Sustainability and Food - Essay Example

 Sustainability is a broad universal concept that is applicable into many theoretical model: politically, economically, socially, culturally or organizationally. This report will explore sustainability in relation to vegetarianism. Sustainability is about maintaining a state without any major trade-offs; it’s about wholesomeness; of continuity without radical changes that may disrupt a system, a norm or a process. Some precepts mandate that for sustainability to be achieved, people should be working hard to work what is needed to achieve that end. It intends to balance human needs and its sources—the environment. This is because human beings are dependent to nature for its survivability. Thus, the need for human beings to preserve ecology and maintain it by regulating a healthy environment to live. Brundtland (1987) stressed this when saying that sustainability is about maximizing resources without compromising the needs of future generations. This is recognizes the fact that nature is limited and that to sustain resources, people should be stewards of ecology. Harwood (1990) explicates that sustainability relates to agriculture where production of farm produce be done in methods or processes that ensures balanced utilization of resource and environment. Its should be complemented with social and economic design that upholds the standard of quality life (Pearce, Makandia & Barbier,1989) This is often manifested by producing goods that are organically-driven to preserve the fertility of the soil against commercial fertilizers and pesticides. Organic foods are perceived healthy and will not produce toxic enzymes that may affect human physiological system. Thus, sustainability is about preservation of ecosystems that are essential to life. This desire to sustain life substantially correlates with the kind of food served every meal. There were robust arguments which deliberated the vital significance of enhancing life by adopting a vegetarian lifestyle. Vegetarianism is a personal option, an ethical choice and a political statement. Often it is misperceived and thus, must be explicated in a wide range of health, ethical, religious, and historical issues on this perspective. The three basic vegetarian diets are lacto-ovo (milk, eggs included), lacto (no eggs), and vegan (no eggs, diary products or any foodstuffs made with eggs or dairy products). They abstain from food sourced from animal’s meat. Vegetarians were described as with lower weight, cholesterol level and blood pressures. Studies among dieticians and experts pointed that vegetarians have low mortality rate and advocates do not suffer nutritional deficiencies. Although there are few vegetarians in this world but they are proof that vegetarianism has substantial impacts to prolong life and to preserve better health. They consume less calories, fats but are more content with fibrous food. They prefer foods with macronutrient and micronutrient level of vitamins and minerals (White and Frank, xxxx). They prefer fruits that are with high anti-oxidant level. Studies have proven that vegetarianism improves social health because they live in an ecosensitive lifestyle and politics (p. 470). Vegetarians adopt this diet to conform to a stereotype; to wade off controversies of proteins; to uphold the relation of ecology to vegetarianism, including the economics of diet. Janda.and Trocchia (2001) explicated that vegetarianism gain prominence in contemporary society after advocates of vegetarianism explored deeper understanding on its concepts; its motivations and coping mechanisms underlying vegetarian orientation. In a two-phase phenomelogical study, researchers perceived that a person's attitude and character play an influential factor in opting this orientation. Dietician suggest that those with cardiovascular disease and cancer should be encourage to consume vegetarian diets (White and Frank, xxxx; 470). In a longitudinal study made by Burr and Sweetnam (2011) which used survey questionnaires involving 10,943 respondents pointed, that consciousness to health through vegetarianism means less risk for death. Less mortality rate among vegetarians are attributable to their inclination to avoid eating meat and to factors that are associated with vegetarian way of life. Vegetarian option is open for all. Dietz, Frisch, Kalof, Stern, and Guagnano (1995) also professed in a sampling made, that vegetarianism is not influenced by age, gender, or education, but of persons’s choice to hold traditional values to be vegetarian. If they opted to refrain from eating meats due to personal economics, this did not hold any ethical or philosophical hodge-podge. But should vegetarian influence others to adopt his or her dietary style, that’s only then where philosophical attention is held. Vegetarian can explicate in many ways to change habit as well as reconsider attitudes and behavior in a wide range of nutritional spectrum (Dietz et.al., 1995). Beardsworth and Keil (1991) cited that vegetarianism has become an option of minority populace in United Kingdom and they vary in vary in age, gender and socio-economic category. Non-meat-eaters in UK became vanguards of ethical consumerism and are attempting to influence food producers, processors and retailers to response on this advocacy. Vegetarianism proved healthful for pregnant women too. In a study involving 12 pregnant vegetarian women, six pregnant nonvegetarian women, and five nonpregnant vegetarian, it was proved that zinc intake showed that plasma zinc was about 21% lower in the pregnant women than the nonpregnant women even though the pregnant women take about twice as much zinc as the nonpregnant women (King, Stein and Doyle, 1981). Researchers perceived that the parameters of zinc status studied were affected by pregnancy more than ovo-lacto vegetarian dietary habits (King et.al., 1981). In India, vegetarianism among children proved to be effective for children's growth and substantially lessen food expenditure. This was conclusive evidence from a sample of 627 children from three fishing communities in Madras, South India which used weight- and height-for-age variables as outcome. Vegetarianism was indeed significant determinant (p = 0.02 and p = 0.05, respectively) for children aging 3 years old (Hervet, 1985). In another study of 100 new vegetarians, 35% cited health prodded them to become vegetarians other than ethical (25%), metaphysical (14%), and ecological (8%) reasons. There were 20% who mentioned cost of food as a factor in their decision to become vegetarian. Medical diagnoses pointed that health, alertness, and mental functioning were as important as long term disease prevention. Rsearchers also pointed that attitudes on health-related matters were instructive: 55% considered cooking and/or eating a religious or philosophical experience, 31% followed specific dietary teachings, and 66% fasted occasionally but only 26% did so more than once a month. About a quarter of respondents of this survey, took vitamin and mineral supplements regularly; another quarter used prescription medication. Researchers also proposed that diet plans suitable for all children should be carefully planned (Maclean and Graham, 1980). worked out using certain general principles. Foremost among these is the recognition that parents who espouse vegetarian ism do so in most instances with complete sincerity. Like most parents, they want the best for their children and in this case that means following a set of dietary precepts that they believe facilitate health. The physician must realize that attempts to alter these beliefs radically are unlikely to meet with success. Everyone's time is better spent in assessing the food acceptance and proscriptions of the family and then trying to work out a suitable diet for the child. Vegetarians are often presumed to have a measure of nutritional sophistication beyond that of the population at large, a presumption that has not been borne out by studies. Consequently, the physician is faced with the problem of educating parents as to the differences in nutrients required to support growth and development in a child as compared with those needed to maintain a fully grown adult. Very likely some alteration of the vegetarian parents' diet willl be necessary to make it suitable for a growing child (omnivore parents similarly make changes). Parents must understand the need for combining cererals with legumes, milk, eggs, or fish if acceptable. A diet that combines several cereals will have variety but will have a severe imbalance of essential amino acids. Even with careful balance, both the parents and the physician should be aware that growth may be slower than expected. Slow growth cannot be equated with poor health and may not be bad per se depending on the degree of retardation. The pediatrician must decide at what point suboptimal growth becomes unacceptable. From a strictly practical point of view, the physician should try to instill certain dietary practices. Breast-feeding should be the mainstay of the infant's nutrition for at least six months, preferably much longer. Several of the cases cited previously, however, make it clear that careful attention must be paid to the mother's diet in these instances. Among older children, lactovegetarians and lactoovovegetarians will almost certainly do well and the only real concern with these children is the assuranee sion. Based on the foregoing information, it can be inferred that food and sustainability is interrelated. Vegetarianism, as option for healthy food, bridged the issue of sustaining life for human beings to contribute more for ecological preservation as stewards of earth. Vegetarianism is not simply a trend for health concern. It is also apart of religious belief to care for our body. REFERENCES White R and Frank E (1994). Health effects and prevalence of vegetarianism. West J.Med 1994: 160;465-471) Burr, Michael L. and Sweetnam,Peter M. (1982). Vegetarianism, dietary fibe and mortality. Original Research Communication Surveys. American Journal Nutr. 1982; 36: 873-877 Dietz, T., Frisch, A. S., Kalof, L., Stern, P. C. and Guagnano, G. A. (1995), Values and Vegetarianism: An Exploratory Analysis. Rural Sociology, 60: 533–542. doi: 10.1111/j.1549-0831.1995.tb00589.x A.D. Beardsworth, E.T. Keil, (1991) "Vegetarianism, Veganism, and Meat Avoidance: Recent Trends and Findings", British Food Journal, Vol. 93 Iss: 4, pp.19 - 24 JC King, T Stein and M Doyle (1981). Effect of vegetarianism on the zinc status of pregnant women. Am J Clin Nutr June 1981 vol. 34 no. 6 1049-1055 Giehl, Dudley (1975). Vegetarianism, a way of life. Harper , New York (USA) Janda, S. and Trocchia, P. J. (2001), Vegetarianism: Toward a greater understanding. Psychology and Marketing, 18: 1205–1240. doi: 10.1002/mar.1050 JR Hebert (1985).Relationship of vegetarianism to child growth in South India American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 42, 1246-1254, Copyright © 1985 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc Philip E. Devine (1978). The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism. Philosophy, 53, pp 481-505 doi:10.1017/S0031819100026346 Janda, S. and Trocchia, P. J. (2001), Vegetarianism: Toward a greater understanding. Psychology and Marketing, 18: 1205–1240. doi: 10.1002/mar.1050 Maclean, Graham and Graham, George (1980). Vegetarianism in Children. Am J. Dis Child. Vol. 134 pp. 513-520. Read More