World Vegetarian Day (01/10)

Every year on October 1, the world community celebrates World Vegetarian Day, established by the North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) in 1977 and a year later supported by the International Vegetarian Union (IVU).

This annual celebration aims to raise awareness among the general public about the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle, both from a health and environmental and ethical perspective, and aims to promote various aspects of vegetarianism.

Vegetarianism (English vegetarian, from Late Latin vegetabilis – vegetable) – is a nutrition system that excludes animal products from food. Like all traditions, it has its own, and long-standing, history. Vegetarianism is believed to have originated in Asian countries in ancient times, and is originally based on the religious traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism. In Europe, vegetarianism appeared only at the beginning of the 19th century, and specifically – in England, where the widespread spread of this «hobby» was facilitated by the Buddhist teachings that the colonialists became acquainted with in India. By the way, the first society of the same name was founded in England (in 1847), and today it is the country where the largest number of supporters of the vegetarian diet live (about 6% of the total population). It should also be noted that the economic crisis in Europe also contributed to the development of this exercise, which then led to an increase in the price of a significant part of food products.

The spread of vegetarianism « was also facilitated by Darwin's evolutionary theory, which » destroyed religious and philosophical justifications for killing animals in society. At the same time, the first serious studies of vegetarianism began, and original works appeared on the benefits of plant foods for well-being and spiritual harmony. The revolutionary food system began to win more and more new supporters. For example, Schopenhauer believed that the vegetarian – is a person with higher moral and moral principles, and Bernard Shaw stated that he eats like a decent person without consuming the corpses of innocent creatures. The most famous Russian vegetarian of the time was Leo Tolstoy, who believed that «virtue was incompatible with steak». By the way, in Russia the first community of vegetarians was created in 1901, and seven years later the International Vegetarian Union was created.

Vegetarianism – is a nutrition system that completely excludes animal products from food (Photo: monticello, licensed by Shutterstock.com)

Over the years, vegetarianism spread throughout the world, it developed, transformed a little, and its most ardent fans adhered to the increasingly strict « diet», abandoning not only meat, but also other animal products. And today vegetarianism does not lose its popularity. Although the reasons why people choose this lifestyle are different. Some – in an attempt to keep up with fashion, some – for weight loss, some – to « stand out from the crowd», some – for health, and some – for ethical and religious-spiritual reasons. But not everyone remains in it, because vegetarianism – is still not a diet or fashion, but a way of life and a corresponding worldview.

According to statistics, today there are almost a billion people in the world who adhere to the principles of vegetarianism. That is, approximately 10-11% of the planet’s inhabitants consciously abandoned meat eating, believing that by doing so they were gaining not only health, but also peace of mind. After all, their slogan is «We didn’t kill anyone».

It must also be said that the classical theory of vegetarianism involves abandoning only the meat (flesh) of living beings, but the modern culture of vegetarianism also includes many different movements. For example, a raw food diet (eating only foods unprocessed by thermal methods), or fruitarianism (consuming only fresh fruits, vegetables, berries, seeds, nuts, but giving up roots and root vegetables), or lacto-vegetarianism (in addition to plant foods, you can use milk, dairy products and eggs) and others. However, many of the adherents of this culture adhere to the strict principles of vegetarianism and even refuse to use fur, animal skin, wool, silk, etc. in everyday life. Such people are called vegans.

Disputes about the dangers and benefits of vegetarianism in the world have been going on for a long time, including by doctors. According to many doctors, this lifestyle has the undeniable advantages of – healthy weight loss, reducing the risk of obesity and the amount of cholesterol that enters the body through food. But, in their opinion, there are also disadvantages. First of all, any restriction on meat consumption leads to a lack of vital amino acids and minerals. All this not only leads to deterioration of the condition of bones, hair, skin..., but also in people who have completely given up meat, a serious problem of – atrophy of the heart muscle can arise.

Therefore, doctors warn against «fan» vegetarianism, when a person deliberately impoverishes his diet, practically without compensating for the deficiency of animal protein, amino acids and vitamins. Only properly planned vegetarianism does not harm humans. And leading such a lifestyle is quite acceptable, but it is precisely for adults, and you should not impose the same lifestyle on your children. After all, for a child such a diet is unacceptable, since the child’s body grows, and if he is deprived of food of animal origin at an early stage of development, a lag in physical development may occur. Vegetarianism is also contraindicated for pregnant women due to the threat of miscarriage, nursing mothers and is extremely undesirable for older people.

Every year the number of vegetarians increases (Photo: BestPhotoStudio, licensed from Shutterstock.com)

By the way, among adherents of vegetarianism are such famous personalities as: Pythagoras, Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Leo Tolstoy, Emil Zola, Franz Kafka, Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Spock, Thomas More, Voltaire, Russo, Adam Smith, Byron, Bob Dylan, Richard Gere, Adriano Celentano, Brad Pitt, Sting, Natalie Portman, Steven Seagal, Paul McCartney, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Demi Moore, Mikhail Zadornov, Nikolai Drozdov and many other famous people.

By the way, supporters of this lifestyle can celebrate their «professional» holiday for a whole month, since the so-called «month of vegetarian awareness» (Vegetarian Awareness Month) begins from World Vegetarian Day, during which various thematic events are held dedicated to the benefits and harms of vegetarianism and which continues until International Vegan Day, that is, until November 1.

Traditionally, among the most popular Vegetarian Day promotions and events held in different countries are – flash mobs calling not to kill animals for food; culinary events – for example, many restaurants on this day include only vegetarian dishes on the menu, and stores offer discounts on vegetables and fruits; discussions on vegetarianism, master classes and tastings of culinary vegetarian masterpieces, etc. By the way, many famous vegetarian festivals are taking place in Thailand and China at this time.



Postcard «1 October – World Vegetarian Day»

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