It Starts With You: Respect the earth, Plus: Famous People Who Are Vegetarians

As I mentioned in my first post that there are many reasons why people become vegetarians. Some may be for their own health, and several plea for reduction of cruelty and animal killing, together with environmental reasons. The Vegetarian Society of Singapore (VSS) which is a non-profit, non-religious organization founded in 1999 has published some interesting information on their website www.vegetarian-society.org. VSS campaigns to raise awareness in terms of both health issues and respect to the earth. It says that forests, oceans, animals and all living things exist in an intricate balance. All of life strives for harmony and happiness - if we want happiness, let’s afford the same to our fellow creatures.

A shocking statistic from the website: 50 billion helpless farm animals are slaughtered every year. We can reduce this needless suffering just by making the right food choices, and in so doing also help to save our planet.

According to a UN FAO 2006 report: Animal products contribute more to global warming than all land vehicles, ships and airplanes on the planet combined.

So, is it about time for us to stop and give it a deep and serious thought what we are consuming ? Why would we take away lives of poor animals just for our temporary pleasure and joy from the taste of their meat? Put ourselves in their shoes: How would it feel for you if you, your parents, and your offspring are fed, and raised, in order to be slaughtered some time soon? There're active and strong activities on the supply side because there is endless and growing demand in meat consumption.When this is gonna end?

You can do your part. Put an end to this vicious circle. Reduce and stop the demand for meat and meat-related product consumption. It starts with you.

This website also shares with us famous people who are vegetarians. The people who have discovered the beauty of vegetarianism include some of the world’s most outstanding and accomplished.

From Einstein to Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis, Leonardo da Vinci to Paul McCartney, Richard Gere, to Maggie Q...

Albert Einstein: 'nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.' But You Don’t Have To Be A Genius.

As Richard Gere put it 'As custodians of the planet, it is our responsibility to deal with all species with kindness, love and compassion. That these animals suffer through human cruelty is beyond understanding. Please help to stop this madness.'  

 

I looked up for some more names of notable and outstanding people from different fields, who are vegetarians, from Wikipedia, and compiled below a short but impressive list (complete list can be found on Wikipedia. Note that the list is separated from famous people who are Vegan ):

 

Asoka the Great, Anthony the Great, Mahatama Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw, Ringo Starr, Amitabh Banchan, Christ Evert, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Anne Hathaway, Tobey Macguire (Spiderman), Natalie Portman, Forest Whitaker, Stella McCartney, Jane Goodall, and many more !