. But, I say that turning yourself into a vegetarian isn’t going to help the world in any way. Vegetarianism (Vegans are no separate species of vegetarians, FYI) is the most obvious choice that a neo-environmentalist makes. I would like to tell them that our beautiful planet just doesn’t work like that. One animal dead is another animal’s food. It’s really basic high school Biology. We humans have literally screwed up our thinking, so we feel that by not eating Chicken and Beef, the Tigers in Ranthambore could be saved from poachers.

I wouldn’t advocate that humans should start to eat their dead relatives, but everything in life has to have a balance, especially with food. Instead of turning into Vegetarianism, try to control one’s diet and balance it with required carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and the taboo word for greens FAT (Fat is just as imperative for the body as any other vital nutrition). Environmentalism should be with a purpose and actions should be targeted at a particular end rather than doing it for the sake of doing it. Oh… One more thing…. Vegetarians, please stop Evangelizing. Respect the rights of the others to eat what they want to eat…