Why Vegan?
More and more people are adopting a vegan diet all the time, and for good reason! People are compelled to cut out animal products from their diet (1) for personal health reasons, (2) for environmental reasons, and (3) in order to help bring an end to the unnecessary suffering of billions of animals. I went vegan in 2011 and never looked back. The transition to a vegan diet was easier than I thought it would be, and I now love cooking and eating more than ever. I truly believe making the decision to go vegan was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Read below for the three most compelling reasons to go vegan.
Read below for the three most compelling reasons to go vegan.
1. For your HEALTH
VEGAN DIETS HAVE CONSISTENTLY BEEN SHOWN TO REDUCE THE RISK OF AND EVEN REVERSE HEART DISEASE, CERTAIN TYPES OF CANCER, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, TYPE 2 DIABETES, AND ASTHMA, AND REDUCE THE RISK OF GALLSTONES, KIDNEY STONES, AND OSTEOPOROSIS.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF DAIRY CONSUMPTION HAVE THE HIGHEST RATES OF OSTEOPOROSIS
Dhanwal, Dinesh K, et al "Epidemiology of hip fracture: Worldwide geographic variation". Indian Journal of Orthopaedics. 2011 Jan-Mar; 45(1): 15-22
"Global Consumption of Dairy Products". Canadian Dairy Information Center.
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I spent the first 25 years of my life thinking that I couldn't thrive on a plant-based diet. I simply thought meat needed to be a part of every balanced meal. I even knew a few vegetarians, but I was so hung up on the USDA's food guide pyramid (the one in use 1992-2005), that I thought I needed 2-3 servings of meat and 2-3 servings of dairy per day to be healthy. Additionally many doctors are poorly educated in nutrition, and are thus reluctant to recommend cutting out animal products. However, times are changing, and the USDA's newest guidelines encourage people to mix up their protein routines with plant-based proteins, and the new guidelines include fortified soy beverages as an option in the dairy category. The American Dietetic Association has given it's approval for meatless diets: "Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes. A vegetarian diet is defined as one that does not include meat (including fowl) or seafood, or products containing those foods." After doing some research, I eventually got over my original beliefs about what constitutes a balanced diet and learned that plant-based diets are not only safe but even beneficial. Unlike many trendy "fad diets", vegan diets are healthful in the long term. With careful planning and minimal supplementation (B-12 and perhaps vitamin D), humans can thrive on a vegan diet at all stages of life. Many world champion athletes follow a vegan diet, and it's clear that they're getting enough protein and energy to make them perform at their best. I won't get into too many details here, but I encourage you to check out StrongBones.org for facts about dairy consumption and NutritionFacts.org to browse nutrition-related videos by topic. If you're still concerned that it's unnatural and extreme to cut out animal products from your diet (as I was for so many years!), check out this lecture by Dr. Milton Mills: Are Humans Designed to Eat Meat? |
Are you concerned about getting enough nutrition from a plant-based diet? Check out these videos on NutritionFacts.org:
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2. For the PLANET
ANIMAL AGRICULTURE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 18 PERCENT OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, MORE THAN THE COMBINED EXHAUST FROM ALL TRANSPORTATION.
"Livestock's Long Shadow: environmental issues and options". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome 2006
LIVESTOCK OR LIVESTOCK FEED OCCUPIES 1/3 OF THE EARTH'S ICE-FREE LAND.
"Livestock a major threat to environment. Remedies urgently needed". FAO Newsroom. 29 November 2006
Walsh, Bryan. "The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production". Time. Dec. 16, 2013
NEARLY HALF OF THE CONTIGUOUS US IS DEVOTED TO ANIMAL AGRICULTURE.
Glaser, Christine, et al. "Costs and Consequences: The Real Price of Livestock Grazing on America's Public Lands". For the Center for Biological Diversity. January 2015
The US lower 48 states represents 1.9 billion acres. Of that 1.9 billion acres: 778 million acres of private land are used for livestock grazing (forest grazing, pasture grazing, and crop grazing), 345 million acres for feed crops, 230 million acres of public land are used for grazing livestock.
Nickerson, Cynthia, et al. "Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2007". USDA: Economic Research Service. Number 89. December 2011
"Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, UN report warns". UN News Centre. 29 November 2006
5% OF WATER CONSUMED IN THE US IS BY PRIVATE HOMES. 55% OF WATER CONSUMED IN THE US IS FOR ANIMAL AGRICULTURE.
Jacobson, Michael F. “Six Arguments For a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment. Chapter 4: More and Cleaner Water”. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006.
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This was my initial reason for going vegan. When I first heard about how much water it takes to produce a single hamburger (660 gallons), my initial reaction was complete disbelief. I did some research and some more research, and finally realized that my animal consumption was a true environmental problem, using far more water than taking a daily shower (just 17 gallons per shower) and far more land than the plant foods I was eating. I learned that filtering plant protein through the bodies of animals is incredibly inefficient. This is how it works: Vast amounts of feed crops are grown and then fed to livestock. Copious amounts of freshwater go directly to livestock for drinking and cleaning, and indirectly for watering the feed crops. Livestock also produce large amounts of manure that must be disposed of, and it's not treated like human sewage systems so it ends up getting sprayed directly onto crop fields and running off into streams, rivers, and lakes with devastating consequences. Livestock also produce an insane amount of methane (which is much more destructive than CO2). Add to all this the ridiculous amount of land that is needed both for grazing and for growing the feed crops. If we just directly consumed the plants, we would avoid this catastrophic process.
Once I understood these facts, I realized that avoiding animal products was the single most important thing I could do to help the planet. Going vegan was a more sustainable behavior change than recycling, reducing my household water usage, switching out all my old incandescent light bulbs, or switching to a hybrid car. And plus, this was easier than other behavior changes that I knew would help the environment (like refraining from ever driving a car or taking a commercial flight, going without a smartphone, or powering my home with solar/wind energy to get off the electric grid). I could make these other changes, but they would be much more difficult for me in this modern age. Conversely, going without animal products is easy in any part of the world that has access to abundant plant-based foods. It seems like a no-brainer that any environmentalist would go vegan, but there are many social and economic pressures that have kept environmental organizations from endorsing vegan diets. I'd recommend watching the documentary Cowspiracy (available on Netflix) to learn more.
3. For the ANIMALS
MORE THAN 80 BILLION LAND ANIMALS ARE SLAUGHTERED FOR MEAT EVERY YEAR
https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/billions-of-chickens-ducks-and-pigs-are-slaughtered-for-meat-every-year
MALE CHICKS BORN INTO THE EGG-LAYING INDUSTRY SERVE NO PURPOSE, SO ARE ROUTINELY KILLED ON THEIR FIRST DAY OF LIFE BY BEING SUFFOCATED, GASSED, OR MINCED ALIVE.
http://www.animalequality.net/food
DAIRY COWS ARE FORCIBLY IMPREGNATED EACH YEAR, AND THEIR CALVES ARE SEPARATED FROM THEM SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH, CAUSING MUCH STRESS AND GRIEF TO BOTH MOTHER AND CALF. MALE CALVES BORN IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY WILL NOT PRODUCE MILK, SO THEY ARE EITHER IMMEDIATELY KILLED OR BRIEFLY RAISED AND SLAUGHTERED FOR VEAL.
http://www.animalequality.net/food/milk
PIGS RAISED FOR MEAT ENDURE A GREAT DEAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS IN ADDITION TO THE PHYSICAL STRESS OF A LIFE OF EXTREME CONFINEMENT AND BRUTAL SLAUGHTER.
http://www.animalequality.net/food/meat
PIGS ARE MORE INTELLIGENT THAN DOGS OR THREE-YEAR-OLD HUMANS. THEY CAN RECOGNIZE THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR, AND THEY CAN QUICKLY LEARN TO OPERATE LEVERS AND SWITCHES TO OBTAIN FOOD AND WATER AND TO ADJUST AMBIENT TEMPERATURE TO THEIR LIKING.
http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/pigs/pigs_more.html
CONTRARY TO WHAT MANY PEOPLE THINK, FISHES ARE INDIVIDUALS WITH THE CAPACITY TO EXPERIENCE PLEASURE AND PAIN, AS CONFIRMED BY NUMEROUS SCIENTIFIC STUDIES.
http://www.animalequality.net/food/meat
THE AVERAGE SHRIMP-TRAWLING OPERATION THROWS 80 TO 90 PERCENT OF THE SEA ANIMALS IT CAPTURES OVERBOARD, DEAD OR DYING, AS BYCATCH...SHRIMP ACCOUNT FOR ONLY 2 PERCENT OF GLOBAL SEAFOOD BY WEIGHT, BUT SHRIMP TRAWLING ACCOUNTS FOR 33 PERCENT OF GLOBAL BYCATCH.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009.
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This may be the most difficult reason for some to bring up when talking about veganism, but for me it has become the most compelling. Like most Americans, I grew up loving cats and dogs but not having any feelings about "livestock". I would see farm animals once per year at the Kentucky State Fair, but I didn't think about them much for the rest of the year. Even at the fair, they were presented as trophy specimens or simply objects that were destined to become tasty food. Ironically (but maybe on purpose?), the Kentucky Cookout tent was adjacent to the livestock area, so everyone ended up eating pork chops, beef brisket, and BBQ chicken right before or after meeting the animals that became those products. Some children make the connection between caring for and eating an animal before society suppresses our natural instinct for compassion, but I did not. I went on believing the American lie that is our animal agriculture system. "Chickens are stupid. Dairy cows need to be milked. Pigs are gross."-that sort of thing. Only after I learned of the environmental impact and health benefits of a vegan diet did I open up to this idea that animal suffering for our pleasure matters. I read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason, and both of these books, presented in a purely factual, non-judgmental way, were compelling to me. Most people are against animal abuse. Humans naturally feel compassion and empathy, and can recognize when a living being is suffering. Why don't we align our actions with our values then? There's a complicated system of societal attitudes stemming from many years of propaganda that have kept our curiosity about this industry suppressed. If you're interested in learning more, I'd recommend starting with this article: Puppies, Pigs, and People by Alistair Norcross and this video: This Speech is Your WAKE UP CALL! by James Aspey |
Do you have objections to the idea of going vegan? Check out Earthling Ed's video series 30 Days, 30 Excuses. Here are a few examples:
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Other considerations
INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I've often heard people argue that we should put humans first and that there are too many human rights issues going on right now to worry about animal rights. I agree that racism, sexism, child abuse, extreme poverty, worker exploitation, criminal justice atrocities, hate crimes, and violence of all kinds are rampant all over the world and that we should do whatever we can to help bring an end to these problems. However, I don't see how individuals adopting a vegan diet and advocating for greater animal rights hinders progress in human rights movements. If anything, transitioning to a vegan diet helps to alleviate human suffering. Here are some examples:
- Millions of people worldwide suffer and die each year of diet-related diseases, so reducing or eliminating animal products from human consumption on a large scale would reduce human suffering for those who change their diet and even for those who do not (think fewer food-borne illness outbreaks, lower risk of antibiotic resistance, and lower health insurance premiums).
- As stated earlier, it is far less efficient to filter plant protein through livestock than feeding the plant protein directly to people. We would do much to solve the food shortages in the developing world if we transitioned the land currently used for animal feed crops and grazing over to crops meant for human consumption. Furthermore, animal agriculture's link to climate change makes a clear case that humans worldwide would benefit from a shift away from animal consumption.
- Slaughterhouse workers have some of the worst jobs on the planet. The workers, often immigrants and resettled refugees, are forced to work at break-neck speed to process hundreds of animals in an hour. Many workers must repeat the same motions over and over in cold conditions, which often leads to lifelong injuries (see the NPR article Working 'The Chain,' Slaughterhouse Workers Face Lifelong Injuries). The emotional toll can also be devastating on workers, often resulting in domestic violence, social withdrawal, drug and alcohol abuse, and severe anxiety (see the Texas Observer article PTSD in the Slaughterhouse).
- In his book, The World Peace Diet, Dr. Will Tuttle blames our society's continual habits of domination, racism, and sexism on our long history of animal domination. He argues that continuing to raise animals for food perpetuates the aggressive, dominating attitudes that lead people to commit violence against other humans. The only way to achieve world peace is to transition to a society free from all forms of domination, and that starts with leaving animals off our plates.
How to make the transition
Sharing a squash with Winnie at Heartland Farm Sanctuary
If you already enjoy vegan meals and are convinced by the reasons above, going vegan will be easy. Each person may have a different approach, but with strong commitment and some time, any positive personal change is possible. Some people prefer to drastically change behaviors overnight (like jumping right into a cold pool) while others prefer to switch behaviors more gradually (like easing into the pool one step at a time). You just have to choose what works for you, but always keep the end goal in mind throughout the process.
For me, cutting out meat was easy. I had already been eating some meatless meals, and like I said earlier, the meat on my plate was often only there because I thought I needed it in order to be healthy. During a period of a few weeks, I ate entirely meatless at home and tried out ordering meatless meals at restaurants, and it was easier than I thought it would be. I had fun trying new foods, and I began noticing the flavors of familiar foods more, particularly herbs and spices. Within a month or so, meat didn't even seem like food anymore.
Getting away from dairy was much more difficult for me. My digestive system had no trouble with dairy, and cheese was one of my favorite foods. I even thought cheese was good for me because I never drank much milk and thought I needed to get my calcium somewhere! After becoming convinced that I didn't need dairy for calcium and that it was actually detrimental to my health, I certainly paid attention and did what I could to avoid it. But it took many months for dairy to become the "non-food" that meat had become. During my first year of trying to lead a vegan lifestyle, I consumed dairy about five times, each time out of convenience or in stressed social situations (I was using the term "vegetarian" or sometimes "strict vegetarian" at the time because I was worried that "vegan" sounded too extreme). Each time I consumed dairy, I didn't feel that bad while I was eating it, but I felt bad afterwards. It's obvious that something was going on subconsciously because I still remember each of those situations vividly. I finally got over it, started using the term "vegan", and decided never to consciously consume dairy again, and I've felt so much better since.
Life is more meaningful for me when my actions are more closely aligned with my values. Since going vegan, I've visited a few farm sanctuaries that house rescued animals, and meeting those animals is an entirely different experience than meeting the livestock at the state fair. I can see these rescued animals not as mere objects, but as individuals with personalities and preferences. I can look into their eyes the way I look into my dog's eyes and recognize not just something, but someone.
See the Resources page for great guides to help you every step of the way, including a 22-day vegan challenge with free guidance from professional clinical dietitians and vegan mentors, plant-based nutrition facts, tips for dining out, and how to advocate for farmed animals.
For me, cutting out meat was easy. I had already been eating some meatless meals, and like I said earlier, the meat on my plate was often only there because I thought I needed it in order to be healthy. During a period of a few weeks, I ate entirely meatless at home and tried out ordering meatless meals at restaurants, and it was easier than I thought it would be. I had fun trying new foods, and I began noticing the flavors of familiar foods more, particularly herbs and spices. Within a month or so, meat didn't even seem like food anymore.
Getting away from dairy was much more difficult for me. My digestive system had no trouble with dairy, and cheese was one of my favorite foods. I even thought cheese was good for me because I never drank much milk and thought I needed to get my calcium somewhere! After becoming convinced that I didn't need dairy for calcium and that it was actually detrimental to my health, I certainly paid attention and did what I could to avoid it. But it took many months for dairy to become the "non-food" that meat had become. During my first year of trying to lead a vegan lifestyle, I consumed dairy about five times, each time out of convenience or in stressed social situations (I was using the term "vegetarian" or sometimes "strict vegetarian" at the time because I was worried that "vegan" sounded too extreme). Each time I consumed dairy, I didn't feel that bad while I was eating it, but I felt bad afterwards. It's obvious that something was going on subconsciously because I still remember each of those situations vividly. I finally got over it, started using the term "vegan", and decided never to consciously consume dairy again, and I've felt so much better since.
Life is more meaningful for me when my actions are more closely aligned with my values. Since going vegan, I've visited a few farm sanctuaries that house rescued animals, and meeting those animals is an entirely different experience than meeting the livestock at the state fair. I can see these rescued animals not as mere objects, but as individuals with personalities and preferences. I can look into their eyes the way I look into my dog's eyes and recognize not just something, but someone.
See the Resources page for great guides to help you every step of the way, including a 22-day vegan challenge with free guidance from professional clinical dietitians and vegan mentors, plant-based nutrition facts, tips for dining out, and how to advocate for farmed animals.