"Eating for the YouTube generation" cooks up an alternative

By Bree Alten
New Thought News Service


Consume the facts, and meat becomes pretty unpalatable.
Fact: 17 percent of greenhouse gases are created by livestock; all the vehicles in the world only produce 13 percent of the greenhouse gases.
Fact: 75 percent of all antibiotics produced in the United States are consumed by the animals we eat.
These were among the distasteful tidbits offered up as part of "Compassionate Eating for the YouTube Generation," a talk that made a compelling argument for a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.
Heng Sure, the Buddhist monk leading the lecture, sparked a powerful reaction among participants and gave 12 arguments for a vegetarian lifestyle, including ethical, health and environmental concerns.
"How much is enough?" was the first question he posed. Sure went on to talk about the emotional, social, political and cultural reasons that people don't want to look at their diets, and why they resist change.
"No one wants to say mom was wrong," he said. "But mom might not have had all the facts."
Given the facts, the question was obvious.
"What should we do about this?" one audience member asked.
Education was Heng's answer. He urged audience members to educate themselves. Among his recommendations: Jonathan Foer's "Eating Animals," Rip Esselstyn's "The Engine 2 Diet," John Robbins' "May All be Fed" and vegsource.com.
Along with education, Sure provided inspiration, in the form of song lyrics: "May all be fed, may all things flourish, may all awaken. Bodhi Svaha."