It was my husband's 40th birthday on 16.01.2019. But he was away on a business trip to another continent. So T and I decided to go for dinner to celebrate his birthday. T loves to eat with chopsticks and so we decided to go to a Thai restaurant to have dinner. He returned from school at about 4:15 pm. We dropped the school bag home and wanted to take a bus to go to the city center where the restaurant was located. As we were waiting for the bus, I saw a young girl standing nearby with a cotton bag which read "Fuck Tradition. Go vegan". That caught my attention and blew my mind. It lingered on in my mind since then and I wanted to write about it and I finally managed to do it today, after almost 10 days.
Fuck tradition. Go Vegan
The tradition here stands for the traditional food I guess. In Europe, it is very common to eat pork, cow, chicken, fish, almost every animal, and bird which is edible! It is very cold for a very long time and people have been eating all this food to keep themselves warm and get the best protein for sustenance. Vegetarian food was very less 18 years ago when I first came to Germany. But now whenever I go to dine out, I see vegetarian options, though less, there are a few! Chinese, Thai, Persian cuisines have a lot of vegetarian options, other world cuisines have also adopted a few vegetarian dishes on their menu. Why is this?
People are becoming more and more aware of the pathetic conditions in which the animals like cows and pigs are kept. The conditions are not hygienic, there are many diseases lurking around these crammed animals. And when they are killed, their stress levels go high up for obvious reasons, they are going to die and they realize that and try their best till their last breath to save themselves, but alas due to the insatiable appetite of human beings, these animals have to sacrifice their lives. So all the stress hormones and toxins from the bodies of animals and fishes into the people who consume them and many unknown and rare types of cancers and lifestyle diseases are on a rise.
That statement, "Fuck tradition. Go Vegan" meant to stop eating the traditional way (non-vegetarian food) and adopt eating habits that do not kill animals. The vegan movement is slowly catching up in Europe now where animal products like cheese, milk, butter, etc. are not consumed and instead of those products, things like tofu, cheese from cashew, milk from rice, almond, etc. is consumed. There are many options available in Germany, almost in all common supermarkets. I also saw vegan restaurants in the town where I am put up in Germany. It is a very bold and big step to set up something like this amongst a primarily carnivorous eating population. That's definitely something against the tradition. It requires conviction and faith in the attempt to go against the tradition.
Being a vegetarian myself, I am happy to meet a few German mommies of T's friends at school who say they consume less or no meat at all. They tell me, they are appalled to read and see the conditions in which the poor animals are massacred, it puts them off. The cheap meat which is available at a few cents in the supermarket is not to be trusted at all. It is not possible to buy organic meat every time for all the people. It costs a lot. So they think it is better to give up meat and adopt a healthier and greener way of life. My 81 years old German neighbor has given up meat for 26 years. He also told me of a scandal that happened in Europe, where dog and camel meat was sold as cheap and affordable meat for the masses. I was aghast, dog and camel, really!?
And at the same time, I am very saddened to see the people in India consuming more and more meat. It's a matter of taste and their choice after all. I am no one to judge them.
I hope people realize someday before it is too late.
(Image source: spreadshirt.de from google)
Fuck tradition. Go Vegan
The tradition here stands for the traditional food I guess. In Europe, it is very common to eat pork, cow, chicken, fish, almost every animal, and bird which is edible! It is very cold for a very long time and people have been eating all this food to keep themselves warm and get the best protein for sustenance. Vegetarian food was very less 18 years ago when I first came to Germany. But now whenever I go to dine out, I see vegetarian options, though less, there are a few! Chinese, Thai, Persian cuisines have a lot of vegetarian options, other world cuisines have also adopted a few vegetarian dishes on their menu. Why is this?
People are becoming more and more aware of the pathetic conditions in which the animals like cows and pigs are kept. The conditions are not hygienic, there are many diseases lurking around these crammed animals. And when they are killed, their stress levels go high up for obvious reasons, they are going to die and they realize that and try their best till their last breath to save themselves, but alas due to the insatiable appetite of human beings, these animals have to sacrifice their lives. So all the stress hormones and toxins from the bodies of animals and fishes into the people who consume them and many unknown and rare types of cancers and lifestyle diseases are on a rise.
That statement, "Fuck tradition. Go Vegan" meant to stop eating the traditional way (non-vegetarian food) and adopt eating habits that do not kill animals. The vegan movement is slowly catching up in Europe now where animal products like cheese, milk, butter, etc. are not consumed and instead of those products, things like tofu, cheese from cashew, milk from rice, almond, etc. is consumed. There are many options available in Germany, almost in all common supermarkets. I also saw vegan restaurants in the town where I am put up in Germany. It is a very bold and big step to set up something like this amongst a primarily carnivorous eating population. That's definitely something against the tradition. It requires conviction and faith in the attempt to go against the tradition.
Being a vegetarian myself, I am happy to meet a few German mommies of T's friends at school who say they consume less or no meat at all. They tell me, they are appalled to read and see the conditions in which the poor animals are massacred, it puts them off. The cheap meat which is available at a few cents in the supermarket is not to be trusted at all. It is not possible to buy organic meat every time for all the people. It costs a lot. So they think it is better to give up meat and adopt a healthier and greener way of life. My 81 years old German neighbor has given up meat for 26 years. He also told me of a scandal that happened in Europe, where dog and camel meat was sold as cheap and affordable meat for the masses. I was aghast, dog and camel, really!?
And at the same time, I am very saddened to see the people in India consuming more and more meat. It's a matter of taste and their choice after all. I am no one to judge them.
I hope people realize someday before it is too late.
(Image source: spreadshirt.de from google)
No comments:
Post a Comment