November 25th is observed as the International Meatless Day. It is the birth anniversary of Sadhu Vaswani who advocated non violence and compassion along with service to the downtrodden during his lifetime. His birthday is observed as Meatless Day and the movement has gained international recognition due to the sustained campaign by his followers. In India, four states Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – have issued instructions in the past for the closure of slaughter-houses as well as butchers’ shops on 25th November every year, in their respective states. This is a great achievement and like all campaigns this change cannot happen overnight.
Long time ago if you mention vegetarianism, people would snigger and say it is the cult of the crazy. Mahatma Gandhi writes in his autobiography how difficult it was to find vegetarian food in the west. But now, thanks to health and lifestyle reasons people have started accepting vegetarianism as a way of life. Our younger generation should be convinced about the ill effects of animal food and more importantly alternatives should be introduced to them so that they understand that vegetarian substitutes are equally tasty.
At Kenya Veg Club we will continue to promote vegetarianism.