“It
is no coincidence that the same diet that helps prevent or cure diabetes also
causes effortless weight loss, lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, cleans out
the arteries, and returns the body to excellent function. But no matter how
much research appears saying the same thing over and over again, the tide is
unlikely to change because of the economic incentives for the medical
establishment of continued illness and profitable treatments.‚Äù  - 
John McDougall, MD

Geniuses
like Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, and Mahatma Gandhi abstained from eating
animals. Plutarch wrote, “When we clog and cloy our body with flesh, we also
render our mind and intellect coarse. When the body’s clogged with unnatural
food, the mind becomes confused and dull and loses its cheerfulness. Such minds
engage in trivial pursuits, because they lack the clearness and vigor for
higher thinking.”

Like all
animals, we are essentially spiritual beings, manifestations of a universal,
loving intelligence that has given us bodies designed to thrive on the abundant
foods that we can peacefully nourish and gather in orchards, fields, and
gardens.

“All ancient philosophy was oriented
toward the simplicity of life and taught a certain kind of modesty in one’s
need. In light of this, the few philosophic vegetarians have done more for
mankind than all new philosophers, and as long as philosophers do not take courage
to seek out a totally changed way of life and to demonstrate it by their
example, they are worth nothing.‚Äù ‚Äì Friedrich Nietzsche  (1844-1900)

A
basic reason that billions of animals suffer confinement and slaughter is our
cultural belief that we need to eat animal-derived foods to be healthy, yet one
of the most common motivations many of us have to reduce or eliminate animal
food consumption is improving our health! Illuminating this paradox requires us
to investigate our human physiology and the animal foods we eat, and to
reconnect with the perennial understanding that cultivating kindness and
awareness improves physical and mental health, while harmfulness and
unconsciousness lead ultimately to physical and mental disease.

“Human
beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end
up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated
fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores.”

—William
C. Roberts, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, The
American Journal of Cardiology

By
questioning our inherited cultural conditioning to commodify, abuse, and eat
animals, we are taking the greatest step we can to leave home, become
responsible adults, and mature spiritually, and by actively helping others do
the same, we return home with a liberating message of compassion and truth that
can inspire and bless others. By leaving home we can find our true home,
contribute to social progress, and help the animals with whom we share this
precious earth have a chance to be at home again as well. Photo by Sylvain Labeste

In questioning our culture’s most
fundamental and defining practice, that of imprisoning and brutalizing animals
for food, we practice leaving home and embark on a spiritual journey that will
put us fundamentally at odds with our culture’s values, but that at the same
time makes it possible for us to be heroes who can help uplift and transform
our ailing culture. Photo by: Sylvain Labeste

“This is
dreadful! Not only the suffering and death of the animals, but that man
suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity—that of
sympathy and pity towards living creatures like himself—and by violating his
own feelings becomes cruel.‚Äù             ‚ÄîLeo
Tolstoy

Most of us
resist being told we’ve been indoctrinated. After all, we live in the land of
the free, and we like to think we’ve arrived freely at the belief that we need
to eat animal products and that it’s natural and right to do so. In fact, we
have inherited this belief. We’ve been indoctrinated in the most deeply rooted
and potent way possible, as vulnerable infants, yet because our culture denies
the existence of indoctrination, the reality of the process is invisible,
making it difficult for most of us to realize or admit the truth.