We have a choice....

My last post was about vegetarian food in Japan. Japan is a country where vegetarian food is totally unheard of, at least i have not met a Japanese who claims he/she is vegetarian.
I think vegetarianism has gained popularity in the western world, in the last 2-3 decades( at least people consider it as a healthy option).
I have met a couple of people in Germany , who wondered how i grew to my size with vegetarian food ( i am 6 ft 1 inch, weighing 175 lbs). I think some have even claimed after a relishing vegetarian meal at an Indian restaurant, that although they are full, they still don't feel complete :)
OK, let me come to the point, i read this excerpt from the book i am currently reading( Meditation - Common sense directions for an uncommon life - Eknath Easwaran), its interesting read on...
"I like to think of the contrast between two British writers, great favorites of mine when i was a professor of English in India: George Bernard Shaw and GK Chesterson. Both appeared often in the news , and we heard a lot about their personal lives. What a difference between them! Shaw was a tall , thin man, not an ounce of extra weight on him. He took to vegetarianism when little was known about it in England, and the literary world feared that a promising writer would be cut off prematurely. The eminent physicians of London too warned him that his life would be shortened by his new way of eating. Of course he went on to produce remarkable plays even in his eighties, and his friends naturally suggested that he go back to those physicians and show them how well he was doing."I like to", he replied "But unfortunately , none of them is around anymore".
Chesterson , on the other hand, weighed three hundred pounds and hugely loved the pleasures of the table. You can imagine how they looked together when they met. Both had a marvelous sense of humor, and each enjoyed making sharp thrusts of wit at the other. Once, it is said, Chesterson cast an appraising eye on Shaw and said " To look at you, GBS, one would think there is a famine in merry old England." And Shaw replied "To look at you, GKC, one would know what caused it.""