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The RZA spoke at length about his meat-free lifestyle in an interview, encouraging others to do so “Let your physical body speak for you.”
The RZA he's got he has always been a logical mind on certain matters, especially when it comes to a vegan lifestyle. The Wu-Tang Clan leader first began his meat-free journey in the mid-1990s, ditching red meat as he chronicled in his memoir The Tao of Wu: “I felt like an idiot — surely I could think of what to eat instead of dead meat? I thought to myself “I live, my flesh lives. Why would I want to eat something that's dead?' Starting from that day, I ate to live.” He then cut out chicken and fish before dropping eggs and other dairy products from his diet. He spoke about it at length in a recent interview meant to encourage others to follow suit.
When asked about eliminating red meat in light of today's discussions of environmental concerns surrounding its production, RZA responded, “For me, it was consciousness. It was just the awareness of life itself. It became almost absurd, almost immoral. Why must the animal die for me to live? And then learning that our digestive system really has a hard time digesting red meat. As I became more aware it started to become less and less and then there is no point in eating a dead bird. To eat even a dead fish.”
Elaborating further, RZA stated that “we've been taught a lot of myths” when it comes to eating red meat. The 54-year-old artist also spoke about the evolution of the position of the black community. “For the black community, health has been a struggle, from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, all these different things that have been plaguing our community for a few years now,” he said. “I think as the generations continued to grow up, you start to see us drop certain things.
RZA ended his interview with words of encouragement for those who want to adopt a meat-free lifestyle to help save the planet from the effects of climate change. “Start with one day a week at least. Temper yourself. I didn't go cold turkey. It took me years to come to veganism,” she said before adding: “Let your physical body speak for you. But if you think about helping all of us, helping the world, at least two days a week knock out.”
