Recently I purchased an OXFAM vegetarian cookery book from a secondhand book shop.

The recipes were excellent, being a vegetarian myself, but I noticed an introduction to the book, which I was left to think about.

For example, one part says (from the 1980's): "Recently a U.S environmental group successfully campaigned to stop the large Burger King chain from using beef from from rainforest countries. A victory for the environment, but one that can have hardly gone down well in Costa Rica which as a result lost $35 million in beef exports."

With the book saying the above, and then: "An example where aid should made available immediately to help developing countries adjust.", is it right to impose values onto other countries worldwide?

The answer is simple, bring it closer to home and a real situation.

How would you or anyone feel if your neighbor wanted you to change habits you have had for your whole life to their habits which you may disagree with.

Live and let live, people are different if we were all the same BORING.

Also these so-called do gooders usually have a number of undesirable practices they do, but hypocritically that is okay.

One reason the world is in a mess of conflict is too many people telling others how to live and what they can and can't do.

Australia clears about 5000 sq.km year , half being in Qld. It can fuel heaps of power stations. Brazil's Amazon fires are at record levels.
It's going fast so has to be cleared while we still can.

//is it right to impose values onto other countries worldwide//

It's never OK to impose vegetarianism on anybody. Vegetarianism is an evil, evil philosophy. We would be better off without the vegetarians we've already been inflicted with.

Mind you, the poorer people are the less meat they tend to eat... except for delicious mosquito rissoles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LItNFP7icUw

Mmmm.... tastes just like malaria.

We should double our international aid so that we can save more people from the scourge of poverty-induced vegetarianism.

Forests are tasty with ketchup and grits and often hide communists.
"Since the 1950s, approximately 60% of Costa Rica has been cleared to make room for cattle ranching. The problem was worsened because during the 1960s, the United States offered Costa Rican cattle ranchers millions of dollars in loans to produce beef."
Cattle do well on sandy mosquito dunes with delicious cheap burger profits which can fund tree planting for United Fruit Company and mergers.

Dear Nathan,

It is neither right nor compassionate to impose your values on others, who may simply not be as evolved as yourself. You took that many lifetimes to become vegetarian, so allow others their own time to grow: a baby cannot be made to grow by pulling away their head and toes!