Fads and bandwagons come and go. A big flash—and then they are gone. Is the present popularity of the vegetarian diet destined to soon fade away like a politician who doesn't quite make it at the ballot box?

Americans, in a growing distrust of the establishment, sent a peanut farmer to the White House. And Washington menus blossomed with peanut dishes—peanut salads, peanut soup, peanut desserts. Peanut butter sandwiches. Even peanut butter milkshakes.

Then came the jellybean revival. Jellybeans and decorative jellybean containers everywhere.

Now peanuts, in moderation, are good food. But the high sugar content of jellybeans would hardly recommend them for a place in nutrition's hall of fame.

Even so, I would rather trust high-level decisions made over a container of jellybeans than those made in a smoke-filled room. Minds would be a little clearer.

But vegetarianism isn't a fad, and it isn't going to go away. It has survived many a slump and experienced many a revival through the ages.

The earliest record of a vegetarian diet is found in the Bible, in the very first chapter. God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." Genesis 1:29

That's interesting. Fruits, grains and nuts. No flesh food. This was the diet chosen by the Creator for the human race.

Let me ask you. If a manufacturer knows best what to put in a car, don't you suppose the Creator knew best what to put into the people He had made?

Lifespan Shortened

So there was a time, you see, when everybody on this planet was a vegetarian. And evidently they thrived on it, for those antediluvians had a lifespan of hundreds of years. Adam lived for 930 years, and Methuselah lived 969 years.

It wasn't until after the Flood of Noah's day, when everything had been destroyed and there was literally nothing to eat, that God gave permission for the flesh of animals to be eaten. Even then it was not an unrestricted permission. Only certain animals, which God designated as clean, were to be eaten. And the blood was first to be drained from the carcass.

Did you ever eat a steak without the blood? You'd soon find something else to eat, for it's the blood that gives it the distinctive flavor.

Now the interesting thing is this. Immediately after the Flood, when the human race turned to a diet of flesh food, the lifespan took a nosedive. Is there some connection?

Nation's Diet Predictable

"It is interesting," says Life and Health magazine, "that the dietary patterns of nations pass through various well-defined stages. When a nation is struggling to grow and its people are poor, the diet is usually frugal, consisting chiefly of plant foods. As prosperity increases, animal foods and wine become more plentiful. Later, self-indulgence and decay set in. Philosophers of every age who observed these trends concluded that they led to the downfall of nations."

What's Your Reaction?

There's an old story about a science professor in a boy's school. He had an uncanny knowledge of animal life. You could show him the bone of an animal, and he could identify it. Animal life was his world.

One day the boys decided to play a little trick on the professor. They took the skeleton of a bear and stuffed it. Then they sewed over it the skin of a lion. On its head they fastened the horns of a Texas steer, and on its feet they glued the hoofs of a wild buffalo. They spen a good many nights on the trick, and they did a pretty good job. Then one afternoon when the professor was taking a nap, they tiptoed into his study and set up the monstrosity. And finally, from outside the door, they let out an unearthly growl such as had never been heard before.

Well, the professor woke up, the story says, tumbled off his cot, and stood bolt upright. His reaction was enough to justify all the time they had spent on the trick. But then, through their peepholes, they saw a surprising thing. The professor rubbed his eyes, looked at the teeth, the horns, and finally at the split hooves. Then he said, loud enough for the peepholers to hear, "Thank goodness! It's herbivorous, not carnivorous!" and he went back to finish his nap.

How do you react to a person who is a vegetarian? If you're like most people, you probably consider him or her harmless, even if you do think he is strangely put together—and go back to your nap.

Actress Susan Saint James has an interesting angle. She strongly believes that you can tell a vegetarian by his disposition. She says, "There's a calm that comes over you and a tremendous peace of mind when you're around vegetarians."

Endurance the Test

But you say, "Surely you can't expect a working man to turn out a hard day's work on nothing but bread, bananas and beans."

Well, why not? In the animal kingdom, the real beasts of burden are the ones that eat only plants. The big killer cats are good for short bursts of energy. It was Teddy Roosevelt who said that if you hitch a lion to a plow, he will fall from exhaustion after one or two times across the field. But the horse can plow all day long!

You see, endurance is the test. And it's carbohydrate, not protein, that gives you staying power. Nutritionists know now that we don't need anywhere near as much protein as was once thought. Many people have the idea that our bodies are intended for a meat diet, that anything else is somehow strange and unnatural. But nothing could be farther from the truth. The Creator included no flesh food at all in the diet He personally selected and provided for the human race.

Diseased Meat Increasing

One of the best reasons for being a vegetarian today is the tremendous increase of disease, especially cancer, in animals, in fish and fowl. And here's something else. Did you ever hear of benzopyrene? In a little over two pounds of charcoal-broiled steak there's as much benzopyrene, a cancer stimulating agent, as in the smoke from six hundred cigarettes.

One more thing. Suppose you have a piece of land. How can you best use it? You can grow food crops for human consumption, or you can grow food for animals and feed the animals to the people. Do you realize that you can feed 14 times as many people witht the land if you grow food crops for human consumption?

Vegetarianism No Sacrifice

There are, of course, a great many prepared protein foods available today, and many of them are quite acceptable. Our space-age technology, especially the spun-fiber technique, has made it possible to approximate both the texture and flavor of meat. These prepared entrées will be a help to you in making a smooth transition to a non-flesh diet.

I think just one meal at our house would convince you that it isn't any sacrifice at all to be a vegetarian. My wife is a master at preparing light and delicious vegetarian entrées that you would never forget. Put one of them with a baked potato, a green salad, a light dessert, some homemade bread. Well . . .

I say again it isn't any sacrifice at all to be a vegetarian. It's just another step toward the radiant health you've always wanted—the health God wants you to have.

It's just another step toward an unblemished skin, a new spring in your step, a new light in the eye—toward good blood and untainted breath. It's a step toward untroubled sleep, and a new vigor in the morning.

It's just another step toward an unclouded mind, and clear decision. It's just another step toward being ready for a world where there is no death. No death for anyone. For anything. Ever!