The World Peace Diet: Eating For Spiritual Health And Social Harmony

280 / the world peace diet
elderly in countries around the world. 4 Though she requires students to
meditate two and a half hours per day, vow to eat no flesh or egg products,
refrain from alcohol and non-prescription drugs, and not work in
jobs that promote the exploitation of animals or people, her movement
continues to spread. It shows the effectiveness of a spiritual approach,
because in less than twenty years she has been the proximate cause of
hundreds of thousands of people’s transition to veganism. Rather than
impede her movement, her insistence that her students reduce the cruelty
in their meals may paradoxically promote it. People who are serious
about spiritual growth are apparently capable of embracing fundamental
change in their lives, and may even welcome the opportunity.
These are but two encouraging examples of the vegan revolution of
compassion, justice and equality taking firmer root in our culture and
in the world. A positive momentum is unquestionably building in spite
of the established forces of domination and violent control that would
suppress it. Like a birth or metamorphosis, a new mythos is struggling
through us to arise and replace the obsolete herding mythos, and the
changes occurring may be far larger and more significant than they
appear to be. They are ignored and discounted by the mass media, but
what may seem to be small changes can suddenly mushroom when critical
mass is reached. It is vital that we all contribute to the positive revolution
for which our future is calling.
Implications for Further Research and Conversation
More thorough and open research and discussion of the implications of
our food choices would increase our cultural awareness of the negative
health, economic, environmental, psychological, and social consequences
of eating animal foods, and illuminate the multiple benefits for
everyone of a natural plant-based way of eating. There are virtually
unending opportunities for further research and public discussion to
deepen our understanding of our practice of commodifying and eating
animals, and to explore more positive alternatives. Some examples
include further research on the benefits of plant-based diets for individual
health, and, on a larger scale, what moving to plant-based diets
would mean in terms of improved air and water quality, increased food