Vegetarian Report: Veg and Non-Veg Together

How can vegetarian & non-vegetarian live and eat together harmoniously?

My non-vegetarian relatives, friends and acquaintances often assume that I look down on them for eating meat. I could say that their perception is their problem and that their negative attitude doesn’t help. But actually, their reaction to my vegetarian diet and lifestyle is completely understandable.

After spending most of the last 30 years as a vegetarian, I don’t consider meat as food, I can’t pass the meat counter in a grocery store without feeling ill, and I look away when I see someone eating meat.

Just because I feel that way doesn’t make the other guy's diet wrong. Being vegetarian doesn't automatically mean that you've got God on your side. Jesus is rumored to have been a vegetarian, but so is Hitler. Actually, Hitler was NOT vegetarian - he just ate veg when he had OD'd on rich spicy meat dishes. It's harder to know about Jesus.

What's important is that evil people are a minority, and most people are good. We're all for good, and against evil, right? So vegetarian and non-vegetarian should have no problem getting along.

It's clear that we all must work together to solve the problems we’ve created, like global warming, environmental degradation, poverty, and hunger. Eating together is a great place to start. To enjoy sharing food, vegetarian and non-vegetarian need to set aside their differences, do their best to provide for each other’s needs, and place humanity before ideology. Hopefully, it will then be easier to do the same on a global level.

One in three advice letters to Savvy Vegetarian is about veg feeding non-veg or vice-versa. These letters come from both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. This means that one in three people have this problem! Obviously, nobody’s dying from this, but why should this sad condition continue, when it can be helped by good will, common sense, and a few ground rules?

Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian