Why do some religions avoid some foods? | Do You Belief? - video Dailymotion

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What and how we eat can vary from one religion to another. What are the beliefs underpinning your religion's views on food? Does lab-grown meat blur the lines?

Transcript

00:00 If I go flying, I would actually order vegetarian food for two reasons.

00:04 One is they will serve you first.

00:06 Correct.

00:07 Hi, my name is Quek Isim.

00:20 I am from the Singapore Baha'i community.

00:24 Hi, I'm Rajesh Arsha and I represent the Jain faith.

00:28 Hi, I'm Seng Koo Tuevon from the Hindu faith of the Inter-Religious Organisation.

00:32 Nice to see you Raj, nice to see you Quek.

00:35 To kickstart our appetite, I'm going to talk about food.

00:38 How about that?

00:39 Typical Singaporean.

00:41 So let's start by asking ourselves,

00:44 what are some of the customs or practices that involve food?

00:48 As you know, the basic tenet of Jainism is Ahimsa, which is non-violence.

00:53 The easiest way to have non-violence in action is to be vegetarian.

00:58 So you don't harm another living soul,

01:00 because we believe that there is a soul in every living thing.

01:03 The concept is very simple.

01:05 We are guests on the planet and we should live like guests.

01:09 We should consume as little as possible.

01:12 And whatever, even in order to survive, we need to consume,

01:16 needs to be at the lowest level, one sensory, two sensory at max.

01:20 And that's one of the reasons why, if you would ask a Jain,

01:24 "Hey, you know, you're a vegetarian, but I hear you don't eat underground roots."

01:28 And that's what we do, we don't eat underground roots.

01:31 I mean, there are exceptions to underground roots,

01:34 like we eat ginger, but it is dry.

01:37 So when there's no water in it, for medicinal purposes,

01:40 for spices purposes, turmeric, dried, it's okay.

01:44 In India, from where most Jains come from, Gujarat, Rajasthan,

01:48 they are generally a vegetarian community.

01:51 So it's a lot easier for them to do it over there and be strict about it.

01:55 I'm a Singaporean, born here, raised here, my parents came from India.

02:00 They brought the traditions with them, the dietary restrictions with them,

02:05 and we had to deal with all of these in the schools.

02:09 Sometimes we had to go hungry, army.

02:11 We were eating rice and tomato ketchup and cucumber sometimes,

02:15 because we can't get vegetarian food.

02:17 Things are very different now.

02:19 So in the local context, of course, there's a lot more choices

02:23 because we have a multi-religious, multi-racial, multicultural Singapore.

02:28 Yeah, I gather that it's basically driven towards a meat-free regime, right, Jains?

02:34 What about Quek, what about Bahai?

02:36 We don't spend that much time thinking about what not to eat.

02:41 That's the only thing that I can tell.

02:45 Singapore will suit you for sure.

02:48 You know that the Bahai faith is quite a new faith.

02:52 It's only about 179 years old.

02:55 The principles are very universal.

02:58 I guess food-wise, there is not much restriction

03:01 because the faith covers people from all over the world,

03:05 from the North Pole to the South Pole, to the desert people.

03:10 So we can't say that, "Oh, you have to be vegetarian,"

03:14 because vegetables are not available in those cold parts of the earth.

03:19 There is something in the writing that in the future,

03:23 men will not eat meat.

03:25 There will be a time when the food of the future is just grains and seeds and fruits.

03:33 Is it part of and parcel of an evolution process?

03:37 Evolving towards...

03:39 Evolving because it is expected that men will become more passionate.

03:43 Compassionate.

03:44 Yeah, compassionate.

03:46 All this food transportation will allow all kinds of vegetables to be transported everywhere.

03:54 The Hindu faith itself,

03:57 yes, a lot of Jain beliefs are also being basically centred towards a vegetarian regime.

04:05 But it allows a spectrum because the faith itself has got a very wide spectrum.

04:11 Where it is very tailored is for those who want to strictly follow the path of the faith.

04:18 Then they are told to restrict the intake of the food with consciousness.

04:24 Consume the food with a thought process.

04:27 The reason being is that they give a different value and degree to the food

04:33 that it can impose on you.

04:35 Like in Hinduism, they will say it's guna.

04:38 The guna is an attribute of the food.

04:40 They say this particular food will make you agitated.

04:43 This particular food will make you calm.

04:45 This particular food will put you to sleep.

04:47 Therefore, look at the value of what the food can provide

04:51 and the scriptures have ordained certain kinds of food as per se.

04:55 The soul doesn't need food to survive.

04:58 Your body needs the food to survive.

05:01 And if it is only a question of survival, can you survive on the minimum?

05:06 We do so much for this six-inch journey.

05:10 It's all a matter of taste buds.

05:12 After you have consumed the food, below this, there's nothing that you can taste.

05:17 I think in Singapore context, there are plenty of choices actually.

05:20 Not much of a problem.

05:21 Correct. Some people will need the masala in their food to make it vegetarian.

05:25 Some people will just say, "No, it's okay. As far as vegetarian, I can eat."

05:28 But I must say that we have actually benefited from all this vegetarian food

05:35 because I now learn how to enjoy vegetarian food more than ever.

05:40 If I go flying, I would actually order vegetarian food for two reasons.

05:46 One is they will serve you first.

05:48 Correct.

05:49 Always, that's a trick.

05:51 But the other reason is it actually tastes much better.

05:54 Something in the news that has come,

05:56 Singapore wants to produce 30% of the food locally by 2030

06:01 because of land scarcity, there's hydroponics and all that they talk about.

06:05 What do you think about the lab-grown meat?

06:08 Ethically and philosophically, I will avoid it

06:12 because it is still originating from a single cell.

06:16 Whether you call it a stem cell or whatever it is, to do something.

06:20 If let's say I needed a body part replacement and eventually in future,

06:24 you have to use a stem cell to keep me alive,

06:28 that would be another ethical question.

06:30 But as far as for consumption, I would draw the line at lab-based.

06:35 Plant-based, I'm still okay to a certain extent, but I don't quite like the flavour.

06:44 Although plant-based is something that right is right,

06:48 but it actually mimics the wrong.

06:51 So as far as I would be concerned, I would either not have it or minimise it.

06:59 Now if I've gone to a five-star restaurant or event and they've prepared a vegetarian meal,

07:05 but using mock items or plant-based items, then I wouldn't disrespect that.

07:12 Some stricter genes would probably, it is probably good in Singapore's context

07:19 to feed the population.

07:21 That is something that we can't say no to.

07:24 It's more of a social community requirement.

07:30 I remember in the 1960s, there was always a theory that the population growth

07:36 is going to outgrow all the supplies of food and all that.

07:40 There would be a shortage of plants and vegetables and all that.

07:44 But you see, technology has given us more than what we need.

07:49 So that is not a doubt.

07:51 I mean, we will be able to outgrow our population again.

07:56 But to produce food in a lab, when the time comes, if it needs to be,

08:01 probably we have to do that.

08:03 Imagine you flying to Mars and then you want your meat with you.

08:08 You can't carry a gold car with you.

08:10 That is really far-thinking.

08:12 I want to bring everybody back to this one idea.

08:16 Why is there insufficient food?

08:21 Are there too many more people?

08:23 Is the population too much that our planet cannot provide?

08:26 If you look at the amount of wastage to bring one kilo of wheat from another country,

08:33 vegetables looking so pristine and so nice,

08:37 if we can maybe move towards eating less,

08:43 you go to buffets and you go to restaurants and there is the amount of wastage you see.

08:47 You could feed the rest of the planet without growing a single extra grain.

08:51 I've got nothing against it because it is the way that you've got to feed the masses

08:55 and we want to also be self-dependent just the way we went about with the water.

09:00 So it's a good idea, I think, that we are going towards a lab grown, made at the hydroponics.

09:05 We are having those multi-storey vegetable farms and all that as well, right?

09:11 Using UV lights and all that type of thing, grow lights and all that to grow on trays

09:16 rather than using arable land, which is the way to go, actually.

09:20 I learned a lot from how Jane looks at it and the Bahá'ís look at it.

09:24 And there's so much that we can talk about.

09:26 I'm sure a lot of you all are interested in wanting to know about food.

09:31 Therefore, please list your questions below and thank you very much.

09:35 Bye!

09:37 (Music)

09:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Why do some religions avoid some foods? | Do You Belief?

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