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There’s a lot of debate going on right now about what exactly Veganism is. Veganism is more than a healthy diet, a moral philosophy or an ethical choice. Veganism is a lifestyle that makes a very powerful statement — maybe the most powerful statement that anyone can make at this time. To live as a vegan means that you are choosing to live your life consciously, in a way that does the least amount of harm to animals, your body and the planet we live on. How many people can say that ONE decision they made can change the whole world?
How can the vegan lifestyle change the world? Veganism can address:
- World Hunger – All around the planet people are suffering and dying from starvation, while here in America and other developed countries, we probably throw away more food in a month than some people around the world eat in half a year. It would only take 40 million tons of food to eliminate the most extreme cases of world hunger, and yet 760 million tons of grain is fed to farmed animals each year to produce the “meat” that is eaten by a few. If we were to convert the land currently used raising livestock to grow food instead, many more people could be fed in this country and all around the planet.
- Environmental Pollution – Animal agriculture creates massive amounts of water pollution from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feed crops, and sediment from eroded pastures. Raising animals for food uses 30% of the world’s land mass and the equivalent of 7 football fields are bulldozed every minute to create more room for farmed animals.
- Human Health Problems – There have been so many independent studies published by now that show all the many health benefits of the plant-based diet that whether or not humans can be healthy on a vegan diet should no longer be up for debate. Heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and certain cancers have all been linked to the consumption of animal products. It’s also been proven that certain conditions, like diabetes, have been reversed by going vegan. There’s so much evidence showing the health benefits of the vegan diet that Dr. Neal Barnard, MD founded the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) as a vehicle through which health care professionals can advocate for the plant-based diet.
- Of course it should go without saying that veganism addresses the problem of animal cruelty. Contrary to what many are being led to believe, there is no nonviolent or “humane” way to use animals for food (meat, dairy, eggs, honey), clothing (leather, fur, down), entertainment (hunting, fishing, rodeos) or any other reason. While humans have been using animals’ bodies for thousands of years, there’s a growing sentiment that in these modern times there is no legitimate reason to do so. Many people are turning to veganism as a viable solution to the absolute violence inherent in animal exploitation. If we are ever to see animals as the individuals that they truly are and not as “things” to be used, abused and consumed, the first step is to adopt the vegan lifestyle.
In this day and time, veganism is not only easier to maintain than ever before, but living this way brings the joy and fulfillment of knowing that this one decision that you’ve made is making the world a better place — for animals, for humanity and for the planet. The real question, then, isn’t Why Veganism, but Why Not?
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