First and Foremost - For the Animals
Ask almost any vegan and they’ll tell you they are vegan for the animals. While it may have started out for health reasons or environmental reasons, the majority of vegans are vegan for the animals.
Around the world, every day more than 200 million animals are killed for food, and that’s just land animals. That means that each year, more than 73 billion land animals are killed for food. If you add in farmed and wild caught fish, that jumps to 3 billion per day. The majority of land animals killed are on factory farms, also known as a CAFO (Concentrated animal feeding operation). It’s a feedlot jammed with thousands of animals that are bred simply to become food. It’s a horrible place where cattle are shoved into feedlots and are fed grain to fatten them up as quickly as possible. They are viewed as a commodity and not as a living, sentient being.
Calves are exploited. If born male to a dairy cow they are typically sent to a veal farm and slaughtered for meat while still babies. If you haven’t seen veal farms, they live in tiny pens or cages or doghouses out in the open. They have no interaction with other calves and the goal is to fatten them up as quickly as possible so they can be slaughtered. If they are born female they are bottle fed and impregnated over and over until they typically end up being slaughtered for meat when milk production falls around 4-6 years of age. A cow’s normal lifespan, if not exploited for dairy or meat, is typically 20 years. That’s longer than most our pets. No one needs meat or dairy to live.
But fish is okay, right?
Sorry, but no. Our oceans are suffering, over fishing will deplete certain species by 2048. And if something doesn’t change our oceans could be almost devoid of fish by 2050. If humans don’t wake up and make a change, we are dooming ourselves. When commercial fishing vessels go out, they typically use longlines, trawling and gill nets. In many areas of the world, SE Asia for example, the still employ blast fishing. Blast fishing is done to kill or stun large schools of fish. Not only are the fish killed but also it causes damage to coral reefs which are an important part of the oceans ecosystem and survival. Employing all these types of practices leads to a massive amount of fish caught, many of which they don’t want and are thrown back dead into the ocean. Bycatch happens when un-targeted species become part of the catch. It can be other types of fish that can’t be sold as food or it can be dolphins, whales, sharks, and sea turtles. Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve seen the pictures of dead turtles caught in fishing nets. Turtles need to surface to breathe, unlike fish, when they get trapped in a net, they suffocate.
Loggerhead sea turtle caught in a fishing net. From Juara Turtle Project website. Photo credit: Jordi Chia
Vegans don’t want something to die for us to live. Most of us weren’t born vegan, I wish I had been. One of the only regrets you hear from a vegan is that they wish they went vegan sooner. The other is the wish that the world go vegan.
I know for me, those are things that pop up in my mind frequently.
For our health
Humans are not carnivores, we can survive on a fully vegan diet and we thrive on it. More human disease is caused by what you put in your mouth than anything else. There is more than enough valid scientific evidence that eating a healthy vegan diet can help to prevent, reverse and even eliminate disease.
Compare the digestive tract of a human to a true carnivore and you’ll find VAST differences. Take the cat for example, wild or your little furry friend. Cats are obligate carnivores, they need meat to survive. In most obligate carnivores their digestive tract is short, only 3-6 times their body length, which allows the meat to be digested and go through quickly. In addition, their stomach acid pH is typically 1-2 in order to break down not only their meat diet, but also to kill bacteria found in the decaying flesh they eat to prevent illness. In comparison, the human digestive tract if laid out from start to finish is typically 10-11 times our height. Our stomach acid pH is typically 4-5. We simply aren’t designed to eat meat. And yes, we have canines, but those canines are likely for showing dominance, not for ripping flesh. We don’t have a mouth like a lion. Every other tooth is for grinding not ripping flesh. And good luck chasing down that gazelle on foot with no weapons and killing and eating it, not gonna happen. We aren’t carnivores.
Vegan for your health
Type 2 Diabetes: There are thousands upon thousands of stories of people with Type 2 diabetes going vegan and getting off their medication completely. Neal Barnard, MD the president of PCRM (Physicians Committe for Responsible Medicine) has a book and website full of information on preventing, managing and even reversing Type 2 diabetes. Wouldn’t it be easier to change your diet than take oral medications and/or insulin? Do the research, read, learn, thrive. It’s also covered in the documentary Forks Over Knives which you can watch for free on Netflix or via other streaming services online.
Heart Disease: Patients who were told by their doctor that there was nothing they can do anymore for their heart disease and blocked arteries were told to go home and prepare for the inevitable have turned their lives around and survived. Food intervention to the rescue. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn led the way in Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease. I’ve heard him speak live twice and it always amazes me. Does it take a new way of thinking? Absolutely. People think that veganism is extreme, but what is really extreme is having your chest cracked open for bypass surgery. What’s easier? Changing your diet or going through a surgery you may never wake up from?
This meme from Vegan Street is based on a quote by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.
For the Environment
The largest contributor the destruction of our environment is raising animals for food. It’s not cars or airplanes, it’s animal agriculture. It is the largest source of greenhouse gases which is leading to global climate change. 70% of the deforestation of the amazon rainforest is to provide land for cattle ranchers. Thousands upon thousands of animal, insect and plant species have been bulldozed, killed and destroyed by animal agriculture whether it’s from clear cutting, bulldozing land or killing to prevent predation. It’s also the number one source of water pollution. The run off from factory farms destroys lakes, rivers and creates massive dead zones in the ocean. All the land, pesticides, insecticides, fuel, water, fertilizers that are used in animal agriculture is a billion dollar industry that wastes the planet’s natural resources and creates massive amounts of pollution.
Beef production is devastating to the environment, huge amounts of methane gas are produced from, yep, yep you guessed it – cow flatulence. More greenhouse gases, which are destroying our environment and adding to global climate change, are produced due to cattle farming than cars, buses, trains and planes. The amount of water needed to produce one hamburger is equivalent to showering for 2 months. It’s estimated that the meat and dairy industry use 1/3 of our planets fresh water. ONE THIRD. Yet safe drinking water is scarce in so many parts of the world.
Pig farming creates toxic lagoons of waste. When pigs in these huge large scale “farm” operations (CAFOs) urinate and deficate it flows down through the slatted floors into holding troughs which then flush into an open hole in the ground which is called a lagoon. It’s a disgusting mixture of urine, feces and bacteria. The anaerobic bacteria digest the material which turns it into a pink slurry. In North Carolina alone, 10 billion gallons of slurry are produced every year. Left untreated, this slurry is extremely dangerous to the environment. The lagoon can overflow, walls can be breached during massive rainstorms. During recent hurricanes over the past few years in North Carolina lagoons overflowed or breached sending billions of gallons of pig excrement slurry into nearby creeks, rivers and lakes. When this untreated waste enters rivers or oceans, algal blooms and mass fish die-offs can happen. Not only is this an environmental disaster but also a human and animal disaster. Drinking water sources can be contaminated impacting human health. The loss of animal life on these farms when hurricanes happen is devastating. Pigs trapped in gestation crates are left to drown, animals can’t escape their holding pens and die.
What does it take to produce meat/dairy?
Frankly, it’s frightening. The amount of natural resources to produce a pound of beef is staggering. Just making the conscious choice to stop eating beef and start eating beans would make a huge difference, and that’s not including other animals that are raised for food. If you add in pigs, goats, lamb, veal, turkey, chicken, etc. you’ll make an even bigger impact. Even the United Nations had urged a global move to a meat and dairy free diet. “A global shift to a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change.”
Did you know that if we stopped all the land used for animal agriculture and instead converted it to food for humans we could stop world hunger? There would be enough food to feed every human on this planet. But instead, we feed animals who then become food for humans. Let’s cut out the middleman and grow food for us to eat.
If you think that you can simply just get your meat/dairy from free range farms, often depicted as happy, healthy places to raise animals for slaughter you are wrong. If all factory farms today were shut down and we had to convert all that output to free range farms, we wouldn’t have enough land on the planet to produce the amount of demand there is today for meat/dairy. It’s not sustainable. Thankfully, dairy consumption is on a downward trend for a lot of western countries, but it’s starting to ramp up in places where dairy was never really a thing before. Sri Lanka is one example. They always used their local coconuts for coconut milk, but dairy is now being pushed as being healthier, which it’s not.
Think dairy is healthy?
Ah, you grew up with those milk mustache “milk it does a body good” ads too, didn’t you? I get it, I thought it was also. Full of calcium, great for the bones? Nope. Unfortunately, that campaign was BS. And it was shutdown after being discovered it was false advertising. The countries with the highest per capita dairy consumption have the HIGHEST rates of osteoporosis. And remember, cows only produce milk when they are pregnant, just like humans. So dairy cows are forcibly impregnated over and over and over. I get it, it’s hard to change your mindset when you were taught over and over, you need dairy for healthy bones. But realize that this is all due to misinformation from the past, we know better now. And now it’s simply due to lobbying. Lobbyists from massive dairy production companies give kickbacks to politicians who push their “lies”.
Milk and other dairy products also contribute to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer.
For our fellow human beings
I’m guessing if you grew up anytime in the past 60 years, one of your parents probably said “finish what’s on your plate, there are children starving in Africa”. While they were correct, it always seemed weird because the food left on my plate wasn’t going to be shipped over to that starving child in Africa. But fast forward to what it really means in this day and age of factory farming. There are still children starving in Africa, there are children starving all over the world, including in your own country, even the US. Why? We currently produce enough grain, legumes and plants to feed 10 billion people, but the majority of this goes to feed animals that then become food for people. If we took all that land space where we grow feed for animals, we could solve world hunger. There are countries in this world where land has been cleared to grow grains for cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, chicken, turkey, etc. but there is not enough food for the people living there. How have we done this to ourselves? Why have we allowed it to continue?
Rise of the Superbugs
If you have read anything over the last 15 years or so, you will have heard of the rise of superbugs, bacterial infections that humans are getting where the bacteria is resistant to a wide variety of antibiotics. It’s a growing trend and one that puts human life at risk. The FDA states that approximately 80% of antibiotics produced today aren’t used on humans, they are used in animal agriculture and farming. 80%. The meat and dairy you eat is riddled with antibiotics. Healthy animals are given antibiotics daily to prevent bacterial infection. We would never do that to humans, so why is it done to animals? It’s done to hopefully stave off infection which would cause the farmer to have to kill the animal who is infected. It’s cheaper for them to feed tons of antibiotics than lose that monetary resource per animal. And don’t think that those antibiotics create a healthy bacteria free, sterile animal. They don’t. The rise of superbugs is caused by a bacteria’s ability to adapt, change and develop resistance to existing antibiotics. Because of this, humans are now seeing a rise of infections that simply aren’t treatable with current antibiotics. These superbugs are putting human life at risk.
The feces and urine runoff from these huge CAFOs are riddled with not only antibiotics, but also billions of bacteria. That bacteria doesn’t stay on the farm, it flows downstream. It’s also turned into fertilizer and spread over crops. I’m sure you have heard about all those outbreaks of deadly E. coli and Salmonella on veggies? It’s not from the veggies, it’s usually from the feedlots near where the veggies are grown. That runoff or fertilizer contains bacteria which can cause mild to severe illness and even death.
The human and animal horrors of leather
But you are using the whole animal, leather is okay, right? Another huge impact on human lives is the leather industry. An impact on humans? How? Leather is NOT simply a byproduct of the cattle industry. Cattle raised for food and dairy cows aren’t the major source of that leather coat you love. The leather that people consider the most luxurious or soft comes from new-born veal calves and sometimes unborn calves taken from their mothers womb simply for their skin. Farmers aren’t selling every part of the cattle they slaughter to minimize waste, they are doing it to maximize profits.
Do you know what source your leather comes from? Probably not. Leather isn’t always from cattle. It can also be from sheep, goats and even dogs. In some countries the desire for exotic leather has led to some species nearing extinction. In some countries like China and India, more than just cattle are used for leather. Due to a demand for exotic and luxury leather, animals such as elephants, ostriches, snakes, zebras, alligators, tigers and others are killed or poached illegally for their skins.
A large majority of leather comes from countries where regulations are loose or non-existent. People working in the leather industry are exposed to a barrage of chemicals and toxins. Most die before the age of 50. There is a 3 stage process to produce leather. First the remaining flesh is scraped away from the skin and the hair is removed. The skin is then treated (tanned) to prevent it from decomposing. The skin is then thinned, re-tanned, lubricated and if needed, dyed. The workers in the leather industry are exposed to chemicals such as ammonia, cyanide dyes, formaldehyde, lead and other horrible chemicals. These chemicals are highly carcinogenic. They are also pollutants which are released into the air, water supply and soil. People working in these industries in some countries are exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis and their lives are shortened because of it. So the next time you look at buying a leather couch, even if you don’t care whatsoever for the animal whose skin you will sit on, remember the workers who may have paid with their lives for your fashion.
But wool is okay, right?
Think things like wool, cashmere and alpaca are just a simple removal of animal hair where the animal gets to live happy and healthy? Wrong. Sheep and other animals have now been manipulated and bred to over produce wool. Those animals now have to be shorn in order to prevent infection, urine burn, fly infestation and worse. The overgrowth of fur causes them to overheat easily and die of heat exhaustion. Shearing isn’t like having your dog groomed. It’s done very rapidly where the sheep are manhandled horribly and they often end up with cuts to the skin and lesions. They are kicked, maimed, beaten to death. All that for a wool coat or scarf? Most wool doesn’t come from a nice little farm where the farmer “loves” their flock.
Fur. Don’t get me started. I’ll have a whole separate blog post about fur.
Vegan, vegetarian, plant based - what's the difference?
The term vegan was coined in 1944 in England by Donald Watson. Mr. Watson founded the Vegan Society, along with his wife and four friends. The Vegan Society was created in order to describe a way of living that was free from animal products. Before that, vegans were called vegetarians or pure vegetarians. You’ll see that still in many countries. Most countries outside of North America and Europe don’t really use the term vegan, but rather pure vegetarian; but that’s slowly changing. Veganism is growing by leaps and bounds.
According to the Vegan Society: Veganism denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals, and the environment.
A Vegan is someone who seeks to exclude all animal products from their diet and life. As much as possible and practical we avoid all animal products and the exploitation of animals. Whenever I try to explain veganism to someone who knows nothing about it, there are always questions. My best explanation is I don’t eat or use anything that comes from an animal. Nothing with a mother, nothing with a face, nothing that poops! People then look at me very strange and then sometimes a light bulb goes off. They get it. They don’t understand it, but they understand what I mean. Typically then they say “Then what do you eat?” That always makes me chuckle inside. Why? Because people don’t realize that a lot of food is vegan. Fruit, veggies, rice, beans, lentils, grains, etc. As a vegan my diet is actually way more varied, diverse and tasty than most people who aren’t vegan. I eat way more variety since going vegan vs. my past years eating as an omnivore. I love seeking out new grains, new veggies and new tastes.
Simply Vegan
So there you have it, a ton of information! For vegans, when it comes to food, we don’t eat animal flesh of any kind; no meat, no fish, no poultry, no bivalves – no flesh. We also abstain from using anything produced by any living being; no eggs, no dairy products, no honey – nothing taken away from that animal. We also don’t use products that come from any living being; no leather, no wool, no silk, no carmine (crushed beetles for makeup) – no “animal” parts or pieces.
If you think about an omnivorous diet, one that includes everything, most meals contain a hunk of flesh, maybe a vegetable, some rice or potatoes, a salad and that’s about it. Granted there are some very creative chefs and cooks who go way beyond that, but looking back at my pre-vegan life; that was typically it. I would have some fish or chicken, broccoli or mixed veggies, a salad and maybe rice or potatoes. But after going vegan, my food world expanded immensely. I eat so many varieties of vegetables; from collards to kale to swiss chard to arugula to beets to tons of varieties of mushrooms and squash; my veggie world opened up when I went vegan. Meat? Who needs it – I’ve got beans (pinto, black, garbanzo, cannellini, rattlesnake, adzuki, cranberry to name a few), lentils (beluga, brown, green, red/yellow and more), tempeh, tofu, seitan. Grains and seeds galore – quinoa, millet, amaranth, teff, farro, wheat berry, bulgur, freekeh and so many rice varieties. There’s no shortage of food when you are vegan! I also truly believe that vegan food also tastes better. I feel like vegans are better about using spices and herbs also; we know how to bring the flavor to our food.
For vegans, it's about more than just the food
Vegans also avoid all animal exploitation. We don’t visit zoos, we don’t go to the circus or places like Seaworld, we don’t ride horses. You aren’t going to find a vegan riding an elephant in Thailand or a camel in Morocco. Animals aren’t here for our entertainment.
While many vegans have pets, there are some who feel that having pets is a form of animal exploitation. I don’t agree with that idea. When it comes to animals that humans domesticated many years ago, I feel a need to ensure they are taken care of. We domesticated dogs and cats thousands of years ago and because of that there are dogs and cats who need homes all over the world.
Of course as any cat mom/dad knows, cats just let us live with them and they actually domesticated us! I have a dog and cats. Every animal I have had in my adult life was rescued or adopted from a shelter or rescue group. I don’t think having pets that were rescued or adopted is animal exploitation. I would never buy a pet from a breeder because there are dogs and cats being killed in shelters every day who need homes. Don’t breed or buy while shelter animals die. I truly believe that. I hope there is a day where no animal needs a home.
So what's plant based?
A true plant based diet is 100% vegan, based on eating a whole foods (not the grocery store!) plant based diet. So no animal products. There are a lot of people now on the internet that say plant based is mostly plants. But that’s not the case. Plant based is plant based. No animals used for food. But that’s where it ends. It doesn’t go beyond that. So while they are vegan in how they eat, they are not vegan in how they live or what they use from animals. So someone who is plant based may wear leather, wool and silk. They may use honey. Plant based only refers to how they eat, not anything else. Many people start out plant based, heck I did (before it was really a term), but I moved to veganism quickly when I realized if I am not eating animals, I shouldn’t be wearing them or exploiting them either.
So a vegetarian is different from a vegan? How?
To be honest, vegetarians frustrate vegans. They are SO close to getting the full picture, but they ignore the suffering that goes on with the production of eggs and dairy. While I’m glad they are helping to do less harm, they seem to turn a blind eye to some of the most barbaric animal agricultural practices animal agriculture – dairy farming and egg production.
If you are reading this and you are vegetarian, please read up on the horrors of dairy farms. If you eat eggs, please read why egg production involves grinding up male day old chicks or suffocating them simply because they were born male. There are SO many dairy free milks and cheeses now and even egg substitutes that would blow your mind.
For more on vegan products that will blow your mind, visit the Vegan Food To Try page under my Vegan Resources page.