Here is a collection of some of my favourite quotes on being a vegetarian.

Vegetarian Quotes

“You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit.  If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I’ll buy you a new car.”  ~Harvey Diamond

“Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them. ” ~Samuel Butler, Note-Books, 1912

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.”  ~Paul McCartney

“Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn!  You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak!  Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay.” ~George Bernard Shaw

“One farmer says to me, ‘You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make the bones with;’ and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying himself with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle. “ ~Henry David Thoreau

“How can you eat anything with eyes?”  ~Will Kellogg

“The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined.  If beef is your idea of “real food for real people” you’d better live real close to a real good hospital.”  ~Neal Barnard

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?  I’m halfway through my fishburger and I realize, Oh my God.  I could be eating a slow learner.”  ~Lynda Montgomery

“Animals are my friends… and I don’t eat my friends.” ~George Bernard Shaw

“We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could.”  ~James Cromwell

“If you knew how meat was made, you’d probably lose your lunch.”  ~k.d. lang

“Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own.”  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

“My situation is a solemn one.  Life is offered to me on condition of eating beefsteaks.  But death is better than cannibalism.  My will contains directions for my funeral, which will be followed not by mourning coaches, but by oxen, sheep, flocks of poultry, and a small traveling aquarium of live fish, all wearing white scarfs in honor of the man who perished rather than eat his fellow creatures.”  ~George Bernard Shaw

“I did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens.” ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

“I just could not stand the idea of eating meat – I really do think that it has made me calmer….  People’s general awareness is getting much better, even down to buying a pint of milk:  the fact that the calves are actually killed so that the milk doesn’t go to them but to us cannot really be right, and if you have seen a cow in a state of extreme distress because it cannot understand why its calf isn’t by, it can make you think a lot.”  ~Kate Bush

“I think if you want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and eat it raw so that you are not blinded by the hypocrisy of having it processed for you.”  ~Margi Clark

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.  ~Albert Einstein

Here’s a note for all of the Vegetarian friendly folks out there.

I recently went to one of my favorite cities in the U.S. -  Boulder, Colorado and was pleasantly surprised to find a new (at least to me) vegetarian restaurant.   My family and I went with my friend David on the day we arrived in town and had a truly remarkable meal.  We liked it so much we ended up going back on our short stay in Boulder.

The restaurant is called “Leaf” and is located just off of Pearl Street on 2010 16th St.  The decor is elegant modern and the feeling in the space is very clean and relaxed.   Here’s a photo of the interior:

Unlike many veggie places I’ve been,  “Leaf” provides vegan and raw choices as well as takes care to present the food in a beautiful and gourmet fashion.   Also on the menu are all sorts of interesting cocktails, mocktails and healthy drinks.

I had a great sprout salad in addition to a peaches and cream dish.  Plus I sampled the raw wrap and the polenta.

If you’re passing through Boulder, Leaf is well worth the effort to visit.   Pass the info on.

Since my daughter is about to turn one year old, I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on the reality of raising kids on raw and vegan foods.    The consensus is that while it may indeed be much healthier overall than eating a standard diet, raw vegan kids do need some supplements especially when they are very young.  This includes kids who are eating lots of leafy greens.

According to Shazzie, author of “Evie’s Kitchen” there are several nutrients to watch out for:

• Calcium
• Vitamin D
• Vitamins K1 and K2
• Iron
• Choline
• DHA
• Vitamin B12

Shazzie has written a great article on the subject that goes into detail about these nutrients.   If you have raw vegan kids or know someone who does please read it and pass it on!

I arrived in Singapore on Sunday, which happens to be market night in Little India.  Set within an sea of ultra modern buildings, super high-tech and non-stop advertising, Little India is one of the few places in the city which still has some character.   That’s even more true during the Sunday night market.  I took a walk through the busy, colorful streets full of people and fresh fruit and vegetables for sale.   In a gap between the crowds I spotted a sign for a vegetarian restaurant called Ananda Bhavan and decided to have a look.

Indian restaurants aren’t known for having a lot of raw food options, but I was able to find a few dishes that worked for me.   The food was average but what really struck me though was the calm and peaceful feeling inside the restaurant.    In my experience, that’s common to vegetarian places around the world.

As I was about to leave, I went downstairs to pay and I spotted this quote from M.K. Gandhi painted in white stylized letters on the dark green wall:

“An examination of the structure of the human body leads to the conclusion that man is intended by nature to live on a vegetable diet.  There is the closest affinity between the organs of the human body and those of fruit eating animals.  The monkey for example is so similar to man in shape and structure and it is a fruit eating animal.   Its teeth and stomach are just like the teeth and stomach of man, while those of carnivorous animals, as for instance the lion and tiger are entirely different.”

Alongside this quote is also painted Gandhi’s comparison of the physiology of meat eaters and vegetable eaters:

Meat eaters:

• Have claws
• Don’t have skin pores – so perspire through the tongue
• Have sharp teeth for tearing and no molars for grinding
• Have an intestinal tract 3 times the length of the body – so meat can pass quickly, before rotting
• Have very strong hydrochloric acid in the stomach

Vegetable eaters:

• Have nails instead of claws
• Perspire through the skin
• Have no sharp front teeth and have rear molars for grinding
• Have an intestinal tract 10-12 times body length
• Have stomach acid 20 times weaker than meat eaters

Based on these comparisons it’s quickly clear which group humans naturally belong to.   I’ve belonged to that group now for the past 15 years and I’m really glad I have.

As much as I’m inspired by this restaurant so proudly presenting Gandhi’s argument in favor of vegetarianism, I want to make one important addition that can help you save some time and get you healthier faster.

Interestingly, there’s not a significant difference in health between meat eaters and vegetable eaters in the wild.  Both tend to live healthy and disease free until the final 5% of their lives.   Also both of them eat all of their food raw.

And, in my experience, that’s really the key – keeping it as raw as possible.   I believe we are physiologically designed to be vegetable and fruit eaters – raw vegetable and fruit eaters.

To me it’s become so clear and makes so much sense.   I was a 75% cooked food vegetarian for 7years before discovering raw foods.  During that time I ate tofu, beans,  lentils, whole grain breads, brown rice and all the other foods I thought were really healthy.   The problem with all of them is that they were so heavily cooked and devitalized.

I did feel that leaving meat out of my diet helped raise my awareness, kindness and compassion pretty much straight away, but I didn’t experience major physical health benefits like weight loss, clearer skin, improved digestion, less mucous, greater immunity and more until I became a 95% raw food vegetarian.

If I could turn the clock back in my own life, I would start with raw vegetarian instead of just vegetarian.    The difference is truly that big.

So, if Mr. Gandhi’s analysis and words resonate with you and you feel pulled to try a vegetarian diet, I’d encourage you to lok toward a raw vegetarian diet first.