Jediism and veganism?

Veganism isn't any more sustainable or moral than animal-aided diets.

I would say that plants are there specifically to provide for animals, such as humans. Plants in my view are spiritual in nature, and that is why they have not developed receptors for pain, scientifically. I believe in peaceful unity and harmony, and if you include eating food, there must be a way to eat peacefully - the Force would not leave us in a universe where violence is natural. I think that if one were to ask the Force honestly what to eat that is peaceful, the Force would show that plants are the way. Besides, there is evidence that eating plants instead is much healthier. Plants have developed mechanisms that allow them to thrive off of being eaten, such as the spreading of their seedlings. When a plant is pulled from the ground, its life energy moves peacefully into the aura of the Force. This is very different from when an animal is slaughtered.

If plants are to provide food for animals, why do they give off pheromones and develop defense mechanisms when they're threatened? Why are so many of them poisonous to us and other animals? Why do so many have thorns to keep us from them?

If you're a spiritual person: Plants have spirits, the same as animals. Are you valuing the spirits of animals above those of plants? Is that unity?

Vegan diets often rely on at two of the most common food allergens for protein sources; what about people who can't have soy or nuts?

What about the absolute ecological devastation of destroying animal habitats to provide arable land for crop growth, or the destruction of animals necessary to maintain crops in good health? Is that part of veganism morally allowable?

What about situations where the push for vegan diets starves small communities by buying up their local food sources to be shipped halfway across the globe?

Hold all life yes I agree and we should. However, I believe as a Jedi everything has life in it, a purpose and an end. Now, I hold more to the vegan side of things and have over the course of six months been slowly removing dairy and meats from my diet but, that is my own choice and no one else. Who is to say, that a cow is more valued as a life basis than say a grove of grapes? The grove is as alive as a cow is. It may not be competent enough to make noise or thrash back and forth like a cow or anything a cow does but, it's still alive right? Now, the cow may eat the grapes off the grove but, so would I have and then I may sent the cow to slaughter and make some nice ground beef out of it but, you see my point.

Since the discussion seems to be steering away from the question of whether consuming meat is contrary to a Jedi's responsibility to "value all life", I would leave it at this.

To each his own. Dietary habits have become rather contentious issues lately, and being more of the omnivore type, I struggle to understand the driving force behind proving who eats "better" or "more healthy" or whether humans mistreat their world. We can find the slaughter of animals and the raping of agricultural lands for suburbs to be equally disgraceful, but neither promote the need to convince another to follow a certain way or another.

If anything, the question itself (whichever you find us to be on at this point) should teach us to be more mindful not just of our own eating habits and practices, but also to be conscious of the feelings, beliefs, and sentiments of all life forms around us (human emotions, animal lives, plant lives, or that glass of water you are about to chug down).

I have yet to encounter anything in Jediism that leads me to feel compelled to impose my belief systems (whatever they are) upon another being. So if you find a vegan path in line with your Jedi path, great; if you find standard modern diets to be acceptable in your Jedi path, have at it. Reconcile either path with yourself and you win. That is all.

First and foremost, be thankful for the food you are eating. Something was sacrificed for us to eat. Life is precious, all life, plants, animals, fish. Thank the creature that sacrificed its life so you could move on. Thank the Force, Great Spirit, God, etc...

Writer, philosopher, and lecturer Joseph Campbell once famously joked that “a vegetarian is just a person who can’t hear a carrot scream.”

Eat what makes you "comfortable" in your personal beliefs. Just remember all things in moderation. Do not overindulge in any one area.

Thank you karn that was what I was trying to say but, it didn't come out right.

nightrider123 wrote: Wouldn't it make sense that a Jedi, who respects all life, would be vegetarian, or, vegan? I've been wondering about this for awhile. I just entered this forum so I thought I'd post about one of the most pressing questions on my mind.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your responses!

-nightrider123

To respect does not mean to abstain. As with all things, one has to make a decision what it means to respect life. In my view, it means not wasting life for the sake of it (human or animal). It means I try not to waste meat, it means I choose properly sourced fish etc.
Vegan diets aren't wholly without issues, as Steamboat has pointed out they have far reaching implications different from those of meat production.
By all means eat vegan if that is your choice, but do not think that it is the moral superior simply because it doesn't include meat. Do your research, whatever your diet, and make your decisions on that.

Last nights spagbol was pumpkin, eggplant and onion instead of red meat, and was great!

I'm not vegan, nor vegetarian. I'd be the later if I could manage it, and am nearly there. Vegan is slightly more ethical based isn't it.... I've never understood why not to eat an egg for example, as I've had chickens and they seemed happy to live out their lives doing chicken things in safety from predators.

So the problem with considering an ethical decision for me is that life is consumption, to live is to consume and so to assess what is being consumed some metric is required. I use complexity and size/footprint, as it neatly would associate with the cost of production and distribution but also that I tend to see my own sentience as being the result of my own complexity (and therefore size/footprint).

From that vantage it can be seen that a plant and animal are quite very different in that order of hierarchy. It also affords me the opportunity to consider the extents of likely sentience outside of my own species, as of course where there is ignorance I like to exert some knowledge in its place as a basis for developing accuracy in the future. Gotta be relatable right! And of course we don't want to get sucked into confusing the map with the territory so equality is a good baseline to approach things without falling into the trap of fooling ourselves conceptually. What else is there to fight concepts but better concepts :S

But to me diet needs to be about health as priority, above taste, energy or even ethics. I'd love to say balance is key, but being balance does not mean all things equally. What is function of diet... happiness, longevity, functionality, society. I guess ethical considerations fall into that social element in defining how we define society, is it human society or the whole biosphere for example. Certainly our cultures bring us to a view on it all, but I'm not one to believe what others tell me so quickly so I tend to make my own mind up (or at least think I do).

So what of meat, my opinion is that I doubt the presence of meat is bad, rather more the amount of it eaten being overly excessive for optimal health, and partnered with a high sugar and high salt diet means the whole digestive system is being abused by modern diets IMO. So while I'd prefer if meat were lab grown, failing that I'd prefer mature end of natural life animals. First world problems of course, but if that is the direction of the world then it's apt to consider I reckon. But on the flipside, killing young for flavour, creating high stress at slaughter to increase flavour, and even circle of life justifications do not appeal to me personally. The last thing I want someone who was murdering me to do is to lean over my dying body and thank me for my sacrifice (like I had a choice), or let me know it's the right time for me to be eaten, as if that is any justification... was it a fair fight at least? :S

But I love meat, its an energy dense food... like all things having its own downsides, such as a large emission footprint, my ethical measure, and of course being energy dense has its downsides too for gut flora balance. And I very much doubt our ancestors had access to a lot of high quality meat very often, and when so it was as the result of high stress and strenuous activity. Thus I'd imagine the human body works better closer to vegetarian then most people would like to believe. Though tasty things are good for special occasions, and we all are so very special these days
I mock myself tho too, humanity is very busy and cycles of reward seem intrinsic.

And so for health, digestion is the big thing I think we'll find in the future, gut flora, slow passage all leading to over-digestion of what is in effect by then fecal matter, causing obesity, autoimmune disease and neuropathies. Western diets have way too much sugar, fats and salt IMO, the priority seems to be on taste and energy above all else. So while it does seem funny that our cultural concepts could shelter harmful behaviour its not hard to understand how short sighted people can become - as society speeds up more and more, not to mention feeding an increased requirement for an energy and reward (taste) focus. A bit of a perfect storm for unhealthiness, but its the product of consumer choice not the system, so there are options. But again, I don't stick to vegan or vegetarianism as rules... I make my own decision based on my own view - which just happens to align with those concepts most of the time, when able.

So while I have not had red meat in my diet for over 3 years, I do eat 250g of chicken a day and if its a special occasion will eat whatever is on offer. The rest I channel Yoda on Dagobah for and go all flora instead of fauna... seems much healthier, sufficient for energy and taste, and more coherent as to the way I see things. If I could just find a suitable chicken substitute..... if only prawns were cheaper, they'd be better!!!!

You can delve in the realm of what is "moral" and what is "ethical" or what dietary choices suits your religion or philisophy as much as you would like, but the facts of a carnivore diet and what impacts it holds on our planet and it's species (humans included) remain.

You can interpret the doctrine however you wish, but there are still real life facts if you are interested in hearing them:

Below is a link to a 2006 UN study of the greenhouse gases produced by cattle:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsID=20772#.WWi_zRm5nqA

Below is a link to an article by the guardian concerning beef in particular:
https://www.google.se/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/21/giving-up-beef-reduce-carbon-footprint-more-than-cars

If a Jedi is meant to serve, doesn't that mean he is meant to serve more than his stomach, when there are more, often times even more healthier, options?

But of course- In the end it's all about your own choice, if you would rather eat meat, then by all means, do so. It's your life, I go my way you go yours.