Monday, May 21, 2007

Vegetarian Delight

The UK Mars and other confectionary controversy related to 'strict vegetarians' - Mars announced initially that many of its foods were not pure vegetarian and used animal rennet. There was a huge public outcry, and after a few weeks, Mars withdrew and said that it will ensure that these products comply with Vegetarian Society labelling standards.

The reasons for ignoring the strict vegetarians must have been commercial - but this belied the simple fact that by catering to strict vegetarians, we are making our products universal. It is a simple but often forgotten fact that while non-vegetarians can eat vegetarian food, it is not vice versa. And modern vegetarian food is delicious and can be equally filling and nourishing - the myth that meat is the only filling food is being proved wrong in so many ways.

I see this same insensitivity applied to other issues such as race. Others have to fit in, but we wont change say some. This approach leads to a divided society.

No comments: