For health and for the planet
“The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has accentuated the crucial importance of vegetarianism, which ties in with environmental sustainability and animal welfare.” Charlene Yeh, marketing and promotion manager at the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation, reminds us that the disease may have originated in human consumption of wild animals. From a public health perspective, therefore, consuming less meat is a way to protect ourselves, and choosing a vegetarian diet can significantly reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases.
Tse-Xin started to promote vegetarianism as early as 2004. Its founder, Master Jih-Chang, maintained that abstaining from meat could help reduce killing and protect life, something that every Buddhist strives to do every day. Influenced by John Robbins’s Diet For a New America, Jih-Chang thought that not only Buddhists but also everyone else could achieve better health, protect animals, and care for the planet by consuming less meat. He thus founded Tse-Xin with a view to creating harmony between humanity and nature through organic farming, and promoting vegetarianism has been one of the foundation’s missions.
To advocate vegetarianism, Bliss and Wisdom Young Adults has been organizing “vegetarian weeks” at 41 colleges, where they give away free vegetarian meals. In 2019 more than 2000 students participated. In 2020 they launched “Veggie Possible” on social media to encourage more young people to go vegetarian. This initiative includes a “veggie relay” where team members take turns adhering to a vegetarian diet over the course of a month.
Thanks to the efforts of Buddha’s Light International Association, more than 330,000 people worldwide have endorsed “Vege Plan A,” which promotes the view that vegetarianism, rather than being confined to those who are religious or health conscious, is in fact vital for mitigating food crises and combating global warming. According to the Bliss and Wisdom Buddhism Foundation’s statistics for this plan, more than 10,000 people have signed up in 2020, consuming 6,870,000 vegetarian meals—equivalent to 1,030,000 fewer trees being felled, 1032 fewer tons of carbon dioxide being emitted, 550,000 cubic meters of water being saved, or 3,770,000 fewer tons of food being wasted.
Not only have the aims of these vegetarian initiatives become more far-reaching, but their promotional strategies have also changed from moralistic preaching and censure to more open-minded, tolerant approaches. In 2018 the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation, Vegan 30 (now renamed Kindness to Animals), and other like-minded groups invited the internationally renowned Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy to share practical and effective ways of promoting vegetarianism. Subsequently, in 2020, Tse-Xin published a “Vegetarian How-To in Seven Steps.” Rather than strictly banning things like garlic, onions, eggs, and milk, they adopt a more relaxed way to advocate vegetarianism, allowing occasional consumption of meat. They believe that this practice will eventually be internalized and will change people’s attitudes toward life and living.
Leezen spares no effort in promoting vegetarianism. Their close collaborator the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation invited Melanie Joy, co-founder of ProVeg International, to Taiwan to share her experience. (courtesy of the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation)