In an exclusive interview with The Jewish Vegetarian Society (JVS) and The Vegan Society, Jewish vegan actress Mayim Bialik said that being vegan is “a wonderful call to action – to put your vegetarian self out there in the world and start to see the personal, community, and global benefits”.
Rosh Hashanah is the time when we take stock of our lives and contemplate new beginnings. The JVS is therefore encouraging members of the Jewish community to consider moving towards a vegetarian diet – a significant change which would impact positively on human health, animals and on the increasingly endangered planet.
“There is a strong emphasis in Judaism on humane maintenance and use of animals. We respect other creatures and, of course, Adam and Eve were vegetarian before the Fall and exile from Eden”, said Bialik, “Tikkun Olam lends itself to us using our body and lifestyle to do our part to repair the world. For me, veganism is very consistent with that.”
After a number of successful roles including in the Academy-Award-nominated film “Beaches” (1989) and in the popular sitcom “Blossom” (1990-1994), Bialik now stars as Amy Farrah Fowler in the hit series “The Big Bang Theory”, for which she has just received her second consecutive Emmy nomination (Outstanding Supporting Actress – Comedy category). She holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and has two young children.
While a taste aversion led Bialik to become vegetarian at the age of 19, she later turned vegan at 30 motivated by health, environmental and ethical considerations. A lover of “fun” food like the vegan Big Macs on offer at LA’s comfort food restaurant “Doomie’s”, she also enjoys vegan potato salad and the veggie wraps she makes at home with her sons. Her first cookbook, Mayim’s Vegan Table, which includes Jewish recipes she has “veganised”, will be published in the US in February 2014 by Da Capo Press.
The JVS points out that while Jews pray on Rosh Hashanah for a healthy year, non-vegetarian diets have been linked to increased risk of heart disease, strokes, diabetes and some forms of cancer.
Meat-eating also conflicts with a number of Jewish teachings: We should give food to the hungry, yet a third of all land on earth is used for livestock and feed production instead of being used for humans. We should protect the environment, yet modern meat production causes huge environmental and ecological damage via substantial energy outputs as well as the emission of climate changing gases. We should conserve natural resources, yet animal-based diets require far more of the world’s precious resources than plant-based diets. We should be kind to animals, yet the farming of animals for food routinely involves cruel practices such as beak trimming, branding, tagging and castration, often without anaesthetic, as well as taking baby animals away from their mothers after birth.
“Consuming animal products is at variance with the concept of tsa’ar ba’alei chaim, the obligation not to cause pain to animals”, says Suzanne Barnard, JVS director, “At the start of the New Year, we urge people to make a meaningful change and consider a kinder diet”.
Check out Mayim Bialik’s My Life as a Vegetarian interview!