VEGETARIANISM

Straits Times Interview with George jacobs, 54,
The President of The Vegetarian Society of Singapore

GEORGE JACOBS, 54, IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY OF SINGAPORE. HE IS A TIRELESS ADVOCATE OF VEGETARIANISM, WHICH HE BELIEVES IS THE RIGHT TYPE OF DIET FOR A HEALTHY PLANET. SHEFALI SRINIVAS CATCHES UP WITH HIM TO FIND OUT THE ROOTS OF HIS PASSION.

Have you always been vegetarian or are you a convert?

I've been vegetarian for almost half my life. I started at age 28. A key push was a book titled Diet For A Small Planet. The book explains that eating meat is very inefficient because we have to feed lots of plant food to the other animals which we later eat. Plant-based diets are more efficient because we eat the plants directly. That means more food available for people without enough food. It also means that we don't have to cut down or burn down so much rainforest area to grow food.

How has going vegetarian impacted your health?

You might be surprised to hear that I'm not a vegetarian for health reasons or for religious reasons. I don't claim that being vegetarian is necessarily better for human health than a low-meat diet, but I do believe that being vegetarian is perfectly adequate for good health. And, of course, it's much, much better for the health of the animals which live short, horrible lives so we can eat meat.

What damage does eating meat do to health, in your opinion?

I'm currently reading The China Study, a book based on a joint research project of China's Ministry of Health, Oxford University and Cornell University, plus lots of other research. It links animal-based foods to most of our well-known health problems, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, osteoporosis and some cancers.

How do you unwind?

I hang out with my wife, Fong Cheng Hong - she's an economist, niece Minnie, and nephew Vinnie (who's bugging me right now while I'm trying to type this answer), work out, watch TV, read children's literature and follow professional basketball on the Internet.

What do you eat when you're being sinful?

My main problem isn't what I eat, it's that I eat too much of all the great vegetarian foods. My friends used to call me 'hollow leg' to explain where I put all the food I was eating.

What do you do when you're not advocating vegetarianism?

Everyone at Vegetarian Society (Singapore) is a volunteer; so, I go out to earn my daily salad. My doctorate is in education, and I teach at various institutions around the island, including the National Institute of Education.

Why is vegetarianism such a passionate cause for you?

I know that I'm wildly biased and that there are lots of other vital causes, but to me what's so great about promoting veg is that eating less or no meat creates a virtuous circle: good for our own health, good for the environment, good for the 800 million humans without enough to eat and good for the animals which, like us, are thinking, feeling beings. With every vegetarian meal, I'm making a small contribution to righting these imbalances. One of my favourite vegetarian stickers shows two people, one a caveman, the other a modern-looking guy, and the words say, 'It's the 21st century, why are you still eating meat?'