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a society that is truly healthy, practicing a wise and compassionate stewardship of a balanced ecosystem. Page 3 by the author. All of the planet's physical features and living organism are interconnected. They work together in important and meaningful ways. The clouds, oceans, mountains, volcanoes, plants, bacteria and animals all play important roes in determining how our planet works. (Page 231) Traditionally farm animals played an important role in keeping agriculture on a sound ecological footing. They ate grass, crop waste and kitchen scarps that people could not eat. Their manure provided the soil with needed nutrients. And the animals pulled the plows and provided other services that enhanced human life. (Page 233).
c. Economic: There is not enough land to raise animal feed to satisfy the meat eating habits of the human population. Producing one Kg of lettuce consumes 33 gallons of water while producing one Kg of beef consumes 5300 gallons of water. The same is the case of land requirements to cultivate other grains and plant based foods. Disposal of animal excreta makes the water bodies as unusable for irrigation and human consumption. A number of large water bodies (aquifers) all over the world are becoming dry on this account.
d. Anything which is even edible but not suitable for a particular individual. For example cold water or drinks for a person suffering from cold, cough etc.
e. Anything which is unknown.
Most of the plant based foods like cereals, fruits (except infested or having large colonies of micro organism in them or toxic in nature), vegetables (except root vegetables, leaf vegetables during rainy season, vegetables infested with insects) are considered edible. Milk and its products are generally considered edible but with certain limitations.
6.2
Shelf life of food items"
This is very important consideration for Jains concerning edibility or in-edibility of any food items. Some examples are given below.
Water: strained water- 48 minutes; strained water with cloves added- 6 hours; boiled water-12 hours; water boiled many times - 24 hours.
Milk: 48 minutes after taken out from cows; boiled milk within 48 minutes after extraction - 24 hours; curd - 24 hours; butter- 48 minutes; ghee- as long as it does not change taste / colour /smell. Cereals: As long as they do not get infested with mildew, moth or insects; flour- 7, 5 and 3 days during winter, summer and rainy seasons.
Cooked foods: Generally 6 hours after cooking; fried things -24 hours; sweets having water -24 hours and sweets with no water are like flour.
6.3
Time and quantity of food comprising a normal diet.
Normally three meals per day are recommended starting with after sunrise and ending before sunset in quantities sufficient for sustenance. Further fasts / missing one meal or two meal regularly (8th and 14th day of every fortnight and religious days) and avoiding any one specific types of foods on certain selected days are advised for good health and enhancing self control.
The texts do not specific exact quantity (by weight or type of food items) to be consumed and hence the statements are generally qualitative. Normally the emphasis is on minimizing the food intake (i.e. prohibiting overeating completely) but not starving.
7.0
Conclusions
Jain canonical literature gives the following description of a monk' to support his/her spiritual life 10 That monk, who, without the desire, passions (attachments and aversions) but maintaining an attitude of carefulness and restraints (samitis and guptis) eats proper and worthy for the monk as per the Jain scriptures food and wanders from one place to other place for preaching and stay is said to be free from the flaws of taking food directly. The soul of that monk, who is busy in meditating on his self and is free from the act of accepting other matter is in fact called a fasting self (nirhari). Thus such monks are said to be free from the flaws of the food accepted by them in enabling them to meditate on their self. Such pure food is accepted once a day during daylight, that too less than the full need of the stomach is balanced in dry-oily-sweet-salt tastes and contents, free from elements
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