This edition of the AFFCAP newsletter contains a challenging article (pge. 17), found on islamawareness.net, entitled Storm over move to ban cow killings, which advocates the continuance of cow slaughter, and is critical of recent legislative changes against the practice in India.
One of their arguments relates to the depriving of meat to the poor of the country. They report that the cost of beef is lower than other meats, with the costs of mutton and chicken double that of beef. Consequently, it is clamed to disadvantageously affect the poor if access to beef is withdrawn.
At the risk of being painted heartless, one solution is to let these unfortunate souls change to a vegetarian diet…
The balance of the newsletter can be found at:
http://affcap.org/images/
To my surprise, in the current Time magazine (November 9, 2015) highlighting the increased risks of cancer for people who consume beef or bacon, there was a list of the large exporters of beef and veal. As it wasa reported, India is the number one exporter of beef and veal in the world, followed by Brazil, Australia, and the US. In a country where Vedic principles promote cow protection and how sinful it is to slaughter cows, India has obviously abandoned these principles to a very large extent. It was also clear for many decades, since at least the 1960s as described in books such as Diet for a Small Planet, that it is highly inefficient to raise cattle for production of food. In order to promote a healthy lifestyle, and even more importantly to promote “sattvic” principles by eating foods in the mode of goodness, it is important to consider that the eating of flesh is both detrimental to one’s health, and detrimental to one’s spiritual purification. Paul H. Dossick, MD retired, Pusta Krishna das