Nazi Germany had animal protection laws!

I don't think PETA would be happy to find out this piece of history associated with their movement.

Turns out that in 1933 vivisection was banned and another law called Reichstierschutzgesetz (Reich Animal Protection Act) was enacted in Nazi Germany. I read in one ethics course that this comprehensive legislation elevated animals, even lobsters, to a protected status that guaranteed freedom from abuse.

It gets better. From Wikipedia (emphasis mine),

On February 23, 1934, a decree was enacted by the Prussian Ministry of Commerce and Employment which introduced education on animal protection laws at primary, secondary and college levels. On 3 July 1934, a law Das Reichsjagdgesetz (The Reich Hunting Law) was enacted which limited hunting. On 1 July 1935, another law Reichsnaturschutzgesetz (Reich Nature Conservation Act) was passed to protect nature. According to an article published in Kaltio, one of the main Finnish cultural magazines, Nazi Germany was the first in the world to place the wolf under protection.

Who would've thunk!

It's pretty blasphemous in today's world to say anything remotely positive about Hitler and his Nazis. I think I'm going to have some fun next time I talk with one of my vegan friends.

Being vegeterian and some rules of thumb

I agree with Michael Pollan. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

The palate demands variety. More so, a palate used to eating some non-vegeterian food and a lot of processed food. After the first few days of enthusiasm, it's hard to continue with the somewhat restrictive diet. The mind and body want convenience. It becomes a bit difficult to stick to a mostly-plants diet in a country where animal foods are considered essential.

A simple example - ordering a sandwich at Subway.

Here's a list of the sandwiches from their website. Availability varies by location:
B.L.T, Black Forest Ham, Chicken & Bacon Ranch Melt, Cold Cut Combo, Buffalo Chicken, Italian B.M.T, Meatball marinara, Oven Roasted Chicken, Pizza sub, Roast beef, Steak and cheese, Subway club, Smokehouse BBQ chicken, Spicy Italian, Tuna, The Big Philly Cheesesteak, Subway Melt, Sweet onion chicken teriyaki, Turkey Breat, Turkey breast & Black forest Ham, Veggie Delite, Egg and cheese omelette sandwich. Some locations have Veggie Patty too.

Only two of those twenty one sandwiches are plant based. And one of those two (patty) is highly processed. And this is supposedly THE healthiest low-cost fast food chain in the country.

So the inevitable option is to cook one's daily meals and carry them around. Not too tough, needs some planning and preparation. The health benefits are worth it.

There are so many diets and rules going around that it gets discouraging for someone trying to get it 'right'. Vegan lifestyle, primal 'grok' diet, mostly vegeterian, eggeterian, the government-FDA recommendations, banana diet, Ornish, Atkins, low carb, low fat. And these are only the popular ones. Many nutritionists have come up with books about how to eat. All of them claim some virtue.

For this reason, I like Pollan's simple rule which doesn't try to kill me with guilt before reviving me with some diet panacea.

Processed food is fun to eat. It is designed that way - to make you feel good. So I have no intention of giving it up completely. The same goes for non-vegeterian food like chicken and sea food. Luckily, I've never been a meat eater. Till the time when I gain greater zen-like self-control for these kinds of food, a rule I can implement is to eat that kind of food but only from the best sources, expensive as they may be.

So chocolate, ice cream, pizza, white sourdough bread, chicken, seafood, even coffee - can all be had as long as I have them only from quality outlets. So a cup of Pitango gelato is to be preferred over a tub of Eddy's ice cream, although both may cost the same. A small cup of macchiato from the local rebel coffee shop is better than the huge 'regular' cup of Einstein Bros coffee.  This will automatically cut down on the frequency and the expense associated with eating this kind of food.

If you are what you eat it's better to go for quality over convenience, even if it pinches the pocket.