- an animal, powerless compared to humans, feels a lot of fear for its life before it is slaughtered
- full of exploitation, the egg and dairy industry causes enormous suffering; cows - affectionate, forgiving and highly emotional creatures - are forcefully impregnated (raped basically) at least a few times in one lifetime for their continuous milk production. This involves them being restrained in devices that farmers term 'rape racks'.
- Often they are killed after 5 years when their bodies are too worn out for more pregnancy or lactating, when their natural average lifespan is in fact around 20 years.
- their calves are mostly separated from them immediately after birth. being emotional they feel the same as when a human mom gets her newborn baby ripped from her.
- many baby male chicks are disposed of (dead or alive) along with other waste. 6 billion male chicks are suffocated or ground up alive every year.
- animal agriculture is substantially destroying the environment. According to PETA, 'It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce just 1 pound of meat. Only 25 gallons of water are required to grow 1 pound of wheat. You can save more water by not eating a pound of meat than you can by not showering for six months'.
- Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of amazon destruction.
- meat and animal products increase chances of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. We can get all the nutrition we need from plants minus the bad elements.
- according to pcrm.org , 'Animal protein—in fish, poultry, red meat, eggs, and dairy products—tends to leach calcium from the bones and encourages its passage into the urine. Plant protein—in beans, grains, and vegetables—does not appear to have this effect'.
- there is a vast environmental footprint. "Over the next year, more than 50 billion land animals will be raised and slaughtered for food around the world. Most of them will be reared in conditions that cause them to suffer unnecessarily while also harming people and the environment in significant ways." (Vergunst & Savulescu)
- "livestock farming contributes 18% of human produced greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. This is more than all emissions from ships, planes, trucks, cars and all other transport put together." (Vergunst & Savulescu)
- "around 30% of the earth’s land surface is currently used for livestock farming. Since food, water and land are scarce in many parts of the world, this represents an inefficient use of resources." (Vergunst & Savulescu)
- " If all grain were fed to humans instead of animals, we could feed an extra 3.5 billion people." (Vergunst & Savulescu)
- dairy is bad for the body. besides all the above mentioned, and besides leaching calcium from our bones, it and meat cause skin problems (meat is v acidic). In my personal experience, when I first moved out of a tropical country and my skin reacted badly to the climate change to the point that I would wear foundation almost every day for 4 months to cover up acne, the week I started a more plant-based diet the improvement was huge and almost immediate. From then on til now it's been about 7 months and I haven't had to touch my foundation bottle at all! Some friends have had only to cut out dairy and their acne would improve as well. There are so many alternatives out there (at least in certain countries) (soy milk, almond milk, coconut etc) to effectively replace dairy, and to also make plant-based cheese or ice-cream or whatever food we crave, that provide all the necessary nutrition yet cause no harm to animals or the environment or to our bodies. on a side note I just had an amazing vegan mac-n-cheese the other day and it's so great to enjoy something 'cheesy' for as much as you want without having to feel bloated or 'sick' afterwards like you would after consuming a big portion of cow cheese!
- no pressure to cut out animal products all at once! not all changes happen overnight and sometimes just starting off with eating a little less of that stuff every day/week totally still makes a difference on the planet and your health :)
may 11 2018 ∞
aug 19 2018 +
aug 19 2018 +