Have some veggies with your geometry
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed I feel a lot better with less, or no, meat. I still crave a good steak from time to time, but it drags me down longer than a hearty salad or falafel. It’s taken humankind a long time to recognize the value of veggies.
When “Diet for a Small Planet” hit the market in May 1971, the bestselling paperback started an American revolution. Vegetarianism may not have been much of a “thing” before Frances Lappe’s book, but she didn’t think of it first. Most credit Greek mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer Pythagoras (about 569-490 B.C.), so much so that vegetarians were still called “Pythagoreans” until the late 20th century.
You remember Pythagoras and his theorem, “A squared plus B squared equals C squared.” Right triangles. That dreaded geometry class.
Little known fact: He’s also credited with being the first guy to suggest the universe consisted of spheres encircling the Earth. According to him, the sun, moon, and planets travel in separate spheres. When the spheres touch each other, a “music of the spheres” can be heard in some kind of cosmic symphony.
Yup, he was different — half scientist, half mystic. A vegetarian when no one was.
According to history’s best guess (much of what’s written about him is hearsay in other writings by Aristotle and Plato), after emigrating to Italy, Pythagoras founded something of a cult. The Pythagoreans kept to themselves, conducted a form of worship around their philosophical, musical, and astronomical beliefs centered on the idea that reality and the universe were based essentially on numbers.
They also believed in transmigration of the soul, in a continuous cycle of death and reincarnation — much like Buddhists, whom Pythagoras respected. Pythagoreans believed this included animals; hence the vegetarian diet.
Funny side note: Meat’s not all they wouldn’t eat. Beans were also forbidden, goes one story, because Pythagoras suggested humans lost a part of the soul when passing gas.
For Pythagoreans, abstaining from meat-eating was rooted in spiritual values; nutrition became more relevant to vegetarianism much later. Diets void of any animal products were also called a “Pythagorean” diet until 1944, when Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society, coined the word vegan. Most vegetarians, as distinct from vegans, consume certain animal products such as cheese and milk.
Vegetarians in the 19th century also made their marks. James Caleb Jackson, who invented “granula” (granola) in 1863, and Seventh-Day Adventist John Harvey Kellogg, who invented corn flakes in the 1890s, sought an alternative to meaty breakfasts they considered unhealthy. Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister who believed in whole grain and vegetarian diets, created the famous cracker.
A diet once considered cult-like, and for centuries, unpopular, is now an accepted part of mainstream society, albeit still in the minority. Menus routinely sport vegetarian options. Considerate hosts ask the question of potential guests. More spartan vegan and raw food diets have just about lost their stigmas. Meatless Mondays and fish Fridays are practiced for health, not merely philosophical, reasons. Researchers and physicians have repeatedly said the average American eats more meat than the body needs, typically to his detriment.
More than that, the notion of responsible, even kind, treatment of animals before consuming them has become important in modern society. In a way, that takes us back full circle to the spiritual side of Pythagoras.
I may never give up bacon, but a veg stir fry sure sounds good right now.
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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network eager to feel lighter and more energetic. Tasty, easy vegetarian recipes appreciated at Sholeh@cdapress.com.